Mike North: Is Chicago Cubs bullpen good as is?
The Chicago Cubs are facing a dilemma, and it's about the bullpen.
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein pulled off a deal Wednesday acquiring left-handed reliever Mike Montgomery from the Seattle Mariners, and Montgomery will remain in the bullpen.
It appears he is a competent pitcher with an ERA of 2.34 in 32 games, including 2 starts.
Current trade rumors are swirling about Kyle Schwarber going to the New York Yankees for more pitching.
I can understand why Cubs fans, who haven't seen a winner in forever - and, by the way, that's all Cubs fans - might feel Yankees reliever Andrew Miller and/or closer Aroldis Chapman could put the team over the top.
It's pretty safe to say that Epstein knows his stuff and right now it's all about preparing for October.
If he thinks Schwarber is a 30-homer, 100-RBI guy, that's fair and could be right. But what isn't fair is a cockamamie statement that Schwarber is part of the culture and it wouldn't be fair to Kyle to trade him.
Listen, we aren't talking about a five-year guy here; we're talking about a guy with no real position, who suffered a season-ending injury and still has an almost nonexistent resume.
I know he's a cuddly guy, and the fans love him, but if trading Schwarber can get the Cubs a World Series ring this year, then so be it!
I listen to various national radio stations, like Fox Sports Radio and TV as opposed to local because there is too much of a bias.
Recently on Mad Dog radio out of New York, for example, I heard Yankees fans say they wanted the Schwarber deal done yesterday; they see a left-handed designated hitter who could play there 10 years.
Several callers on the radio liked the idea of trading Miller or Chapman for Schwarber overall, but not both.
Yankees fans are smart and realize there is no sense having a closer if your team is under .500. But then I heard a transplanted Cubs fan living in New York talk about Miller saying uninformed Cubs fans won't want to give up Schwarber because they don't realize the value of Miller (5-1, 1.31 ERA).
Maybe the Cubs can do fine without Schwarber because right now they're playing .600 baseball without him.
So here's the question: Do the Cubs need to bolster the bullpen more right now or do they keep Schwarber for the future?
It's really up to the man in charge. If Epstein decides against it, then come October let's see how well the bullpen performs.
It's an important key because every major-league team that has won the World Series has had a dominant closer more often than not. The Cubs don't seem to have that … at least not yet.
Program notes:
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