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40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
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PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

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The Wisdom of You: Ryan Dempster

Our next candidate, and first pitcher, for the group prediction is Ryan Dempster.
Pitcher
6'2", 215 lb
Bats Right, Throws Right
Age 29 (DOB 5/3/77)
BRef card | ESPN card | BPro card
2005 stats (career highs in bold, lows in italics)
63 G, 6 GS, 5 W, 3 L, 33 SV, 92 IP, 83 H, 32 ER, 4 HR, 49 BB, 89 K, 3.13 ERA
Please send your predicted stats for Dempster to cubreporter @ gmail.com. The categories to be predicted can be found at the initial post. Only predictions sent by email will be included in the final prediction. Along with your name, send in your handle from the comments if you post under a specific name. And don't forget, you can still send in your numbers for Michael Barrett as well.

Comments

Just out of curiousity, how many predictions for Barrett were sent in?

Wow, only 49 walks in 2005. He sure made it feel like 250.

I predict Ryan Dempster will be kidnapped by his evil twin "Big WHIP" Dumpster. "Big WHIP" will have trouble getting anybody out and Hendry, in desperation, will try trading his "closer" to Baltimore for an unheralded 89th-round minor league prospect. The Orioles will hang up on him and change their phone number.

my only thoughts on the dumpster is 'thank god for bob howry' hope the maturity of wuertz/novoa/ohman keeps up pace. wonder what the cubs plan on doing with t.wellemeyer...

Dempster- The first guy on the Cubs I would invite over for a bbq. And not because he will start fire.

So far I have received 40 entries for Barrett.

All you Dempster/Howry/Eyre haters: we can pay 10 mil a year for those three or for Farnsworth, Patterson, and Hawkins. Take your pick.

im not against dumpster...im against a 3-year deal for him. its kinda pissy to bitch about 5% of the payroll going to him in the grand scheme of a 25-man roster, but i'm just not that comfortable with the 2nd year and totally uncomfortable with the 3rd year. but all together, paying 11-12m for dumpster/howry/eyre isnt that bad of a deal at all collectively, imo.

Jeez crunch..Looking at the FA market this year the 3 year deal given to dempster looks like a minion.

yeah, im just not a big dempster fan...its purely personal. his deal was fair/average/good/etc. depending on how you look at it. i dont like his control and i dont trust him to keep the ball in the park with the frequency needed to stay closer. but its his job to lose.

Hey Zook?!?!? What the hell are you doing with my Illini? Are we ever going to the Rose Bowl, ever...again....in my lifetime?

The reason closers are getting the bigger contracts is because MLB is getting richer ó the players themselves are benefitting, not because the high number of "proven" saves guys on the market this year but because everybody is benefitting. Opening Day payrolls in MLB jumped over 30% from 2000 to 2005 ($1.682B to $2.192B) despite 7 teams (Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, LA Dodgers, Tampa Bay, Texas, Toronto) cutting in that time frame. That means the league overall is getting richer. Sadly, that number drops to 23% when you discount the Yankees.

Not sure if anyone has already posted about this, but there are some AP reports saying that the Cubs have contacted TB about the possibility of acquiring Lugo. Makes sense given that Hendry is intent on running Walker out of town and sliding Cedeno over to 2B. I know Walker is a weakness defensively, but I'm not sure Lugo would be a large enough upgrade. Lugo in '05 -- .295/.362/.403 24 errors, .968 F% The only positive is that he's a FA after '06...and reportedly TB turned down Andy Marte a top 10 prospect in all of baseball for him earlier this winter so I'd say the minimum the Cubs would have to give up is Pie and a pitching prospect unless TB would want J.Williams and a prospect other than Pie or Rich Hill...but I would doubt it.

Furcal, Tejada, now Lugo--meanwhile, Cedeno is tearing it up in winter ball. This is how you undermine the confidence of young players.

