Chris Coghlan

[JohnBriggs12]

Coghlan has been on a quite a nice hot streak for the Cubs. He might be a nice target for a 4th OF and picking him up would further weaken a frequent opponent in the 2nd half.

[DocLuna7]

I doubt he'd be happy playing here considering the Happy Youngster made him give up half of his salary and his first two children in exchange for his first career home run ball when he hit it in Milwaukee.

[JohnBriggs12]

I doubt he'd be happy playing here considering the Happy Youngster made him give up half of his salary and his first two children in exchange for his first career home run ball when he hit it in Milwaukee.

 

He'd rather play meaningless games on a last place team than contribute on a contender? I think he'd choose the latter.

[TooLiveBrew]

Even though I agree with Briggs's take, I'm guessing Coghlan doesn't have a no-trade clause, so if the Cubs agreed to trade him it wouldn't matter what his preference was.

 

I also agree with you, Briggs, in that Coghlan would be a good 4th OF trade target. Career .340+ OBP & .750+ OPS against RHP. Plus, prior to this season all his home games were in the pitchers' paradise of Miami.

 

I'm not sure how strong he is defensively in CF, but he has at least played there. He'd be a really nice piece to complement the Crew's three RH starting OFs.

[brwrsfan]

Do you guys really think he wouldn't want to play in Milwaukee because some idiot fan was greedy after catching his homerun ball?

[JohnBriggs12]

Len Kasper was on 670 the Score this morning and identified Coghlan among others as a player with some value that the Cubs could move for modest return.

 

To answer brwsfan question, I don't think it would even enter his mind.

[brwrsfan]

So realistically then...what would it take to actually get him?

[Bnowell4evr]

It's tough to peg his value. He's having a a very good year and is under team control for another 2 years after this so he doesn't seem like the kind of guy the Cubs have to get rid of. I just wouldn't overpay for a guy who's been below average pretty much his entire career.

[JohnBriggs12]

It's tough to peg his value. He's having a a very good year and is under team control for another 2 years after this so he doesn't seem like the kind of guy the Cubs have to get rid of. I just wouldn't overpay for a guy who's been below average pretty much his entire career.

 

The team control issue doesn't figure here. Coghlan isn't a building block for them so they will look to sell high here. But even with his value increased over what it was, it's not going to take a lot to get him. Mike Fiers fits the mold of a guy that could start for them now at the major league level and then also be eventually flipped or kept as a back end rotation piece.

[reillymcshane]

I think you could get Coghlan for a fringe ML prospect. Blazek, Pena, Gindl - guys that might become serviceable role players in the future, but nothing great.

 

Coghlan's not a bad guy, but nothing special either. His defense is pretty mediocre. I wouldn't want him in CF regularly, but he could suffice for a game or two. Obviously he's hitting well this year. If he could continue hitting the ball well, he'd be worth adding.

[JohnBriggs12]

He has been a nomad defensively in his career, starting out at 3B and 2B in the minors. Interestingly, he played 5 games at 1B at Iowa earlier this year too. Whether he could handle work there or at 3B is anyone's guess.

 

He's not come close to duplicating a terrific rookie season and he doesn't possess big time power associated with a corner OF, but he's been hitting well of late, and if you can get a couple really good months out of him in the heat of a race, it would be a good investment, and then see what happens next year. Maybe a position opens up or he's kept as a nice sub.

[Invader3K]

I doubt he'd be happy playing here considering the Happy Youngster

 

I'd blocked that name from my memory after the Coghlan fiasco and how angry the whole thing made me. Is that guy still around?

[HiAndTight]

I doubt he'd be happy playing here considering the Happy Youngster made him give up half of his salary and his first two children in exchange for his first career home run ball when he hit it in Milwaukee.

 

He'd rather play meaningless games on a last place team than contribute on a contender? I think he'd choose the latter.

 

 

I think he was trying to make a joke Briggs. What with the 2 kids and half his salary comment. I doubt he'd even think about it, or have a say in the matter at this point in his career.

[DocLuna7]

Yeah guys. That was a joke. I just remember being on this site and reading about the hatred directed at the Happy Youngster who was also posting here at the time. Thought it would sort of be a funny memory for those that were on here four or five years ago.

