Cubs keep Patton, Guzman
The Cubs just finalized their opening-day roster, and they bit the bullet on one salary. Making the team in the bullpen are Rule 5 draft pick David Patton and longtime prospect Angel Guzman. The Cubs also optioned right-hander Jeff Samardzija to Class AAA Iowa, where he presumably will work as a starting pitcher.
The biggest news out of this was that the Cubs released veteran right-hander Chad Gaudin, who had a miserable spring training. The Cubs will be on the hook for $1.6 million of the $2 million he has coming. If another team picks him up, and somebody will, they pick up the remainder, which amounts to the major-league minimum salary. GM Jim Hendry tried over the last few days to trade Gaudin, but other teams apparently sensed they could pick Gaudin up without relinquishing a player.
I've been all for keeping Patton, whom the Cubs obtained in a trade with Cincinnati at the winter meetings. The Reds took Patton in the Rule 5 draft out of the Colorado organization. The Cubs must keep Patton on the major-league roster all season as part of the Rule 5 stipulations.
The 24-year-old Patton walked a pair of batters Saturday at Yankee Stadium, but he had a great Cactus League. In 12 games, he was 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA. In 13 1-3 Cactus League innings, he gave up 13 hits and 2 runs while walking only three and striking out 15. The Cubs loved his "mound presence." The kid never looked rattled, and he had a confidence about him that belied his pitching only as high as Class A for the Rockies.
Back at the winter meetings, Hendry said his scouts, particulary Libertyville's Lucas McKnight, provided strong reports on Patton and that they took him in deference to the scouts. I'm told McKnight's work was particularly gutsy and insightful. A lot of scouts might ignore a middle reliever, but McKnight was on Patton and provided strong recommendations. We'll see how it pans out.
Guzman had a 7.94 ERA in the Cactus League, but he threw the ball better as time went on. He is out of minor-league options, and the Cubs apparently feel they didn't want to lose him after all the time they spent rehabbing him from various injuries over the years.
Gaudin, whom the Cubs got from Oakland last July along with Rich Harden, never did get it together in spring training, and baseball types told me he was overstriding. He had a 10.91 Cactus League ERA, giving up 26 hits and 19 earned runs in 15 2-3 innings.
The opening-night lineup looks like this for tomorrow:
Soriano, LF
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Ramirez, 3B
Fontenot, 2B
Soto, C
Theriot, SS
Zambrano, P
let's see, last year Lou wanted to see the strut, swagger, attitude.....now he prefers a low key approach.............like fighting for home field advantage then after losing 3 in a row, many people, players, and lou said they should have started on the road cause there was to much pressure to win here at home....now you see why I'm not a Lou fan......oh well maybe it's just me, lol....
Just remember how bad of a field manager Dusty Baker was and appreciate Lou for what he does from inning #1 to inning #9. Forget about the rest of it - he is the best in-game manager the Cubs have had for a long time - probably since Don Zimmer.
ditto
He's also the best talent evaluator. In '07, he quickly sized up who could play and who couldn't. The Cubs got rid of who couldn't.
ditto.............this site is awesome.........i love the interaction........heard you on espn and now that i think of it you should have been partnered with the othe bruce.....nothing agaisnt the new guy there....just think what talent and call it the bruce and bruce show.......have a good day.....
Lou changes his mind about all subjects. One day he needs this. The next he needs that. The Cubs opened the '07 playoffs on the road. So they're 0-for-2 in opening on the road and at home. Maybe it can be a neutral site this year.
Hi Bruce...
I agree with the roster as set, and I was glad to see Hendry not being afraid to bite the bullet on Gaudin. I do have reservations about Vizcaino and the lack of a second lefty, however.
QUESTION: I wonder if Hoffpauir realizes that he is the only player on the roster with an option, and how that could affect him this year??? After all, whenever the Cubs need that other infielder, spot starter, lefty reliever, or other temporary replacement for a few games, unless they can DL someone, Hoffy will keep the road HOT between Chicago and Des Moines! I don't like it, but that's the way it is. It would just be nice to know if he realizes just how precarius his opportunity is, even if he is hitting like he can?
