TheBenjamin
Dec 4th 2009, 4:06 am
http://minors.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/12/as-cubs_trade_prospects.html
Yes, there were a few big leaguers who changed teams in Thursday's big A's-Cubs deal -- Jeff Gray goes from Oakland to Chicago, Jake Fox and Aaron Miles head to the Bay area in return. But what about those Minor Leaguers, Ronny Morla and Matt Spencer?
You can find the basic information, stats, when/where they signed, other transactions (in Spencer's case, a trade) in this story (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091203&content_id=7752932&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc). But here's some more detailed information on what the right-handed pitcher and outfielder/first baseman bring to the table.
Ronny Morla
Morla is a solid mid-range kind of prospect. His numbers in the Northwest League don't lookhttp://minors.mlblogs.com/assets_c/2009/12/morla-thumb-180x254-1691901.jpg (http://minors.mlblogs.com/morla.jpg) all that exciting, but what probably interested the Cubs is that he was throwing 93-94 mph with his fastball and maintaining it in his starts. He complements the fastball with a good slider. It's the breaking ball that largely was the swing-and-miss pitch that allowed him to rack up over a strikeout per inning with Vancouver. At 21 years old, he's got a good pitcher's body and is projectable. If a team put him in the bullpen exclusively, he could increase the fastball into the mid-90s.
Matt Spencer
http://minors.mlblogs.com/assets_c/2009/12/spencer-thumb-150x224-1691931.jpg (http://minors.mlblogs.com/spencer.jpg)Spencer is big and athletic, capable of playing the outfield as well as first base. He's got an above-average arm. In fact, there was some talk about drafting him as a pitcher because he was 90+ in brief mound stints at Arizona State. He's got plus raw power and became a much better overall hitter in 2009 by shortening his swing after getting promoted to Double-A. He can hit the ball out of any park and the OF-1B mix gives him a little versatility defensively. He drew a comparison to current Cub Micah Hoffpauir at similar stages of their careers.
Yes, there were a few big leaguers who changed teams in Thursday's big A's-Cubs deal -- Jeff Gray goes from Oakland to Chicago, Jake Fox and Aaron Miles head to the Bay area in return. But what about those Minor Leaguers, Ronny Morla and Matt Spencer?
You can find the basic information, stats, when/where they signed, other transactions (in Spencer's case, a trade) in this story (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091203&content_id=7752932&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc). But here's some more detailed information on what the right-handed pitcher and outfielder/first baseman bring to the table.
Ronny Morla
Morla is a solid mid-range kind of prospect. His numbers in the Northwest League don't lookhttp://minors.mlblogs.com/assets_c/2009/12/morla-thumb-180x254-1691901.jpg (http://minors.mlblogs.com/morla.jpg) all that exciting, but what probably interested the Cubs is that he was throwing 93-94 mph with his fastball and maintaining it in his starts. He complements the fastball with a good slider. It's the breaking ball that largely was the swing-and-miss pitch that allowed him to rack up over a strikeout per inning with Vancouver. At 21 years old, he's got a good pitcher's body and is projectable. If a team put him in the bullpen exclusively, he could increase the fastball into the mid-90s.
Matt Spencer
http://minors.mlblogs.com/assets_c/2009/12/spencer-thumb-150x224-1691931.jpg (http://minors.mlblogs.com/spencer.jpg)Spencer is big and athletic, capable of playing the outfield as well as first base. He's got an above-average arm. In fact, there was some talk about drafting him as a pitcher because he was 90+ in brief mound stints at Arizona State. He's got plus raw power and became a much better overall hitter in 2009 by shortening his swing after getting promoted to Double-A. He can hit the ball out of any park and the OF-1B mix gives him a little versatility defensively. He drew a comparison to current Cub Micah Hoffpauir at similar stages of their careers.