SM- What position player in the past 10 years makes management think they should have confidence of any propspect out of our system? Dubois? Choi? Hill? Patterson? I hope Cedeno and Murton do well as I think they will get their shot this year, but with 2 youngsters in the starting lineup, if they don't do well, that will be 2 big holes in our lineup.

Any interest the Cubs have in Lugo should put to rest the idea that the reason they want to unload Walker is because he's not a good citizen.

*Makes sense given that Hendry is intent on running Walker out of town and sliding Cedeno over to 2B.* Why do people persist in this fantasy that Neifi Perez is NOT going to get 500 AB's, mostly as a starter. You don't pay a guy 2.5 mil NOT to play in place of a rookie. Lugo, on the other hand, should be catapulted into the Sun.

"Why do people persist in this fantasy that Neifi Perez is NOT going to get 500 AB's, mostly as a starter. You don't pay a guy 2.5 mil NOT to play in place of a rookie." Uh because Cedeno was sent to winter ball to specifically get reps at 2B.

Infield defensive specialists on the Cubs? Power hitters at 2nd and SS? All the new Kid has to do is find the park everyday and field whether he's at SS or 2nd. Does anyone think he's gonna win 15 games? The idea is not to loose games at these positions. Give the kid a chance to shine, one can always shift to the gray beards Dusty has on hand.

Does anyone have Dempster's stats as the closer, only? As I recall they were stellar.

RotoWorld reports the Braves have invited David Kelton to spring training.

Cub Closer Ryan Dempster (not to be confused with SP Ryan Dumpster) 2005 1.85 ERA 4-0 Won-Loss 33 Saves 35 Save Opportunities 57 Games 58.1 Innings 46 Hits 14 Runs 12 Earned Runs 1 Home Run 27 BB 53 K's .218 Opponents BA

Cedeno won the batting title in whatever winter ball league he was playing with a .337 BA. On the flip side Jose Macias hit .404 (I think) in the same league. What does it mean? Not a whole hell of alot. If Cedeno is going to be a starter next year it is nice to see him hit where ever he plays and not pull a Felix Pie and hit .200. Cedeno still has to come into spring training and knock the cover off the ball. And then he has too keep knocking the cover off the ball in April, May, June, July, August, and September or else he is going to be riding the pine faster than you can say, "Dusty likes to play the younger guys, no really he does."

Thanks, CWTP. 1.85 ERA, 33-35, 1 HR all year, .218 BA against. Not bad.

I would also like to throw my hat into the I just don't trust Dempster arena. He was shakey most of the time and he wasn't exactly in alot of pressure situations as a closer. I am not talking about walking 1-2 guys and then getting out of an inning. Which is pressure, but not what I am talking about. The pressure of being in the middle of a pennant race down the stretch. Up until September last year he wasn't used much and alot of his saves came against poor teams. When the Cubs were completly out of it in September is when he really racked up alot of saves. Yeah it is nice he performed and still did his job but all the Cubs were fighting for at that point was .500. In the zero pressure enviroment of September last year he kicked butt. It doesn't impress me. If does the same high wire act and the Cubs are a good team he will probably choke big time. It will always be known as "pulling a Farnsworth" to me. He will look great in a meaningless game and when your team is playing for nothing, but when the fate of the division or something really important is on the line something happens, something bad happens. I am not saying Dempster is like Farnsworth but to me he gives that same vibe when he is on the mound. Like he has to make the perfect pitch or the whole world will come crashing down. I just don't see him having a very good season next year. I would love to be wrong, but I wouldn't be shocked if he loses his closer job at some point next season.

MikeC: In the zero pressure enviroment of September last year he kicked butt. It doesn't impress me. Wrigley Field is NEVER a zero pressure environment. Have you ever been to a game? I sick of the dumping on Dempster. He had a great season, lets be positive about next year until he gives us a reason to be otherwise. Geez, sometimes I wonder if you guys really are fans of the cubs.

