When Chicago Cubs rookie catcher Wilson Contreras crushed a pinch-hit home run during his first career at-bat on Sunday night, Wrigley Field momentarily forgot about its catching dilemma.
Despite Cubs general manager Theo Epstein insinuating that injured phenom Kyle Schwarber isn’t for sale this summer, the 23-year-old doesn’t have a permanent position in Chicago, and perhaps the Yankees can fix that.
On Tuesday’s edition of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight podcast, host Buster Olney discussed the Cubs’ likelihood of dealing Schwarber with guest Keith Law, suggesting that a one-for-one trade for Yankees reliever Andrew Miller isn’t out of the realm of possibility:
Everyone thinks Kyle Schwarber is a terrific hitter, one of the best hitters against right-handed pitching last year. But I wonder as we get closer to the trade deadline if they’ll start to look at it and say, ‘You know what, we love Kyle Schwarber, everything that he’s about, we love his makeup’, but I gotta believe that one factor they gotta think about is what exactly is his role going to be on a team that has so many good young players and if in the end they may change their minds, cause that happens.
Schwarber, who played in only two games this April after completely tearing his MCL and LCL in his left knee, hit .246 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in 69 games last season. But his originally planned position of catcher showed weaknesses, forcing Chicago to move him to the outfield, where he has played 45 times.
While Schwarber’s hitting ability is considered to be at an All-Star caliber, Chicago’s surplus of positional talent places Schwarber in a pickle, and Law explained to Olney that although Schwarber’s offense is exceptional, his defense is too suspect, which could lead to a trade:
As much as the Cubs love Kyle Schwarber and think he’s an All-Star quality bat, they don’t really have a spot for him. I don’t think he can catch, he’s a project in left field, and they have other guys at all of these spots. He is surplus because they are so otherwise loaded.
Perhaps a spot for Schwarber would be in the American League, which provides the designated hitter slot, and in return, Chicago would receive a back-end reliever like Miller, who would bolster a Cubs roster that already resembles a championship contender.
But a deal would be contingent on New York’s willingness to sell this July, and according to ownership, the odds seem slim. The Yankees’ reluctance, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that Schwarber is untouchable, especially if there isn’t a place to play him in Chicago.
You can listen to entire podcast here, with Olney and Law bringing up Schwarber and the Yankees around the 18:00 mark.
