LaTroy: Someone Else’s Problem
Specifically, San Francisco's. The Cubs today traded LaTroy Hawkins to the Giants for Jerome Williams and David Aardsma.
Since the Giants are my #2 team (thanks to The Lovely Wife), I'm pretty familiar with these guys. Williams came up in 2003 and had a real nice rookie year (88K, 49 BB in 131 IP) but struggled in 2004 and had to have elbow surgery at the end of the season. He hasn't put it back together since - he started this year on the active roster but struggled and was sent down for a few starts to work on his mechanics, and hasn't come back up yet. This is why:
2005, Fresno: 15 K, 17 BB, 30 2/3 IP, 9.39 ERA
He is having trouble finding consistency with his delivery, and I he's also had to deal with some pretty serious family problems, so he's far from a sure thing, but he's still only 23. When he came up in '03, he looked remarkably poised for a 21-year-old and displayed great control. He's a project, but he's also got a pretty decent upside.
Aardsma, John Sickels' #4 Giants prospect, was the Giants' #1 pick in the 2003 draft and made his major league debut less than a year after being drafted. He was a closer in college and has continued in that role in the minors and in his brief time in the majors. He's also notable for replacing Henry Aaron as the first player, alphabetically, in major league history.
I like this trade. I wasn't as down on Hawkins as some, but given that he had been reduced to pitching mop-up (loss of confidence? loss of talent?), I think the Cubs got a good return for him. I think we'll enjoy Jerome Williams' pooka-necklaced presence on the mound if he gets things turned around (and who knows, being back with Dusty might help), and Aardsma can be a solid piece of the bullpen puzzle.
Recent comments
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crunch 1 day 1 hour ago (view)
* all figures stated are in a range of +/- 10m
yeah, that was me not typing info correctly. my bad.
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Arizona Phil 1 day 4 hours ago (view)
Bryant got $19.5M
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crunch 1 day 6 hours ago (view)
bryant 9.5m, contreras 6.65m, baez 11.65m, z.davies 8.63m
looks like happ is going to arbitration.
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Arizona Phil 2 days 3 hours ago (view)
RHP Edward Vasquez (2017 IFA - Dominican Republic) has retired.
E. Vasquez was one of the top SP on DSL Cubs Red in 2019 and was expected to be a SP on one of the Cubs AZL teams in 2020 if the minor league season hadn't been canceled.
He would have been first-time Rule 5 Draft eligible post-2021.
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K Dub 2 days 6 hours ago (view)
Thanks Phil!
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crunch 2 days 8 hours ago (view)
danny hultzen retires and joins the cubs as a "pitching development assistant"
shame the comeback story didn't last longer...but hey, at least he got to taste the bigs after his body failed him for so many years.
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crunch 2 days 10 hours ago (view)
theo joining the commish's front office operation as a "consultant reguarding on field matters"...basically weighing in on the possible impact of rules changes.
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Arizona Phil 2 days 13 hours ago (view)
https://www.thecubreporter.com/comment/266505#comm...
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K Dub 2 days 13 hours ago (view)
Yeah, to my calculation that suspension should be over by now unless he got caught again...
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Wrigley Rat 2 days 17 hours ago (view)
(Not Phil) - Last I saw, he was on the restricted list.
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K Dub 2 days 19 hours ago (view)
PHIL: Did the Cubs release Saul Vazquez?
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Sonicwind75 6 days 12 hours ago (view)
The 2021 guaranteed amount is $7 + $3 million mutual option buyout. 10>8. Most media reports summarizes it as a $10 million deal.
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CubbyBlue 6 days 12 hours ago (view)
Thanks Eric. After I put it up I thought.. damn I'm old. I wonder if people even remember back that far. I still think about that day. Uggh. Sorry.
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Charlie 6 days 13 hours ago (view)
I'm always confused by this. They also could have tendered him and then boosted his value by trading him with a million or two in cash considerations. Obviously, that's a million or two more expensive than simply non-tendering--but couldn't you at least get an interesting prospect in return from one of these teams? They obviosuly thought it was worth their return to toss in a few million in the Darvish trade.
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tim815 6 days 14 hours ago (view)
The 2021 amount is 7.
The buyout is 3.
8>7
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crunch 1 week 3 hours ago (view)
chase strumpf is quickly emerging as a "trendy" organizational hot prospect, even among non-cubs fans. amaya is having a decent winter league showing so far...taking a lot of walks, too.
Comments
I think this is a good
Another one of these trades
Just one nitpick I have
Just one grip about this
well, christian, time to
christian, please post a
sorry for the double post.
Maybe I'm wrong, but he came
Jerome Williams was one of