MLB: Cubs Won't Rush Prospects to Majors

[cigaretteman]

On the day the Cubs traded center fielder Marlon Byrd, center fielder of the future Brett Jackson went 2-for-5 with a double at Triple-A Iowa.

If Jackson was trying to make a statement to earn a promotion, he apparently is wasting his time. His bosses have already told him to be patient, and manager Dale Sveum buys into that idea.

"He still needs to develop," said Sveum, who is aware of the public clamor favoring Jackson's immediate arrival.

"He's still striking out a little bit too much. ... If he's striking out that much in Triple A, it's going to be that much more against big league pitching. The development part is big for everybody, and until you get those 500 at-bats in Triple A, it's something that (President Theo Epstein) and everybody in the organization wants to impress on (prospects) is you're going to stay and play and develop."

Jackson has 1,204 at-bats in the minor leagues, including 256 at Iowa. This season he has hit for a .239 average and struck out almost once every three at-bats.

"Sometimes we rush kids too quick and it's not for anybody's benefit," Sveum said. "We've all (seen) when kids have been rushed and do very well (Starlin Castro had 1,098 minor league plate appearances). But it doesn't happen very often"

The Cubs also are taking the patient approach with first baseman Anthony Rizzo, another former first-round draft choice. Rizzo has 424 at-bats in Triple A. But Rizzo also had a taste of the big leagues last season with the Padres and hit only .141 in 49 games

Chicago Cubs: Cubs won't rush prospects like Brett Jackson to the majors - chicagotribune.com

 

[Bader]

I didn't even know the Cubs traded Byrd until I saw the lineups for the BoSox/Twins game tonight.

Are they planning on using Reed Johnson in center now?

 

[cyhiphopp]

Thank goodness. It's not like they are going to contend this year with Jackson up earlier.

Also, I'm thinking they will try to maintain club control as long as possible and more time in the majors will affect that.

 

[dtclones]

I didn't even know the Cubs traded Byrd until I saw the lineups for the BoSox/Twins game tonight.

Are they planning on using Reed Johnson in center now?

My guess is a platoon with Campana/Johnson. Johnson vs. lefties Campana vs. righties makes sense to me.

 

[CLONECONES]

There's always next year....

 

[GoCubsGo]

Good. This is the right approach. I don't understand the mentality of those clambering for Jackson and Rizzo to be called up right now. There's really no difference in baseball between winning 55 games and winning 75 games - in either case, you're watching the playoffs from your couch. I'm certainly not advocating that the Cubs tank the rest of the season, but this season was never going to be good anyway. The Cubs are trying to build this team for 3-4 years from now. Calling up Jackson and Rizzo right now would risk their future development just for the opportunity to win a few marginal (and meaningless) games.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Good. This is the right approach. I don't understand the mentality of those clambering for Jackson and Rizzo to be called up right now. There's really no difference in baseball between winning 55 games and winning 75 games - in either case, you're watching the playoffs from your couch. I'm certainly not advocating that the Cubs tank the rest of the season, but this season was never going to be good anyway. The Cubs are trying to build this team for 3-4 years from now. Calling up Jackson and Rizzo right now would risk their future development just for the opportunity to win a few marginal (and meaningless) games.

It's all about their MLB service clocks in my opinion. The more time they spend in the majors now, the sooner they become free agents. They may be called up toward the end of the year to see how they do in the bigs, but not sooner.

 

[gocubs2118]

I bet they're both up by the all star break. Jackson has gotten the strikeout problem under control lately but his average is down to .233 right now. Not good. There is no reason to rush either of them but I'd like to see both have a couple hundred at bats this year.

 

[Doc]

It's all about their MLB service clocks in my opinion. The more time they spend in the majors now, the sooner they become free agents. They may be called up toward the end of the year to see how they do in the bigs, but not sooner.

I think if they wait for another month or so, they'll gain that extra year of control, so it may be sooner than that.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I think if they wait for another month or so, they'll gain that extra year of control, so it may be sooner than that.

Makes sense. I don't know the specifics, but I did know they needed to wait a while longer and we wouldn't see Jackson up to replace Byrd right away. Unless of course Jim Hendry was still in control.

 

[Creed]

I also think Rizzo isn't in the majors because of the stellar season last year of Bryan LaHair. He hit .331 with 38 HR and 109 RBI's last year in AAA (129 games). He's 30 years old but I can see the Cubs having him play the year, see how he does, and use him as a trade bait for someone who needs a 1st baseman(perhaps getting a decent pitcher in return). Obviously Rizzo is the future, he will be up in Chicago soon enough.

 

[gocubs2118]

The odds of this happening is probably about 5% but I would love to see this lineup the last two months of the season.

DeJesus
Jackson
Castro
LaHair- LF
Rizzo
Stewart
Castillo/Clevenger
Barney

 

[GoCubsGo]

It's all about their MLB service clocks in my opinion. The more time they spend in the majors now, the sooner they become free agents. They may be called up toward the end of the year to see how they do in the bigs, but not sooner.

I think if they wait for another month or so, they'll gain that extra year of control, so it may be sooner than that.

Those rules are very confusing. Hasn't Rizzo's clock already started since he spent time last year on the Padres' big league roster?