User login
Archives
Cubs Blogosphere
Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 1:26pm — Rob G.
Cubs have traded RHP Andrew Cashner and OF Kyung-Min Na to the San Diego Padres for 1B Anthony Rizzo and RHP Zach Cates. That should deflect from the Castro sexual allegations rumors just fine...the PR department will be thrilled.
As for the baseball move, generally a good idea to trade a young pitcher for a young position player and even better if you think that young pitcher won't stick in the rotation. So I like the deal. If Cashner becomes a top of the rotation arm though and Rizzo Hee-Seop Choi's it, I won't like it so much.
Have it in the comments on the other 2 guys that I know nothing about.
Comments
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Wow.
Cashner needs to get off dl, so I like this trade.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Love "Hee-Soep Choi'd" as a verb. Nice.
That would absolutely suck, though.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Unless you can flip him for dlee-ish player in a year or two
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
The only thing that freaks me out is Rizzo's cancer history. Is there a doctor in the house? Is this something that was "cut out" permanently ... Something different than typical remission? Excited about deal though!
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Cancer????
Ahhh!!
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Yes. That wss something I was thinking too.
All the parties must know this kid literally inside and out.
Still...
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
hah! When Theo says Rizzo has a huge heart, he really knows it.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
He had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which can't be "cut out." He was treated with chemo in '08 and has been cancer free ever since.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
holy crap!
It's Wes! How you doing?
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Pretty good, fella. I went on a "I hate this fucking team" sabbatical for a while. Now I feel better. I was able to get my blood pressure back down and I'm ready for April.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Welcome back! I was certainly tempted to do the same there for awhile...
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
I've been in the same boat. I stayed around here and ranted to everyone instead of being mature and stepping away.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
I took the better part of two years off of TCR, I think. Now I'm pumped!!!
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
I've been away for about 2 years also. I'm back, but I still feel the same....
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Good to see you back, Wes!
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Correct, WES (welcome back). And, Tony Campana had the same thing I believe.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Campana had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, of which there are many varieties. But Campana has been clean for so long that he's probably in the clear.
The same Wikipedia article that Cubster cites below says, in reference to Rizzo's type of lymphoma, "Since many patients are young, they often live 40 years or more after treatment."
I'm more worried about his swing. Recently I watched the Padres broadcast of the last game of the season (vs. the Cubs) on 9/28 and listened to the announcers, especially Tony Gwynn, as they held forth on Rizzo during his four at-bats. I don't recommend watching the game if you don't want to hear talk about our new Cub prospect needing to re-engineer his swing.
It was like watching Tyler Colvin last year, except that the problem was the swing, not the approach, which is worse, it seems to me. Sorry to be a wet blanket, just reporting what I saw when I watched Rizzo. I know he was young, it was a small data sample, etc.
In any case, he was clearly headed back to AAA, so I'm not surprised that LaHair has been announced as the 1B.
edit: in the Trib just now, Hoyer acknowledges Rizzo's struggles and blames himself:
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
"I'm more worried about his swing."
same. he's got a really wide-looping swing.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
sounds like a mistake hitter to me
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
he's better than that...he's just got a really "long/loopy" swing.
he's still a guy who's gonna K a lot...still young and has nice pop. good tools to build on, but he could be better and less vulnerable even with his current tools.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
I just hope he swings on a different plane than Ian Stewart. If they're swinging on the same plane, then there could be some big problems for the other passengers. Unless it's a big plane. Or maybe one could swing in first class and the other in coach? I don't know. I guess it could work.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
It's easier to kill snakes if you've got two guys swinging. You're right, though, it's best if they're at least 10 rows apart from each other.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
i still say the punchline is that ian stewart is a cub.
rizzo has a long/loopy swing and i like this trade. i see very little value in what stewart does with a bat...and hearing little about what others like about it.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
i don't really care what plane either of them swing on as long as Elsa Pataky is on it.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
His value is until last year he's been basically completely average OPS+ wise (102, 95, 97). Average has its value especially if that can be improved on at all by coaches. He also seems to have very good patience so combined with relative youth and the possibility for improved hitting with some coaching and he might have some merit on this team.
I don't really buy into your one plane thing cause I've never seen any hitter only hit on one plane. If he did only hit that way his batting average would be a lot worse.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Anything average drastically improves this team.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
Got me laughing on that one!!
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
I would argue that his value his higher than just his OPS showed, because he has been young at every level he has played at.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
"I don't really buy into your one plane thing cause I've never seen any hitter only hit on one plane. If he did only hit that way his batting average would be a lot worse."
watch some 2011 footage. remember sosa missing pitches? he's not as bad as dubois (who sometimes closed his eyes while swinging)...and damn the hell i got put through for dubois no matter how much visual support you throw at the issue.
we have youtube now, even.
watch his shoulders as he brings the bat through the zone.
his only "move" is when he's reaching outside-outside/low because it's at the end of his swing and it's about the only point where he can actually push his bat somewhere besides where he started.
it's not pretty.
also, his patience isn't helping his bat. currently he starts his AB opening up his feet very wide in order to get a better look at the ball. then he moves front foot about 2' at the start of the swing to a visual cue he sweeps with his foot when he gets in the box. he's not smooth and has a lot of motion with hands and feet loading up to swing. at least he doesn't load the bat a foot behind his head before he swings now...his hands have been brought down closer to shoulder level...still he's locked up through 1/2 that swing.
Re: Cubs Find Their First Basemen
The gangs all here!!!
Return to Homepage