[endaround]

Coglhan's current HR/FB rate: 11.9%. For his career: 7.0%. His power is unlikely to continue. Going forward you should a expect a slightly below average bat. And he really can't play defense anywhere. He would be an upgrade over Schafer, but most would be.

[monty57]

Coglhan's current HR/FB rate: 11.9%. For his career: 7.0%.

 

Moving from a big ballpark to a small ballpark would account for some of that, but how much?

 

The sad thing is that I thought OF was a position where we had some depth coming into the season. Too bad Schafer and Gindl haven't capitalized on their opportunity.

[logan82]

Looking at the batted ball stats it looks like Coglhan is putting the ball in the air more. He is also walking more so there may be a change in his swing or stance that may account for the improvement... or he's just getting lucky.

[HiAndTight]

Coglhan's current HR/FB rate: 11.9%. For his career: 7.0%. His power is unlikely to continue. Going forward you should a expect a slightly below average bat. And he really can't play defense anywhere. He would be an upgrade over Schafer, but most would be.

 

 

He has 5 HR's this year. How big of an impact is that 4.9 pct difference going to have on his .833 OPS? Doesn't look like much of his power is coming from HR's.

 

It's not like his BABIP is out of line. It's actually lower this year(by an insignificant amount) than over his career.

 

I think sometimes we look a little too hard. He'd be a 4th OF'er and a LH'ed bat and likely wouldn't cost much. Seems like he checks a lot of boxes we could use.

[endaround]

Coglhan's current HR/FB rate: 11.9%. For his career: 7.0%. His power is unlikely to continue. Going forward you should a expect a slightly below average bat. And he really can't play defense anywhere. He would be an upgrade over Schafer, but most would be.

 

 

He has 5 HR's this year. How big of an impact is that 4.9 pct difference going to have on his .833 OPS? Doesn't look like much of his power is coming from HR's.

 

It's not like his BABIP is out of line. It's actually lower this year(by an insignificant amount) than over his career.

 

I think sometimes we look a little too hard. He'd be a 4th OF'er and a LH'ed bat and likely wouldn't cost much. Seems like he checks a lot of boxes we could use.

 

Because his ISO this year is .201 when for his career its .128 means soemthing is driving this. And much has to do with him killing LH pitching (OPS of 1.139). That will not be liekyl to continue as he gets more the 30 ABs against them. His .750 OPS vs RHers is in line with his career and really what one should expect. He'd be decent but his defense is really bad.

[HiAndTight]

Coglhan's current HR/FB rate: 11.9%. For his career: 7.0%. His power is unlikely to continue. Going forward you should a expect a slightly below average bat. And he really can't play defense anywhere. He would be an upgrade over Schafer, but most would be.

 

 

He has 5 HR's this year. How big of an impact is that 4.9 pct difference going to have on his .833 OPS? Doesn't look like much of his power is coming from HR's.

 

It's not like his BABIP is out of line. It's actually lower this year(by an insignificant amount) than over his career.

 

I think sometimes we look a little too hard. He'd be a 4th OF'er and a LH'ed bat and likely wouldn't cost much. Seems like he checks a lot of boxes we could use.

 

Because his ISO this year is .201 when for his career its .128 means soemthing is driving this. And much has to do with him killing LH pitching (OPS of 1.139). That will not be liekyl to continue as he gets more the 30 ABs against them. His .750 OPS vs RHers is in line with his career and really what one should expect. He'd be decent but his defense is really bad.

 

 

Sure, something is driving that. But it's got little to do with his HR/FB% Why can't it be an improved LD% and BB rate?

 

It's not like he doesn't have a history of playing well. He was ROY. He played in a pitchers park, now he's back in a hitters park.

 

And maybe it's as simple as he just got better. It's not like he's 34, and it's not like we're talking about a starting OF'er. We're talking about someone to backup our OF'ers who wouldn't cost much.

 

For every player we're going to mention as a trade target, you're going to be able to poke holes in his game. You can find SOMETHING if you look hard enough to argue against picking up anyone.

 

The questions should be;

Does he make our team better?

How much would it take to acquire him?

In this case, yes, and very little most likely. So even if his HR rate returns to 7 percent from 11.9, he's still a nice guy to have backing up Braun and Davis.