I also don't get the Dempster bashing. He played for an underperforming team, but that was hardly his fault. Perhaps you can say the jury is out on him; to say he can't be trusted is just not fair and not based on the facts. Look again at these numbers as closer: 1.85 ERA, 33-35, 1 HR all year, .218 BA against. That's 35 save opportunities -- not exactly a small sample size for a closer in a season. Having said that, I can understand the head scratching over this guy. He doesn't "feel" like a closer because he was something of a journeyman and a converted starter (sort of). But those 2005 numbers were scary good. Think of it this way -- how many games would we have lost in 2005 if he had sucked, or even been just average?

Sorry Mike, Farns doesn't have half the sac that Dempster does.

Zook, Are you suggesting that Patterson would have pitched if we didn't pick up Eyre? I'd have been willing to give it a try.

As a fan if you actually watched Dempster pitch as a closer it isn't exactly fun to watch. He is not automatic by a long shot. Yeah he had great numbers but baseball has a way of evening things out. That walking the tight rope shit is going to catch up with him. It does to every pitcher. He got lucky last year, extremly lucky. You think he can get away with giving up a base hit walking a guy in the playoffs and expect to get out of that jam? Much less in the heat of pennant race where if you do that your going to get blasted in the papers? Yeah pitching in Wrigley in September when the playoffs are 20 games away in the division is no pressure. Who cares if you screw up, just another day at the ballpark. Would Brant Brown's dropped ball mean anything if the Cubs were 20 games out? No one would even remember it. But the day it happened the whole Cub nation went "Ohhhh no." The point is, performing when it counts and performing in a lost season are two entirely different things. Everything is magnified in a pennant race. The pressure ten fold. I am not bashing Dempster but we all saw his heart attack saves. They weren't pretty. For the posters that were in parachat it was time to pop the Tums tablets and break out the Pepto for his saves. I know I am fighting an uphill battle on this one because everyone will just point to his numbers and say, "see look, he was awesome, your a dumbass." I went through the same stuff with Holly and Perez. Let's just put it this way. I don't have nearly as much confidence in Dempster than some of you guys.

mike c, ya got it aaaaall WRONG buddy. guy has surgery. he gets moved into the closer role mid-way through at a point when there was still hope (before yet another slew of losses). he's trying to keep the position and establish himself in a new role after the horrid hawkins legacy aside from build his own confidence. he's trying to secure himself for '06. he's trying not to become a favorite of the boo birds. etc etc... in other words, he was under more pressure than you can aparrently fathom. ill say more pressure than an "established" reliever feels in a playoff game even. just...wrong man. wrong. i agree with cubbiefan and 433 and think the unwarranted bashing is pure bullshit. way to have optimism and hope for the guy. hell, for the team for that matter. negative from the start makes no sense to me. when dempster proves you wrong, then its egg on your face, and if he in fact does poorly, then nobody wants to hear you gloat about an already shitty situation, so either way you and others like you leave yourself SOL. enough already. i pity youre inability to just enjoy the ryan dempster era (or at the very least, enjoy the promise of one). sucks to be you. oh and on a lighter note, i never got to say that AZ phils breakdowns of the durocher era cubs were awesome. liked it better than those from hardball times cuz of the added anectodes. just great stuff.

If AZ Phil wrote a book, I would buy it the day it came out. Well I'd like to see another strong year out of Dempster (and hope to, I'll work that out once I get my predictions together), I don't understand the hate for him here, and everywhere for that matter. No he's not absolutely lights out, but he has the nuts and the mindset for the spot, and enough stuff to be, if not an upper echelon Hoff-Riv-Gagne type, then certainly a step down. Yeah, he walks the tight rope, but who amongst the many great closers we've had come through town doesn't? Dempster's damn near at the bottom of my list of worries for next year.

