Cubs fire sale

[ewitkows]

he Cubs are letting teams know that nearly every player except Jeff Samardzija is available in trades, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Some teams are already calling the 18-32 Cubs about potential deals.

 

"We're starting to get some early calls now," president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told Nightengale. "There might be fewer sellers than usual and a lot more buyers. This has a chance to help us. We need core players."

 

Starlin Castro could be obtained for two impact prospects, according to Nightengale. First baseman Bryan LaHair and starters Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster could also be acquired. The Cubs will contribute cash in a deal involving Alfonso Soriano, who earns $18MM per season through 2014.

 

 

Castro and LaHair get us back in the playoff race. The price would be really steep though.

[3and2Fastball]

Really, you think Castro & LaHair get us back in the playoff race? Maybe, but I think probably not considering how our pitching has looked

 

And the price for getting Castro & LaHair both from the Cubs, within the division, would be extraordinarily steep.

 

I'd guess it would take Thornburg, Green, Peralta, Bradley, Gennett & Fiers to get Castro & LaHair. No thanks

[monty57]

It'll take some good prospects to get Castro, who I believe is only 22 years old and could be locked up to a "Braun-type deal" and be a core piece for a long time. I don't think we have the prospects to bring him back, as "two impact prospects" probably means two Top 50 prospects or even a Top 10 and Top 50 prospect.

 

LaHair is available because of the presence of Rizzo. The Cubs probably want to trade him now in case his hot start is a fluke (although he did hit 38 HR in AAA last year). While he's old for a rookie, I think he's got five years of service time left, so I would like to have him, but since we've got Gamel for the foreseeable future, I don't know that I'd give up what they'd want for him.

 

The Cubs will get some good young talent back from this sale (especially doing it this early so contenders will get the player for most of this season), but I don't see the Cubs & Brewers trading. That's partially because they're in the same division, but more because they're asking for good prospects and we need to hold onto the few good prospects we've got.

[ListachRides]

I understand listening in case somebody offers the farm on Castro, but I can't see dealing him unless the return was substantial.

[TooLiveBrew]

Epstein is a sharp executive, and doesn't cling to some notion that 'it's too early to sell' -- and could position the Cubs to be big trade winners this season in jumping out ahead of other GMs who're dragging their feet on selling. He's also an anti-Melvin... instead of latching onto LaHair's limited MLB success, or Castro's success thus far, & refusing to move them until they've got a year or less of salary control remaining. There's a chance (not super-likely, admittedly) that Castro might not stick at SS, and with the current 'it' commodity in MLB being young, cost-controlled players, it's quite possible that Castro's value may never be higher than it is right now. This is called aggressive, good GMing.

 

Not looking forward to Epstein & Hoyer rebuilding the Cubs.

[torts]

Epstein is a sharp executive, and doesn't cling to some notion that 'it's too early to sell' -- and could position the Cubs to be big trade winners this season in jumping out ahead of other GMs who're dragging their feet on selling. He's also an anti-Melvin... instead of latching onto LaHair's limited MLB success, or Castro's success thus far, & refusing to move them until they've got a year or less of salary control remaining. There's a chance (not super-likely, admittedly) that Castro might not stick at SS, and with the current 'it' commodity in MLB being young, cost-controlled players, it's quite possible that Castro's value may never be higher than it is right now. This is called aggressive, good GMing.

 

Not looking forward to Epstein & Hoyer rebuilding the Cubs.

 

how many good, quality SS's are going to be out on the trade market this year? Not that many, and if Castro is out there, he'll be the top of the heap because of his age and that he doesnt hit free agency until 2017.

[TheCrew07]

Not looking forward to Epstein & Hoyer rebuilding the Cubs.

 

Don't forget the SD was very successful in Toronto and Tampa as well.

[JohnBriggs12]

Rather than Castro, I'd inquire on Darwin Barney. Barney was primarily a SS and a pretty good one in the minors. He was moved because of Castro. He's not the talent Castro is, but he's a solid player and wouldn't take nearly as much to get.

[paul253]

This is a very smart move by Epstein. Castro would bring a small fortune back. I shudder to think what Milwaukee would have to give up but I imagine it would start with Thornburg. I am unwilling to trade Thornburg, especially with the struggles of Peralta this year. I am also unwilling to trade Gennett. I think both of them are going to make big jumps in the next prospect rankings as their success is now at a higher level. Without Gennett and Thornburg there's no way we get Castro.

 

Beside, as good a hitter as Castro is, 5 walks in 205 at bats is really hurting his OBP. His OPS is actually lower than Gonzalez's was when he got hurt.

 

I don't want to see Melvin panic. The system is just now starting to recover and the payroll seems a bit out of whack. With a solid draft next week and continued progress of Thornburg, Gennett, Nelson, Jungmann and Bradley I am much more optimistic about the system than I was three months ago. The last thing I want is for us to give up three of our top prospects for one player.......again.

[ewitkows]

If that player is a SS who is locked up for 4-5 years then pull the trigger. And I do think a SS and a 1st baseman who can both hit over 300 would get us back in the race. Hart could stay in RF and once Lucroy comes back we'd have a really solid team. It's not going to happen but it would be cool if Doug could pull it off

[TooLiveBrew]

Not looking forward to Epstein & Hoyer rebuilding the Cubs.

 

Don't forget the SD was very successful in Toronto and Tampa as well.

I saw your post about the top SDs. It made me feel worse about this, for sure.

[Invader3K]

I actually kind of like the Darwin Barney idea. Castro is going to cost a lot more than just Thornburg to acquire.