The Rundown: Cogs to Philly, Boone Logan to Cleveland, Desmond Jennings and Bronson Arroyo to Cincinnati
Whew, sure was a busy day when it came transactions in which the Cubs have varying degrees of interest. How ’bout we get right to it.
- If Chris Coghlan‘s career was a theme-park ride, it’d probably be Tower of Terror. Steep rises followed by stomach-churning drops, from Rookie of the Year to outright release to best fourth outfielder in baseball to lowest WAR in baseball. The next episode of his personal Twilight Zone will be based in Philly, so goes the hope. Coghlan signed a minor league deal, which includes an invite to Spring Training, with the Phillies on Thursday.
- From former Cub to former Cubs target, at least in my mind. Lefty reliever Boon Logan agreed to a one-year deal with the Indians worth a guaranteed $6.5 million. According to a tweet from cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes, the contract has a $5.5M base in 2016 with a $7M club option for 2018 ($1M buyout).
- In their quest to field a team that’s good enough to help them follow the Cubs’ blueprint of turning high draft picks into success, the Reds have reportedly agreed to deals with Desmond Jennings and Bronson Arroyo. Wait, Bronson Arroyo is still in the league? Does he still have cornrows? After throwing at least 199 innings in nine straight seasons, Arroyo logged only 86 innings for the D-backs in 2014 and has missed the last two seasons due to injury. Jennings has also been hobbled by injuries and is expected to compete with with, among others, Arismendy Alcantara (!) for a backup spot.
- I forgot that ‘Mendy was in Cincy. If you recall, he was sent to Oakland in exchange for Coghlan, who the Cubs had traded to the’s in Spring Training when Dexter Fowler came back. The irrational pessimist in me says Alcantara will make the team and absolutely terrorize the Cubs. The rational optimist in me says the same thing.
- Jennings ruined at least one of fantasy teams, which means he will also play well in Cincy
- Heck, Arroyo will probably be able to dig deep and muster at least one more bafflingly suceessful performance against the Cubs. The lanky righty has ridden that high-kick delivery to a 3.06 ERA in 197.0 innings vs. the Cubs, appreciably better than his 4.19 career mark. I guess that’s not dominant, but it just feels like he always had their number, doesn’t it?
- The Cubs are expected to once again have the best defense in baseball. More on that to come, including a super sexy video of pickoff throws from catchers.