Results tagged ‘ Trey McNutt ’
11/15 AFL update
Junior Lake hit a RBI double in the eighth but it wasn’t enough as Mesa lost 4-2 to Peoria on Monday in Arizona Fall League play. Cubs prospect Trey McNutt started, and gave up two runs — one earned — on two hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out two. The two teams meet again in Peoria on Tuesday.
– Carrie Muskat
11/9 AFL update
DJ LeMahieu had two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base in Mesa’s 13-3 loss to Peoria on Tuesday in Arizona Fall League play. Trey McNutt started for the Solar Sox, and gave up one unearned run on three hits over two innings. Cubs prospect Marcus Hatley gave up one hit and struck out one in one inning of relief. On Wednesday, Mesa plays host to Salt River at HoHoKam Park.
– Carrie Muskat
11/6 AFL & winter ball update
Junior Lake went 1-for-3 with a double but also made a costly throwing error as the West team beat the East, 11-2, in the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars game Saturday in Surprise. Cubs prospects Chris Carpenter and Trey McNutt each pitched in the game in relief. After an off day Sunday, the three rejoin the Mesa Solar Sox and play host to Peoria at HoHoKam Park on Monday.
In Venezuela, Austin Bibens-Dirkx gave up two hits and struck out five over seven innings to help Zulia beat La Guaira, 4-0. On Sunday, Carlos Zambrano is scheduled to start for Caribes against Magallanes. It will be his first game since Aug. 12.
– Carrie Muskat
11/2 AFL update – Tuesday’s game
Josh Vitters hit a RBI double but it wasn’t enough as Mesa lost, 7-5, on Tuesday to Surprise in Arizona Fall League play. Vitters is batting .343. Trey McNutt started and gave up three runs on four hits, including three home runs, in three innings. He struck out three. Andrew Cashner followed McNutt, and gave up two runs on three hits in one inning. Mesa faces Phoenix on Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 12:35 p.m. MT.
Also on Tuesday, McNutt, pitcher Chris Carpenter and shortstop Junior Lake were named to the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars team.
– Carrie Muskat
10/25 AFL update
DJ LeMahieu had two hits and scored two runs in Mesa’s 8-6, 10-inning loss to Surprise on Tuesday in Arizona Fall League play. Junior Lake and Josh Vitters were both hitless in four at-bats. Trey McNutt started for Mesa, and gave up three runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings. The Solar Sox lost on a walkoff two-run homer in the 10th. On Wednesday, Mesa plays host to Scottsdale at HoHoKam Park. First pitch at 12:35 p.m. MT.
– Carrie Muskat
10/19 McNutt: “I thought it was a joke”
Trey McNutt was roughed up Wednesday in his third Arizona Fall League start, giving up four runs, two earned, over 1 2/3 innings. What surprised him even more was to hear that he was rumored to be one of the players mentioned as possible trade bait for the Cubs to acquire Theo Epstein.
McNutt can only hope he has better luck than Hector Trinidad.
In 1994, the Cubs agreed to terms with then-Minnesota GM Andy MacPhail and Trinidad, a Class A pitcher, was dealt to the Twins as compensation. The pitcher never made it to the big leagues.
Now, the Cubs and Red Sox are negotiating so Theo Epstein can take over baseball operations in Chicago.
McNutt, a 32nd-round pick in 2009, has been rumored to be one of the players the Red Sox are targeting. He’s just trying to get back on track after an injury riddled season with Double-A Tennessee. He missed time because of blisters and a bruised rib cage suffered in a collision with teammate Josh Vitters.
The right-hander didn’t know he was in the middle of the Epstein-to-Cubs talks until his Mesa Solar Sox teammates told him.
“I just thought it was a joke and then they showed me and I was like, ‘It’s for real,’” McNutt told WEEI in Boston after his start Wednesday. “I just didn’t think [the Cubs] would trade me because we need the starting pitching. But anything can happen. that’s just how the world works.
