THE SIXTH MAN

In the dead ball era of baseball, teams had two or three starters. In the 1960s-1970s, there were four man rotations. Today, the norm is a five starters on pitch counts.

The Cubs will soon buck the trend to add Adam Warren as the sixth starter.

The Cubs will soon go on a stretch of 24 straight games without a day off. With the heat of the summer upon the team, and Jake Arrieta scuffling to get through 5 innings recently, the front office is making a preemptive move by getting another pitcher available.

AAA Iowa does not have any quality major league ready starters to hold the fort in case of an injury or sore arm regular. That is why Warren, who made 17 starts last season with the Yankees as a long reliever, was sent to Iowa - - - to stretch out for a new role.

And because of recent high pitch counts, the Cubs have called up a platoon of fresh, young arms: C.J. Edwards (when Fowler went on the DL), Spencer Patton returns (to take Clayton Richard's spot) and Geraldo Concepcion (for Warren's slot).

 Richard went to the DL for a "blister."  He has been horrible and invisible this season, with a 7.30 ERA and a 2.19 WHIP. With no options left, this could be a way to buy time to see if they can get him straightened out before releasing him.

Warren was chosen to stretch out over Travis Wood because Wood is one of the few relief arms that Joe Maddon really trusts in any situation.  Wood has become a force in the bullpen (2.30 ERA in 27 IP, 0.95 WHIP).

Patton has been good in Iowa, compiling eight (8) saves with a 1.04 ERA in 26 innings of work.

Concepcion will be  the other lefty in the pen alongside Wood. This year in Iowa, he has worked just 17 1/3 innings to the tune of a 2.60 ERA. He’s allowed 7.8 H/9, but has managed to keep runners from crossing the plate. But Concepcion is the first Jed Hoyer pitcher to make it to the major league roster. A large bonus contract signed the Cuban exile in 2012, the first major move by the new regime. But Concepcion was horrible in rookie, A, and AA ball. From one of the best organizational prospects, he fell off the list. Some did not realize that he was still with the organization until his call-up yesterday.

The reason the Cubs will shuffle the bullpen with more arms is that Maddon believes the versatility of his regulars who play multiple positions effectively gives him a 28 man roster. However, that is really not true since a player cannot play two positions at the same time.

Another concern is that even though they have debuted in style, the Cubs are starting to regularly play three players with less than one year service time  (catcher Willson Contreras, OF Alberto Almora, and IF Javy Baez.) Each has shown tremendous defense skills, but the Cubs need to produce more offense during this long stretch of upcoming games.

It is expected that Warren will throw a short start (3 IP), then a couple of normal outings (5 IP or 80 pitches) before returning to the Cubs. Once he returns, the rotation will go to six starters, meaning that each regular will have an extra day off during July and August. There was a concern last year that Arrieta's work load drained his tank in the post season. Lester and Lackey have a lot of innings pitched on their arms as well. It is a prudent move to try to conserve the best starting rotation in the majors for the playoffs.

CASHING OUT

Starlin Castro should have been traded two years ago to the Yankees. Well, some may think it was better later than never.

Castro's trade to the Yankees was a salary dump move by the Cubs in order to sign Ben Zobrist. Zobrist, who has had a fabulous history as a super utility guy, had a significant drop off in his WAR last season. At 35 and in a full time role in a major market, one would expect Zobrist's contract will have some dead money attached to it.

Last season with two clubs, Zobrist hit .276 with 13 HR and 56 RBI. His WAR was 1.9. In his prior four years his WAR totals were 4.9, 5.0, 5.7, and 8.7.  In ten major league seasons, his career WAR is 38.5.

Zobrist's 4 year/$56 million deal was about a third less than the claimed deal he had with the Mets at $80 million. Still, it more than double last year's salary.

With these two moves, by my calculation the Cubs have hit the ceiling of their 2016 payroll budget. This means that the Cubs will have a CF platoon of Coghlan and Szczur. 

Mark Gonzales of the Tribune reports the way that the contracts of John Lackey and Zobrist were structured would allow the Cubs to continue to look for pitching as well as address their void in center field with the expected departure of free agent center fielder Dexter Fowler.

"We’ll continue to pursue smaller moves for depth," President Theo Epstein said. "Obviously we’d welcome an impact move if it’s out there. All the moves we have been pursuing previously here are potentially alive for us."

Zobrist's four-year, $56 million contract was structured so that he'll receive a $2 million bonus with a $10 million salary in 2016, followed by salaries of $16 million in 2017 and 2018 and $12 million in 2019.

Lackey will receive a $7 million bonus with a salary of $12.5 million in 2016 and 2017. The Cubs have earmarked about $90 million to 12 players for 2016 - including $11 million for since-departed Edwin Jackson.


The Cubs were looking to obtain cheap, young, controllable pitchers. Adam Warren from the Yankees meets those requirements. Warren, 28, is a classic 6th starter/long reliever. He probably will make the opening day roster as swing man out of the pen if Jason Hammel is still on the roster, or as a long shot to be the 5th starter. With this move, either Grimm or Ramirez is on the bullpen bubble.

The Cubs front office has used all of its powder this off-season, mostly bringing in veterans to shore up a few holes, and juggling a tight payroll budget. Joe Maddon said to the press that repeating last season's 97 wins would be a challenge. That is not what fans want to hear.