Cubs claim Adrian Cardenas, designate Blake DeWitt

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Yesterday the Cubs claimed Adrian Cardenas off of waivers and to make room for him on the 40-man roster they designated Blake DeWitt for assignment. The Cubs signed DeWitt a couple weeks ago to $1.1 million. The Cubs will owe DeWitt $183,333. He wasn't going to provide much or any value to the Cubs this year or next so there was little reason to retain him. While Cardenas may not be much of an improvement, it's actually more fun talking about what he once was rather than what he is now.

Cardenas was the 37th player taken in the 2006 Draft. The Phillies used their supplemental first round pick to grab the talented player from Monsignor Edward Pace HS (FL). His teammate Chris Marrero was also taken in the 1st round (15th overall). Those were the only two chosen from that high school and both were 1st round selections. Neither has reached the potential they once had.

He started off just fine. He had a wRC+ of 146 in 177 PA after being drafted. He followed that up with a wRC+ of 109 as a 19 year old in A ball. At the age of 20 (2008) he had a 140 wRC+ in nearly 300 PA and was then traded to the A's. The rest of the season it was below 100, but he followed it up at 21 in AA with with a wRC+ of 127. He struggled (80 wRC+) in AAA that season, but was only 21. Back at AA in 2010 he hit as well as he had the year before in AA, but was even worse in AAA that year. Although his 2011 batting line of .314/.374/.418 looks good, it's a .356 wOBA. The league average was .356.

Prior to 2008 he was the 76th ranked prospect and moved up to 74th the following year. He hasn't been seen on the list since.

At the time of the draft, Baseball America had this scouting report for Cardenas:

No player in Florida took a bigger leap forward this spring than Cardenas, a hard-nosed throwback player with good makeup and feel for the game. He's savvy and bright, and he even plays the piano. He made the most of hitting in front of Chris Marrero in his high school lineup by putting together one of the most impressive high school seasons in South Florida in years. He hit safely in 29 of his first 37 at-bats with eight home runs, broke a Dade County record for home runs and was batting .630-17-56. Cardenas has good strength and a short, compact lefthanded swing. He allows balls to get deep in the hitting zone before driving them to all fields. He should hit 10-15 home runs annually in the big leagues with a .275-.295 average. He won't make it there as a shortstop, however, which hinders his value. He's a fringe-average runner, and his lower half has some stiffness. Most scouts believe he profiles at second base fine, though others insist he'll wind up in left field. His hands are average, as is his arm at second base.

After his strong rookie league performance he was ranked 3rd in the Phillies organization and Baseball America wrote this:

Strengths: Cardenas has good strength and a short, compact swing from the left side. He has a knack for squaring up balls, making consistent hard contact and driving the ball to all fields. He profiles to hit 15-20 homers annually in the majors. He's presently a solid-average defender at shortstop, though most scouts believe he'll have to change positions down the road. His intellect is on par with his athleticism, as he graduated in the top 10 percent in his class.

Weaknesses: The Phillies recognize that Cardenas best fits at second base, where he played exclusively during instructional league. He lacks first-step quickness and the range to play short, and his speed and arm strength are fringy.

He was ranked 2nd the following year:

The Future: Cardenas will move to high Class A Clearwater for 2008, but his bat could push him to Double-A by midseason. He has middle-of-the-order potential, though the Phillies already are set at second base with Chase Utley.

After his poor performance following the trade he dropped to 5th, but that was in another organization. He dropped out of the top 10 the following year.

CAIRO projects a .284 wOBA for Cardenas. We could bump that up now that he's moved to the inferior league. Oliver projects a .310 wOBA. CAIRO projected DeWitt to have a .323 wOBA while Oliver projected .303. The Cubs probably got a bit worse in terms of projections, but they added a player with multiple options and 6 years of club control. Several of those would be at league minimum. They got rid of a player who would probably have made about $3 million over the next couple seasons. They added someone who does still have some potential to be a decent big leaguer.

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  1. Author
    Suburban kid

    MB, I have a cool story for you bro.

    This girl from my class who was a tomboy at age 6 but somewhat hot at age 17 was asked to come backstage at a Dead show (at age 17, not 6). She was a big fan, but was disappointed by the experience. Several of the band and crew were leches, and Jerry Garcia was a big fat slob who had crumbs in his beard from his ham sandwich. I’m reminded of that cool story whenever I see Jerry’s beard, so it’s your fault.

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  2. AndCounting

    Hearing rumors of Josh Vitters ——-> Red Sox as Theo compensation. I want this to happen simply because I called it back when the Theo talks first began.

