Carp
DCC 4Life
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Luis Sardinas.
MLB Chatter Thread
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Bob Roberts
Professor StinkFinger
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Who the hell is Odor?
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Middle Infielder at high A. Supposed to be another good middle infield prospect. Was one of the candidates for the vote in for the minor league all star game. Rangers are loaded at that position with Profar, Sardinas, Odor, Garcia, and Rua.
Simpleton
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D
Deuce
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It's so cute that you need a come from behind win and for your closer to finish it.
Matt Moore, on the other hand, just went CG shutout on the Red Sox.
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Moore is probably linked to Tony Bosch.
D
Deuce
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Aaron Rodgers will come to his defense and make you feel stupid.
E_D_Guapo
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Interesting. Well, Garza's elbow is no longer my concern. Odor would have been nice but I don't mind getting an arm with some potential in Grimm. He's pretty much been a disaster in the majors in his brief time up but young/talented enough to maybe turn into a useful starter.
Does anyone here have ESPN Insider? If so and you wouldn't mind posting the Keith Law article on the Garza trade I'd really appreciate it.
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Cubs do well in Matt Garza deal
By Keith Law
Matt Garza is an elite pitcher but he's had trouble staying healthy.
After zeroing in on Matt Garza for a few days, the Texas Rangers acquired him from the Chicago Cubs on Monday for prospects Mike Olt and C.J. Edwards, right-hander Justin Grimm, and a player to be named later.
The Rangers' need for a starter had become desperate, as their alternative to acquiring Garza was calling David Clyde to ask if he had anything left. Garza replaces Grimm in the rotation, which would be something on the order of a 4-5 win upgrade over the course of a full season (in terms of wins above replacement), and maybe as much as 2 WAR from now until the end of the season.
Garza's main issue has been lack of health, as he's been effective when healthy but has made just 29 starts since the beginning of 2012. He's long been a four-pitch guy, but has barely used his changeup, by far his worst pitch, in 2013, and instead has increased the use of his two-seamer, a pitch he'd largely eschewed for years because he couldn't command it.
That two-seamer has good sinking life but hasn't produced ground balls this year, as Garza's ground-ball rate (39.8 percent) is his lowest since he was traded to the Cubs before the 2011 season. He helps the Rangers, obviously, but he alone won't bridge the gap between them and the Oakland Athletics, and I think they need to find one more starter.
It's also worth noting that Garza is a free agent after this season, which means the Rangers are only acquiring him for the rest of 2013 and cannot reap draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere over the winter.
Olt's year has been derailed by vision problems that forced him to miss most of May, but prior to that the 24-year-old projected as an above-average everyday third baseman who added a ton of value on defense and hit for power with a low contact rate and modest OBP. Since coming off the DL in Triple-A, he's hitting .247/.353/.506, with 57 strikeouts in 186 plate appearances, a decent facsimile of what I expect from him in the majors, perhaps with slightly more contact when his vision is 100 percent again.
He's turned himself into a plus defender at third -- he was a bad defensive shortstop at UConn -- and the raw power is probably grade-70 on the 20-80 scouting scale, so if he can hit enough to get to that power, he has 25-30 homer potential. He's no Gary Scott, but Cub fans should be pleased.
Edwards is the wild card of the trade, boasting a very high upside with a limited track record and pedigree that belies his actual talent level. He has easy plus velocity, 90-96, with an above-average to plus curveball with good depth and 12-to-6 break, and a developing changeup that projects as average to slightly above. The 21-year-old has a 1.83 ERA with 122 strikeouts in 93 1/3 innings for low Class Hickory this year.
He's aggressive and throws strikes, with a little life on the fastball, and probably could go to high-A at this point given how well he's dominated low-A. The main issue with Edwards is that he's slight of build, atypically so for a starter, listed at 6-foot-2, 155 pounds. You have to develop him as a starter because of the chance for three pitches and the success so far, but it's fair to worry about his durability.
Grimm might be a fifth starter but right now projects more as a swingman or middle guy because he's a two-pitch pitcher, fastball and curveball, whose fastball is flat and changeup is below average. Lefties hit him particularly hard, which is saying something because righties have had their way with him this year as well, and his high BABIP isn't a function of bad luck so much as poor command and lack of fastball life. Moving to the NL may help a little, but the biggest key will be finding a usable changeup for him.
The Cubs will also receive a player to be named from a list of names on which the teams have already agreed, making the return for them even better at some point, although even without that, Olt and Edwards alone are a strong return for 10-12 starts of Garza.
Carp
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I'd actually be pretty happy if I was a Rangers fan. Losing Olt and Grimm...feh, they are not elite prospects IMO. Edwards has some real upside, he is the one I really like in the deal for the Cubs, but the Rangers have young pitching to deal. They are dealing from a position of strength. I wouldn't lose sleep over Ramirez either...he's had some injuries and is 24. Meanwhile, the Rangers did not have to deal Martin, Perez, Odor, Sardinas, Buckel, Gallo, etc...you guys are loaded with young prospects.
Now...you slot Garza in behind Darvish and you have an excellent top 2 in the rotation.
Now...you slot Garza in behind Darvish and you have an excellent top 2 in the rotation.
E_D_Guapo
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It definitely didn't hurt the Rangers too badly. Garza is going to help that team compete for the division and he should be an asset in the postseason, assuming they make it. He's no Clayton Kershaw but he's legit and they didn't have to part with a ton to get him.
From a Cubs fan point of view I'm very happy with the return. Olt isn't a truly elite prospect but was near that level prior to his poor 2013 (vision problems he had were likely result of concussion from what I've read). Everyone says he's a plus defender at 3B and he can definitely hit for power. If he can be a .250/25/85 type of player at the plate he could be a nice everyday 3B for years to come.
Excited about Edwards' potential but he's a long way off and is going to have to prove himself as he advances levels. I do like Grimm being included as well simply because he has some pedigree and is still young enough to get better. The Cubs got Travis Wood, a similarly floundering former highly touted prospect, in the Sean Marshall deal and he has turned into a pretty good starter. One of the issues Law says Grimm has is that he is a two pitch pitcher. Samardzija used to be that guy but developed a third pitch and is now a good starter. If Grimm never cuts it as a starter he could maybe at least be a valuable bullpen guy.
Interesting to see who they get as PTBNL. I read that they're entitled to 2 PTBNL in this deal but if they select Neil Ramirez as one then they forfeit the second one. I was way down on Ramirez as a major piece of this deal but as a PTBNL? I'll take a chance on a guy that once was a pretty highly regarded prospect.
Nice trade that gave both teams what they wanted, IMO. Even if none of the players the Cubs get pan out they can't be faulted for the kind of value they got at the time of the trade. Never know which prospects are going to pan out but they got a couple of pretty good ones. Not bad for Garza, who they apparently aren't interested in signing long-term anyway.
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