NEWSLETTER
The NFL draft started yesterday (and if you haven’t been reading about it on The Ten Yard Line, then you really should be), and in the NFL, a draft means a flurry of draft day trades that include trading picks.
Trading picks is not a thing in baseball. Even though it has come up in talk surrounding the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations in recent years, it has never really happened. There are two short rounds of special “Competitive Balance” picks that can be traded, but there are rules regarding when they can be dealt and most teams don’t bother dealing them.
But what if picks had been tradable when the Cubs were in their rebuild? Would it have made any difference?
One draft that stands out when pondering moving draft picks is the 2014 draft. The Cubs picked fourth and took Kyle Schwarber, but Schwarber generally was not expected to be drafted that early. The Cubs signed Schwarber to an underslot deal and spent the savings on a number of high dollar pitchers over the next few rounds.
In an NFL scenario, that would be an opportunity for the Cubs to trade back and pick up some extra draft picks. There were three standout prospects in that draft, but whoever picked fourth was expected to have their pick from three good college starters (Aaron Nola, Kyle Freeland, or Jeff Hoffman), or the best shortstop in the draft (Nick Gordon). Assuming the Cubs chose from that group, as they were widely expected to do by most all the way up until the afternoon of draft day, then the Blue Jays, holders of picks nine and eleven, would have missed out on that entire group. Instead, the Cubs surprised with Schwarber and Hoffman fell into Toronto’s lap.
Had picks been tradable, would the Blue Jays have worked a deal with the Cubs in which they got the Number Four pick and the Cubs picked at Nine and Eleven, or maybe Nine and also picked up the Blue Jay’s second rounder? That sort of a deal would make sense for the Cubs, and I’d argue would have been a pretty good idea for Toronto as well. The Cubs needed the picks to rebuild, and the Jays could have benefitted from a fast moving pitcher such as Nola who ultimately reached the majors the very next year.
So let’s say the Cubs had swapped No. 4 for No’s. 9 and 11, and then used No. 9 on Schwarber. Who might they have taken with 11? Knowing that the Cubs front office preferred to play it a little safe at the top of the draft and focused on college bats, there is one name that stands out. Trea Turner was still on the board at No. 11, and right now Turner has the highest bWAR of any player in the 2014 first round (at 7.0).
That doesn’t mean the Cubs would have walked away with Schwarber and Turner had picks been tradable in 2014, but it is a fun scenario to think about.
[Brett: OK, here’s my butterfly wings – even if the Cubs had pulled that off, it would have required so much bonus pool space to sign those guys that they couldn’t have signed Dylan Cease. Then, maybe the Jose Quintana trade doesn’t work out for some reason, so they wouldn’t have him now if picks were tradable!]
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Oklahoma City 4, Iowa 2
This time it was the starting pitching that was very good.
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee was rained out.
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Carolina 8, Myrtle Beach 0
Myrtle Beach 8, Carolina 1
Between the two games, the Pelicans committed five errors yesterday.
Low A: South Bend Cubs
South Bend was rained out.
Other Notes
Tyson Miller has shown the best stuff of any pitcher out here today. Sitting 92-94, holding his velocity, 82-83 mph slider has some bite to it. He's through five innings with two hits and one (unearned) run allowed for @Pelicanbaseball #Cubs
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) April 27, 2018
Aramis Ademan is a very, very mature hitter for his age. Sees a lot of pitches, knows the strike zone, uses the whole field. Still has work to do obviously, but there's definitely a nice foundation there #Cubs
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) April 27, 2018
