Torreyes is Not Replacing a Starter
Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs acquired utility infielder, Ronald Torreyes from the New York Yankees. The cost? Some cash considerations and that infamous PTBNL. So, not much.
Over the course of the next several hours there have been some Cubs fans that suggested this spells the end for current Cubs shortstop, Addison Russell. With Russell still needing to serve time from his 40-game suspension, and his future with the team still in some question, this left a hole at the start of the 2019 season.
While the Cubs have indeed called around trying to gauge interest in Russell, it appears more and more likely that the team will tender him on Friday and build him up. This doesn’t answer what the Cubs will do during the first month or so of the season with Russell serving the remainder of the suspension.
The easy answer would be starting Javier Baez at short until Russell comes back. This will be the path the Cubs choose.
With Baez playing short every day, this will likely push Ben Zobrist into the starting second baseman spot. This leaves Tommy La Stella and possibly David Bote.
Well, that was until the Cubs traded for Torreyes. With Torreyes being a true shortstop, he will likely backup Baez, but also give more flexibility in backing up Zobrist as well. This works as La Stella is better suited as a bat off the bench, and Ian Happ can fill in at second base, or even the corners if needed.
If there’s a job that’s in question, which we suggested a few weeks back, it is Bote. Unless he comes out with a huge spring, it seems more and more likely that Bote is the odd man out. Well at least at the start of the season.
The other possibility is, there’s a trade afoot.
Any number of players could be potentially moved. Happ, Bote, Russell, Kyle Schwarber. Trading any number of them opens a spot for an additional utility/bench player.
Min any event, the Torreyes trade is 100% about depth and very little about replacing a current starter. After all, you don’t want a career .281/.310/.385 hitter taking over the reigns at any starting spot.