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  3. Author
    WaLi

    Suburban kid wrote:

    MB, I have a cool story for you bro.
    This girl from my class who was a tomboy at age 6 but somewhat hot at age 17 was asked to come backstage at a Dead show (at age 17, not 6). She was a big fan, but was disappointed by the experience. Several of the band and crew were leches, and Jerry Garcia was a big fat slob who had crumbs in his beard from his ham sandwich. I’m reminded of that cool story whenever I see Jerry’s beard, so it’s your fault.

    They were milk? Or the second definition:
    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leche

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  4. Author
    mb21

    Suburban kid wrote:

    MB, I have a cool story for you bro.
    This girl from my class who was a tomboy at age 6 but somewhat hot at age 17 was asked to come backstage at a Dead show (at age 17, not 6). She was a big fan, but was disappointed by the experience. Several of the band and crew were leches, and Jerry Garcia was a big fat slob who had crumbs in his beard from his ham sandwich. I’m reminded of that cool story whenever I see Jerry’s beard, so it’s your fault.

    It all would have made a lot more sense to her if she was 6.

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  5. Author
    josh

    Seems like they’re big on potential and fixer-uppers with these signings and trades. That’s fine with me. Most likely nothing will pan out, but there could be a pleasant surprise buried in there.

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  6. Aisle424

    josh wrote:

    Seems like they’re big on potential and fixer-uppers with these signings and trades. That’s fine with me. Most likely nothing will pan out, but there could be a pleasant surprise buried in there.

    The difference with this office is that they probably won’t fall in love with the few that do work out well. Hendry liked his lightning in a bottle, but then forgot that’s all it was and ended up counting on those guys because now they were fan favorites. I was so proud when he traded DeRosa at the height of his value and wished it had worked out better since everyone was so pissed about it.

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  7. Author
    josh

    @ Aisle424:
    In retrospect, that was a savvy move. I remember being one of the angry, but I can see your point now. Who’d they get for him? A couple of pitchers, right? On the other hand, DeRo’s career has been one big wrist injury since then, so just not having him on the team is probably a win.

    In that way, it worked out, for the Cubs.

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  8. Author
    mb21

    Trading DeRosa at that point was my favorite transaction that Hendry ever made. I think he made a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones. Theo, if he’s around long enough, will also make a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones (see Red Sox, Boston). I think the difference between these two is about what 424 said. Theo is probably more likely to move on than hendry was. The Cubs picked up Neifi and he was surprisingly good. Then they re-signed him. I’d like to think that won’t happen anymore.

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  9. Author
    dylanj

    basically the book as i see on Cardenas is he is terrible at defense, hits for average and can take a walk but has no power. Checking out his fangraphs page his offensive value is less than replacement in years where his BA is low.

    Still like the move though because I dont have to see DeWitt out there anymore

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  10. Author
    Rice Cube

    AndCounting wrote:

    Hearing rumors of Josh Vitters ——-> Red Sox as Theo compensation. I want this to happen simply because I called it back when the Theo talks first began.

    I’d be okay with this, although I’d keep wondering what might have been.

    MB, I was just trying to see if merely pasting a link from Youtube would embed it, and it did. However, when you’re in the edit mode, it temporarily shows it as not embedded until you refresh the page. Minor quirk, nothing to freak out about.

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  11. Author
    GBTS

    FYI, I’ve tried two different browsers on my Android and I can’t see the comments in this thread on the mobile site (apparently just this one though).

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  12. Rodrigo Ramirez

    I couldn’t see comments either using mobile version with my iPhone.

    I clicked the box with the arrow and nothing happened. I switched off mobile and it works fine.

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  13. Author
    GBTS

    Switched over to the desktop version. When I clicked the arrow to unhide the comments, the arrow turned but no comments displayed.

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  14. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    [img]http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Treehorn-lebowski-doodle-full-650×346.jpg[/img]

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  15. Author
    mb21

    I don’t know why some images aren’t posting.

    [img]http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Treehorn-lebowski-doodle-full-650×346.jpg[/img]

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  16. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    TLR has had it with your newfangled image-posting. Nothing but woodcuts and scrimshaw for Ol’ Tone.

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  17. Author
    jtsunami

    Getting this new site to run smoothly is apparently going to take as long as Soriano’s contract (dying laughing)

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  18. Aisle424

    [img]http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1sPd3bksnbM/TaiUB-oiqKI/AAAAAAAABL0/64oql7jwY_g/w500-h407-k/palmeiro.jpg[/img]

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  19. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Mucker:
    It’s the first thing they’ve done for Cutler since they got him, so I think while it’s not a huge move, it’s a smart move. It’s also a mark of how fucking stupid that team is that we’re lauding them for hiring the right QB coach.

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  20. Author
    mb21

    I’ve done about all I can with trying to figure out the image issue. If someone else wants to look into go for it. I believe you can use html now. At least it worked for my other account anyway.