This is what it comes down to, all the other free agent closers (last couple of years) have been huge busts. Not one success story. The only guy that will probably still be good is Wagner and at his age, he wasn't worth it. Look at the Sox last year, Jenks and Hermanson? Sheesh! I'd way rather have Dempster. I look forward to seeing what he can do over an entire season. I have a lot of faith in this year. Look at the Sox last year, we set up a lot like them. While we have all stated that there is not one forumla for success, there is nothing saying that past ones can't be copied. I stand by my prediction that if Wood Z and Prior make over 100 combined starts, we have a shot at the playoffs. Either Central or Wild Card, I don't know. BTW, let me say ARAMIS RAMIREZ for MVP. That's my prediction. I hope we get to predict his stats!!

Cubby, how can I be wrong about an opinion on a player and his future performance? If you have a time machine and can see this I wish you would hook me so I can see the ancient city of Babylon. I would love to be wrong, just color me skeptical. I didn't think Barrett would hit all that much either, he made a believer out of me (hitting, not his defense). For those that said he was gods gift to butter you were right, proclaim it from the highest building. But we will find out next season if Dempster is for real or not. God help us if he isn't.

"RotoWorld reports the Braves have invited David Kelton to spring training. " As predicted weeks (months?) ago by AZ Phil. Nice job.

"For those that said he was gods gift to butter you were right, proclaim it from the highest building. But we will find out next season if Dempster is for real or not. God help us if he isn't." You mean Ryan "I-Make-The-Game-Interesting" Dempster? lol Seriously, he'll be alright. Might not be a Rivera or Lidge, but even when he was starting he always looked real confident and solid in his first inning of work. I expect to actually see an improvement this year, though not in the stats. His numbers might come back down to earth a little bit, but overall I think he'll "look" more solid by not giving up so many walks and working a little more efficiently.

I think Dempster will come back to earth...he won't hit the ground that hard but not the success of last year. He probably will spend substantial time on the DL.

Dempster v. 2006 77 G, 0 GS, 5 W, 4 L, 45 SV, 86 IP, 75 H, 27 ER, 6 HR, 48 BB, 95 K

For those who said we shouldn't pursue Lugo because Cedeno is tearing up the VWL.... Well it turns out that none other than Jose F. Macias just won the batting title for said league with a line of .405/.451/.583. Mr. Hendry, you better get Macias back in here. Hand him that first base job with a line like that.

"I think Dempster will come back to earth...he won't hit the ground that hard but not the success of last year. He probably will spend substantial time on the DL." What makes you believe Dempster can't put up numbers similar or better than last year? I'm not trying to compare Dempster to Gagne, but if Gagne moved to the 'pen and put up outstanding numbers (as well as other players in time), why can't Dempster?

I may be a little too hard on Dempster, but I don't think he will be as dominate (effective) as last year. And I predict the injury just because Cubs management is notorious for not taking care of their pitchers. Of course, some of that falls on the pitcher, but it is part of management's job to keep their pitchers in shape.

...and certainly with Dempster's past, he is always prone to injury

Don't know if any of you get to see Jason Isringhausen, but talk about walking the tightrope! Yet they win 100 games yearly, & he walks more than Dempster, & he's also been injury prone in his career. Point being, if you have decent set-up guys & good defense your closer will be just fine.

"I'm not trying to compare Dempster to Gagne, but if Gagne moved to the 'pen and put up outstanding numbers (as well as other players in time), why can't Dempster?" Have you seen Gange & Dempster pitch? There are differences that can not be quantified in their pitching stats. Gagne's strength is his pinpoint control; I swear most times the catcher could set up and close his eyes he's so accurate. Maybe Dempster will have that control some day, but not today. He gives up a lot of walks. This isn't to say his control is terrible either, I actually think it's a good sign. Many of his walks come on a 4th ball slider that Demp didn't sell well enough to the batter. In fact, in my opinion, he relies on his slider too much when he has a beautiful straight change and some zip on his fastball.

