[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n an interview with Comcast Sports Net, Chicago Cub general Manager Jed Hoyer indicated that he was tired of the Cubs being sellers during the July trade season. He also indicated that next year the Cubs will be buyers.
Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein is no stranger to building teams for an upcoming season early, beginning in July or August. Photos/Wikimedia Commons
If that is the case, this year will start to materialize this August during the waiver wire trade season. Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein is no stranger to building a team for the upcoming season in July and August. Some of his more notable transactions came during this time period. Epstein has moved aging players as well as acquired pieces for the upcoming season that played major roles for his Boston Red Sox teams and could very well start maneuvering as soon as this week.
On July 31st 2004 (final day of non-waiver trade deadline), Epstein ignited a historic 4-team trade that sent catcher Matt Murton and Nomar Garciapara to Jim Hendry who was the Cub General Manager at the time. Garciaparra was one of the most popular players in professional baseball at the time, but he spent most of the season on the disabled list. He ended up only playing 38 games for the Sox before his eventual trade.
Without a contract agreement in place, Epstein decided to get something for Garciaparra instead of letting him walk away via free agency. The popularity of Garciaparra overshadowed the fact that Epstein was able to acquire former gold glove winner Orlando Cabrera in that same trade. Cabrera took over at SS and the Red Sox would go on to win the 2004 World Series.
Here are some of the other notable late season transactions made by Epstein followed by the story and the resulting effect.
July 31st 2007- Transaction = Traded P Joel Pineiro & Cash to St. Louis Cardinals.
Story: On June 1st 2007 Epstein decided to bring up top prospect Jacoby Ellsbury. In a corresponding move, the Red Sox placed Joel Pineiro on the disabled list. Jacoby Ellsbury solidified his spot on the roster by hitting .353 in his first 33 big league games. Joel Pineiro returned to the team and was traded soon after; keeping Ellsbury in the roster spot that was originally vacated by Pineiro.
Results: Starting CF Coco Crisp hit a brutal .171 in 31 plate appearances through the first 10 games of the playoffs which resulted in Ellsbury taking over the starting duties in the World Series. With a .438 batting average and .500 on base percentage, Ellsbury actually outperformed Word Series MVP Mike Lowell statistically and solidified himself over the next years as one of the best players in the game.
July 31st 2008- Transaction = Traded Manny Ramirez, acquired Jason Bay. Story: “Manny being Manny” had finally run its course in Beantown. Manny Ramirez spent most of the summer making headlines off the field as opposed to on it. After Manny punched traveling secretary Jack McCormick in the face during a clubhouse altercation only weeks after doing the same thing to teammate Kevin Youkilis during a game, Epstein decided he’d seen enough. He sent Manny packing in a 3 team trade and landed slugger Jason Bay. Results: Bay batted .293 with 9 home runs in the final 49 games of the season helping the Red Sox secure 2nd place in the American League East and a wildcard playoff berth. In 4 playoff games against the Anaheim Angels, Bay led the Sox in hits(7), runs(3), Home runs(2), Batting average(.412), On-base-percentage(.474), slugging(.882), and OPS(1.356) en route to a 3-1 series win in. The Red Sox eventually lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in a tough fought 7 game series where Bay hit an impressive .292 with an OBP of .469 while leading the team with 7 walks.
July 31st 2009- Transaction = Traded Justin Masterson and two minor leaguers to The Cleveland Indians for C Victor Martinez. Story: Jason Varitek spent his offseason trying to secure a long term contract in line with fellow catcher Jorge Posada who signed for 4 years and $52 Million or at the very minimum, duplicate his previous years’ salary of 10 Million. But after a horrible showing at the plate in 2008, Epstein refused his request and the sides settled on a one year $5 Million deal for 2009 with a mutual option for 2010. On the final day of the 2009 trading deadline, Varitek was batting a dismal .236 with 12 home runs, which was eerily close to his 2008 numbers (.220/13), prompting Epstein to acquire a bat to strengthen his offensive production behind the plate. Result: Epstein pulled the trigger and acquired Victor Martinez , who started his Red Sox career on a torrid pace, collecting 6 hits in his first 11 at bats en route to batting .336 with 8 home runs and a team leading 41 runs batted in over the final 56 games of the 2009 season. Martinez played one more season with the Red Sox where he enjoyed a .302 average with 20 home runs in only 127 games which was shortened by injuries. (Note: In a corresponding move to free up playing time at first base for Martinez, Epstein traded Adam LaRoche to The Atlanta Braves for back-up first baseman/utility Casey Kotchman just 9 days after acquiring him from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Martinez eventually split time at first base and catcher with Youkilis moving to third base at times to accommodate keeping Martinez in the daily line-up.)
