Could be on the Way Out

I know that right now Chicago Cubs fans are pitching in for train tickets to Iowa for Daniel Descalso and Pedro Strop. Thing is, neither player will be going anywhere (well, I could see an IL stint for Strop). But it does appear that the team is tiring of a couple of currently struggling players.

Recently Cubs maligned infielder, Addison Russell has seen a rather uninspired stretch of play. All of this culminated in an absolutely horrendous display on Saturday.

It’s been a longgg 5+ innings for Addison Russell at Wrigley. #Cubs @WISH_TV (Courtesy: MLB/WLS) pic.twitter.com/7jaak1rtyF

— Charlie Clifford (@cliffWISH8) July 20, 2019

This, along with several other baserunning errors and just plain bad baseball out of Russell, prompted Cubs manager, Joe Maddon to speak out about him.

“We just have to keep talking to him,” Maddon said. “We have. We always do…We have to get him to focus consistently.”

On Bernstein and McKnight (670-AM The Score), Maddon expounded upon the comments, giving the impression that he has done all he can – it’s on the player now.

“Honestly, it’s really in the player’s hands at this point,” Maddon told Bernstein and McKnight Show. “He’s been here for several years, and I assure you the conversations have been there constantly. We’ve worked through this in the past and at some point it’s up to the players to make this adjustment too. Again, staff-wise, I know, I was there. The conversations between he and I and also infield coaches and baserunning coaches, we’ve had these conversations. We just need to get Addy to, it’s more of a how do you go through the permutations mentally before the play occurs? How do you visualize in advance? That’s what I’m really, really after is to get him to the point where he sees things before they occur, which would equal focus. That’s where we’re at.”

In a piece Dan Bernstein wrote following the interview, he added that Joe struck home the constant remark by a “mordant laugh” as if to say he’s lost on what he can do next.

Russell presents an almost classic possibility for a change of scenery. While I have spent time, as has many others, talking about running him out of town, truth is he can play the game of baseball. Here in Chicago however, it just seems as if he’s overstayed his welcome.

There are definite issues in trading Russell. First, no other team is jumping in the ring screaming that they want a player that was suspended for domestic violence. Saving the, he said, she said for more juvenile conversation, there’s a baggage that comes with trading for a player with this stigma. Then, on top of it, he’s not playing well at all.

We are three short years away from folks around the Cubs, as well as certain media members, proclaiming that Russell had MVP aspirations in his future. He was one of the four pillars Theo Epstein was building the organization around. Now he has recorded a .245/.314/.381 slash line and that domestic violence suspension and could be in his last days as a Chicago Cub. He’s lost time to undrafted, 26-year old free agent, Robel Garcia, and I don’t know if he’s earned a lick of playing time back.

The other player that has come up in several rumors is Albert Almora.

Almora has wowed fans with his glove for several years now. His ability to take great routes, and get to balls that a lot of other centerfielders could not have been extremely impressive. What hasn’t been impressive is his utter inability to hit the baseball on a consistent basis.

YOU ARE RIDICULOUS ALBERT ALMORA!pic.twitter.com/HqdxFeVWY1

— Red Line Radio (@RedLineRadio) July 17, 2019

Back in 2017, I truly believed (as did many of you) that Almora would become the everyday centerfielder for the Cubs. But the veteran bat of Jon Jay seemed to get considerable starts over Almora, and the rookie newcomer, Ian Happ (and his 24 homers) flat out earned more time at the dish than Albert.

Most of the time lost was due to Almora’s inability to consistently hit right-handed pitchers. His slash line in 2017 was clear and evident proof that he hadn’t earned every day at-bats verse righties.

• RHP – .271/.291/.420 4 HR in 198 PA
• LHP – .342/.411/.486 4 HR in 125 PA

While Almora was “better” against righties in 2018, he was still only getting select games or late-inning at-bats vs right-handed pitchers, whenever Maddon could control it. He still saw 355 plate appearances vs righties in 2018 and only 144 against lefties. He was again losing at-bats to Happ as well as to Jason Heyward.

• RHP – .282/.315/.369 4 HR in 355 PA
• LHP – .295/.340/.402 1 HR in 144 PA

There was a clear lack of power from his bat, and not only from a home run perspective – he wasn’t hitting enough doubles either. In fact, he was 13th worst in hard-hit % in 2018 (27.4%) and in what was his best overall average season, he was still rated negatively as an offensive player.

Following up another sub-par offensive season, Almora has been one of the worst offensive players in baseball in 2019.

I lean on wRC+ a lot when judging players, and I have gotten some feedback that not all fans know what wRC+ is. So, here is a quick explanation of the stat. wRC+ is a completely unbiased statistic which allows comparing all offensive players, from any ballpark and any era. It is adjusted so that a score of 100 wRC+ is an average offensive season, and anything above 100 is a percent above average and any number below is a percent below average. In Albert Pujols‘ 2008 season, he had a 184 wRC+, which meant he produced at a rate of 84% better than the average MLB hitter. Likewise, in 2017 he had a 78 wRC+, suggesting he was 22% worse than an average MLB hitter. So that’s the gist, and there are certainly better explanations on Fangraphs or MLB.com.

In 2019, Almora has a 67 wRC+, suggesting that he is 33% worse than an average MLB hitter. When all things are considered, it’s right. He sports a .239/.275/.382 slash line. What is worse, and thanks to Brendan Miller at Cubs Insider, Almora has posted the worst wRC+ of any Major League player with at least 400 at-bats since last year (58 wRC+, which is tied with Billy Hamilton).

This. Is. Not. Good.

The Cubs basically run out a defensive replacement in center nearly every day. This is as close as it gets to having an automatic out registered in your lineup, and even if he does do anything, he isn’t really registering enough to make a difference.

This is why you are hearing so many outfield names starting to come up in conversations, and you might have also seen rumors that the San Francisco Giants are scouting the Cubs big league roster for a potential trade.

The Giants have two scouts watching Cubs -Padres. Giants have had a scout at almost every series at Wrigley since May .

— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) July 20, 2019

These are the types of players the Giants would look at. A guy like Almora would be perfect roaming that huge San Francisco outfield and a slappy hitter like him could take advantage of the bigger OF grass. Russell could be a long shot here, but if they are signing a cost-controlled guy that they have the ability to cut ties with (his current contract allows for him to be cut) then potentially they’d take a flier on a once decent ballplayer.

Outside of San Francisco, there are plenty of other teams that would, or should, have interest in Almora. He’s a guy that can go get’em, and if you’re not looking to compete in the near-term, he could be a perfect piece to toss in center while he develops. This, unfortunately, isn’t a luxury that the Cubs have right now.