Coming fresh off a trip to the National League Championship Series, Theo Epstein’s Chicago Cubs seem to be at least a year ahead of his schedule. After coming into a situation which needed an intense upgrade on the field and to the computer network, Epstein has appeared to of completed almost everything on his checklist.
The last piece on that checklist, winning the World Series.
Theo had mentioned that he believes the best way to eventually win a World Series is by building a team that will compete to be in the playoffs for years to come. He had also mentioned that he would like to acquire impact pitching either through free agency, through the trade markets, or both.
While I had written a highly scrutinized piece on possible trade options for the Cubs, one Cubs blockbuster trade that has sparked up, and hasn’t gone away is a possible deal for Oakland Athletics ace, Sonny Gray.
Gray, owner of a 2.88 ERA and 33 career wins, is possibly the best young pitcher in the league, and if the A’s made him available his stock would instantly rise above that of free agent pitchers David Price, Jordan Zimmerman, and Zach Greinke. Not only is his pure talent attractive, baseball GM’s are even morw drawn to the fact that Gray is under team control until 2020, giving any team willing to fork up the right package an affordable star for five seasons.
How could the Cubs swoop in and grab Gray from the A’s and potentially give them a legitimate playoff caliber rotation? According to many it will cost them Kyle Schwarber.
Recently Grantland’s Ben Lindbergh wrote how the National League has a DH in Kyle Schwarber. With Schwarber’s defense hardly getting a passing grade through most statistics, scouts, and opposing GM’s, Lindbergh suggested that the Cubs find a home in the American League for Schwarber’s bat, and reap the handsome reward that he could provide.
“With Rizzo entrenched at first, the Cubs can’t stick Schwarber anywhere easier than left. Nor can they count on the designated hitter coming to the NL during Schwarber’s inexpensive seasons. So if the DH won’t come to Schwarber, Schwarber could come to the DH.”
While the Cubs could potentially deal Schwarber, as one scout says, it would take a ton and the Cubs wouldn’t look too good in that move.
“He’s not attainable now,” another AL scout said. “He still has a chance to hit .285 with 40 bombs. They’d be insane to trade that.”
Others around the league believe a Schwarber/Gray megadeal makes sense for both side. In fact several baseball/sports reporters out East have been discussing a potential deal for several days now.
.@CJNitkowski & @jodymacman just threw out a #Cubs Schwarber for #Athletics Gray trade, would you do it on either/both side?
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) October 22, 2015
@baseballgiorgio Must have been listening to my show on Sirius Thursday when I proposed Schwarber for Gray. Significantly more than A Garcia
— Jody McDonald (@jodymacman) October 24, 2015
While most Cubs fans will immediately scream NO DON’T DO IT, without even mentioning a return player (or players), there are legit mechanical reasons to hope the Cubs stay away from this deal.
Sonny is a phenomenal pitcher, and his stats support that claim. If the Cubs could have that pitcher until 2020, basically his cheap years, things will be pretty sweet on the Northside. All the while Schwarber will hit tons of home runs for Oakland, then whoever they deal him to once his arbitration years begin to dry up.
My hesitations will solely rest on the “inverted-w” pitching style Gray uses.
What is the “inverted-w” and why don’t the call it a “M?” The latter question boggles my mind, but if you look at the shape Gray’s arms make in his delivery, it resembles a “M” or what, in baseball circles, they call the “inverted-w.” This is a highly unnatural motion, if you don’t believe me, stand up and try to throw while creating this M shape.
See, it doesn’t feel good. Most people cannot even do it, and if you could… well schedule your appointment with Dr. James Andrews.
Here are others that used these mechanics; Jeremy Bonderman, Anthony Reyes, Adam Wainwright, CJ Wilson, Shaun Marcum, AJ Burnett, Gio Gonzalez, Steven Strasburg, John Smoltz, and none other than Mark Prior (among others).
While not every pitcher on the list (which is growing exponentially every year) has had arm problems, a good majority of them do. While some doctors say it isn’t the actual motion that creates the injuries (hard to believe when you attempt it) it can cause terrible timing issues which is the biggest culprit of the injury.
Now, will Sonny Gray have arm issues? I cannot predict that, but there are some that are already saying Gray is already on the decline, including this piece from Baseball Prospectus. Do you trade someone that will hit a ton for a long time, for someone that lost velocity during a month he posted an era over six in?
I don’t need Theo Epstein money to know the answer to that.
