Bleacher Bums Forum

That is an oddball kind of trade.  I wonder why we didn't just take Loux in the Dempster trade in the first place. 

Also, I know Whitenack making the 40 man isn't a shocking development, but I thought the need to roster him was kind of overstated around here.  Nice to see that he apparently showed enough this year where Theo and company thought he was worth protecting.

Miles said it was prearranged if Brigham got hurt.

Thanks.  That makes a lot more sense.

I wonder if Brigham was damaged goods, and this is really just a redo of the Soto deal.

Outside of Vizcaino, Loux is probably easily the Cubs' best pitching prospect at the upper levels.  Of course, you probably could've said the same thing about Brigham.

I forgot he was part of the Soto deal and not the Dempster deal.  I'm really not sure Brigham was all that promising.  Seemed like all of the scouting reports at the time of the deal said his fastball was already starting to slip. 

Granted Loux sounds like he has his own set of question marks, but he does sound more interesting to me.  Of course, we're talking about our return for a washed up Geo Soto, so anything that's an improvement over a rusty bucket of batting practice balls has to be considered a good return.

40-man roster is at 40.

Jaye Chapman is pretty replaceable as well.  Chris Rusin might be another guy.

I'd still imagine Gerardo Concepcion wouldn't have much of a problem making it through waivers.  I think we still owe him $2-3 million, but we may not be ready to risk losing a guy we've made a $6 million investment in yet.  We spent a 40 man roster spot on Lendy Castillo all year last year, but he could conceivably make it through or be another candidate to go.

The Cubs still need (at least) an OF and a SP, and may want room for a Rule 5 pick as well.

Need them for what?

For the 2013 stretch run?

While many of us may want a 2013 team which is enjoyable to watch not just because they are approach the game better, but also because they are willing a lot of games, I suspect the Theocracy is still primarily concerned with the long term and will manage the 40 man roster with that in mind, and not in such a way as to get another couple of wins in 2013.

To the extent that the 2013 team on the field can be improved while simultaneously doing as much as possible to improve the team's long term prospects, great, but if that happens I suspect it will primarily be coincidental as opposed to the result of design.

#Cubs select contracts of 4 to add to 40-man roster: RHP Trey McNutt, IF Christian Villanueva, IF Logan Watkins & RHP Robert Whitenack

None of these was sure things, so each is interesting.  Villanueva is probably the least surprising.  And given that they'll want to protect as many as they can, no surprise that on a roster that has little more than 20 guys worth protecting, some of the guys added to the back-end are probably as marginal as guys they will end up replacing. 

Whitenack is the biggest surprise.  For an A-ball guy coming off surgery and having been really ineffective this year with an 80's fastball, he wouldn't have seemed to be a compelling Rule 5 pickup.  But I imagine that coming off of surgery, he's the most unpredictable.  If his velocity jumps back to what it had been the spring before his elbow blew, he might be way better in 2013 than he was in 2012. 

INteresting that Watkins made it.  He's a guy who produced well, and has drawn board interest, but the enthusiasm from scouts outside the organization has been pretty restrained, and I haven't heard a bunch of buzz from within the org either.  Having him on the roster could be convenient, though.  A utility guy who can yo-yo back-and-forth to be the 25th man is a convenience for Sveum.  I know McNutt has a name from a couple years ago, and only two years ago he was a BA top-100 prospect.  I wonder if he still has any real potential left?  ERA was 4.50 second half, so it's not like he'd really turned things around.  Although in relief his ERA was 3.86, so maybe a little progress there.  Scouting is the game with pitchers, obviously.  But stats-wise, he seems like kind of a lose-lose-lose statistical profile.  High HR/low K/high walks is not your usual profile for pitching success.  And I don't think he's been reported to throw especially hard these last couple of seasons, either.  Maybe another offseason of the right drills, and some good coaching, and we could see a new guy?  Why not hope, I guess.