Well Gagne WAS a very mediocre starting pitcher who nobody thought would turn out to be an elite closer. Serviceable or maybe even good, sure--but nobody forsaw him being this good. Basically, when you take a starting pitcher and turn him into a relieft pitcher, there is a good chance that he will become much better simply from being able to use all his pitches right away, from not having to hold anything back for later innings, and of course from pure luck. (e.g. Gagne, Remlinger, Farnsworth, Mulholland). It's easy for an average pitcher to have very good success over a decent-sized stretch of 1 inning appearances. Even the best hitters only succeed in getting on base 40% of the time, and frequently relievers never even face the top of the order anyway. Of course, it doesn't always work out, some pitchers simply don't thrive in the shorter roles (see Rusch, Glendon), but for the most part a starting pitcher being moved to relief will see his numbers improve. So to wrap up an unnecessarily long post, basically it wouldn't surprise me one way or the other if Dempster put up numbers almost as good as last year, or if he simply put up serviceable numbers such as 35 saves with a 3.50 ERA. Personally, however, I don't see him turning into a total bust as some here do. Just one man's opinion, though.

I didnt mean to imply he would be a total bust, just not as sharp as last season.

Ryno, I was simply trying to convey that it is possible for a guy to go to the 'pen and become a solid, if not dominate, closer. I was not attempting to compare them in anything else. Dempster has always issued more walks that he should. The issue with using is slider is all Rothschild, in my opinion. Rothschild brings the idea to have the batter get themselves out, so it seems like most pitchers on the Cubs have been nipping instead of going straight after the batter--especially with 2 strikes. The counts have gone deeper when the batter lays off, and in many cases, it becomes a walk. I saw that with Dempster many times last year.

WSCR just played a clip of Hendry introducing Jacque Jones(don't forget to order your jerseys early), and said basically the Cubs are done dealing unless someone came to him. So in two years Maddux has moved from 5 starter to 3, he must be like a fine wine.

Dempster 92 G, 0 GS, 2 W, 9 L, 37 SV, 82 IP, 99 H, 32 ER, 9 HR, 48 BB, 96 K, 3.36 ERA

I read in the Daily Southtown that Zito was still on the radar.

No one has even mentioned the worst news during the entire off season. That is the fact that the newspapers are reporting that extensions are being discussed for Hendry and Baker some time this year. My approach to this year has been that I'm willing to write it off (us Cub fans have written off a lot of years, so I'm use to it) if it meant management firings - at least Hendry and Baker. I would include McFail, 11 years of a below .500 record would seem to doom most baseball executives, but he seems to be untouchable for whatever reason. My only hope is that some top executive at the Tribune contacts McFail and says to cut out the extension talk because there is no guarantee McFail will be here to give extensions. Not likely. So, I'm very depressed right now. I can write off 1 season, but 3 is too much.

""RotoWorld reports the Braves have invited David Kelton to spring training. "As predicted weeks (months?) ago by AZ Phil. Nice job. Posted by: JJ" Actually, Andy Dolan suggested back in February of 2005 that if Kelton didn't make the Cub roster he would wind up with the Braves. Have no idea if he was the first with this prediction.

More fuel for the Todd Walker fire.... http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060110c… Hairston and Perez are the front runners. Which you know Perez is going to win out. Walker's agent, Brian Carlin, was surprised to hear Walker would be in the mix for a starting job. Carlin said Hendry told him when Walker's $2.5 million option was picked up in early December the Cubs would not have exercised the option if they didn't want him as a starter. If Perez is the starter at 2nd base, the season is over in 2006. That is the worst possible move this organization could make.

Hendry said,"the Cubs would not have exercised the option if they didn't want him (Walker) as a starter." Obviously, Hendry is of two (make that three) minds about who his starting 2B is. Hairston made it clear he sees himself as a starter. Ditto, Walker. To the Cubs, this makes them troublemakers and suspects. Neifi, on the other hand, has finessed himself into favor by being a toadie who's willing to ride the pines. Advantage: Neifi.

