I believe Garret Olson is the pitcher that San Diego reportedly wanted in a Peavy deal. So if that’s the case this guy could definitely hold some value

As mentioned above, he could be a piece of a Peavy deal. Or, he could compete for a rotation spot. Olson has talent, and Pie had nowhere to play with the Cubs.

Pie doesn’t have much of a place to play with the Orioles, either — their outfield seems full.

but wasn’t ready last year. The best thing (unless he is traded) is to head to AAA for a refresher.

In 2007, in 128 innings, 95 hits, 120 and 39 BB’s. He could be as good or better than Marshall.

The Chicago Cubs today acquired left-handed pitcher Garrett Olson and right-handed pitcher Henry Williamson from the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Felix Pie.

Olson, 25, enters only his fifth professional season yet has 33 major league starts under his belt the last two years with the Orioles. The southpaw made his big league debut with seven starts for Baltimore in 2007 at the age of 23 and followed up with 26 starts in 2008. Olson went 9-10 with a 6.65 ERA (98 ER/132.2 IP) last year, ranking fourth among American League rookies in starts, fifth in wins and innings pitched and sixth with 83 strikeouts.

The six-foot-one, 204-pound Olson began the 2008 campaign with Triple-A Norfolk and went 1-2 with a 2.97 ERA (12 ER/36.1 IP) in seven starts covering two stints. He struck out 39 batters in 36.1 innings. Olson went 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA (5 ER/24.1 IP) in five April starts to earn a promotion to Baltimore. He also had a stint in Triple-A from August 20-September 1 before being recalled to the Orioles for the rest of the season.

Olson is 12-10 with a 2.96 ERA (126 ER/383.2 IP) in 71 career minor league appearances, 66 as a starter. He has struck out 380 and walked 125 in 383.2 innings, an average of nearly 9.0 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per nine innings. Olson has allowed only 27 home runs in his minor league career, an average of one home run per 14.1 innings.

Originally selected by the Orioles in the sandwich round (48th overall) if the 2005 June Draft, Olson quickly rose through the Orioles system, reaching Double-A Bowie by the end of his second professional season in 2006. He began the 2007 season in Triple-A Norfolk and later made his big league debut that year in his third pro campaign.

Williamson, 23, went 0-1 with three saves and a 3.72 ERA (12 ER/29.0 IP) in 20 relief appearances between Single-A Aberdeen and Single-A Delmarva. The six-foot-five, 233-pound Williamson struck out 42 and walked only five batters in 29.0 innings between the stops, an average of 13.0 strikeouts per nine innings, and limited opponents to a .221 batting average. He was originally selected by the Orioles in the 14th round of the 2007 Draft.

Pie, who turns 24 on February 8, batted .223 (58-for-260) with three home runs and 30 RBI in 130 games for the Cubs the last two seasons. He hit .241 (20-for-83) with one home run and 10 RBI in 43 games with the Cubs last season.

many people believed that if was just Hendry wanting more time to gather the proper players and work through things on his own time rather than the Padres deadline. If that was the case, so far so good. Trading DeRosa for three guys and now acquiring the very pitcher most people believed the padres wanted. I never thought the Cubs were actually gonna try for Peavy again, but this really has to raise some eyebrows…

Garrett Olson has good stuff, and he’s appealing to the Padres because he’s cheap and under control for a few seasons before he becomes arb-eligible.

If the Cubs don’t get Peavy, keeping Olson isn’t the worst thing in the world either.

I’m dissapointed, of course. Pie could have been our starting centerfielder for years. He just never got a chance.

Hopefully, he’ll be able to thrive in Baltimore. I hope what we got for him pans out for us.

Traded Pie two years too late.

And it seems that both are good prospects.

Kudos to Hendry on this one!

Now Pie.

What’s next? The lack of foods on our team is troubling.

Marshall’s definitely the swing guy now?

I know it was mentioned a couple days ago but this might wrap it up if the Cubs don’t go get Peavy. Olsen seems like he’d make a good callup midseason or in Sept. for us but I don’t know if I’d stick him in the rotation with that ERA.

Yikes…

Either way, this was a great trade IMO because Pie’s value had taken a nosedive off a cliff with the way the Cubs handled him. Gotta think Hendry pulled some strings on this one.

Sure hope Peavy’s in the cards now.

Olson has a very remote chance at developing into a 3, but he could definitely turn into a 4.30 – 4.90 #4. His minor league career was great, as he was a big prospect for a long time, and I truly believe that he just had to take his lumps in 2008.

I think Hendry won this deal, but I almost want to say that we can spare another pitcher with the way out minors is right now.