“[The rumor] just caught me by shock,” McNutt said. “I just didn’t think my name would be brought up, so I’m just going to sit and wait and see. Nothing’s probably going to happen until after the World Series, so that’ll probably be this time next week. You just kind of sit around and wait. Either way, they’re both good organizations. If they do trade me, sometimes organizations have to do things they don’t want to do and that’s just the nature of the game.”
The Cubs do need starting pitching, but also a general manager. Epstein, who will be 38 in December, apparently has agreed in principle to a five-year deal with the Cubs, and could be named president of baseball operations. There are reports that Epstein would bring Jed Hoyer, now the Padres GM, to Chicago and Hoyer would handle the general manager duties. Epstein would oversee the baseball operations, and be given a different title.
“I know he did a hell of a job with the Red Sox over there,” McNutt said of Epstein. “Brought them two World Series. He’s a good GM, one of the better ones out there. I think if we get him, he’ll do a good job in the Cubs organization for sure.”
There were reports that the Cubs and Red Sox could complete the negotiations on Thursday. However, Major League Baseball imposes a blackout on all announcements during the World Series, which began Wednesday in St. Louis between the Cardinals and Rangers.
Apparently, McNutt is the last to know.
“I dont know what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s out of my hands. I’m just trying to focus on pitching out here and trying to get better. You learn to take everything in stride, really. You don’t take the game for granted. You go out there and work hard every day and that’s all you can ask for.”
– Carrie Muskat
10/19 AFL update – Wednesday’s game
The Mesa Solar Sox rallied for a 6-5 win over Scottsdale on Wednesday in Arizona Fall League play. Trey McNutt, who reportedly has drawn interest from the Red Sox in the Theo Epstein talks, started and gave up four runs — two earned — on five hits and one walk over 1 2/3 innings. Chris Carpenter picked up the win, pitching one inning in relief. Cubs prospects Junior Lake was 2-for-5, Josh Vitters 1-for-3, and DJ LeMahieu 1-for-4. White Sox infielder Tyler Saladino hit a two-run single in the ninth for the game-winning runs. The Mesa team plays host to Scottsdale on Thursday at HoHoKam Park.
– Carrie Muskat
10/18 Waiting for Theo, Day 7
On Oct. 27, 2009, a travel day during the World Series between the Yankees and Phillies, the Cubs held a news conference at Wrigley Field to announce the Ricketts family had completed the sale of the ballclub. MLB discourages teams from announcements during the World Series but made an exception for the Cubs that year. Could that happen again so the Cubs can name their next general manager?
One week ago, reports surfaced that the Cubs and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein had agreed in principle to a five-year deal. But Epstein has one year left on his contract, and the two teams have been discussing compensation and who, if any, of his staff can accompany him to Chicago. The two teams can set their own deadline to complete negotiations but Game 1 of the World Series between the Cardinals and Rangers is Wednesday night. No news conference was scheduled Tuesday for the Stadium Club at Wrigley Field.
The Red Sox apparently are trying to restock their pitching in the Minor Leagues. There were reports the Red Sox aimed high and asked for starter Matt Garza as compensation but the Cubs rejected that option. Boston was believed to be targeting right-hander Trey McNutt, who was currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League. A 32nd-round pick in 2009, McNutt battled blisters and a bruised rib cage this season at Double-A Tennessee and was 5-6 with a 4.55 ERA in 23 games. McNutt, 22, was 10-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 25 starts at Class A and Double-A in 2010.
Another arm in the mix could be right-hander Chris Carpenter, a third-round pick in 2008, who pitched in relief at Tennessee, Triple-A Iowa and briefly with the Cubs this season. But Chicago doesn’t have much depth in the system, which was evident this past season when the Cubs lost Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells to injuries after their first starts and struggled to fill their spots in the rotation.
There is some precedent. In 1994, after agreeing to terms with Twins GM Andy MacPhail to become president and CEO, the Cubs sent Class A pitcher Hector Trinidad to the Twins as compensation. Trinidad never made it to the big leagues.
