Overview - Roster Moves

The Cubs seem to have set their roster for right now by dumping the veterans Victorino, Parra, and Kawasaki, then resigning them to minor league deals.  These guys are around pretty much for insurance purposes anyway.  The Cubs also announced that Neil Ramirez had made the team as the 13th pitcher.  Not a surprise because he is out of options, but thirteen is too many pitchers to carry, so in the long run something has got to give.  Also, given the way the bullpen is structured with so many long options like Richard and Cahill and Wood and Warren, I cannot see how these guys or the rest of the short men are going to get much work.  My guess is that ultimately the team is going to trade one of the aforementioned players or send Warren down to be groomed as a starter.

The last piece of the puzzle was putting Baez on the DL.  He has got to stop sliding headfirst, as he lost significant time last year with a more serious injury.  Szczur was kind of a predictable choice to fill the last roster spot.  He is out of options and he is a solid defensive outfielder who is going to be playing left field a lot in the late innings when the team is ahead.  The Cubs are actually a little short on genuine outfielders with only four on the roster, three if you don't count Schwarber.

Baez was supposed to be the Zobrist utility guy in training, but he has very little experience in the outfield and he is quite a good defensive middle infielder.  I would not be at all surprised to see Baez remain in the minors for a while, especially if his role in the near future is to be the super sub.  He can learn to play the outfield positions there and he can also play everyday and improve his plate discipline, which is still a big hole in his game.

As far as assessing the off-season, the Cubs behaved like a team that was pretty much set and satisfied, having won 97 games when they did not expect to do so.  They traded Castro and got rather a better return in Warren than most people expected.  This relieved a lot of the logjam that was created in the infield.  They did not choose to add a big name big money pitcher like Price or Greinke, picking up the aging veteran Lackey instead.

The Cubs overpaid for Heyward, but he is a complete player and a solid veteran at only 26, so you cannot fault them for that move, especially when it appeared that Fowler was headed elsewhere.  The biggest surprise was signing Fowler and for such a short term deal at that.  Fowler's signing was really the key to their strategy, which seems to be win now.  It's possibly a risk, especially when considered in the light of bringing in Zobrist as well, in that it does put the development of players like Schwarber and Soler and Baez in a holding pattern where they will be forced to share playing time.

Spring Training Update

My apologies for neglecting this blog for a while.  Not a lot of news and I have been absorbed in primary politics as well.

As was noted in earlier posts, there is not a whole lot of competition in camp for roster spots, given the Cubs are pretty well set, especially with the unexpected addition of Dexter Fowler to the outfield mix.  Of the veterans who might have been considered questionable, it looks as if Kyle Hendricks will be the fifth starter and Jason Hammel the fourth.  Hammel has looked particularly good thus far.

Among the young players, Candelario, yet another infielder, and Contreras, another catcher, have been especially impressive.  The Cubs have an embarrassment of riches in terms of young position players.  These two are likely to need another year at AAA to mature, but, by all accounts, they are knocking on the door.

The wildest news of spring training has to be the whole Adam LaRoche kerfuffle with the White Sox.  I'm sorry, but I have to side with management of this one.  Doesn't this kid go to school?  You have to wonder if this doesn't work out in the Sox best interests as well, since LaRoche is pretty much done as a player.  I mean, who has a DH who is basically a platoon option who hits just slightly above the Mendoza line and earns $13MM?