Cubs Trade Mark DeRosa
Bruce Levine of ESPN1000 is reporting that the Cubs have traded Mark DeRosa and the $5.5M on his contract for 2009 to the Cleveland Indians for three minor-leaguers, RHP Jeff Stevens, LHP John Gaub and RHP Chris Archer.
You have to think a trade, let's say for a certain pitcher from San Diego whom I dare not speak his name, is possibly forthcoming.
I'll try and get some info on the prospects in a bit.
UPDATE #1: Link from espn.com, although I think they have a typo on John "Caub".
UPDATE #2: I poked around a bit and none of the three prospects showed up on Baseball America's recent top 10 Indians' prospect list or John Sickels Top 20. In other words, this deal only makes sense if they're all headed to another city, let's call it San Diego, to give them the quantity of pitchers and players that they wanted in that trade for that certain pitcher, whom we'll refer to as J.P.
Scouting reports and biographies that I could piece together on the prospects after the jump....
Jeff Stevens was drafted in the 6th round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2005 out of Loyola Marymount University. A year later he was traded to the Indians as part of the Brandon Phillips trade. He pitched for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics as well. He features a 92-93 mph fastball that can get up to 95mph, an above-average curve and has been working on a slider. He spent most of the 2008 season closing for the Indians Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. The 25-year old is certainly the best of the three players the Cubs are getting back.
23-year old John Gaub was a 21st round selection by the Indians in 2006 out of the University of Minnesota and had an incredible 14.06 K/9 rate in A-ball last year, even if he was a bit old for the league. He was considered a flamethrower in college, but had his shoulder scoped after his sophomore year which in turn resulted in a loss in velocity. He seems to be getting it back up to the mid 90's on occasion but usually settles in the low 90's with a decent slider and a change-up as well.
20-year old Chris Archer was a teammate of John Gaub at Lake County last season and although he had a healthy 8.27 K/9 rate last season, he walked an incredible 84 batters in 115.1 IP. The 5th-round pick out of high school in 2006 throws in the low 90's with a "plus slider" and scouts think he has the frame to build on that velocity.
Recent comments
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Arizona Phil 9 hours 40 min ago (view)
Beginning in 2019, a club must wait a minimum of seven days before it can place a player who was claimed off Outtright Assignment Waivers during the off-season back onto waivers, so because he was claimed off waivers on Wednesday 11/27, yesterday (Wednesday 12/4) was the first day the Cubs could place LHRP C. D. Pelham back onto Outright Assignment Waivers, and so tomorrow (Friday 12/6) is the first day the Cubs can send Pelham outright to the minors (if he was placed back onto waivers yesterday).
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Arizona Phil 1 day 6 hours ago (view)
A Competitive Balance draft slot can be traded only during a period of time starting on December 2nd and extending up until two hours prior to the MLB First-Year Player Draft (MLB Rule 4 Draft), so don't be surpised if these draft picks are traded during the off-season.
Keep in mind that the slot cannot be traded for cash unless it is a financial adjustment made to offset the salary of one or more of the players involved in the trade.
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Arizona Phil 1 day 6 hours ago (view)
The active list roster limit changes scheduled to go in effect in 2020 have not yet been officially approved. Same goes for the three-batter minimum (or else record the third out in the inning) for relief pitchers.
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Arizona Phil 1 day 6 hours ago (view)
And then the active list roster limit will expand from 26 to 28 on September 1st (max 14 pitchers in September).
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Arizona Phil 1 day 6 hours ago (view)
The "26th man" who was added for doubleheaders will now be the "27th man" and he can be a pitcher.
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crunch 1 day 12 hours ago (view)
ATL signs cole hamels 1/18m...a'ite then.
also, z.wheeler 5/100+ to the phillies.
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Charlie 2 days 4 hours ago (view)
I think without the off-field issues, a front-office might at least be tempted to gamble on Russell's youth and dreams of his upside. But with what we all know about him now, the challenges of improving both on and off the field are too great to gamble on.
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George Altman 2 days 18 hours ago (view)
This was the easiest non-tender decision, maybe ever. As if there weren't enough off-field reasons alone, there were even more baseball reasons. He became a sub .700 OPS hitter with bottom of the order OBA results. His defense, formerly his strength, became inconsistent due to attention deficit issues. He turned himself into bench infielder with suspect skills which is someone you don't pay more than $1--1.5M/yr.
