The Cubs have acquired P Travis Wood, OF Dave Sappelt, and INF Ronald Torreyes from the Reds for P Sean Marshall
The new front office haven’t made a ton of moves so far this offseason, and this is probably the first one that points to a long-term strategy for rebuilding the team. Up until now, the moves have focused on immediate needs – trading for a third baseman, signing a rightfielder – but I can’t say the same thing about this deal. Sean Marshall has been one of the best relievers in baseball over the past couple years, and I don’t see any reason to believe that he won’t be just as good for the next couple. So this is obviously a deal made with an eye to the long term, since Marshall is a player the Cubs would want to hold on to if they were expecting to contend in 2012.
I have to say, the return that the Cubs got for him is reasonably impressive. Wood is a lefty and will step into the starting rotation immediately, where he had some success in his rookie year in 2010 before taking a step back last season. His combined numbers over the two seasons:
39 G, 35 GS, 208.2 IP, 4.18 ERA (95 ERA+), 19 HR, 2.8 BB/9, 7.0 K/9
If the Cubs can get a full year of that kind of production, I’d say that it justifies the Marshall trade all by itself, as it’s basically the kind of production you’d want from a decent #4 starter. I like that he doesn’t walk a ton of hitters – only Rodrigo Lopez walked fewer than 2.8 per 9 innings last season among Cubs starters, but Lopez only struck out 5 batters per 9, which makes for a pretty mediocre K/BB ratio. And only Matt Garza averaged less than a homer allowed per 9 innings among Cubs starters last season, while Wood’s averaging 0.8 over his two seasons.
So which Wood will they get, the one who dominated the minor leagues in 2009 and had an impressive major league debut in 2010, or the one who couldn’t hold his spot in the majors in 2011 (and got hit hard in the minors as well)? Who knows, but like I alluded to earlier, I’d be happy with him if he ends up being somewhere near the middle. At any rate, he definitely has upside, and young players with upside (he’ll be 25 next year) is what the Cubs need more than anything right now as they rebuild the talent in the organization.
Along those lines, the Cubs somehow got the Reds to part with Torreyes, who torched the Midwest League (low-A level) last year as an 18-year-old. The numbers:
306 PA, .356/.398/.457, 3 HR, 19 K, 12 SB in 19 attempts
That may not look like much – a high batting average with little patience or power – but again, he was 18 and it was the Midwest League. For context, last season the Cubs didn’t have a single player as young as Torreyes play a single game for Peoria, their Midwest League affiliate (and even more tellingly, they only had one player, 23-year-old 1B Richard Jones, put up numbers as good). Starlin Castro was playing in the Arizona League when he was 18. That doesn’t mean Torreyes will advance as rapidly through the minors as Castro did – almost no one does – but I think he’s an exciting acquisition. He doesn’t strike out much, he seems sure-handed in the field (only 3 errors in 263 chances at second base last season), and actually has decent power for a guy his size (he’s listed at 5’9″, 140 lbs). I’m looking forward to see how he fares in 2012, presumably starting the year at high-A Daytona.
Sappelt comes to the Cubs after making his major league debut last season as a 24-year-old for the Reds, where he didn’t really hit a lick in 118 plate appearances. He played mostly in CF in the minors, and actually has had a pretty good offensive record on the farm:
1781 PA, .309/.362/.459, 31 HR, 233 K, 82 SB in 129 attempts
Not much of a base stealer, but overall this is the record of a guy who can have some value at the major league level. He looks like he could be a solid reserve outfielder, able to play all three outfield spots, get on base at a decent rate and provide moderate power off the bench.
Overall, I’d have to say that I’m enthusiastic about the trade and the new direction that it signals for the team. There’s no doubt that they’ll miss Marshall, who has been dominant out of the pen for last two years. But the Cubs have a desperate need to upgrade the talent in the organization, and it’s worth giving up a reliever – even a great one like Marshall – in order to get a good head start on that process.
The Cubs Transaction Report 