If Pie were to pan out, though, what would his ceiling be in the AL?

…I really thought the Peavy deal was dead. Now I don’t think so. Ugh, another few weeks of Peavy rumors…

He’s not trading away the core of the team (Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, Zambrano, etc.) but trading away the players that were bonuses in helping us win last year. He’s giving up enough players that won’t keep us from not repeating.

That being said, I think the Peavy deal may actually have life if this trade is true..

1. Lou completely ruined Pies trade value. There was no reason to not let him play last year. I really am disgusted that we just killed the value of a once elite prospect.

2. That being said kudos to Jim Hendry. I didnt think we could get more than a bag of balls for Pie. WIth his options out I figured teams would offer us junk to get him or just wate and see if he made it through waivers.

That being said I like Olson. He reminds me of Marhsall a little bit but with higher upside. He was a pretty high prospect and lets be honest the AL East isnt the easiest place to pitch. This also gives us another arm to compete for the rotation which is good for our team. I also like the other guy because he seems to K people pretty well. THats important to me.

All in all I give an F to Lou for screwing Pies Valus
and an A to Lou for getting something positive for him.

While Olson will get a chance to make the Cubs rotation this spring, the club is seemingly stockpiling pitching inventory in case a Peavy deal gets revisited after the club is sold.

Link.

If this deal goes down, can Hendry do it without Marshall and Vitters?

I think Towers was asking for 6-7 players before because Marquis was considered part of the package, and Towers likely asked for more if he’d have to take on half of Marquis’ salary. Now that this is no longer the case, perhaps we can do it for 5-6 players.

And… if we take Vitters our of the equation, perhaps we’re back to 6-7 players?

I think Olson would be a great substitute for Marshall (Towers kept asking for Marshall, Hendry kept saying no). How’s this:

(1) Cedeno
(2-3) 2 pitchers from the DeRosa deal (not Stevens)
(4) Hart
(5) Wuertz
(6) Olson

Is there any way Hendry can pull this off without Vitters?

geez thats gotta be a record!

Hendry is setting the table for a Peavy deal, things are starting to line up.

but i like the move. It looks like Hendry is really pushing for Peavy to be in a Cub uniform. Also about rich harden, hopefully that tear will recover and no doubt with Peavy, the Cubs will have one of the better rotations in the big leagues.

That Olson bats right handed?

The Pie Experiment is now officially over. S’bout time ..

There are those who think Lou didn’t give him a fair shake.

I disagree. He had fair chances at showing what he could do and didn’t execute. Plain and simple. Had PIe played up to the potential he showed in AAA ball, there would have been no need to have signed an Edmonds or Johnson. Prospects are a dime a dozen in the game and Felix’s luster just wore off. I’ve never seen anyone on the Cubs who could tear around a diamond faster .. he was amazing. But while he had iffy OF skills, his bat and baserunning just didn’t add up.

I knew that after last year, he was gone.

He’s been pretty awful in his short time in the majors-I hope this leads to another deal…but Pie is just another case of the Cubs mishandling their youth system

http://masnsports.com/2009/01/macphail-on-the-trade.html

Sounds like they expect him to play LF.

Lets not forget that Pie is out of options. I assume he’ll have every chance to prove himself and perform or underperform for quite some time. But if the time comes where the Pie experiment in Baltimore looks like it did here, MacPhail will have given up Olson and another minor leaguer for nothing.

Even after he crushed he ball in ST we didnt give him a fair amount of PT i April… I thnk Olson can be good too.. Maybe we can now do something like Stevens Olson Marshall Castillo Cedeno and Hart for PEAVY.. I really dont want to give up Vitters but if we nee to to get Peavy, i think that means we can get a ring

For Josh Vitters does not mean he will meet the expectations, how many times have we been down the road of a young talent being touted as the next coming, to see anything but that happen as the kid moves up the ranks?

Vitters or Peavy?

Vitters might in trade value if he starts strong, Peavy can by taking the ball every 5th day

here.

I’ll have to do some searching in the BCB archives to find out exactly how much, but since Pie was dealt BEFORE the end of Cubs Convention weekend, I owe a contribution to Project 3000.

Drewish, I think you were in on this as well, taking up my side. I just can’t remember who we bet with. Anyway, I gotta go find my checkbook now…

Fukudome is building his body strength
Harden is physical training/rehab’g his shoulder

FA acquisition of LH thumper in the OF in budget
Salary dump of Marquis

trade of DeRosa and FA signing of Miles
FA signing of Dempster

trade for late game reliever

now if he can pull off this spare parts/prospect trade for a Cy Young pitcher to complete his bullpen.

He then needs to solve the RH utility IF and back up catcher