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crunch 3 days 7 hours ago (view)
he was due for a 3.5-4m payday (3.4m last year) at a minimum, anyway.
it's as good of a time as any to cut him loose. nico hoener's spring just became a lot more important.
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Craig A. 3 days 7 hours ago (view)
Addison Russell, to no one's surprise, was non-tendered. I still think he has the talent to excel in the major leagues, but it'll take a new attitude for him to realize his potential. It can't be easy to deal with his baggage in front of millions of fans. I won't forget his contributions in 2016, or that beautiful play that used to be the banner of TCR.
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crunch 5 days 2 hours ago (view)
keuchel doesn't have draft pick compensation attached to him and he's a decent enough ground ball pitcher...that will be attractive to a lot of clubs. that would put 3 lefties in the cubs rotation (pending a trade) again, though. not sure they want to go for that look again.
that said, i still imagine the cubs are probably looking to make this thing happen via trade. it's hard to tell what their $$ situation is, but they've done a great job signaling they're not looking to spend $$ this offseason.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 5 days 8 hours ago (view)
Looking for impact starting pitchers, but won't be shopping at the top of the market? So I guess they won't be in the market for impact starting pitching.
Still hoping they find a taker for Q.
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crunch 5 days 10 hours ago (view)
"Patrick Mooney of The Athletic writes the Cubs are in the market for impact starting pitchers but won't be shopping at the top of the market."
darvish, lester, hendricks, Q, (???, a.mills, t.chatwood)...pending trades
d.keuchel? r.porcello? trade target pitcher?
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Arizona Phil 5 days 11 hours ago (view)
HAGSAG: I suspect going into his age 30 season and coming off a great year as a pinch-hitter, LaStella wanted a chance to be an everyday player, and since that obviously wasn't going to happen if he stayed with the Cubs, TLS (or his agent) may have asked the Cubs to trade him somewhere he could get that opportunity.
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crunch 5 days 11 hours ago (view)
dunno any official reasoning, but his D is miserable and they decided to "upgrade" there with descalso for similar loot as well as getting a trade piece back. the whole a.russell thing was lingering over the team.
it's not like descalso is great with the glove, but la stella plays a miserable 2nd and meh 3rd.
i do wonder if things would have turned out differently if russell wasn't due to miss significant time.
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Sonicwind75 5 days 15 hours ago (view)
Was just thinking about this, maybe that isn't a good thing for TLS? I wonder if Maddon will use TLS differently after seeing his success last year. That's my gripe with people complaining about Theo trading away a player that turns into an All Star. If TLS had stayed with the Cubs, Maddon would most likely kept using him in the same manner and with the same results.
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or top 20 Sickels prospects, although Stevens gets mentioned a few times by the commenters...
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/12/29/704...
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probably wouldn't do it until they sign Bradley...and if they are indeed still going for Peavy, might just do it all together.
I'm sure he'll be on the radio though soon enough.
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DeRo will be playing third base for the Indians.
http://tinyurl.com/7lpq6b
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If they're not moved in a later deal, Jeff Stevens would probably project as the RHP set-up man at Iowa in 2009 with a possible 2009 call-up at some point, John Gaub would project as a lefty set-up man at Daytona, and RHP Chris Archer would project as a rotation starter at Daytona.
As has been mentioned by Rob G, none of the three are anything close to "hot shot" prospects, although Stevens apparently showed enough promise at AAA Buffalo in 2008 to get a slot on the Indians 40-man roster last month.
While the three pitchers aren't total stiffs, the trade does look like it was basically a salary dump to clear some payroll for Bradley and Peavy. Of the three, I would think only Stevens would be of interest to the Padres in a possible Jake Peavy deal.
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Final update on the post with what I can put together on their scouting reports and repertoire...
you're welcome :)
feel free to add to the post if you have anything on them AZ Phil...
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Some old BA scouting reports on the three pitchers the Cubs got frrom Cleveland...
1. Jeff Stevens pitched at Loyola Marymount and was described as having a "deceptive" 90-91 MPH sinking fastball with an "improved" breaking ball and good command and competitiveness at that time. He was drafted in the 6th round of the 2005 draft by the Cincinnati Reds but was the PTBNL in the Brandon Phillips deal, so he's been traded before. He was moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen after he turned pro, and he has really improved his fastball since making the move. He now throws consistently 92-94 MPH with an occasional 96, and he was the closer for Team USA at the World Cup in Taiwan in November 2007.He also throws a slow curve, a cutter, and a slider.
