Cubs give up on Cruz, send him to Braves

By Jim Callis
March 25, 2004

Two years ago, Juan Cruz ranked with Mark Prior as the top prospects in the Cubs farm system. But Cruz has been unable to claim a spot in Chicago's rotation and the club tired of waiting for him to live up to his potential. On Thursday, the Cubs stopped waiting, trading him and minor league lefthander Steve Smyth to the Braves for two prospects, lefty Andy Pratt and second baseman Richard Lewis.

Cruz, a 25-year-old righthander, lost his chance of being a regular starter for the Cubs when they signed Greg Maddux this offseason. But with Mark Prior expected to miss at least his first couple of starts with an Achilles tendon problem, Cruz had a chance to replace Prior temporarily. He squandered that by getting shelled in three Cactus League starts. Cruz has the stuff to be a frontline starter in the majors. He has a mid-90s fastball, a darting slider and a sinking changeup. At times, all three can be plus pitches, but he has been inconsistent with his secondary offerings and with his command in the majors. If he can put it all together, the Cubs will rue this trade. However, he didn't pitch well for them in 2003, going 2-7, 6.05 in 25 games (six starts). In 61 innings, he had a 65-28 strikeout-walk ratio and opponents hit .275 with seven homers against him. He was much more effective at Triple-A Iowa, going 4-0, 1.95 in nine starts. His big league career record is 8-19, 4.43 in 78 games (23 starts). The Braves plan on initially using Cruz as a power righthander out of the bullpen, but he eventually should press Jaret Wright for the No. 5 starter's job.

Pratt, 24, signed with the Rangers as a 1998 ninth-round pick out of an Arizona high school. Traded to the Braves for lefty Ben Kozlowski in April 2002, he's the son of Tom Pratt, the pitching coach for the Cubs' high Class A Daytona affiliate. Pratt, who pitched in one game for the Braves in 2002, spent all of last year at Triple-A Richmond. He led the International League in both strikeouts (161 in 156 innings) and walks (77) while going 7-10, 3.40 in 28 games (27 starts). Like Cruz, he's still seeking better consistency and command. On some nights, Pratt will show a plus fastball and slider, along with an average curveball and changeup. Though he has been primarily a starter as a pro, the Cubs plan on using him as their second lefty out of the bullpen until Mike Remlinger returns from offseason shoulder surgery.

Lewis, 23, was a 2001 supplemental first-round pick out of Georgia Tech. He struggled in 2003 at Double-A Greenville, batting .239/.305/.341 with six homers, 47 RBIs and 19 steals in 129 games, but rebounded to hit .404 in the Arizona Fall League. He's not spectacular but has decent all-around tools. He has good speed and even better instincts on the bases, and he also has some gap power. Defensively, he's surehanded and turns the double play well. If he can hit more like he did in 2002 at high Class A Myrtle Beach (.279 with a .359 OBP), Lewis can be a big league regular.

Smyth, 25, was a 1999 fourth-round choice out of the University of Southern California. He led the Double-A Southern League in ERA (2.54) and was on the verge of a big league callup in 2001 when he was felled by shoulder trouble. He had surgery to tighten his capsule and clean up fraying in his rotator cuff, and his stuff hasn't come all the way back. Smyth used to pitch in the low 90s, but now his fastball sits in the high 80s, and his breaking stuff has lost some of its crispness. Smyth pitched at Triple-A Iowa last year, going 6-11, 5.23 in 25 games (24 starts). He had a 98-72 K-BB ratio in 131 innings, and opponents batted .287 with 16 homers against him. Smyth went 1-3, 9.35 in eight games (seven starts) with the Cubs in 2002.