MLB Rumors: Cubs scouts aren’t happy with the Joc Pederson trade
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Cubs made the first move of their fire sale, but scouts are reportedly less than thrilled with the return for Joc Pederson.
After hemming and hawing about trade deadline plans, the Chicago Cubs seem to know exactly what they’re going to do: Trade everyone of value.
On Thursday, the Cubs traded Joc Pederson to the Atlanta Braves, kickstarting the fire sale that we all saw coming but fans have been dreading all season long.
Pederson is just the first domino to fall, and hardly the biggest. Craig Kimbrel is all but certain to be wearing a new uniform come August, and other pitchers in the Cubs bullpen could be gone as well. The biggest question mark is Kris Bryant and whether Chicago will pull the trigger and trade away its MVP superstar.
If the Cubs do end up having a fire sale, they might want to work on getting a better return than what the Pederson deal brought them.
MLB Rumors: Cubs scouts aren’t crazy about Bryce Ball
The Braves traded infielder Bryce Ball to the Cubs in exchange for Pederson, and if you’re among the Cubs fans scratching their heads over who that is you’re not alone.
According to FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, scouts with the Cubs aren’t very impressed with what Chicago received for Pederson.
"The trade sending Joc Pederson to the Atlanta Braves marked what should be the beginning of a massive sell-off for the Chicago Cubs — and some scouts considered the return, minor-league first baseman Bryce Ball, an underwhelming start, believing the Cubs pulled the trigger on a deal too quickly.“Best asset is raw power,” said one scout, who has seen Ball extensively. “Not translating to games. Stiff actions. Not very good on defense. Up/down guy at best for potential DH at-bats.”"
That’s exactly the opposite of what you want to hear when a fire sale is about to start. If the Cubs are already struggling to a good return for a guy like Pederson, how big of a disaster will trading Bryant be?