Skip to main content

The Cubs Sign RHP Eric Yardley, Interest in Seiya Suzuki, and Other Cubs Tidbits

 


The Cubs made an actual minor league signing just yesterday, and like most of them they have made, it was a bullpen arm. RHP Eric Yardley is a side-arming pitcher familiar to the Cubs, as he pitched for the Brewers in 2020-2021.

Yardley has seen some good success and low numbers in his career, having a 3.00 ERA or less in 8 of his 13 stints in the minor leagues, dating back from 2014. He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Padres, and posted a 2.31 ERA, ranking with his MaxEV being only 106 MPH (top 10% of MLB). He had a great year with the Brewers in 2020, posting a 1.54 ERA, but went downhill in 2021, showing a 6.75 ERA in 23 IP before heading to Triple A again, where he had a 3.22 ERA in 36 IP.

He is heavily reliant on groundballs, as he has a career 60.8% GB rate, and isn't much of a strikeout guy (career 13% K rate). The curveball has been a successful pitch for him, as it has an 85 percentile ranking on the spin and has been one of his great pitches.

As to the Cubs signing him, it's mainly an intelligent gamble. He has had great numbers in his career, and 2021 was the first time he put up that bad of numbers in his whole career. So, they can intelligently guess that those numbers will even out in 2022, seeing he had an awesome year in 2020.

The Cubs also now have two sidearm pitchers in Effross and now Yardley. I kind of like the idea of adding a variety of arm slots to the bullpen, to keep the other team confused. The Rays were good at that.

Seiya Suzuki was viewed by some as a potential Cubs target, but it was (in a way) confirmed, and also (in a way) not confirmed that the Cubs were a leading candidate for Suzuki. Let me explain.

A Japanese Sports Report said that the Cubs, Mariners, Padres, and Giants were the leading teams to get Suzuki. The Red Sox, a pre-lockout favorite to sign him, was pushed to the backburner along with the Yankees. Then a different report, from Daily Japan, said the Red Sox SHOULD be considered the leading favorites to sign him.

So...the Cubs might be considered by some in Japan to be the leading team to get him, and also some might consider the Red Sox to be an almost "done deal". From an official rumor viewpoint, I think it is more likely that the Red Sox will get him, but I'll talk about why the Cubs would want him.

He hit .315/.414/.570 in his career with NPB and would definitely provide stability to an outfield that is pretty up-in-the-air right now. He has a great bat, and from what I can tell, decent defense. 

The downside, if it can be called that, is that the Cubs would now have 7-9 outfielders on their roster to sort through. This includes Happ, Ortega, Heyward, Frazier, Hermosillo, and Ramirez, plus Rivas and Hoerner, who can both play outfield. Adding Suzuki to the mix might even make things more difficult to sort through. Anyway, if the Cubs do sign him, I won't be upset.

On a HOF note, David Ortiz was the only one to be inducted, with Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and others not making it. Pardon my opinion, but Bonds needs to get in. Forget about the PEDs and all that stuff, it's not like you can play that well if you were taking them. HOF is a museum of past legends, and Bonds deserves to get in.

Ian Happ had a great idea:


I like it.

Anyways, that's all for now, so keep praying this lockout will be over soon! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Which Top FA Outfielders Would Be A Good Fit for the Cubs?

 Let's start with some overall news and then get into our subject for today. Noah Syndergaard signed a 1-year deal with the Angels today. Kind of an interesting move- seems like they want to get Trout and Ohtani a World Series victory, maybe? Noah Syndergaard agrees to $21M, 1-year Angels deal. @jonmorosi and @JeffPassan 1st — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 16, 2021 #Angels make their first splash of the offseason; https://t.co/0O5D9wpMUz pic.twitter.com/FyN7v1M421 — MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) November 16, 2021 The Blue Jays have extended their trade-deadline pickup Jose Berrios...   #BlueJays ' big trade-deadline acquisition will be staying in Toronto a lot longer now: https://t.co/1oaDT73uFn pic.twitter.com/Wco3kBiB8G — MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) November 16, 2021 Looks like the Mets finally have their GM after interviewing scores of candidates. I was wondering if they were going to start interviewing fans.  Billy Eppler is finalizing an ag...

Iowa Cubs Roster Evaluation: Infield Depth

The last article I wrote evaluating the Iowa Cubs' roster, I analyzed the pitching depth. This article we'll discuss the infield depth of the Iowa Cubs including catcher, first, second, shortstop and third. If you are unfamiliar with the minor league system, here is my explanation from my previous article: " Players are drafted by a team from high school or college, and when that team drafts them, they start training in that team's farm system, starting with the bottom, usually a complex league or rookie league. Then they jump to the official minor leagues, starting with Low A, and they work their way up to the Triple-A level from which it is one step to reach MLB." That's just a simplified explanation, but it'll give you an idea if you are unfamiliar with the topic. Anyway, as a precursor to my evaluation, I do want to say that infield prospects do a lot of shifting around the infield instead of strictly staying with one position. While some shift around ...

Cubs Roster Moves, The Hot Stove Begins, Cubs Front Office Moves and Other Cubs News

  The Offseason Has Begun. And with it floods of moves; DFAing, signing FAs, trades, and the list goes on. The same is true for the Cubs, who had to bring their roster down to 40, since 5 players on the 60 day IL had to be reinstated, bringing the current roster to 43. So, the Cubs made some moves. Trayce Thompson was outrighted Nick Martini was outrighted Kohl Stewart was outrighted Jonathan Holder was outrighted "Outrighted" means that they will be sent to Iowa and become minor league free agents. Other teams can sign them to minor league deals, or the Cubs could resign them, which I doubt would happen. That brings the Cubs' roster down to 39, meaning they can sign a FA, or get a player off waivers (what happened to Schwindel). Of course, they'll be trimming the roster down more, making room for prospects that need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, and signing other FA. The players that were outrighted didn't really bring much value to the Cubs, save for Th...