Article: The Cubs and Pete Crow-Armstrong Might Be Facing a (Good) Dilemma

[Derek_Lee_Truther]

Cubs need to be tired of losing. This team hasn't been a real contender since 17.

Prove to the players and fans that you want to win. Stash seiya on the IL and bring up PCA. Do something to show that this team is for real.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

If the Cubs want to win more and lose less in 2023, they should probably not play PCA instead of Seiya.  PCA is a really good prospect, I think he's gonna be a good player for a number of years.  He is not going to be a good major league player tomorrow, and it does a disservice to go through this cycle where we repeatedly don't recognize the difficulty and more importantly the *time* it takes to make the leap from AAA to MLB.  The Cubs could call up a left handed bat with OF experience that's hitting .296/.450/.480 with a near 1:1 BB/K ratio, that's stealing bases at a clip of 28 SB per 500 PA at a 100% success rate.  They aren't doing that because that's Miles Mastrobuoni, and while AAA performance isn't gospel(see: Tauchman), we should pay closer attention to how close it is between the players we hope are future stars(PCA, Mervis) and the players we also see as MLB flotsam(Mastrobuoni, Madrigal)

 

[Brandon Glick]

1 hour ago, Derek_Lee_Truther said:

Cubs need to be tired of losing. This team hasn't been a real contender since 17.

Prove to the players and fans that you want to win. Stash seiya on the IL and bring up PCA. Do something to show that this team is for real.

Tiger nailed it (again) - you just don't know if PCA will be as great in the majors as he has been in the minor leagues. It's a massive jump between the two levels. Again, I'm on team "bring him up", but more so as a specialist. There's no need to force him to be an everyday starter right now. 

[Rob]

56 minutes ago, Brandon Glick said:

Tiger nailed it (again) - you just don't know if PCA will be as great in the majors as he has been in the minor leagues. It's a massive jump between the two levels. Again, I'm on team "bring him up", but more so as a specialist. There's no need to force him to be an everyday starter right now. 

TT's opinions always slap. I always feel better about my hot takes when I find out they mirror his own.

That said, there's been a lot of debate in the last decade or so about just how much time some of these guys may need to adjust. There was a short period where the true top prospects were coming up pretty young and playing pretty incredibly regardless. We had one of the biggest data points for that in Kris Bryant.

Prospects have generally come back down to earth since then and do seem to require more of an adjustment period than was the case for that brief moment in time. But it's a terribly inexact science, and may be worth examining further.

That said, about the only production I'm reasonably certain PCA would provide over Mastrobuoni would be on defense. If we had a bunch of butchers in the field, I'd be first in line saying he should get the call. But plugging him in CF as a late-inning replacement and shuffling people around is going to provide a marginal upgrade at best. Odds are good Mastrobuoni would make up that difference with the bat in the short-term. Given their roughly equivalent short-term production, I'd just as soon not call him up yet and force some difficult roster decisions.

That said, if he is called up I'd be excited as hell.

[Brandon Glick]

2 hours ago, Rob said:

TT's opinions always slap. I always feel better about my hot takes when I find out they mirror his own.

That said, there's been a lot of debate in the last decade or so about just how much time some of these guys may need to adjust. There was a short period where the true top prospects were coming up pretty young and playing pretty incredibly regardless. We had one of the biggest data points for that in Kris Bryant.

Prospects have generally come back down to earth since then and do seem to require more of an adjustment period than was the case for that brief moment in time. But it's a terribly inexact science, and may be worth examining further.

That said, about the only production I'm reasonably certain PCA would provide over Mastrobuoni would be on defense. If we had a bunch of butchers in the field, I'd be first in line saying he should get the call. But plugging him in CF as a late-inning replacement and shuffling people around is going to provide a marginal upgrade at best. Odds are good Mastrobuoni would make up that difference with the bat in the short-term. Given their roughly equivalent short-term production, I'd just as soon not call him up yet and force some difficult roster decisions.

That said, if he is called up I'd be excited as hell.

I absolutely agree that, in the very short-term, Mastrobuoni may be the better call. Especially since he's a little more versatile defensively. 

But unless you really, truly believe this Cubs team is at (at the very least) a contender to get to the NLCS, and Mastro's bat is the difference between getting there and not, I don't think calling him up to keep PCA down is in the team's best long-term interest. There is legitimate, non-zero value in bringing a guy up for the famous "cup of coffee" in September to allow him to see what the best guys in the majors do, and apply that to a full offseason of prep. 

That being said, you can absolutely make the case that the extra roster spot over the offseason is more valuable than PCA getting big league exposure BECAUSE he's already pro-ready. If he was a rawer prospect, I'd actually argue more for him to come up and get the chance to really see what it'll take to succeed at the highest level. 

[Derek_Lee_Truther]

You can't tell me PCA isn't one of the 5 best outfielders this team has. You can't. 

Play your best players. Have him as a backup. But he should be with the cubs.

[Brandon Glick]

3 hours ago, Derek_Lee_Truther said:

You can't tell me PCA isn't one of the 5 best outfielders this team has. You can't. 

Play your best players. Have him as a backup. But he should be with the cubs.

I'm generally in agreement with this sentiment, as I've said. It's just worth pointing out that there are considerations the front office has, which includes limited roster spots, playing time, etc. 

[UMFan83]

Bumping this just to share a sketchy rumor from a random redditor lol

https://old.reddit.com/r/CHICubs/comments/165k4gm/pete_crow_armstrong_will_be_pulled_up_very_soon/

 

[Brandon Glick]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Bumping this just to share a sketchy rumor from a random redditor lol

https://old.reddit.com/r/CHICubs/comments/165k4gm/pete_crow_armstrong_will_be_pulled_up_very_soon/

 

Still a more legit source than Nightengale