Bleacher Bums Forum

From the Cubs' perspective, any trade of Stanton would start with Baez and Vogelbach, IMO. Both are high ceiling guys currently blocked by borderline superstars who are very young. Baez has crazy tools, but he also has a long, long way to go, and if he is pushed off SS, his value drops. Probably not by much, given the **** poor state of 2B and 3B at the ML level, but the value still goes down. Vogelbach isn't going to move to another position with the way that Theo and Hoyer value defense, and I doubt Rizzo will, either. So unless the NL is getting a DH anytime soon, Vogelbach just doesn't fit this roster. Baez/Vogelbach isn't Profar/Olt by any means, but it's not chopped liver, either.

Not sure where you go from there, as I doubt the Cubs want to trade pitching outside of Garza, and I don't see Garza working for the Marlins. I don't see the Cubs selling low on Jackson, Almora is kind of the poster child for this front office, Soler's trade value probably isn't high enough to warrant including in the deal, and no one else is valueable enough to be a co-headliner in a Stanton deal. Perhaps that's where another team would have to get involved - Garza goes to a contender who sends more prospects to the Marlins, for example.

A trade for Stanton would be tough enough to accomplish, let alone a multi-team deal. It's fun to dream, and with the way a move like this could accellerate the Cubs' timetable to contention, converting risky long-term assets into blue-chip long term assets, I think a deal could make sense. I just don't think there's a deal to be had in the first place.

All that said, since we've entertained the impossible for a moment, why not continue? After the Cubs trade for Stanton, next winter they refuse to be out-bid for Cano.

Arb eligible in 2014, free agent in 2017, per baseball-reference.com.

I have no interest at all in raping our farm system for Stanton.

We need a lot more than one player no matter how good he may be.

I saw him play a lot when he was in the Southern League and he is an amzing athlete though.

It's hard to imagine that Vogelbach could be a worse left fielder than manny Ramirez.

Of course, it is possible that he won't be as good a hitter as manny.

I don't expect to see Vogelbach in Chicago before September 2015. By then, the National League may well have adopted the Designated Hitter to standardize the rules of MLB and stop the drain of NL sluggers moving to the AL for longer contracts than NL teams could sanely offer.

Even if that doesn't happen, Vogelbach might have trimmed down a bit by the time he reaches Chicago.

Finally, if Miguel Cabrera (listed as 6'4", 240) can play 3B, either Vogelbach or Rizzo might be able to do the same.

Actually, both are very good arguments.  The point being made is that if a player is a good enough hitter, Epstein is likely to find a place in the field for him.

If he doesn't turn out to be a good enough hitter, then he won't find a place for him.

Ruling him out at this point, without even knowing what kind of left fielder he would make, seems a little premature.

Mark Bellhorn was a swiss army knife kind of a player: did a ton of things marginally well enough to be useful. Could play any position on the diamond (and actually wasn't that bad at 2B), minus catcher. Switch hit. During the year he got a decent amount of PA's for Boston, he posted great offensive numbers for a MI.

Manny Ramirez is one of the best hitters ever. On the all time OPS+ leaderboard, his name is in the grouping with Mays, Aaron, DiMaggio, Wagner, Robinson, etc.

Both players are awful comps for Vogelbach as to why his defense might play in LF under a Theo regime.

Both payers are excellent examples, however, to refute the claim that Theo is so obsessed with defense that Vogelbach could not play OF for the Cubs under Theo.  If those who have worked with Vogelbach are correct in believing he could play LF without hurting the team defensively, then his defense would be better than Ramirez', and Bellhorn's marginal at best defense was at a premium defensive position, yet Theo sought him out for a contending team.

....The point being made is that if a player is a good enough hitter, Epstein is likely to find a place in the field for him.

If he doesn't turn out to be a good enough hitter, then he won't find a place for him.

Ruling him out at this point, without even knowing what kind of left fielder he would make, seems a little premature.

Exactimundo.  It's perhaps improbable that his defense will be close enough to average and his offense far enough above average to make it work.  But it's possible.  Maybe he will hit enough to make it work. 

Manny's net was so good that he was worth $20/year (before it was common), and to merit MVP discussion every year.  I don't think Vogelbach would need to hit at Manny's level to be at least useful.