Cubs & Rays
Submitted by: Patchett08
Cubs
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zack Littell | 29 | Majors | SP | RP | Medium | 0.5 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 3 | 2.4 | 3 | 3.6 |
Total Value:
3
Rays
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Wicks | 24 | Majors | SP | 4.5 | 7.4 | 4 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 4.1 |
Total Value:
3.4
Comments
5
This might work for both clubs, if the Rays think Wicks has another gear as a reliever. Rays pen stinks and it needs help. Rays wouldn’t swap Littell for Wicks the starter, at least not for this year.
NEWSLETTER? SURE, SIGN ME UP!
Littell is an impending FA. Cubs get rotation help and Rays get a guy that is cheaper and more controllable while still able to help the big league roster. Would be a very Rays move.
If we are talking about the off-season or during a non-playoff contending season you would be right. However, the Rays are on track to make the post-season this year, so it’s probably like a 60% chance of happening.
They traded Paredes last year when they had a winning record. Littell has a 5.08 FIP. It’s not like they would be trading an ace.
They traded Paredes to make room for Caminero, and because they deluded themselves that Morel’s underlying stats indicated he could be a lot better than he was over his first 2.5 seasons. It’s similar but different. With Littell they could say (1) we are playoff bound and need to keep all SP, (2) we are playoff bound, have 2 extra SP for the 2nd half of the season (Boyle and McClanny) and can afford to trade Littell to improve our craptastic Pen, or (3) we are playoff bound and we like our guys better than anyone being offered in trade. The Rays HATE letting guys walk in free agency, so I lean toward option 2 but I won’t be surprised either way. I just don’t know if the rest of the league will value Littell as highly as the Rays do. You mention his FIP, which is high because he gives up a lot of HRs, but the Rays know his HRs are almost always single run dingers because of a low WHIP (1.07), which has allowed him to have a low ERA (3.5) despite being the Rays workhorse in IP per game (6.12). Getting back to this trade, I could see it happen for the reasons you give (ie: swapping an expiring contract for one with 4 more years of control), but only if the Rays really believe he can be an effective reliever for the rest of the season.