Cubs Clear 40-Man Space: Trade Bailey Horn Back to the White Sox

I like it. Although the Cubs have not had much success with control/command. I do have much more faith in their development group than the Sox. 

Nice write about 

Exactly what I expected them to do. This seems like a "get him in the pitch lab and see what we can work with" kinda guy. And maybe move him to the pen and see if the numbers play up. Bummed to lose an interesting lefty in Horn but overall it's a smart move.

51 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Nice write about 

Appreciate it! 

This leaves Little and Smyly as the only LHRP options on the 40-man... not sure who the NRI lefties are... And obviously they have confidence in Leiter (if his splitter is working), Merryweather, etc. against lefties too

16 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

This leaves Little and Smyly as the only LHRP options on the 40-man... not sure who the NRI lefties are... And obviously they have confidence in Leiter (if his splitter is working), Merryweather, etc. against lefties too

Lovelady, Pannone, and Escobar are the NRI's that I'm aware of, there might be another one or two I can't recall.

2 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Lovelady, Pannone, and Escobar are the NRI's that I'm aware of, there might be another one or two I can't recall.

Of them, I feel Lovelady has the best chance. 

2 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Thompson’s a pretty nifty get for Bailey Horn and/or I really like the say prospecting fundamentals the FO showed with this deal. A (then) healthy 22 YO throwing 129 IP in AA with more than a K/9 has a ton going on for them. That’s terrific raw arm strength and conditioning compared to what’s mostn out there, throw in some draft pedigree, some feel for secondaries, and that’s alot of ingredients for a long time MLer in this game.

This is definitely putting the cart before the horse but I actually like this part of The Future 2.0 so will mention it: If he really does well and continues to develop even into the MLs, someone may give him a shot to start down the line. Nominally good dims and pedigree are there now, strength and conditioning continues to improve, stuff is something that can improve to some extent, and even if the control isn’t so riveting the workloads suggest some command, aptitude, and pitchability to go with the health. In a meta good RPs increasingly use/need 3 or more pitches anyway, the Cubs getting better than others at developing RP to SP candidates at the ML level is something I’d like to see (think of the potential arb years trade Value or if the FA comp pick system changes to a more NFL-y one) 

 

His K's should improve if they decide to turn him into a reliever, so don't mind the trade at all.

8 hours ago, Stratos said:

His K's should improve if they decide to turn him into a reliever, so don't mind the trade at all.

They may, they may not. I don't really subscribe to the idea that simply because someone becomes a reliever they automatically get better at things like strikeouts and swings and misses. The reality is that the bullpen can begin to hide issues like consistency and command (shorter sample size, easier to pull the plug when it's not working) but K's are more dependent on what pitches you have, how you used it and the like. 

I can't say I know a lot about Thompson. Profile looks interesting enough that a reliever is on the table. But how he uses his fastball in the zone, where does he miss with the curveball...these things will determine far more if his K's should or shouldn't be expected to improve. I think the bullpen will help hide the walks, but beyond that...he's a pretty big mystery. Not complaining, mind, you, I think he's as good of a return as you could hope for...just disagreeing on the concept of K development being likely with a change or a move.