Trader Jed makes a move (trade for RP Eli Morgan)

[Rex Buckingham]

https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/1859298426296680710?t=UqYS-eUy_oDwiLaDiW4qmQ&s=19

[Jason Ross]

Patrick Wisdom has been DFA'd to make room

[Bertz]

His peripherals all went the wrong way last year but he became extremely successful at generating soft contact.  Curious how real the latter is.

Also pretty normal L/R splits, which is a bit surprising considering his signature pitch is a bugs bunny changeup.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Bertz said:

His peripherals all went the wrong way last year but he became extremely successful at generating soft contact.  Curious how real the latter is.

Also pretty normal L/R splits, which is a bit surprising considering his signature pitch is a bugs bunny changeup.

Looking at his Savant page, looks like he really changed as a pitcher. Different mix. Better slider. A bit different fastball

[Jason Ross]

Per Rogers "A-Ball" player heads the other way. Name unknown yet

[Max Power]

Jed, definitely, has a type.

[Jason Ross]

Just spitballing, but Cleveland has a type and someone like Alfonsin Rosario would fit that type. 

[LBiittner]

23 minutes ago, Bertz said:

His peripherals all went the wrong way last year but he became extremely successful at generating soft contact.  Curious how real the latter is.

Also pretty normal L/R splits, which is a bit surprising considering his signature pitch is a bugs bunny changeup.

Whats up bertz ?

[Bertz]

4 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Whats up bertz ?

Are you having an episode right now?

[jersey cubs fan]

Spotrac says he’s already signed a 1-year deal with cubs. That seems odd from a timing standpoint. Did they just want to avoid arbitration or is this bad info? 

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Spotrac says he’s already signed a 1-year deal with cubs. That seems odd from a timing standpoint. Did they just want to avoid arbitration or is this bad info? 

I'd guess it's an error on Spotrac's end. I'd imagine there's no way two sides had already agreed upon a contract. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

5 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Are you having an episode right now?

I believe that's a Bugs Bunny riff

[gflore34]

Has Jed not talked about pitchers with plus stuff who miss bats?  Unless I'm mistaken, from a glance at his Savant page, there's nothing plus about Eli Morgan' stuff, more of the movement and location type who get lit up when they can't generate movement and locate their pitches.

[Tryptamine]

9 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Has Jed not talked about pitchers with plus stuff who miss bats?  Unless I'm mistaken, from a glance at his Savant page, there's nothing plus about Eli Morgan' stuff, more of the movement and location type who get lit up when they can't generate movement and locate their pitches.

He also represents a guy who, in the past has gotten more swing and miss on this fast ball, so there's upside there. He's also a guy who will throw strikes in a bullpen filled with guys who have BB issues. 

[Nd4me1]

Tell me Matt Shaw is just a rumor!

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, gflore34 said:

Has Jed not talked about pitchers with plus stuff who miss bats?  Unless I'm mistaken, from a glance at his Savant page, there's nothing plus about Eli Morgan' stuff, more of the movement and location type who get lit up when they can't generate movement and locate their pitches.

Yeah, I wish we had more of a type of "guys who throw hard and get guys to whiff", but if there's a soft lining it's that the Cubs are developing those in house right now. Assuming Brown comes back healthy, the Cubs have Brown, Little, Hodge and Pearson who can all fit that mold. Morgan is an interesting guy to play off of them as someone who gets a lot of chase and soft contact in a multi-inning role. More of a 6-7th guy, probably in the "losing the game" platoon.

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, Nd4me1 said:

Tell me Matt Shaw is just a rumor!

It's for an A-Ball player. So unless Matt Shaw was demoted to South Bend right before the trade, you've got nothing to worry about there.

(also, welcome to NSBB!)

[KCCub]

 

Good call @1908_Cubs

[LBiittner]

Let's not sleep on palencia / 98mph fastball

[Jason Ross]

Just now, KCCub said:

 

Good call @1908_Cubs

This is a type-for-type trade. 

The Cubs love funky relievers who don't wow you with pure stuff but generate outs regardless. The Guardians love big bodied OFers who who bombs and don't mind if they strikeout.

[LBiittner]

44 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Just spitballing, but Cleveland has a type and someone like Alfonsin Rosario would fit that type. 

Wow. Great call

[Nd4me1]

You never can have too much relief.  This is a good pickup!

[Tryptamine]

It hurts a little, but Morgan is a solid middle inning guy under control for a while so it should. CLE got some significant offensive upside if Rosario can limit the Ks.

 

Edit: I was a bit concerned it was going to end up being Wiggins or Hernandez.

Edited November 20, 2024 by Tryptamine

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Perfect world I'd want a little more leverage RP potential for a deal with Rosario, but he has AA flameout written all over him at this point so I'm not gonna quibble over it.

I'm curious given the Hawkins familiarity and the timing of the Zombro hire, if they're aggressive in adding Morgan because they think they can optimize/improve his repertoire in particular.  

[Tryptamine]

11 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Perfect world I'd want a little more leverage RP potential for a deal with Rosario, but he has AA flameout written all over him at this point so I'm not gonna quibble over it.

I'm curious given the Hawkins familiarity and the timing of the Zombro hire, if they're aggressive in adding Morgan because they think they can optimize/improve his repertoire in particular.  

Yeah, this is a solid pick up for the pen, but Morgan cannot be the best arm they add. There needs to be one high leverage or closer type brought in as well. If they went out and snagged Robertson tomorrow, I'd be 100% cool with riding that bullpen into spring training.