Trade ideas to bolster Cubs bullpen |
Throughout an MLB season, some surprise trades are made, and none more surprising than the San Diego Padres getting Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins. Knowing that and understanding the Marlins' position with some of their players, many expect the Marlins to be in business earlier than you typically see.
There is a reason the Cubs have been linked to them regarding Jesus Luzardo and Tanner Scott, but unless the price is right, don't look for the Cubs to overpay just yet. If this was closer to the actual trade deadline, you could see that happening, but with Justin Steele and Kyle Hendricks on the way back to the rotation, Ben Brown and Hayden Wesneski will most likely move back to the pen, which immediately improves their situation. At 21-14, the Chicago Cubs are thrilled with how this season has started, especially when you look at the injuries they have dealt with. Their starting staff has an ERA of 3.13, which is good for fourth in all of MLB, while their offense has put up runs even if they are inconsistent at times. However, despite the team's success across 35 games, one glaring weakness needs to be addressed, which is the bullpen, as they enter Monday with a 4.78 combined ERA. That puts them 22nd in MLB, and if the Cubs truly want to be taken seriously this season, adding to the bullpen is a must. With Brown and Wesneski most likely heading there in a couple of weeks, there is a good chance the pen sorts itself out as reinforcements are on the way. However, with many of their arms considered unproven, this could be one of those seasons where the Cubs target relief help earlier than normal, and that time could be coming as soon as next week. Scott was discussed earlier as a great option for the Cubs, given their need for a lefty and an arm with late-inning experience, but he isn't the only target the Cubs should pursue. Mason Miller of Oakland would be a home run acquisition, but unless the Cubs want to give up the farm to get him, that doesn't seem beneficial, at least not this early in the season. If the Cubs want to target high-leverage relievers, they will have to think outside the box and target teams that will either be in sell mode sooner rather than later or look for players who will not be part of a team's future. Let me introduce Luis Garcia, who is putting together a fine season with the Los Angeles Angels. Who is Garcia, you may ask? Well, he is a 37-year-old righty currently holding a 5.54 ERA. Not exactly what you are looking for when it comes to a team already struggling in the pen. Throw in his age, and most of you are probably wondering why the Cubs would even think about targeting him. Well, for starters, adding him would come cheap and wouldn't cost the Cubs a ton, which does factor into this equation. A big reason for his high ERA is a pair of horrible outings that inflated it right away. You can't throw those outings away or anything, but take those outings out of the equation, and he has been excellent this season. In his other 12 appearances this season, Garcia has allowed ONLY one earned run. This is two bad outings and 12 superb outings. That means he allowed eight runs and seven earned runs in less than two innings in his other two outings, which is a massive ERA killer. Looking further into what Garcia brings to the table, he gives the Cubs everything they are looking for in a reliever. Despite his velocity being slightly down from the past few seasons, Garcia is still sitting in the 96-97 MPH range, which would give the Cubs another hard-thrower to lean on. To go with that high velocity, Garcia is a strike-throwing machine. He is currently striking out 28.3% of the batters he’s faced, while his 14.7% whiff rate ranks 34th out of 204 qualified relievers. Both of those would be considered elite in today's game. Along with a great strikeout rate, Garcia also has some of the best command in baseball. His walk rate is down to 5.7%, nearly half the league-average mark for relievers. With the Cubs pen ranking near the top of the league in walk rate, adding a guy who doesn't walk hitters is a must. A few more things that stand out about Garcia are that he is a ground ball machine that sees 55.1% of his outs come on the ground while also doing a great job of inducing weak contact. He does that with a splitter that generates a whiff 58.3% of the time while generating a .050 xAVG and .061 xSLG. Should that continue at Wrigley Field with the Cubs infield behind him, look for even better numbers, as he could become a lethal weapon out of the pen. Most expect the Cubs to make some relief move this season, and knowing the struggles the pen has had since day one, that move could come sooner rather than later. What that move will be depends solely on what it would cost to get a guy, and Garcia would net the lowest return of any of the current options. That is something Hoyer will consider, and knowing what we know about Garcia, he could be a diamond in the rough that will help stabilize this pen.
