We are beyond the midterm of Spring Training. It is time to give new GM Epstein a report card on his off season moves.
1) The Marshall Trade. It appears that Travis Wood, and his 25.00 spring ERA, is not ready for any comeback season any time soon. Reserve outfielder Dave Sappelt is not in the discussion to make the roster. In fact, a journeyman Joe Mather, will be the fifth outfielder. The last item of the trade, A ball second baseman Torreyes will not be in the picture for three years or more. So, trading the best left handed relief pitcher in the majors for immediate help ("assets" such as depth and young starting pitching) seems to be a bust.
2) The Colvin Trade. The Cubs traded two of Hendry's major league ready prospects, Colvin and LeMathieu, for third baseman Ian Stewart. Stewart had an awful year in 2011: injuries and demotion to the minors. The Cubs projected a huge comeback season for Stewart, in part to replace the production of Aramis Ramirez. The Cubs thought he'd hit 25 HRs at Wrigley. But now, we learn that Stewart still has continuing pain in his wrist when he bats. We know that MLB player wrist injuries take a dramatic toll on player production (see, Derek Lee history). Stewart has shown no power so far. So this trade of two young assets for an injured AAA third baseman also seems like a bust at this point.
3) The Cashner Trade. The Cubs traded potential closer Andrew Cashner to the Padres to get first base prospect Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo is projected to be a power hitting first baseman. His call up last season in San Diego proved that he was overmatched in this debut, so the Cubs will stash Rizzo in Iowa for a couple of months (depending on how LaHair plays). Cashner, a college closer who had a career set back when the Cubs tried to convert him to a starter (like they are doing this spring with Samardzija), could have been the replacement for either Marshall, K. Wood or even Marmol in the bullpen. Marmol still has control issues, and recent reports indicate that he has a hand/arm issue. If Marmol goes down, the Cubs have no ready closer in the major league camp. So this trade of a known commodity for the future seems more risky than ever at this point.
4) The Zambrano Trade. The Cubs made the decision early to get rid of Zambrano. The only landing spot for him was Miami with Ozzie Guillen. The Cubs received a starter in return, Volstad, who seems to have pitched well enough to be the team's fifth starter. So the Cubs did receive some "value" in return for banishing Z to South Florida. Fans will still compare the two pitchers starts, IP, ERA and especially wins this season to see who got the better of the deal. As it stands today, the consensus is that that this trade was okay.
Now some teachers would call these grades either "incomplete" or "go to detention." Long time Cub observers will note that these moves seem very similar to those made by the prior GM, Jim Hendry. Hendry liked to sign "comeback" players to fill roster needs or trade for veterans for "change of scenery" bounce back seasons. Current examples of those ideas are the underwhelming performances of Corpas, Sonnanstine and T. Miller to fill bullpen slots.
One has to wonder why the Cubs are seemingly making the same mistakes. But then you have to realize that the new Epstein crew has kept in place Hendry's staff, whose input may still influence Epstein and Hoyer in their decision making process as did Kenney and the Tribune executives who stayed on during Ricketts ownership.
