Chicago Sports Mailbag: Cubs & White Sox Trade Grades, Plus the Absurdity of Preseason
What do Chicago’s MLB teams and every professional sports preseason ever have in common? They’re all lousy and won't improve anytime soon.
MULTIPLE CHICAGO ERAS END, while another begins.
Tuesday saw the close of the Chicago Cubs’ Christopher Morel era (such as it was), as the North Siders shipped the third baseman along with pitching prospects Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge to Tampa Bay in exchange for All-Star third baseman, Isaac Paredes.
One of MLB’s busiest franchises at the deadline, the Chicago White Sox put the kibosh on multiple eras, sending DH/LF Eloy Jiménez to Baltimore for Double-A lefty Trey McGough. Hurler Tanner Banks was moved to Philly, with 19-year-old infielder William Bergolla coming to Chicago, then heading to who-knows-what level of the Sox farm system. Then there was the three-team pseudo-blockbuster, which landed the Sox prospects OF Miguel Vargas, INF Jeral Perez, INF Alexander Albertus, and either a player to be named later or a chunk of cash-money, a haul that cost them righty hurlers Michael Kopech and Erick Fedde, as well as veteran outfielder Tommy Pham. And finally, they bid adieu to Paul DeJong and bid bonjour to reliever prospect Jarold Rosado.
As for a hopefully good era, let’s touch base with the Chicago Bears, as Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game in Ohio, was day one of the Caleb Williams reign…sort of. The rookie quarterback spent last night on the sidelines, because the NFL preseason is stupid. We’ll discuss just how stupid momentarily, that is, after we muse about the ugliness that is Chicago baseball.
I’d say the MLB trade deadline was (as Kamala Harris’ husband described JD Vance) weird. I guess what the Sox did sort of makes sense, because they’re a terrible team, so they’re planning for the future. (I say “sort of” because I feel like they should’ve gotten a better return.) And the Morel trade makes sense for the Cubbies because Paredes is a better player than Morel, plus he’s under team control for a few more years. But that was kind of a win-now move, and they’re aren’t winning now. If I were grading, I’d give them both a C. What’re your grades, Professor Goldsher?
Shannon, Chicago
I received multiple emails asking me to go down Chicago’s trade deadline rabbit hole, but this one gets the nod because, well, how can I say no to somebody who bequeaths upon me a professor-ship? I can’t. I just can’t.
Cubs-wise, I’m very much on the fence, because stat-wise, Paredes and Morel are more-or-less on the same plane. Here are their head-to-head 2024 splits:
And here’s their career H2H:
Seeing all that green shading, you might be thinking, Whoa, the Cubs won that deal, but let’s slow our rolls. Yes, career-wise, Paredes leads Morel in virtually every category, but not to the point that he’s a mind-blowing acquisition. This isn’t a Lou Brock/Ernie Broglio ha-ha-ha-we-totally-ripped-you-off sort of situation.
Things get even tighter when you focus on 2024. This season, the two are separated by, for instance, only 17 hits (Paredes), .055 OPB (Paredes), and two HRs (Morel). They’re also both 25-years-old, so that’s a wash.
Which begs the question, did the Rays sneakily steal some quality prospects?
This season in Double-A, Ty Johnson is 1-4 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, while Bigge’s career minor league stats are 14-5 / 4.25 / 1.43. Neither are Paul Skenes can’t-missers, so for now, it seems like the Cubs didn’t break the bank. GM Carter Hawkins slightly improved the squad without sacrificing the future, so let’s give them a B. Maybe a B-.
As for the Sox, well, howzabout we let USA Today’s Bob Nightengale — who cited the Pale Hose as the trade deadline’s biggest losers and was legit pissed they didn’t move pitcher Garrett Crochet — chime in:
“The White Sox had two of the most valuable commodities on the market in starters Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde. They wound up with only infielder Miguel Vargas and two mid-tiered prospects from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-way deal with Fedde, Kopech and outfielder Tommy Pham. Oh, and Crochet went nowhere, with teams frightened by his demands for a contract extension and the fact he’s thrown twice as many innings this year than in his combined career. Why trade for a guy who has few bullets left in his arm in a pennant stretch and refuses to pitch in October? Will the White Sox finishing with the worst record in baseball history? Chicago already was on pace to eclipse the 1962 Mets for the most losses in history (120), and now they’re an even worse team.”
“Even worse.” Is that possible?
Yahoo tabbed the Sox as the deadline’s second biggest loser, with Jake Mintz saying:
“[Chicago’s trades were] a huge misread of the market and bad process [sic] by GM Chris Getz and Chicago’s other decision-makers. Even if you’re high on the three prospects the White Sox received — I’m not — that’s simply not enough players! Fixing this thing is going to take time and patience, but the White Sox's decision to hinge their entire deadline on a small group of prospects adds pressure and reduces the overall likelihood of success. Considering how bad Chicago made out in that three-way deal, it’s probably a good thing they didn’t trade their two biggest fish: Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet.”
Nightengale and Mintz nailed it, so we’ll give the South Siders a big, stinky F. After all, they’ve F’d up the whole season, so why stop now?
All-Star Games in every professional sport are lame, but preseason in every professional sport is even lamer. Between NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, which preseason is the worst?
Gary, Bridgeport
I love love love ranking stuff. Generally, my rank lists run either alphabetically or from worst-to-best. Today, for this goofy thought exercise, we’ll ride best-to-worst…although they’re all pretty darn terrible.
4) NHL
I’m gonna be honest with you: I had no clue the NHL even had a preseason. I assumed they laced ‘em up for a week or two of training camp, then faced off on Opening Night.
3) NBA
I am, however, well aware that the Association makes their players do things against other teams in and around October. I’m also well aware that I haven’t been able to sit through an entire preseason hoops tilt since the Michael Jordan years.
2) MLB
Like MLB’s regular season, Spring Training is way too freakin’ long. Sure, it’s charming if you’re in Scottsdale, where you can socialize with a player or three. But if you’re watching it on the tube? Zzzzzzzzz.
1) NFL
The Shield’s preseason is so terrible that virtually anybody who has anything to do with any NFL team has called for the whole thing to be whacked.
Commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to discuss getting rid of some or all of the preseason…if they players agree to an extra regular season clash, telling Pat McAfee:
"I'd rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season game any day. That's just picking quality. If we got to 18 [regular-season] and two [preseason], that's not an unreasonable thing."
Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly — who serves on the NFLPA's executive committee — isn’t enamored with either three preseason outings or an additional regular season game, explaining:
“Eighteen games sounds great when Roger's on the Pat McAfee [Show]. Until you're the one that's going out there and putting the helmet on for 18 of those games, then come talk to me."
Kelly, who probably echoes most NFL players, doesn’t want to play a preseason. Alan Goldsher, who probably echoes most NFL pundits, doesn’t want to watch a preseason.
Since we’re all on the same page, let’s end that era. Like, yesterday.