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  21. Author
    WaLi

    @ mb21:
    When I right click on the photos that don’t work and put them in the browser then the link itself doesn’t work, so I don’t think it is an issue on your end.

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  22. Author
    WaLi

    @ mb21:
    IE… sorry (dying laughing). I think java is enabled. Reply and quote works. OS is windows 7 here and windows xp at work.

    It worked originally but with the recent changes I haven’t been able to edit. I don’t care but there may be others. If someone else complains then maybe take a look at it (dying laughing)

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  23. Author
    Mish

    I missed much of the convo today, what’s up with pictures?

    [img]http://www.talknerdytomelover.com/storage/fuck-you-i-am-cat.jpg[/img]

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  24. Author
    ACT

    @ mb21:
    Obviously, the Cubs are better than you think. I mean, what’s the point of having a projection system if it doesn’t yield surprising insights every now and then?

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  25. Author
    WaLi

    Mobile site looks great. Only issue is that the names are so good they got cut short, especially when the is a +1. Not a big deal for short banners

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  26. Author
    WaLi

    Mobile site looks great. Only issue is that the names are so good they got cut short, especially when the is a +1. Not a big deal for short names

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  27. Author
    Rice Cube

    You’re doing this in the default WordPress style sheet right? It’s really bloody annoying because not everything is documented well, so I just kept changing stuff until it looked semi-presentable.

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  28. Author
    Rice Cube

    [img]http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusmlbexperts/quiz27.jpg[/img]

    There’s so much torque on that arm I’m surprised it never broke off. Rest in peace, Quiz.

    Similarly, I recall that a left-handed pitcher (can’t remember exactly who) broke his arm mid-delivery due to the excessive torque being placed on his arm. He released the pitch and fell to the ground clutching the arm. I guess that’s what happens when you make such an unnatural motion with your arm.

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  29. Author
    Rice Cube

    @ mb21:
    I’m not sure. It was sometime between 1995 and 2005 if that helps (dying laughing)

    The imagery is a lot more vivid than the names or the time/date.

    I read the Wiki on Dravecky and it wasn’t him…sounds like his arm troubles were because of a tumor. This guy I’m thinking of, you could actually hear the field mike record the “pop” when his arm snapped. It wasn’t at a horrible angle or anything, but you could tell he was in pain.

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  30. Aisle424

    He had been diagnosed, gone through treatment and was making a comeback and his arm snapped on a pitch that was audible. Players on the field said they had trouble not throwing up when they realized what had happened.

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  31. Author
    mb21

    I think you are thinking about Dravecky. That’s the only one I ever remember in which you could hear it pop. I seem to remember Dravecky saying it was like a shotgun had gone off next to his ear. Or maybe it was a teammate or coach. It was loud.

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  32. Author
    Rice Cube

    @ Aisle424:
    Ooooh, that sucks. Maybe I’m remembering a replay a decade later of that incident, but I could swear it was a different lefty pitcher. Wiki says his entire arm was amputated. Cancer sucks.

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  33. Berselius

    Suburban kid wrote:

    @ Rice Cube:
    I didn’t realize Chad Fox was a lefty.

    Rice Cube wrote:

    @ mb21:
    I’m not sure. It was sometime between 1995 and 2005 if that helps (dying laughing)
    The imagery is a lot more vivid than the names or the time/date.
    I read the Wiki on Dravecky and it wasn’t him…sounds like his arm troubles were because of a tumor. This guy I’m thinking of, you could actually hear the field mike record the “pop” when his arm snapped. It wasn’t at a horrible angle or anything, but you could tell he was in pain.

    IIRC people said they could hear it when Chad Fox’s elbow exploded a few years ago too, though obviously not as horrible as Dravecky’s injury. His elbow was held together by half a dozen pins and duct tape at that point, it was amazing that he could even get the ball to the plate.

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  34. Author
    bubblesdachimp

    I want to keep Vitters for one more year…

    Also Keith laws rankings for organizations are out. We are #20

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  35. Berselius

    josh wrote:

    They say sidearming is actually easier on your arm than overhand.

    It could be worse on your elbow, but it’s definitely better on your shoulder.

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  36. Author
    Rice Cube

    @ Berselius:
    The way that Quiz’s arm looks from that camera angle is really awkward. I think the same was true for other sidearmers like Chad Bradford. From the CF camera it looks fine, but looking from the side, it looks really stressful on that elbow joint.

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  37. Berselius

    mb21 wrote:

    @ Berselius:
    That’s probably where I’d put them, but I don’t know nearly as much about the minor leagues as I did a few years ago.

    I still know next to nothing about the minor leagues outside the Cubs system beyond the fact that there are nothing but tumbleweeds in the White Sox, Astros, and Brewers farm systems.

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