Are Cubs finished dealing after trade for Mike Montgomery?
By Ted Fleming
GM Theo Epstein is still expected to be in the market for more pitching, so is Chicago just a pit stop for Montgomery before deadline?
It’s no secret that the Chicago Cubs were looking to add some depth to the roster including another arm or two for the bullpen, so today they sent INF Dan Vogelbach and RHP Paul Blackburn to the Mariners to get lefty Mike Montgomery and righty Jordan Pries from the Mariners, according to a story at SI.com. The question is, why give up on a prospect, Vogelbach, to get Montgomery, a former starter who was converted to the pen this year?
Montgomery was a supplemental pick (36th overall) by the Royals in 2008 and didn’t make his big league debut until a season ago. He has been traded twice, in the much heralded 2012 trade of James Shields by the Rays before Tampa Bay shipped him off to Seattle in an even-up swap for Erasmo Ramirez.
At 27, he is under team control until 2021, but where does he fit in the Cubs grand scheme of things — or is Montgomery going to be used as part of a larger deal before July 31? For now, he will be added to the Cubs roster and try to impress.
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Manager Joe Maddon is a whiz at fitting players into his system while keeping everyone happy at the amount of playing time. Does Montgomery start or is he a long man? Or both? His numbers this year are solid, a 2.32 ERA and 1.08 WHIP including 54 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. However, the transition to the National League could be a concern, at least initially.
“He’s certainly not a household name, but we think he’s got a chance to take off and maybe be the type of guy that you can’t get with a deal of this size,” GM Theo Epstein told the Chicago Times.
While Chicago still has a 7.5 game lead over the second place Cardinals, Montgomery seems to fit in as the closer despite never recording a single save in his brief two year career. The Cubs were rumored to have an eye on the Yankees’ Andrew Miller, another southpaw, yet trading the 23-year old Vogelbach is a gamble if something should happen to Anthony Rizzo.
With the kind of season the 23-year old was having at Iowa, he was sure to get the call to the majors in the near future with his 16 homers and 64 RBI with a .318/.425/.548 slashline in 89 games. Obviously blocked by Rizzo, the Cubs may have gone for Montgomery after hearing what New York was asking for Miler, or even rent-a-pitcher Aroldis Chapman.
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