The 2016 Cubs: SPLOOGE SPLOOGE SPLOOGE

[Saul Goodman]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa.  

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

I'm very down with this trade, pending final players.

If it's Vogelbach for Montgomery straight up, that's fantastic.

Reports that Paul Blackburn is headed Seattle's way too.

[Saul Goodman]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa.  

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

I'm very down with this trade, pending final players.

If it's Vogelbach for Montgomery straight up, that's fantastic.

Reports that Paul Blackburn is headed Seattle's way too.

DPD. Cubs are supposedly getting a Triple-A starter. I'll speculate and say either Lee or Martin. Unless they want Donn Roach back.

[Saul Goodman]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa. 

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

I'm very down with this trade, pending final players.

If it's Vogelbach for Montgomery straight up, that's fantastic.

Reports that Paul Blackburn is headed Seattle's way too.

DPD. Cubs are supposedly getting a Triple-A starter. I'll speculate and say either Lee or Martin. Unless they want Donn Roach back.

Drat. It's 26-year-old RHP Jordan Pries, who has only made three starts for Tacoma so I didn't think it'd be him. The Cubs must have been impressed by his 7 ER allowed in 11 IP against Tennessee during June. Doesn't look very special, might just be a guy. Or maybe ... #BosioMagic

[D. Doluntap]

Guh. Seems pretty old.

[Quality Start Machine]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa.  

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

The Yankees are busy doing their 2015 White Sox imitation, coming out of the break hot before they fizzle. They might not be sellers at all.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa.  

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

The Yankees are busy doing their 2015 White Sox imitation, coming out of the break hot before they fizzle. They might not be sellers at all.

Montgomery was a first round pick 8 years ago (much like Miller was 10 years ago) and it took the southpaw a little time to figure things out (like Miller).  He's 27 now (Miller was 25 when Theo signed him for Boston after the 2010 season--although Miller's metrics--at the time--didn't really show that he had figured things out yet), and might just be reaching some late-arriving excellence which is not uncommon for many lefthanders (like, well, you know).  I'm not saying Theo's saying that Montgomery's  the next Andrew Miller, but that Theo does see a parallel trajectory between the 2, and that it didn't cost him shit to acquire the former while staying firmly in the hunt for the latter*.  I also wonder if Montgomery himself won't be flipped to land Miller or Chapman or both--his long-term upside and cost control (not arbitration-eligible until 2019, no free agency until 2022) being an attractive feature to the Yanks if they do, indeed, decide to sell.


There's also some sort of parallel here to Arrieta having turned it around I suppose too

[SKO]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa.  

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

The Yankees are busy doing their 2015 White Sox imitation, coming out of the break hot before they fizzle. They might not be sellers at all.

Montgomery was a first round pick 8 years ago (much like Miller was 10 years ago) and it took the southpaw a little time to figure things out (like Miller).  He's 27 now (Miller was 25 when Theo signed him for Boston after the 2010 season--although Miller's metrics--at the time--didn't really show that he had figured things out yet), and might just be reaching some late-arriving excellence which is not uncommon for many lefthanders (like, well, you know).  I'm not saying Theo's saying that Montgomery's  the next Andrew Miller, but that Theo does see a parallel trajectory between the 2, and that it didn't cost him shit to acquire the former while staying firmly in the hunt for the latter*.  I also wonder if Montgomery himself won't be flipped to land Miller or Chapman or both--his long-term upside and cost control (not arbitration-eligible until 2019, no free agency until 2022) being an attractive feature to the Yanks if they do, indeed, decide to sell.


There's also some sort of parallel here to Arrieta having turned it around I suppose too

I don't even really care about Andrew Miller if Theo thinks he's got bigger fish to fry than blowing his load for a reliever. Montgomery's a solid reliever in his own right who can definitely be called upon to get out a dominant left handed hitter but is also capable of owning an inning all by himself. He's 17th among all relievers with at least 40 innings pitched in terms of OPS against and doesn't really have much of a platoon split. Some people question if he's due to give up a lot of dingers because he gave up a bunch as a starter last year, but since moving to the pen he's gained 3 ticks on his fastball, has allowed a lot less hard contact, and gotten more groundballs and infield flies. Seems like he's legit to me.

Theo may also wait and see if Edwards can keep this up before he decides more pen help is needed. Right now Edwards/Montgomery/Strop/Rondon with Wood available as your long man or loogy depending on the situation is a promising group, with Matusz potentially joining them in the near future. Grimm's also been less of a dumpster fire of late and if he's your 5th or 6th option you're probably not in a place where overpaying for Miller is your best bet.

My guess is Theo is going to add a legitimate left handed OF and maybe also blow our minds with a completely unexpected trade for a starter with multiple years of control.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Cubs trade Vogelbach to Mariners for Mike Montgomery.

Whoa.  

And possibly more players in the deal if Twitter is to be believed.

Montgomery is pretty good. He's been worth a win and a half per bWAR, almost 1 per fWAR. He'll help.

But I still want Miller.

The Yankees are busy doing their 2015 White Sox imitation, coming out of the break hot before they fizzle. They might not be sellers at all.

Montgomery was a first round pick 8 years ago (much like Miller was 10 years ago) and it took the southpaw a little time to figure things out (like Miller).  He's 27 now (Miller was 25 when Theo signed him for Boston after the 2010 season--although Miller's metrics--at the time--didn't really show that he had figured things out yet), and might just be reaching some late-arriving excellence which is not uncommon for many lefthanders (like, well, you know).  I'm not saying Theo's saying that Montgomery's  the next Andrew Miller, but that Theo does see a parallel trajectory between the 2, and that it didn't cost him shit to acquire the former while staying firmly in the hunt for the latter*.  I also wonder if Montgomery himself won't be flipped to land Miller or Chapman or both--his long-term upside and cost control (not arbitration-eligible until 2019, no free agency until 2022) being an attractive feature to the Yanks if they do, indeed, decide to sell.


