Schwarber’s Choice
Kyle Schwarber could be the perfect DH, so why is he still in the National League?
One of the plots of the TV drama “The West Wing”, involves the character of Senator Arnold Vinick, portrayed by Alan Alda, running as the Republican nominee for President. He isn’t your stereotypical Republican. He’s a moderate, pro-choice fiscal conservative who refuses to use gay marriage as a campaign issue and has broad support among the average voter. Basically he’s the anti-Trump. A guy that would scare Hillary Clinton shitless. It’s because of his moderate appeal that he becomes the nominee and the presumptive favourite. His campaign staff come up with a “50 state strategy” to try and win in a landslide. However, there’s a catch. The Christian conservative base won’t support him, unless he names Reverend Don Butler, a pro-life Bible Belt preacher as his VP nominee. If he does this, he won’t win 50 states but, with universal Republican support, he’ll be a lock for the Presidency.
As of now, the Chicago Cubs are 55–36 and 8 games up atop the NL Central. They seem certain to win their division and with a pitching rotation including lefty veteran Jon Lester and last year’s Cy Young winner, Jake Arrieta and a murderers row of young hitters, you’d be forgiven for thinking they are the favorites to win the National League pennant.
Unfortunately, the Cubs are giving their fans heart problems once again as they’ve only won 8 of their last 24, despite THEIR ENTIRE INFIELD STARTING THE ALL-STAR GAME!
This can be explained by their once dominant rotation looking shaky recently and their biggest weakness being exploited by power-hitting teams. You see, the Cubs can’t close out games, as they have no clutch in their bullpen. The bullpen has taken on a life of it’s own since the reigning world champions, the Kansas City Royals, proved a deep bullpen is crucial in the postseason come October. It can be the key difference when your starting pitcher gives you a lead after six innings and your bullpen takes you safely through the final 3.
The Cubbies could be a lockdown favorite in the National League if they acquired a lefty reliever with awesome stuff. Luckily, the top options on the trade market are two lefty relievers on the New York Yankees. They are Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman and they are freaking fantastic. Even better news is that the Yankees suck and are probably going to sell come the trade deadline on July 31st.
Andrew Miller would be perfect for the Cubs. He can be a setup and a closer, he has (according to baseball-reference.com) a 1.34 Earned Run Average and a 10.00 strikeout to walk ratio. He’s also not a rental, as he’s under contract through till 2018. Unlike Chapman, who is an expiring contract and has some character issues.
However, like Reverend Don Butler, there’s a catch. The Yankees would want top prospect, Kyle Schwarber, in return. The reason why they want him makes a lot of sense. It’s because, apart from Babe Ruth (heard of him?), he’s the perfect Yankee. He’s a left-handed power hitter that could destroy Yankee Stadium like he’s taking batting practice and he doesn’t have a set position so, by being in the American League, the Yankees could plug him in at the Designated Hitter spot in their lineup as a replacement for Alex Rodriguez, who could end his steriod *cough* sorry *cough* STORIED career, by being an everyday first basemen/Anti-Christ.
The Cubs don’t want to give up Schwarber though, especially not for a reliever. Even though top-notch relievers are en vogue right now, predicting their output can be sketchy. Plus, Schwarber is a great slugger as he proved last year with a .246BA/.354OBP/.487SLG stat line and 16 home runs and 43 runs batted in. However, there is no position for him in Chicago. They tried him at catcher, but he hurt them defensively and now they have rookie Willson Contreras at that spot. They have an All-Star infield, so he would need to be either James Bond or the second coming of Sammy Sosa to break into that lineup. They tried him at left field at the start of the season AND HE TORE UP HIS KNEE!
That’s right, you heard me. Whilst the Cubs fans are dreaming of this young team finally breaking the Curse of the Billy Goat and a 108 year-old title drought, Kyle Schwarber is stuck on the disabled list and out for the season. He cannot make any impact to improve this team this year and that leads the Cubs to an ethical dilemma.
Do you wait for Schwarber to get healthy and hope a position opens up for him and develop him long-term at Wrigley Field? Sentimentality over success.
Or do you trade him to a team, where he’ll have a future and get what you need for this year.
Identity or History?
Make this trade and the Chicago Cubs would be a lock for the World Series.