Just in case you weren’t aware, Hoyer was Epstein’s assistant and played a major role in each and every transaction the Red Sox completed from 2003 to 2009 including the ones mentioned above. Since then, Hoyer made a cameo in San Diego as the General Manager from Oct. 2009 until rejoining Epstein in Oct. 2011. Even during the two year separation, the duo never stopped working together as they completed a deal that sent Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox and Anthony Rizzo along with 3 other prospects to the Friars. Since joining forces again in Chicago, Hoyer and Epstein have totally retooled the Chicago farm system as well as made some moves that have Cub fans excited about the future.
Anthony Rizzo was one of the moves Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have made in recent years.
Notable Moves by Epstein and Hoyer since joining Chicago Cubs:
- Acquired Travis Wood for Sean Marshall (acquired young arm/shed 3.1M contract/Reds signed Marshall to 3/$16.5M contract/Marshall Played 31 of possible 324 games since 2012)
- Signed oft-injured Paul Maholm /traded him to Braves for current #10 prospect Arodys Vizcaino
- Traded Andrew Cashner for Anthony Rizzo(Joining Hoyer/Epstein for the 3rd time)
- Traded Chris Carpenter to Red Sox(Funny ,Epstein traded him to Boston to complete his own move to Chicago as compensation for leaving Red Sox)Not to be confused with Cardinals CY Young award winner Carpenter
- Signed(current 3B starter) Luis Valbuena off waivers from Toronto Blue Jays on 04/04/2012
- Traded Ryan Dempster for current #18 prospect Kyle Hendricks (Currently on MLB roster)
- Claimed RHP(Current closer) Hector Rondon off waivers from Cleveland Indians 12/06/12
- Signed free agent RHP Carlos Villanueva (Current long reliever) on 01/26/13
- Signed FA Scott Feldman after a 6-11 season with Texas; With Feldman boasting a career best 3.46 ERA, the Cubs traded him to Baltimore for current ace Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop
- Traded Matt Garza to Texas Rangers for current #6 prospect CJ Edwards, Justin Grimm, and one time top prospect Mike Olt
- Traded Alfonso Soriano and cash to New York Yankees for current #19 prospect Corey Black
Hoyer and Epstein continued building towards the future in 2014. In signing Jason Hammel over the winter, they used his early season success to acquire #6 over-all prospect Addison Reed in a trade with The Oakland A’s that also saw long tenured Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija go (in the same trade) after failed contract negotiations. Epstein and Hoyer know that some of the biggest trades in baseball have been made in August besides the ones they orchestrated. Most August trades occur when teams that assumed they were still in the hunt for the playoffs after the July trade deadline realize they have fallen too far out of the race and decide to shed some contracts or players they don’t view in their long term plans. Other teams simply try to send all of their players through waivers in order to see if they can acquire pieces that they plan to utilize for the following season. Here are some of the more notable blockbusters that have occurred in August that Hoyer and Epstein were not a part of;
2012 – Boston Red Sox traded Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Josh Beckett to the Los Angeles Dodgers which ended up being a 9 player trade. Boston chose to dump those huge salaries after they eventually realized they were not going to make the playoffs. This trade eventually helped both squads the following season; The Dodgers earned a playoff berth and a 92-70 record, while The Red Sox were able to promote some youth and win the World Series.
2008 – The Pittsburgh Pirates sent struggling third baseman Jose Bautista to the Toronto Blue Jays. This trade didn’t make much noise at the time due to the recent demotion of Bautista after he lost his starting job. Bautista ended up being the household name he is today and the player he was traded for never even played a single game in the majors.
2004 – The Colorado Rockies traded away superstar hitter Larry Walker to the St. Louis Cardinals. After 14+ years of playing in the major leagues with only one playoff berth, the Rockies finally granted Walker a pardon by sending him to the Cardinals. Walker did his part by hitting 6 home runs with 11 runs batted in during the playoffs and World Series. He came up just short of his dreams, but accomplished post season play in his final two seasons as a member of the Cards.
