The Chicago Cubs find themselves trailing the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central, after leading for most of the season. The Cubs were active at the trade deadline, bringing in utility man Willi Castro and reliever Taylor Rogers. The Cubs did need a starting pitcher, but much like many contenders, the price tag was just too high, so they settled on Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals.
The decision to acquire Soroka has already backfired. After just one start, Soroka is on the injured list due to a shoulder strain. Soroka experienced the discomfort two innings into his Cubs debut and left the game. So now, the Cubs are short a starter from their rotation.
After the news of Soroka being placed on the injured list, Cubs team president Jed Hoyer didn't exactly make things better with comments to reporters. Hoyer said he knew the Cubs were taking a risk in acquiring Soroka.
"That risk profile was known and we decided that given the asking price and that we felt like he was notch above some of the other guys we were talking about in terms of talent and development opportunities, we thought it was the right risk," said Hoyer, h/t The Athletic.
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Jed Hoyer's comments taking responsibility for trading for Michael Soroka are even worse
General managers and team presidents know they are taking some risks in acquiring outside players and hoping they pan out. That includes performance and health. But that's if the payers is relatively healthy.
For Hoyer, he also admitted he knew of Soroka's injury history, and, most recently, his velocity decreasing.
“We knew the velocity was sort of trending down,” Hoyer said. “We obviously talked through that extensively. Felt like given the market, given the asking price and given all those things, we felt like it was a good bet to make. Ultimately, he came out of the game [Monday] night and right now it’s not looking like a good bet.”
Cubs fans definitely didn't want to hear that. Sure, the injury history is one thing, but admitting they knew about Soroka's dip in velocity is a whole other story. The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma points out, the Cubs likely overlooked it because of Soroka's 25.4 percent strikeout rate, which leads the Cubs rotation.
As for what Soroka is dealing with, manager Craig Counsell announced that he is dealing with a low-to mid-grade shoulder strain, and should be shut down between 7-to-10 days, where he will then be reevaluated.
Hoyer admitted failure on the Soroka trade for now, but he needs to basnk on Soroka healing up properly and playing well down the stretch.