Unless you know, you can wait to answer after you talk to him, as I am going to miss the series in Houston. I have a funeral trip tomorrow through Wednesday. I'll look for the answer after I get back.
He fully well knows his situation. As a 29-year-old rookie, he's been in the game long enough to know how precarious his situation is and will continue to be.
Thanks for the response, Bruce, but....
I didn't mean to imply that he wouldn't or couldn't know; but the usual things that make a rookie's stay "precarious" like nervousness, outright failure, getting beat out, being unable to play D, etc., I'm quite sure he or any 29 year rookie would know. But would he necessarily be aware of the options status of other young players that leaves him as the ONLY optionable player? That's something else. Besides, it could be that he was just so excited and focused about making the team, that he really hadn't looked beyond the usual threats to his stay.
What a shame after earning his way onto the team, if he should get cheated out of it because a string of injuries to one player or another kept him playing most of the year at Iowa, or at best keeping the road "hot" between Chicago and Des Moines.
The winner of the position battle is 24 years old and never pitched an inning above Single A; but happened to have a nice 13.1 innings in spring training.
The losing pitcher is just 14 months older, was given $2,000,000 just three months ago, and has 449 innings pitched in the big leagues with average numbers across the board.
I'm very interested to see how it plays out through the year.
I like the move. It's about time the rubber meets the road/push comes to shove with this guy. Hopefully he's beyond medical issues and can now contribute.
Four left handed hitters (Z included) in the lineup against the little Amish boy tomorrow night...nice.
I guess I shouldn't have forgotten him when I was counting lefties in the lineup since he's one of the more potent hitters. I remember the big homer he hit off Wade Miller in 2003 when Dusty let him bat in Houston.
With Guzman, he threw well this spring. It's put up or shut up.
Cubs were down something like 3-1, and Miller threw a hanging curve ball that Z whacked deep to right to tie the game, I think. I was sitting in the upper deck of deep right center...
And Colorado preferred to trade for Jason Hammel from Tampa Bay.
I'm pretty unhappy about the way this worked out. I doubt Guzman can stay healthy long enough to be a real asset: for him, it's just been one thing after another after another after another. The Cubs only got him in the first place because of one of his injuries: Guzman was originally signed by the Royals, but they voided the contract when his physical showed he already had an arm problem. The Cubs thought the condition was treatable and scooped Guzman up; maybe it was, but he's done nothing but come up with new problems ever since. I'm afraid I don't see why everything's going to be different this time.
I agree with keeping Patton. If you're going to trust your scouts, you've got to keep a guy they've recommended once in awhile. If Patton doesn't work out, they can always turn him loose. Yes, with Guzman, seeing will be believing.
Of course, a lot of major league Rule 5 guys (and this seems particularly true of relievers) have nice springs and win spots, only to get kicked around once the games start in earnest (note: that's what happened to Johan Santana!). But once in a while, these guys turn out to be the goods. You can only find out by giving him the chance in the regular season. I couldn't figure out what the Blue Jays were thinking last year at all: they took Randy Wells from the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft, brought him north after he had a fine spring, then basically didn't use him (1 scoreless inning, if I recall) and returned him to the Cubs before May. I was glad to see Wells return to the Cubs, but I'll be pretty irritated if the Cubs give up on Patton like that.
As an aside, glad to see Lukas McKnight managed to hang on in baseball after his minor league career ended.
Please tell us Bruce -
Would the Cubs have saved $1,000,000 if they had released him last Wednesday or was his contract guaranteed? If his contract was guaranteed, why did Hendry do that when arbitration eligible players aren't required to get guaranteed contracts? Thanks!
At the time, I'm sure the Cubs didn't envision Gaudin not making the team.