McFail" but he seems to be untouchable for whatever reason" Probably because he oversees an organization that made more money in his tenure than the previous 30 years combine before him. MikeC- I have to agree with you with Neifi in the lineup, probably batting second, Maddux is your third starter and an outfield that would be lucky to combine to hit more than 30 homeruns, this look like a time bomb ready to go off.

Openning day lineup Pierre Neifi Lee Aram Barrett Jones Murton Cedeno/Walker/harriston Z It would of been nice to know what Murton and Cedeno could do, if we were not subjected to Lawton and Neifie for the remainder of 2005. The only hope would be for this team to be like 2003 and hang around for Hendry to pull some trades out of his ass. It would be nice for once for this team to go into the season without so many questions.

"If Perez is the starter at 2nd base, the season is over in 2006." If this statement is true, the season is over already.

While i am not the Dusty hater that most people who post here are, i do agree that an extension would not be the thing to do right now. He has not been the manager that i thought we were getting when he was hired before the 03 season. I have a lot less problem with giving Hendry an extension now though. Looking at the moves that he has made and not made i would have to say that for the most part he has been a good GM. It is easy to look back and say he should have done this or he should have done that, but at the time of the move did it seem like the best move possible. The ball club is better today than when Hendry took over. Lee, Walker (at least for a while), ARam, Pierre, not to mention the players who are gone like Nomar, Grudz, Karros. No one will ever like every move that a GM makes, but most of Hendry's move have been good ones. Neifi is a great bench / role player, don't blame Hendry because Dusty uses him wrong. No one could have guessed that Nomar would blow out his leg last year, or that Prior would take a liner off the elbow. Look at some of the players that many of those who post here regularly were all hot and bothered for last off season or the off season before that. How many of those players are we glad we are not paying for now? Moving Sammy was difficult because of a contract that was in place when Hendry got the job. Yet, who takes most of the heat? I don't want to sell the future for any thing less than a sure bet. And in baseball there are very few of those. Looking up and down the line-up I have seen a lot worse playing on the North Side. Our pitching staff, while having some question marks, looks better than a lot of staffs. And even Dempster in the bullpen is better than what a lot of teams have. Will this team win it all? Only time will tell. No one thought that the 89 team would do anything, but look what happened. That is why baseball is such a great sport. The Cubs could have the greatest team on paper and lose out to a team like the Pirates who happen to catch fire. One thing about the way this team is being constructed is that there is some room left to make a move during the season to put it over the top. Hendry seems to be very good at that type of move (Lofton and Nomar). Before we cut Hendry loose, lets remember it could be worse. We could be talking about a GM who would trade the best closer in baseball for two no talent rag arms who wouldn't amount to anything. Remember that blockbuster move?

""RotoWorld reports the Braves have invited David Kelton to spring training. "As predicted weeks (months?) ago by AZ Phil. Nice job. Posted by: JJ" Actually, Andy Dolan suggested back in February of 2005 that if Kelton didn't make the Cub roster he would wind up with the Braves. Have no idea if he was the first with this prediction. Who cares who predicted it, Kelton was officially added yesterday. JJ get over your man crush on AZ Phil.

The Idiots just added one of the biggest idiots... Ken Rosenthal reporting The Red Sox have reached terms free-agent right-hander Julian Tavarez on a two-year contract with a vesting option. Well slap me silly. I hope the option is for an original Andy McFail sweater vest.

"Before we cut Hendry loose, lets remember it could be worse. We could be talking about a GM who would trade the best closer in baseball for two no talent rag arms who wouldn't amount to anything. Remember that blockbuster move?" Come on! Schiraldi didn't have a rag arm.