There's also some sort of parallel here to Arrieta having turned it around I suppose too

I don't even really care about Andrew Miller if Theo thinks he's got bigger fish to fry than blowing his load for a reliever. Montgomery's a solid reliever in his own right who can definitely be called upon to get out a dominant left handed hitter but is also capable of owning an inning all by himself. He's 17th among all relievers with at least 40 innings pitched in terms of OPS against and doesn't really have much of a platoon split. Some people question if he's due to give up a lot of dingers because he gave up a bunch as a starter last year, but since moving to the pen he's gained 3 ticks on his fastball, has allowed a lot less hard contact, and gotten more groundballs and infield flies. Seems like he's legit to me.

Theo may also wait and see if Edwards can keep this up before he decides more pen help is needed. Right now Edwards/Montgomery/Strop/Rondon with Wood available as your long man or loogy depending on the situation is a promising group, with Matusz potentially joining them in the near future. Grimm's also been less of a dumpster fire of late and if he's your 5th or 6th option you're probably not in a place where overpaying for Miller is your best bet.

My guess is Theo is going to add a legitimate left handed OF and maybe also blow our minds with a completely unexpected trade for a starter with multiple years of control.

I'm thinking Chris Archer.

[SKO]

It's also possible Theo is maybe going to just get Chapman and not Miller, since the price is presumably less for a rental, but I'd still feel crappy having to root for that guy.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Forgive me, I didn't want to quote your last reply and repost a wall of text.

But, if Bleacher Nation and Ken Rosenthal are to be believed, the Cubs tried making the Pomeranz deal to San Diego a three team doozie by potentially acquiring Pomeranz and then flipping him to another team for a starting pitcher with more cost/team control than Pomeranz. According to Rosenthal (and he seemed pretty sure of himself and so did BN), the Padres were asking for Javier Baez in return and Cubs said no.

And this is what makes me believe the media can go fuck themselves with the Schwarber for Miller/Chapman trade drumbeat. The Cubs value Javier Baez a lot. We know this. And we know this because they have blatantly stated it but they've also indirectly directly stated it by refusing to trade him for a team and cost controlled starting pitcher better than Drew Pomeranz, if we believe Ken Rosenthal and Bleacher Nation. And I just have to think the Cubs believe Kyle Schwarber is a cornerstone of their offense akin to Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. At least that's how I view his bat.

Not to mention that I don't think the Cubs are going to win any more or less World Series this year with or without Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman. They only pitch an inning and I think the Cubs accomplished two things in acquiring Mike Montgomery--LHP that murders LH hitting from the bullpen and a cost controlled pitcher with the ability to be stretched into a starter.

I don't think their next move is Chapman or Miller...I'm with SKO. I think their next move is either a team controlled SP or a LH OF bat, or both. But I think their sights are focused on the starting pitcher what with the contracts of Lackey and Arrieta to be addressed after 2017 and Hammel being a FA at the end of this year.

[Quality Start Machine]

Theo may also wait and see if Edwards can keep this up before he decides more pen help is needed. Right now Edwards/Montgomery/Strop/Rondon with Wood available as your long man or loogy depending on the situation is a promising group, with Matusz potentially joining them in the near future. Grimm's also been less of a dumpster fire of late and if he's your 5th or 6th option you're probably not in a place where overpaying for Miller is your best bet.

We'll also find out fairly soon if Joe Nathan can serve any purpose for a couple months.

[SKO]

Theo may also wait and see if Edwards can keep this up before he decides more pen help is needed. Right now Edwards/Montgomery/Strop/Rondon with Wood available as your long man or loogy depending on the situation is a promising group, with Matusz potentially joining them in the near future. Grimm's also been less of a dumpster fire of late and if he's your 5th or 6th option you're probably not in a place where overpaying for Miller is your best bet.

We'll also find out fairly soon if Joe Nathan can serve any purpose for a couple months.

Spoiler: No

[PenFoe]

Theo may also wait and see if Edwards can keep this up before he decides more pen help is needed. Right now Edwards/Montgomery/Strop/Rondon with Wood available as your long man or loogy depending on the situation is a promising group, with Matusz potentially joining them in the near future. Grimm's also been less of a dumpster fire of late and if he's your 5th or 6th option you're probably not in a place where overpaying for Miller is your best bet.

We'll also find out fairly soon if Joe Nathan can serve any purpose for a couple months.

Spoiler: No

Armando Rivero still just hanging around in Iowa, striking everyone out that he doesn't walk.

[SKO]

So the 25 Man currently:

C: Contreras, Ross, Montero
1B: Rizzo
2B: Zobrist, Baez
SS: Russell
3B: Bryant, La Stella
LF: Szczur
CF: Almora
RF: Heyward
SP: Arrieta, Lester, Hendricks, Lackey, Hammel
RP: Rondon, Strop, Edwards Jr, Grimm, Wood, Richard, Warren, Patton.

They will need to add Montgomery and Fowler tomorrow. My guess is Fowler takes Almora's spot as he goes to Iowa, Patton probably demoted to make room for Montgomery.

If they do want to call up Nathan/Matusz do they DFA Richard? Whose spot does Soler take? Hopefully just a long DL stint for Miguel with a  phantom injury till September. Either way some very interesting roster decisions are coming.

[SKO]

Morosi saying on the twitters that the Cubs are asking about Josh Reddick, who has hit .301/.380/.445 in Oakland this year and is warming back up after recovering from a broken bone. Would like that, although would still hope they find a way to play Javy fairly regularly.