Cubs give up Cashner for Padres’ Rizzo
Third time a charm? The Cubs hope so.
The new Cubs brass Friday acquired first-base prospect Anthony Rizzo and minor-league pitcher Zach Cates from the San Diego Padres in exchange for hard-throwing right-hander Andrew Cashner and minor-league outfielder Kyung-Min Na.
Cashner represents a stiff price to pay, but there’s a triple connection with the new Cubs management team and Rizzo. Follow along if you will:
Ÿ Rizzo was a sixth-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox in 2007 when new Cubs president Theo Epstein, general manager Jed Hoyer and minor-league boss Jason McLeod were running various aspects of the Red Sox operation.
Ÿ Hoyer became the Padres’ GM in late 2009. On Dec. 6, 2010, Epstein and the Red Sox sent Rizzo to the Padres as part of the deal that sent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to Boston.
Ÿ By that time, McLeod had already moved from Boston to San Diego to work with Hoyer.
“We’re very excited to acquire Anthony Rizzo,” Hoyer said. “He’s a player that Theo, Jason and I know very well. This is now the third organization that Jason and I have been with Anthony, which speaks to how much we think of his ability and his character.
“We believe Anthony has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order run producer for the Cubs for a long time. He still has some development left, but we feel that what he’s done at age 20 at Double-A and 21 at Triple-A was remarkable.”
Now enter a little intrigue into the story.
Even though Rizzo appears to be the Cubs’ first baseman of the future, Hoyer said Bryan LaHair likely would be the opening-day starter this year with Rizzo beginning at Class AAA Iowa.
The 22-year-old Rizzo tore it up at Class AAA Tucson last year, putting up a hitting line of .331/.404/.652 with 26 home runs and 101 RBI.
Rizzo made his major-league debut last June 9, and in 49 games with the Padres, he had a line of .141/.281/.242 with 1 homer.
You don’t hear many execs say it, but Hoyer admitted the early call-up was a mistake.
“The way we see it, Bryan had a terrific year last year at Triple-A,” said Hoyer, noting LaHair’s 38 homers at the Cubs’ Class AAA Iowa affiliate. “He’s been terrific this winter in Venezuela. We see him as our first baseman.
“Let’s be candid. I don’t think I did Anthony any favors when I was GM of the Padres. We traded for him for Adrian Gonzalez. We called him up because we weren’t getting any first-base production at San Diego. It was too early, and it was a mistake on my part. I don’t think it did Anthony any favors. We think it’s likely he goes back to Triple-A, and Bryan’s our first baseman (this) year.”
Rizzo has beaten serious illness. He was limited to 21 minor-league games in 2008 after being diagnosed with limited stage classical Hodgkins lymphoma in late April.
Rizzo told cubs.com that he was happy to be reunited with his old bosses.
“I got called up to the big leagues last year and struggled a little bit,” Rizzo told the site. “I wouldn’t say some people wrote me off, but some people I guess lost some faith in me. For them to still have that faith, with everything they helped me through, it just shows me how loyal they are and how honored I am to play for them.”
The Cubs gave up a lot of potential in Cashner to get Rizzo. The 25-year-old was the Cubs’ No. 1 draft pick in 2008. He opened the 2011 season as the Cubs’ fifth starter, but he strained his right rotator cuff in his first start of the season and missed most of the year.
He went to the Arizona Fall League, where the Cubs used him as a reliever, and he reached 100 mph on the radar gun. Because the Cubs didn’t project him as a starter, they found it easier to move him for Rizzo. The Padres also see him as a reliever.
“As with any trade, we gave up something very good to get Anthony Rizzo,” Hoyer said. “It was difficult to give up Andrew Cashner. He’s a player that as you gather information here, people think very highly of him. He’s obviously got a terrific power arm and a very good frame.
“The more that we did research and the more conversations we had, the conclusions internally after all those conversations, we felt like he was eventually going to end up in the bullpen as a reliever. Given where we are in our cycle, we feel like the ability to get six years of an everyday player like Anthony Rizzo was the right thing to do.”
Cates, 22, was a Padres’ third-round draft pick in 2010. In his first pro season last year, he was 4-10 with a 4.73 ERA at Class A Fort Wayne. Na, 20, played for four different minor-league teams in the Cubs system last year.
Ÿ Follow Bruce’s Cubs reports via Twitter @BruceMiles2112, and check out his Chicago’s Inside Pitch blog at dailyherald.com.