An August trade scenario that makes sense for this Cubs team would be a move similar to the one made by the Blue Jays back in 2008. The Cubs have taken on many underperformers in recent years and turned them into nice trade pieces and Hoyer has assured the Cub faithful that he will be scouring the waiver wire in an attempt to find a diamond to add to their current group and avoid once again being sellers at the trade deadline. For the first time in MLB history, there is a second wildcard playoff spot available. Due to this, there are teams that will presumably wait a little longer before waving the white flag and parting ways with players. This dynamic will definitely push the sellers further back into August prior to making their major moves. This can only help the Cubs who have already proved they are chasing big fish by claiming Philly ace Cole Hammels. According to interviews over the last month or so, Hoyer indicated that he is very satisfied with the development of his fielding prospects and said he will even out the roster by acquiring top of the rotation pitchers in the offseason if he isn’t able to do so during this waiver wire trade season. With aces Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, James Shields, Justin Masterson and Homer Bailey, former aces Jorge De La Rosa, Wandy Rodriguez, Jake Peavy and Josh Beckett, as well as Josh Johnson and Jason Hammel available this off-season, Hoyer will have plenty of options to choose from to put together his staff. (It’s worth noting that Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have a connection with Hoyer and Epstein, whether or not that comes in to play remains to be seen.)
With virtually every player on every team going through the waiver process, the Cubs are certainly going to find a way to make a move to help the team going forward. Whether it’s a marquee move or just a minor one, pitching will definitely be first order of priority. Look for Hoyer and Epstein to be as aggressive as they were with Hammels with any player they deem worthy to help the club going forward that is put through the waiver process.
Cub Notes:
- Former top prospect and first round pick Brett Jackson finally played his way out of Chicago. Jackson was hitting just .210 this season after hitting a mere .223 last season at the AAA level. After peaking as the no. 35 over-all prospect and no.1 in the Cubs farm system in 2012, Jackson was promoted to the big club where he hit .175 in 44 games with 59 strikeouts. Jackson dropped out of the top 100 prospect list in 2013. Thursday, the Cubs officially gave up on him by trading him to the D’Backs for a 26 yr. old non-prospect minor league reliever with a 6.00 ERA.
- After an impressive rookie campaign in 2013, hitting .284 with an OBP of .332, Junior Lake opened 2014 as the Cubs starting Left Fielder. After a miserable start offensively (7 strikeouts in first 4 games) combined with lackluster fielding and very poor base running, Lake found himself relegated to the bench only seeing spot duty. On the year, Lake was hitting .216 with 102 strike outs, 6 errors, and only 10 walks and 63 hits in 291 at bats. Lake was optioned to the minors on Friday Aug. 15th making way for Dan Straily to make a spot start on Saturday. When told of his demotion, Lake stressed that he needed more playing time. With the trade of Brett Jackson a day earlier, Lake will see plenty of playing time in Iowa where he’ll most likely stay until September call-ups. With impressive prospect Jorge Soler on the way to the majors and Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez already looking like they are here to stay, look for Lake to stay away from the big league club for a while and permanently if the Cubs get the right offer for the 24 year old former prospect.
- On Aug. 6, 2014 the Cubs designated Nate Schierholtz for assignment. Schierholtz had a very poor season in his 8th campaign as a professional, batting .192 in 341 plate appearances. Schierholtz was shopped heavily prior to the trade deadline, but the Cubs found no takers. In August, Schierholtz found himself permanently locked out of playing time due to recent call-ups from the minors and the hot bats of Mike Sweeney and Chris Coghlan. Schierholtz was in DFA limbo from Aug.6th until Aug. 13th when the Cubs ultimately requested release waivers after another unsuccessful attempt to move him. On Aug.22nd, he will be a free agent.
- Outfielder Matt Szczur made his major league debut on Sunday Aug. 17th, reaching on a fielder’s choice in his first at bat. Szczur batted .257 with 28 stolen bases in 103 games in his first season at the AAA level with the Iowa Cubs before his promotion. He has played all 3 outfield positions this season including 66 in center, 13 in right and 20 in left.
