Update (12:40 PM): PW Sullivan now tweets that there will also be a player to be named later being sent to Boston. As with most PTBNL this is not expected to be a significant player or prospect. The player will be named by April 15th
The battle over compensation for Theo Epstein that has been going on since October is finally over. According to PW Sullivan of the Chicago Tribute and confirmed by Jon Heyman of CBSsports.com, commissioner Bud Selig has ordered the Cubs to send pitching prospect Chris Carpenter to the Red Sox as compensation for allowing GM Theo Epstein to take over the President of Baseball Operations position for the Cubs. The decision will likely set the ruling precedent for future compensation awards for team’s losing front office talent to other teams. Carpenter was ranked as the 13th best prospect in the Cubs system by BaseballAmerica. He is not to be confused with 2005 Cy Young award winner, Chris Carpenter, who pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The 26 year old Carpenter was drafted by the Cubs in the 3rd round of the 2008 amateur draft. Originally deveopled as a starting pitcher, Carpenter moved to the bullpen in 2011, pitching 41 innings across AA and AAA. He showed some strong strikeout ability, but also struggled with his control, posting a 7.2 K/9 rate and a 5.7 K/9 rate in the minors. He also saw 9.2 innings with the big league club, striking out 9 and walking 7 in 10 appearances. While his strikeout numbers have remained strong throughout his minor league progression, his walk rates has creep up from with each promotion.
The righy features a mid to uppers 90’s fastball and a slider at this point, making him a natural for the bullpen. If he can return to his walk rate to the mid-threes he would be a valuable addition to the pen, possibly even impacting the Red Sox in 2012.
Carpenter did not crack the top 10 of Cubs prospects in any of the major evaluator’s rankings, but nearly every prospect expert did include him in the top 20, with an aggregate ranking of around 11. This could very well be the norm in the future. Teams that poach executives from other organizations could be forced by both precedent and the commissioner’s office to relinquish a top 20 talent to the execs former team. However, the Cubs system ranked just 20th by Jon Sickels reckoning and therefore a #11 prospect in their system would not be the equal to an comparably ranked player in one of the best systems. Regardless, the decision clarifies the valueMLB wants to place on executive talent to a greater degree than ever before.