John T, I agree somewhat about Hendry. He has done some very good things. I won't debate the wisdom or lack therof of some of his moves. However, Bruce Miles said it best on the radio last week when he said he dosen't see the wisdom in giving seemingly above market contracts to average or below market players and looking to trade your biggest bargain (T. Walker). My main reason for wanting to see Hendry go is his support of Baker. During '03 it became evident to me that Dusty wasn't the strategist I was hoping he would be. Somehow, it all seemed to work during '03, so I accepted it. However, after he had a big hand in blowing game 6 and 7 with his pitching moves, my response was - let's give him one more year. I would have fired him after '04 and certainly after '05. The fact that Hendry didn't, could be attributable to people above his head not allowing him to pull the trigger. However, it is Hendry that has been making positive extension comments about Baker. And it is Hendry that is giving Dusty the type of players he will misuse (although you could argue that Dusty will misuse virtually every player, therefore there is nothing Hendry can do about the misuse). Nevertheless, in my book until proven otherwise, Hendry is the one allowing Dusty to stay so he also should go!

if anyone is hoping for a hendry exodus, you better hope its him that decides to leave for another club. aside from the fact he's been a cub for life as a pro, mcphail dont have the balls to say 'bye' to the man who gave him his job. no to say mcphail is a pushover, but hendry/mcphail really are that tight and hendry allows mcphail to stay in the background doing his usual job of dealing with the trib. the both of them together have done a better job in 5 years of separating the owners from their money for payroll and mid-season upgrades and any crew in decades+ have been able to do. personally, i see no reason to let him go and think he's one of the best GM's out there.

We all know that Walker is poor defensively; but how many games does he actually lose for you at 2nd base? With his offensive numbers being above average, how many could he win with his bat? I have to figure the net result is that Walker is still going to help win more games than lose. I just don't get it.

i dunno what i dont get more... why the cubs seem dead set on getting rid or walker...or why no one seems to want him. i also dont get why someone like him being shopped around openly for months is attracting almost no attention in rival news markets as a guy their teams might look into. granted, i dont know dozens of newsrooms full of writers, but no one can give me any info on walker's health or his outlook of other clubs. the guy can hit, he can take a walk, he's got 15hr 30double power...he's also had numerous knee injuries to both knees in the past 2-3 years. i dunno which one is more in play in any team's mind, but i'd like to know.

Can this be explained? "#65 of 70: By Barry Foote (January 11, 2006 03:51 PM) "Before we cut Hendry loose, lets remember it could be worse. We could be talking about a GM who would trade the best closer in baseball for two no talent rag arms who wouldn't amount to anything. Remember that blockbuster move?" Come on! Schiraldi didn't have a rag arm." Are we referring to Lee Smith? What does he have to do with this?

Barry Foote- And I will not sit around and listen to you bad mouth Al Nipper either!!! Frey traded Palmeiro too.

OH Jim Frey. Now I see. I didn't see where that came into the picture.

"Who cares who predicted it, Kelton was officially added yesterday. JJ get over your man crush on AZ Phil." Right on man, who wouldn't ever thought a kid who grew up in GA would've elected to sign with ATL...especially given the fact that the Braves rarely ever bring in guys from their home state. Francoeur, McCann, Farns..way to go out on a limb and predict that guys.

TJ: "Nevertheless, in my book until proven otherwise, Hendry is the one allowing Dusty to stay so he also should go!" I am glad to start hearing some people say this exact statement. It clearly is not heard from enough on TCR. If you hate Dusty as the Cubs manager, which many on here do, this is the statement they should also be saying.

Why? Why is it necessary for people at TCR to simultaneously bitch about Hendry when they criticize Dusty Baker's strangely predictable field management of the team? Hendry may be Baker's boss but he's not an Al Davis type who micromanages the club from his private booth upstairs. And if we're going to fire Trusty and Hendry, then to be consistent we need to fire MacPhail too. And fire the Trib for that matter. And the season ticket holders....the ENABLERS of this perennial exercise in MLB futility. That means YOU. You need to be fired.

CWTP: "And if we're going to fire Trusty and Hendry, then to be consistent we need to fire MacPhail too." Go for the clean sweep, you'll get no complaint out of me.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.