Cubs Acquire Lefty Reliever; Backup Catcher in Late-Night Trade

Alex Avila and Justin Wilson are the newest additions to the Chicago Cubs

Darrell Chen/ via Flickr.com

Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein has done it again.

In Sunday night’s waning minutes, news dropped that the Chicago Cubs had executed a trade that addressed two major positional needs without sacrificing a single player on the MLB roster in the process.

A few quick-hit analytical notes.

The Cubs Have Officially Gutted the Farm System

Now that Jeimer Candelario is gone, the Cubs don’t have a single player ranked in the top 100 of MLB.com’s most recent prospect rankings.

But….

The Cubs have gutted a farm system that now looks like one of the thinnest in all of baseball. However, Epstein managed to fill two glaring needs in this trade without sacrificing MLB talent.

Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, and friends survive another day as members of the Cubs. That is very important.

On the other side of the coin, any other additional pre-trade deadline moves would almost certainly need to involve parting ways with MLB-level talent as the Cubs have virtually run themselves out of prospect trade assets.

Loving the Lefty

The Cubs bullpen looks a bit more lefty-oriented these days.

Lefty Brian Duensing has been there all season but spent almost two months as the only everyday lefty in the pen. Lefty Mike Montgomery is back the bullpen after taking over starter duties for an injured Kyle Hendricks and now another lefty will join these two during the Cubs next game on Tuesday.

Left hander Justin Wilson brings his 2.68 ERA to a Chicago Cubs bullpen lacking in southpaw relievers. Important note to remember: despite the quantitative lack of lefty arms, the Cubs bullpen has posted a 3.79 ERA against left-handed hitting this season which is the sixth-best mark in MLB.

However, adding a quality lefty to the mix for matchup scenarios against tough hitters who struggle against left-handed pitching is never a bad thing.

Cubs Found A Veteran Backup Catcher

In turn-back-the-clock fashion, Alex Avila has posted the second-best batting average and OPS of his career this season (minimum 100 at-bats in a season) after slashing .222/.337/.366 across his previous five seasons.

Avila is far from a defensively-inclined catcher, but he is a nine-year veteran who has played in 34 postseason contests in his career. In his short MLB stint, Victor Caratini hasn’t proven capable of handling the responsibilities offensively or defensively associated with backing up Willson Contreras behind the plate.

We saw the importance of having competent backup catchers last year in the postseason with David Ross and Miguel Montero serving as major contributors to the Chicago Cubs World Series title.

The Cubs hope that Avila can have a similar effect this year.

The Cubs and the Tigers are expected to officially announce the trade early on Monday morning.