Interim GM Randy Bush has handled the Cubs day to day operations the last two months, but there are decisions to be made once the World Series ends. Free agency begins five days after the final out. The Cubs staff also is on hold. Manager Mike Quade is under contract for 2012 but only hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo is believed to be signed for next year. The others have contracts that expire at the end of October.
In Epstein’s nine years as GM, the Red Sox won two World Series and reached the postseason six times. What’s that worth? Friday is a travel day for the Cardinals and Rangers. Perhaps Cubs and Red Sox followers will find out then.
– Carrie Muskat
10/17 Waiting for Theo, Day 6
The Boston Globe reported Monday that talks between the Cubs and Red Sox to determine compensation for Theo Epstein are ongoing but may not be resolved before the World Series begins. The Red Sox want players in exchange for allowing Epstein to leave with one year remaining on his contract. The Cubs and Epstein has reportedly agreed in principle on a five-year contract in which he would take over the baseball operations.
Major League Baseball discourages teams from making any announcements during the World Series, which begins Wednesday in St. Louis when the Cardinals face the Rangers. The two sides could continue to negotiate but if the World Series goes seven games, it would end Oct. 27.
The Red Sox are believed to be focused on adding pitchers, and one report said they were targeting right-hander Trey McNutt, who is pitching in the Arizona Fall League now.
The Cubs will not comment on the GM search, and the Red Sox have declined to comment on Epstein’s status.
– Carrie Muskat
10/14 Waiting for Theo, Day 3
The Red Sox apparently want a prospect or two from the Cubs as compensation for Theo Epstein. The two teams continued negotiations Friday over a package to free Epstein from the final year of his contract in Boston and allow him to take over baseball operations in Chicago.
Is Epstein worth Brett Jackson, the Cubs’ highly touted outfield prospect who was the No. 1 pick in 2009? Or do the Red Sox want Matt Szczur, another top Minor Leaguer?
The Cubs and Epstein have reportedly agreed in principle on a five-year deal, believed to be worth $15 million to $18.5 million. But because Epstein has one year remaining on his contract, the Cubs must compensate the Red Sox, and the value was expected to depend on the number of staffers Epstein would take with him to Chicago.
In recent years, when two of Epstein’s co-workers left, they were each allowed to take two Red Sox staffers with them. Josh Byrnes went to the Diamondbacks in 2005, and took two people, including Peter Woodfork, then director of baseball operations. In 2009, Jed Hoyer was able to take scouting director Jason McLeod and Sam Ray, now assistant to the scouting director, when Hoyer went to the Padres.
In 2002, the Red Sox offered Billy Beane the GM job and were prepared to deal Double-A third baseman Kevin Youkilis to the Athletics as compensation. But Beane opted to stay in Oakland. Last month, the White Sox received two of the Marlins’ top five prospects in exchange for letting Ozzie Guillen out of his contract to manage the Florida team.
The Cubs would not comment on the GM search, and the Red Sox declined to comment on Epstein’s status.
The Cubs have been looking for a new GM since Aug. 19 when chairman Tom Ricketts dismissed Jim Hendry. An announcement could come early next week. Major League Baseball discourages teams from making announcements during the World Series, which begins Wednesday.
Ricketts was handling the negotiations with Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino, and discussing the targeted players with Cubs interim GM Randy Bush, player development director Oneri Fleita, and scouting director Tim Wilken.
The Cubs farm system was depleted earlier this year when the team acquired Matt Garza from the Rays in exchange for five players, including Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer and Hak-Ju Lee. Jackson, 23, was playing for Team USA now after batting .297 at Triple-A Iowa; Szczur, 22, batted .260 at Class A Daytona. The top pitching prospects include Trey McNutt, 22, who is pitching in the Arizona Fall League now, and Jeff Beliveau, 24, who posted a 1.89 ERA in 41 games at Double-A Tennessee.
– Carrie Muskat
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