Cubs Trade for La Stella
The Cubs have acquired 2b Tommy La Stella from the Braves and their #4 international bonus slot for former Brave RHP Arodys Vizcaino and Cubs international bonus slots #2, #3 and #4. The Braves end up with about $832K more in international bonus money. So with the Braves getting more cash, the silent agreement between the two clubs is that La Stella was the better bet going forward as a player, certainly in the Cubs' collective minds.
La Stella came into 2014 as high as the #2 Braves prospect according to John Sickels (B grade), a left-handed hitting second basemen with good contact abilities. He put up some nice numbers in the minors (322/407/474 in just under 1200 career minor league plate appearances). The numbers weren't great in AAA to start the season, but he got the call-up when the Braves cut bait on Dan Uggla and put up a 251/328/317 line in 360 PA's with the big league team. Nothing too exciting for a 25 year old, but just the beginning.
I guess we'll find out what the Cubs intend to do here, La Stella is very capable of being a high contact, high OBP with a minor league walk rate over 11% and K rate just over 8%. Anytime you can walk more than you K, there's a lot of potential there. Now the tools and ceiling aren't Hall of Fame projectable, but I certainly think La Stella may get a chance to start and that means either Baez is moving to shortstop next year, another team or starting the year in the minors. A lot of moving pieces for the Cubs...gonna be an interesting offseason.
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