On the day the Philadelphia Phillies pulled starter Cole Hamels off of waivers, ensuring that the Chicago Cubs would not acquire the ace, the Northsiders made a more cost effective trade to bolster their rotation.
The Cubs traded Class A relievers Jose Arias and Tyler Bremer to the Miami Marlins for right-hander Jacob Turner.
At one point in time Turner was penciled in as the number three man in the Marlins rotation until a horrid 2014 forced Miami to make him available on trade market.
With a 4-7 record and a 5.97 ERA, Turner struggled with command as major league hitters started to adjust to his arsenal of pitches.
Labeled as a workhorse in 2013 after being acquired by Miami in the Anibal Sanchez deal, Turner finished the season with a 3.74 while showing tremendous promise due to his ability to his fastball that was clocked in at 95 on the gun.
Where Turner ran into trouble this season was his over-reliance on just his fastball. With that pitch dipping to around 91-92 on the gun, hitters were able to square up his pitches and weren't afraid to work the count, forcing Turner to rely on his less superior off-speed stuff.
While Turner may not have the same ceiling he had when he was a prized arm coming out of high school, Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio could morph the former top prospect into a serviceable major league arm, just like he did with Jake Arrieta.
This move correlates which the stage the Cubs are at in the extensive Theo-Jed rebuilding plan. At this point in time the Cubs do not want to deal the necessary prospects away to land a big fish like Cole Hamels. They rather sign a veteran ace in free agency with the money they have allocated for the future instead of giving up the farm.
With Turner the Cubs are taking a low risk chance on a guy that could be a part of the rotation moving forward. At the age of 23, Turner has a lot of years of baseball ahead of him. This gives the Cubs ample time to tinker with their newest acquisition.
While they are taking an unconventional route, the Cubs are clearly gathering pieces in order to assemble a dominant pitching staff for years to come.
Nick Kapetan hosts The Sports ReKap on MarquetteWire.org which will begin airing again in September.
Follow Nick on Twitter: @KapN93
No comments:
Post a Comment