2. John Gaub threw a 96 MPH fastball with a sharp curve and plus change-up as a sophomore at the U. of Minnesota and was one of the top pitching prospects in the Big Ten hoing into the 2005 season, but then he had shoulder surgery (torn labrum) and had a significant loss of velocity on his fastball and break on his curve when he tried to came back in 2006. He was selected by Cleveland in the 21st round of the 2006 draft, and was signed in August for "5th round money" (he actually got a higher bonus than Chris Archer got as the Indians' 2006 5th round pick). He had additional shoulder surgery post-2006 and so he did not make his pro debut until August 2007, and then he began last season rehabbing at EXST, but he is supposedly finally healthy now. He developed a low release angle to compensate for his shoulder injury.
3. Chris Archer was a highly regarded HS pitcher in North Carolina (he probably knows Mitch Atkins) who reneged on an oral commitment to homestate NC State before signing an NLI to attend Miami (Florida). But the Indians offered him $155K to forget college and he took it. Archer threw a 90-92 four-seam fastball at that time, but his breaking ball was supposed to be his "out" pitch. He has had command problems throughout his career, but his hammer-curve was rated the best in the Indians system, and his fastball has also shown improvement (he now throws 92-94), although it has only minimal movement.
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Way to go Sullivan
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in terms of talent, I think it's a better team...the question is what talent will be on the field.
assuming a healthy rotation of Peavy, Zambrano, Harden, Dempster and Lilly...well that's just fuckin ridiculous. It's also fuckin ridiculous to assume they'll be healthy.
Offensively...
we replace Edmonds/Johnson CF platoon, Fukudome in RF and DeRosa at 2B with most likely Fukudome/Johnson CF platoon, Bradley in RF and Fontenot at 2B.
DeRosa to Fontenot is likely going to be a downgrade from 2008, but essentially replacing Edmonds with Bradley is probably a bit of gain, even though Edmonds had a helluva season. You'll also be limiting Fukudome's at-bats.
if there's no Peavy, it's essentially a lateral move to get more left-handed. If they do get Peavy, it's definitely an upgrade, although the bullpen will be worrisome with just one reliable arm in my opinion.
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pretty sure that DP was in Game 3 in 2007...
on another note, I always feel dirty writing DP
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Bruce Miles
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thnx for the tip...
gonna pull it up online as I'm too lazy to get my receiver from my car.
will update with anything interesting.
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let's see
Zambrano goes barely up to $17.875M in 2010 (17.75 in 2009) Soriano jumps $2M to $18M and stays there for the rest of his deal Ramirez goes barely up to to $15.75M (15.65M in 2008) Lee stays at $13M Lilly stays at $12M Dempsters stays at $12M (although technically he got $8M and a $4M signing bonus for 2009). Fukudome jumps to $13M from $11.5M
only a $3.75M jump...not too bad, would be if they do add Peavy. Likely to lose $7M off the books with Harden. Soto might be a Super-Two next year but likely to fall short. He should be at 2.096 after next season and if my memory serves me well, Phil says the cutoff usually ends up around 110...technically it's the top 16% of service time.Re: Cubs Trade Mark DeRosa
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should have clarified my opinion...
Hendry and the Cubs were expecting a new owner to be already named by this point. It was suppose to be done at numerous times over 2008. I don't think it's a coincidence that the big jump in backloaded salaries came after the 2008 season. If you look at it from 2009 and beyond, they stay relatively steady.
Was Hendry expecting to get canned by now? I don't think so, I think he was expecting a new owner.
And isn't backloading contracts pretty common? I don't think this is uniquely a Hendry problem. Someone with an economics degree can explain it better, but I think with inflation, generally rising revenues and payrolls, it usually makes sense. Unfortunately once in awhile, a recession hits or Sam Zell takes over your team and you get screwed.
I would also venture a guess that Hendry had the full approval and possible advice of one Crane Kenney on most of these deals.
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well happy New Year to the both of you!
let's just stop this right here and watch some hockey or college football or flowers on floats.
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some of those first year numbers are probably off as they don't put in the signing bonus $$, fwiw...
but I think it's safe to say Ned Colletti is a big fan of backloading contracts....
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i was responding to your point about adding Peavy's contract down the road...I know that between last season and next was a significant jump.
I'm saying from 2009 and beyond, it's actually not that big a deal. This was the year that they got their provebial balls stuck in the vice.
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fwiw, fukudome made $10M last year ($4M signing bonus), Dempster shouldn't be in there as he was a free agent and not a backloaded contract.
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