Cubs going with Cashner
MESA, Ariz. — Long accused of making decisions based on money and the veteran status of players, the Cubs broke that mold Saturday with a couple of moves.
That’s not to say everybody was happy about them.
General manager Jim Hendry and field boss Mike Quade announced that second-year right-hander Andrew Cashner will be the team’s fifth starting pitcher, beating out veteran Carlos Silva.
Hendry also said the Cubs would try to trade Silva before the end of spring training, and failing that, they would like him to begin the season at Class AAA Iowa with a possible chance to help the big club later.
Silva wanted none of it and then some. He said “no chance” to a minor-league stint and also went off on first-year pitching coach Mark Riggins.
“I’m surprised because I’ve been working very hard and feeling a lot better,” Silva told reporters in Mesa before the rest of the team headed to Surprise, Ariz., for Cashner’s start against Texas. “(Friday), I wanted to throw my (bullpen session), and I felt really good. Riggs came to me and said, ‘What a day, and now go out there and do your workout and continue pitching the way you’re doing.’ A half-hour later, he called me into the hall and started talking to me.
“I’m like, ‘If you have to say something, be straight.’ He has to learn he’s in the big leagues now, know what I mean? There’s no kids around here anymore. The way he laid it out, I don’t know what he was trying to do. He said, ‘Man you’ve been throwing good, you can pitch, blah, blah, blah.’ He said, ‘What if you go to Triple-A and throw some games to continue building and continue getting better?’ I told him I don’t need to go there, I’m ready to go, I feel good, I’m ready to pitch.”
Silva got off to a rough start this spring, including a dugout shoving match with teammate Aramis Ramirez after Silva didn’t like some poor fielding by the Cubs. He had a solid outing in his last start, but for the spring, he’s 1-2 with a 10.90 ERA.
If the Cubs cannot find a taker for Silva, they likely will release him and be on the hook for $11.5 million. In obtaining Silva in a December 2009 trade with Seattle for Milton Bradley, the Cubs had received $9 million of salary relief, part of which they used to sign Marlon Byrd to a three-year contract last winter.
The Cubs also named young right-hander Marcos Mateo to the bullpen. Hendry said the Cubs “tried to do the best things for the club.”
Quade told reporters it was time to give the Cashner, a hard-throwing 24-year-old, a chance. Cashner gave up 5 runs (3 earned) in the first inning Saturday but settled down nicely and got the win in a 6-5 Cubs victory.
“Organizationally, we just have to commit to finding out what ‘Cash’ could be,” Quade said. “We’ve talked about it a little bit before, about making this commitment to him and seeing what he can do. I just don’t think you can cut a guy loose for 4-5 starts in Arizona if you’re serious about this, and you think he’s got the potential to be a high-end starter — which we do — and then go ‘Ah, never mind.’
“Sometimes those kind of decisions force other decisions that may not be palatable and you may want to have it another way. Him in that fifth spot was huge. Given that, you look at Silva out of the pen. What can we do there? Is that really his role? Mateo has had a great camp.”
The Cubs also optioned pitchers Casey Coleman and Jeff Stevens to Class AAA Iowa. Coleman, who pitched well for the Cubs late last year, will start at Iowa, and he figures to be back at some point this year.
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