NEWSLETTER
Get the obligatory jokes out of your system up front, and I’ll get out the obligatory comment about minor league deals being no-risk, not-likely-to-hit, but-hey-sometimes-there’s-a-chance, etc.
We good?
OK, the Cubs are landing an outfielder on a minor league deal:
Outfielder Noel Cuevas to #Cubs on minor-league contract, source tells The Athletic. Salary of $575K if in majors.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 16, 2019
Since “lack of upper-level outfield depth” is one of my rallying cries around here, the signing seems pretty darn obvious before I even comment on the player, himself. The Cubs needed some guys like this, just in case, regardless of any other transactions this offseason.
Cuevas, 28, is a former Rockies prospect who progressed steadily through the farm system, reaching the big leagues in a bench gig in 2018 (where you *might* have heard his name). That opportunity didn’t go so well (.233/.268/.315, 41 wRC+ over 153 plate appearances), and he spent most of 2019 back at AAA, hitting .278/.358/.439, which looks really good until you remember the offensive environment (96 wRC+). That said, he’s a high-contact guy who can play all over the outfielder, and has decent speed.
In other words, this is the kind of guy you bring in on a minor league deal at a depth position of need.
If you want to dream on any upside, you point to his half-year at AAA in 2018 where he absolutely raked, and another very solidly above-average year there in 2017. Maybe he’s a guy who rose up, got his shot in 2018, struggled, and then struggled to adjust back to the idea that he hadn’t quite “made it” yet. Change of scenery could be good.
Seems like he’s really well-liked, if nothing else – and that can matter at the margins:
https://twitter.com/Josh_Suchon/status/1206684278513426433
