It’s been a brutal season for Ian Happ, who had so much promise coming out of spring training, getting praise from Theo Epstein and winning the leadoff job for the Chicago Cubs. A month in and the Cubs could be looking to trade for someone to take over his roster spot.
Bruce Levine is using Happ’s early-season struggles as the premise for his latest article that suggests the Cubs may be out there trying to trade for a backup outfielder.
Happ began the season as the starting center fielder, but ever since his home run on the very first pitch of the year he’s been awful. Not only is Happ striking out 46.2% of the time, he’s been terrible in the outfield.
Albert Almora Jr. has taken over in center, while Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber have secured the other outfield playing time. Happ is still getting a start here and there, but the numbers aren’t getting better and his defense keeps regressing.
Because of that, Levine says the following.
Via 670 The Score.
A two-pronged issue may have the Cubs making a deal for a veteran outfielder in the near future.
With the continued struggles of outfielder Ian Happ, the front office may have no choice but to trade for a player who can back up all three outfield position, as the organization’s minor league depth presents few options.
As for their options on the trade market and waiver market, the Cubs would be looking to make a low-profile move by assessing extra outfielders on non-contending clubs. Outfielder Peter Bourjos was the team’s last player cut in spring training. He recently signed a minor league deal with the Braves. A player like Bourjos with speed and the ability to play all three outfield spots is what the Cubs are seeking.
“A player like Bourjos with speed and the ability to play all three outfield spots is what the Cubs are seeking.”
Hard pass. However, I guess we can go over some possibilities.
For one, there’s Peter Bourjos. He had a pretty good spring training with the Cubs, prior to being cut a few days before Opening Day. Bourjos signed with the Atlanta Braves, but was pretty bad himself, going 3-for-25 and released after playing in 18 games.
The thing is though, the Cubs could have signed him to a minor-league deal if they really wanted to because as Levine said, the Braves brought him back this week on a minor-league deal.
Anyway, there aren’t very many speedy, fifth outfielder guys available, but two of them happen to be in the AL Central and they’re both former Cubs. Both on last year’s team as a matter of fact.
So, Jon Jay is probably enjoying some BBQ in Kansas City because the baseball for the Royals has been agonizing. He’s currently batting .266 with a .347 OBP in 109 at bats. Joe Maddon really loved playing him last year, so he’d be on board if this is something the Cubs are seriously pursuing.
There’s also Leonys Martin, who played in 15 games with the Cubs last year after he was traded to Chicago by the Seattle Mariners. He’s the ideal fifth outfielder guy, who can actually play defense and can run. He currently has a .792 OPS with the Detroit Tigers.
Last year Martin also did this, which was awesome.
#Cubs Leonys Martín just eliminated the Cardinals from playoff contention with this catch 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 pic.twitter.com/AD0JiDpci5
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) September 29, 2017
And for any of these guys, the Cubs aren’t going to be giving up much of anything, so that’s nothing to be worried about.
What should be a little worrisome is if the Cubs do end up making a move because that means Happ hasn’t gotten any better and was sent down to Triple-A.
How close are they to actually demoting Happ like they did with Kyle Schwarber last June? The Cubs aren’t at that stage…yet.
Via The Athletic.
If the Cubs could send Kyle Schwarber back to the minors for a breather – eight months after his legendary World Series performance – then Ian Happ shouldn’t feel untouchable.
But at this point in the season, manager Joe Maddon says the Cubs aren’t looking at Triple-A Iowa as the next stop for Happ, who’s striking out 45 percent of the time and losing at-bats to emerging center fielder Albert Almora Jr.
“I’m not even talking about that with Theo or anybody yet,” Maddon said Wednesday at Wrigley Field. “It’s my job to really incorporate him.”
We’ll see what happens, but Levine doesn’t make shit up, so the Cubs may just be looking at all their options if Happ continues to struggle.
