Chicago Cubs Acquire Mike Montgomery from Seattle Mariners

The Chicago Cubs have found bullpen help in the form of left-handed swingman Mike Montgomery. To get him (along with Triple-A RHP Jordan Pries) they shipped 1B/DH Dan Vogelbach and Double-A RHP Paul Blackburn to Seattle.

The Chicago Cubs had been rumored to be looking at either Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman of the Yankees to help shore up their bullpen. The asking price seems to have been too high, as they instead decided to make a move for fellow left-hander Mike Montgomery.

As you can see in the tweet above, the Cubs also get Triple-A pitcher Jordan Pries, and in exchange, will give up minor-league 1B/DH Dan Vogelbach and Double-A starter Paul Blackburn to Seattle.

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Mike Montgomery isn’t a big name, especially compared to someone like Andrew Miller, but he has done a nice job so far in his short career, particularly out of the bullpen.

In 2015, Montgomery make 16 appearances, all starts, with a 4.60 ERA and 4.67 FIP, striking out 64 and walking 37 over 90 innings. Not terrible, but not necessarily enough to earn you a starting job the following year. And because he was out of minor league options, the Mariners elected to slide him into the bullpen instead. And so far, that has worked out.

While his two most recent appearances are starts, due to a hurricane of injuries to the Mariners rotation, his previous 30 were out of the bullpen. In those 30 outings, he posted a 2.15 ERA and 2.91 FIP, striking out 44 and walking 16.

His xFIP  is a touch higher, however, at 3.51. That is because his HR/9 was just 0.18 as a reliever, and that is wildly unsustainable for just about everyone. When that climbs, he will being to give up more runs.

That said, Montgomery figures to be a nice addition to the Cubs bullpen, and he can be stretched out to go multiple innings out of the pen, or even make a spot start if needed, which is always a nice thing to have.

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The big piece going the other way is prospect Dan Vogelbach, who in addition to mashing in the minor leagues is known for being massive at 6’0″, 250 pounds. That size limits him defensively though. By most accounts he is a first baseman who is really more of a DH that can fake it at first. DHs can still be valuable, but it certainly hurts your overall value when you can’t really contribute anywhere but at the plate.

Perhaps the Mariners think he can be a passable defender at 1st base, at least some of the time (especially since they already have Nelson Cruz, who also belongs at DH the vast majority of the time). But if not, they are getting a guy who figures to hit a ton in lieu of defense.

Vogelbach has played for Triple-A Iowa this season, slashing .318/.425/.548 with 16 home runs and a 156 wRC+. He’s just 23, and the average PCL age is roughly 26-27, which not only makes the production that much more impressive but means he still has time to continue to develop further if needed. It’s also been his best minor league season to date.

There’s certainly more risk here on Seattle’s side, as Vogelbach is unproven, and his lack of defensive value means he doesn’t have much margin for error; he has to hit, and hit a lot, to provide much value.

He seems to have it in him to be a good, complete hitter, not just a power-only guy as him frame may suggest. He can hit for average, take tons of walks — almost as much as he strikes out — and yes, has good power. But it’s not a guarantee, no prospects are.

The other two players appear to just be sweeteners at this point. Pries is in his second year at Triple-A, bouncing between the rotation and bullpen at 26 years old. Blackburn is in Double-A and has had good results so far (3.17 ERA this year, 3.11 last year), but he doesn’t have great size and lacks swing and miss stuff, which hurts his projectability.

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Seattle loses pitching depth after already being thin on that front, but there’s a chance Vogelbach joins the team immediately, or soon, if the Mariners decide to move on from current left-handed 1B/DH  Adam Lind who despite a walk-off homer on Monday hasn’t had much success this year. I would hold off on assuming this makes them sellers.