Jan. 28, 2009
Chicago Cubs acquire: RHP Aaron Heilman
Seattle Mariners acquire: SS Ronny Cedeno and LHP Garrett Olson
Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry has been a busy man lately, and now he’s netted RHP Aaron Heilman to hopefully take that fifth starter spot in the rotation. It’s a good gamble, as he didn’t have to give up anything of value to take on the enigmatic, but talented Heilman. Heilman was better suited for Seattle than his new digs in Wrigley Field because of his propensity to give up the gopher ball (10 in 76 IP in 2007), but he’s better than anything the Cubs had at that slot. It’s a good gamble at only a $1.625 million cost. You can get more on Heilman in our Week 1 trade breakdown.
The Seattle Mariners have been trying to stockpile talent this off season, and in SS Cedeno and LHP Olson they picked up some more spare parts. Cedeno is the more talented, and should have a very solid Alex Cora type career. The 6ft, 180 lb 25 year-old Venezuelan is a whiz on the field, and can still hold his own with the bat. In 2007 he hit .269/.328/.352. and hit .333 in 24 AB’s with RISP and two outs for 14 RBI’s in the nine AB’s he had with the bases loaded (.556 BA), which made him clutch for the Cubs in ’07. You always need your bench players to do the “little things” to win you games over the course of the season, and Cedeno fits that mold.
The 6’1” 197 pound LHP Garrett Olson has been a mystery since he shot through the Orioles system, and hasn’t developed as well as hoped. His 2007 stats were: 9-10 6.65 ERA 83 K 62 BB 1.73 WHIP .309 BA in 132.1 IP. You can read more about him in our Week 1trade breakdown.
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Jan. 18, 2009
Baltimore Orioles acquire: OF Felix Pie
Chicago Cubs acquire: LHP Garrett Olson and RHP Henry Williamson
Out of options when trying to crack the Chicago outfield rotation, Felix Pie was finally traded and sent to the Baltimore Orioles. Once considered the Cubs top prospect, he was never able to duplicate his minor league success were he compiled a .299/.355/.470 stat line through six seasons, but saw him struggle mightily in the 130 games that he’s appeared in the major leagues. During that time he hit just .223/.284/.331, and showed little spark like how he was touted going up the ranks of the Cubs system. His failures come from his inability to getting on base consistently and not being able to hit left handed pitching. He was never an on base machine to begin with, and even though he was only a 62% base stealer during his minor league career, he could’ve raised havoc on the bases for opponents with his great speed. He can still be an effective base stealer, as that part of a player’s game can be harnessed. His failure to hit lefties is another matter. In the brief time he’s faced major league left handed pitching, he hit a miniscule .106 and showed zero pitch recognition ability to make things worse. His problem is that he’s too pull conscious and is always sitting “dead red” which plays right into the pitcher’s trap. Pie will turn 24 years old at the start of the season and even though he’s raw, he showed A+ ability as an outfielder with a very good throwing arm. Top prospects can feel the pressure put on fans when they get called up, and maybe that caused Pie to play differently when called upon. He’s still a talented young player and the Orioles hope they can salvage him. At worse, he could be a solid fourth outfielder.
For the Chicago Cubs, LHP Garrett Olson is the pitching equivalent of Felix Pie. The 48th overall pick in the 2005 draft out of Cal Poly University, Olson quickly shot through the system, making his major league debut on Independence Day, two years ago Since then he’s shown brief flashes of brilliance on the mound, but it’s mostly been ugly during his turn in the rotation. His problem is that he walks too many people (90 BB/111 K’s in career 165.1 IP), doesn’t have an over powering fastball (88-91 mph). He posses no deception in his delivery, and hasn’t developed a third pitch to offset his fastball and slider offerings. He’s basically been a “dead duck” pitcher out there much to the fault of the Orioles brass who I feel rushed him to the major leagues way too soon. He still has some talent, and pundits now feel he could make a transition into the bullpen as soon as he tweaks his delivery a little bit, and gets the confidence that he’ll need to get left hander’s out (.302 BA / 1.82 WHIP in career 36.1 IP) in the major league level. Let’s see what the Cubs can do with him. He’ll be a fringe major leaguer at best.
RHP Henry Williamson was a 14th rd pick out of San Jacinto JC in Texas in 2007. The big 6’5” 230 lb right handed pitcher posted a very nice a 0-1 3.72 ERA 42 K 5 BB 13.03 K/9IP .221 BA in 29 IP mostly coming out of the bullpen in his first season in the pros. The pluses for him, is that his fastball command is very good, and he has a very good projectable body that can hopefully round into shape for the Cubs in the near future. He projects as a bullpen pitcher.
