The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks if you would still make the Michael Busch trade.
It’s Tuesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit a while. We’re all celebrating the win tonight. There’s no cover charge. Let us know if we can do anything for you. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
The Cubs beat the Phillies tonight, 8-4 behind four home runs—two by Ian Happ and one each for Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch (More on him later). Ryan Pressly also threw another scoreless inning, although it wasn’t a pretty one.
That brings up last night’s question as to whether Ryan Pressly is back in your “circle of trust” of relievers. Most of you are still skeptical, as 61 percent of you said “no” with some assorted “DFA him” in the comments. Tough crowd.
On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I don’t normally do an movie stuff. But i always have time for jazz, so those of you who skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight I have another performance from that Polar Music Prize ceremony in Stockholm last month that honored Herbie Hancock. This is bassist Esperanza Spalding and keyboardist Robert Glasper playing Hancock’s classic “Watermelon Man.”
This one is is good for thos of you who like your jazz funky.
Welcome back to all of you who skip the music.
Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of, I don’t know, pointed comments about Dodgers minor league outfielder Zyhir Hope and minor league left-hander Jackson Ferris. The reason for the comments, I assume, are to criticize the Cubs front office for trading away two top 100 prospects last year.
Maybe you’re one of these people. Personally, I don’t get it. Yes, Hope and Ferris are very good prospects. Hope is ranked as the 40th-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and 42nd by MLB Pipeline. Baseball America has Ferris as the 74th-best prospect and MLB Pipeline ranks him 59th.
Now do I wish that the Cubs still had these two exciting prospects? Yes! But that would mean that Michael Busch wouldn’t be the Cubs’ first baseman and I’d rather have Busch than Hope and Ferris. Busch is hitting .267/.363/.510 with 11 home runs. He’s not an elite first baseman, but he’s one of the ten-best first basemen in the majors right now in my opinion and in the opinion of many others. I’ll take that over two prospects.
Hope, on the other hand, is hitting .294/.397/.485–for the High-A Great Lakes Loons. Now that’s good. It’s really good. He’s a promising player. He could end up being a very good major leaguer. But he’s in High-A right now and there are no guarantees.
Ferris is pitching for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers and has a 5.73 ERA, but I wouldn’t read too much negative about that. The Texas League is a hitter’s league and Ferris is striking out over a batter an inning. He’s also walking too many batters, but that’s not unusual for young flamethrowers. Some overcome it and become strong starters. Others don’t but still end up as capable relievers. Ferris has all the risks that come with pitchers (and especially with Dodgers pitchers), but he’s still got a promising future.
But I’d still rather have a bird in the hand over two in the not-Busch. But I’m going to give you a chance to undo the deal. Knowing what you know now, would you trade Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris for Michael Busch?
What you can’t say is “I’d still trade for Busch, I’d just offer less.” Sorry, that’s not how trades work. Once the Cubs start to offer less, then other teams can and would swoop in to make a better offer. Tonight, I’m telling you the Cubs either get Busch or they get Hope and Ferris. Not both. (I suppose the Cubs could have offered Cade Horton and Owen Caissie for Busch and the Dodgers would have accepted it and the Cubs would still have Hope and Ferris. But that’s nutty thinking.)
Now what you can say is that “I’d keep Hope and Ferris and try to get a different first baseman.” That’s fair. Maybe you’d rather undo the deal and have the Cubs sign Pete Alonso as a free agent, for example. Alonso makes a lot more money than Busch and that eats up payroll space that might be used for other free agents, but again, Alonso was available this past winter fairly reasonably. We don’t know if there are any other free agents that would sign with the Cubs in the future. Like Kyle Tucker.
So if you could do it all over again, would you make the Michael Busch trade?
Thank you to everyone who stopped by. It’s been good to spend time with you. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Please recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.