Roster Maneuverings, Outfield Decisions, Seiya is Funny, and Other Cubs Bullets – bleachernation.com

Hey, that St. Peters basketball team, eh? If they can make it to the Elite Eight, surely the Chicago Cubs could surprise enough to be in the race for a playoff spot come late July, right?

The trade of Harold Ramirez last night took the Cubs 40-man roster down to 39 (Esteban Quiroz doesnt require a 40-man spot), which would give them temporary space to grab a player on waivers if someone caught their eye. But keep in mind, the Cubs are going to need a spot when pitching prospect Alexander Vizcaino is ready to be activated from the restricted list (whenever that is we dont even know why hes on there). Moreover, if any of the non-roster invites make the team Jesse Chavez? Robert Gsellman? thatll require a 40-man spot.

There will still be a lot of roster sorting coming. Some of it will be organic. For example, if any of Michael Hermosillo or Rafael Ortega or Jason Heyward dont make the Opening Day roster (its highly unlikely all three do), they will necessarily have to be DFAd/released, which more or less guarantees another 40-man spot is going to be opened. That was all the more reason why it made sense to trade Ramirez last night when an interesting trade return presented itself Ramirez, also out of options, was going to hit the waiver wire at some point soon anyway.

Speaking of the outfield, if everyone is healthy, heres how its shaking out. Youve got a positional group that will be 13 players, and will presumably include the two catchers, one first baseman (Frank Schwindel, if healthy), one second baseman (Nick Madrigal, two shortstops (Andrelton Simmons and Nico Hoerner), and the third baseman (Patrick Wisdom and Jonathan Villar). That leaves a maximum of five outfielder spots available, two of which will absolutely be taken by Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. So you have three spots left for Clint Frazier, Hermosillo, Ortega, and Heyward. Someone will have to go, and Frazier is the only one with a minor league option left. Its *conceivable* the Cubs could send him down to open the season so that they can keep each of the other three, but if Frazier is healthy, Id think you would want him on the big league roster right out of the gate.

The thinking had long been that Jason Heyward would be given at least a couple months to see if he could bounce back as a lefty bat against righties, but the addition of Suzuki may have changed that calculus. Im not sure I would rather see Heyward getting those starts in center field over Ortega and/or Hermosillo, and I definitely dont want to see him sending by extension Frazier to the minors.

Seiya Suzuki was a bit pissed off that he didnt do anything yesterday in his two at bats:

In there, its noted that new Cubs hitting coach Greg Brown (formerly the minor league hitting coordinator for the Rays) was part of the contingent that went to the meeting in Los Angeles that clinched the Suzuki signing. I like to hear that. Brown says of Suzuki, per the Tribune, The key is just trying to find connection points. He loves hitting, he loves talking hitting and hes got a great personality. . Hes very engaging, very confident, and you see with his player interactions, he just immediately can immerse himself. That is going to be a recipe for success for him . The ball comes off and it doesnt look like hes trying, but its because he moves from the center really well. So thats something that if you could help create better performance all the way around, it would be that so he already has that. Its just adapting to the flow of the way pitchers pitch. Its totally different style.

People have said Seiya Suzuki is funny, and were already seeing it:

Heres the full in-game interview with Seiya Suzuki if you missed it during yesterdays broadcast:

New Cubs reliever Mychal Givens, it turns out, is a training buddy with Kyle Schwarber, who talked up his experience with the Cubs and Chicago (Marquee).

Nick Madrigal had a couple hits yesterday, but also a really bad throw:

Eno Sarris has ten bold statistically-supported predictions for the season ahead, and the Cubs pretty much show up nowhere (which says a lot):

Interesting bit in there: Joey Votto, at age 37/38, increased his bat speed DRAMATICALLY, which played a big part in his jump in power production. Id love to know how he did it, but hes keeping it a secret sauce. Somebody talk to that man! GET HIS SECRETS!

The latest Onto Waveland:

Continue reading here:

Roster Maneuverings, Outfield Decisions, Seiya is Funny, and Other Cubs Bullets - bleachernation.com