Chicago Cubs: What prospect could the Cubs move?

The Cubs may have a valuable prospect they could move soon

Nothing in life is free and you have to give something to get something – all things we have said and heard before. What the Chicago Cubs may need at some point to win a World Series is another top of the rotation pitcher. There should be a handful of arms available in free agency next year.

With names like Zack Greinke, Jordan Zimmerman, David Price, Jeff Samardzija, and Johnny Cueto headlining the list of names, but every single one of those names will require a hefty price tag with a lot of years be committed in the contract.

Another option would be to trade for an arm off another team who is either looking to dump salary or in the process of getting young and rebuilding their organization. Do the Chicago Cubs have any prospects to move other than the core players that they don’t want to move? The answer to that question is yes.

Dan Vogelbach right now is stuck is a difficult place. He is on an up and coming team with a lot of promises, but he’s also a player without a position to play. Being a first baseman with the Cubs is a tough spot when their current first baseman is also their future first baseman for many years to come. So why not look to move Vogelbach to a team in need of a first baseman prospect with a ton of power.

The tale of the tape on Vogelbach looks like this – he stands at six-foot tall and weighs in at about 250 pounds. With a short and thick frame, the left-handed hitter has exceptional power that reached any part of the field. But keeping his weight down is something that may concern some teams – it is something he works on.

He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 2011 draft and played in six games that season for the Arizona League Cubs. In the six games, he hit .294 with a homer and six runs driven in.

He’s improved his numbers the next two seasons with his promotions in the Cubs’ farm system. In 2012, he split the season with 24 games in the Arizona League and 37 games with the Boise Hawks, the Cubs’ Short Season Class-A club. He slashed a .322/.410/.461 line with 17 home runs and 62 RBI.

2013 with the Class-A Kane County club and Advanced-A Dayton, Vogelbach posted a .284/.374/.449 line, along with 19 bombs and 76 driven in. He did take a small step back in 2014 with Dayton, where he saw his numbers across the board drop to .268/.357/.429 with 16 home runs and 76 runs batted in.

There is good news from Vogelbach this season. Through the first 13 games of the season with Double-A Tennessee, he’s posting a .426/.534/.702 line with two knocks, and nine batted in. He also was named the Southern League’s player of the week this past Monday. As reported by The Daily Times on Tuesday, Vogelbach was second in the minor leagues with his on base percentage, and third in batting average.

Defensively, Vogelbach is still a work in progress. MLB.com’s Bernie Pleskoff wrote this about the Cubs’ minor league slugger’s defensive skill set, “He is working hard on his defense, but he is not the lithest or smooth-fielding first baseman on the planet. But Vogelbach continues to make strides with his overall footwork and agility at first base. His range is improving, but it is still not the best.”

It sounds like he is ideal for an American League club that is in need of a powerful left-handed bat to hit in their DH spot with the ability to fill in occasionally at first. There is a list of teams that could want this type of prospect, but the question is if they have anything that would be worth trading.

Voglebach is only 22 years old, and he’s still working on his game. If he can continue to hit like he has been, and works hard at improving his defensive skill set while also keeping his weight in check – the Chicago Cubs may have themselves a valuable player to use towards getting another solid pitcher to help the Cubs get to the World Series.

Next: Are they lucky or that good in the clutch?