Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-12-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 3
Julian Merryweather, P
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Prospect List-Mania - MLB Edition

Submitted by Rob G. on
A couple months back, I put together as many of the Cubs prospect lists as I can find. But those all focused on how the Cubs ranked amongst each other. Now it's time to see how the Cubs prospects rank in the grand scheme of baseball heading into 2007. We have a variety of sources here and their methods of evaluating are all a bit different. Most of the sites I imagine everyone is familiar with and for those you haven't heard of, feel free to read up on them. Some of the links will get you to the entire list, many of them will only get you to a portion of the list and some navigating is necessary to access the full lineup. The current Scout.com 300 list is only available in their prospect magazine. Top Prospect Alert #53 - Felix Pie #61 - Donald Veal #76 - Sean Gallagher #78 - Tyler Colvin #93 - Eric Patterson Baseball Prospectus' Top 100 #36 - Donad Veal #42 - Felix Pie #82 - Sean Gallagher Ten Who Barely Missed the Top 100: Eric Patterson Scout.com Top 300 #25 - Felix Pie #104 - Donald Veal #142 - Mark Pawelek #153 - Eric Patterson #203 - Sean Gallagher #210 - Scott Moore #245 - Tyler Colvin Former Cub Jae-kuk Ryu was #226 Rotoworld's Top 150 #28 - Felix Pie #69 - Donald Veal #118 - Mark Pawelek #125 - Sean Gallagher #148 - Eric Patterson Baseball America's Top 100 #49 - Felix Pie #52 - Donald Veal #80 - Jeff Samardzijia Scouting Book Top 150+ #70 - Felix Pie #74 - Sean Gallagher #79 - Donald Veal #112 - Tyler Colvin #118 - Eric Patterson Aaron Gleeman's Top 50 #21 - Felix Pie Dayn Perry at Foxsports.com Top 100 #46 Felix Pie #64 Donald Veal #94 Eric Patterson Project Prospect's Top 100 #38 - Donald Veal #41 - Felix Pie #73 - Sean Gallagher Sports Illustrated's Top 75 #34 - Felix Pie #47 - Donald Veal Diamond Futures' Top 150 #16 - Jacob Fox #47 - Scott Moore #78 - Felix Pie #116 - Eric Patterson ------ The one glaring omission is John Sickels whose top 100 list is available at rotowire.com along with his book and neither one have I purchased. I do know that he had Felix Pie originally ranked #22 although he talked about moving him up. Felix ranks as high as #21 and as low #78 (that being on the sketchiest of the lists) and even gets topped by Donald Veal on a few of them. Reading through some of the profiles, it appeared that most agreed that Pie had the talent to be in the upper 20's if not higher, but seems to have dropped due to concerns of his strike zone judgement and never really dominating at any one level. But in the end, they're nothing more than subjective lists and in five years we'll all likely laugh at their foolishness. I should also mention that I read recently that Jeff Samardzija's impressive spring training showing had the scouts drooling (my apologies as I cannot for the life of me produce the link). If I recall the blurb correctly, he may vault to the top of all the pitchers in baseball with a good year in Daytona. My apologies though if I recall that incorrectly. (Ed. Note - Some of the readers found the blurb I was talking about and it came from a Jayson Stark article, you need Insider access but Wrigleyville23 has the scoop as well.) If you know of any other lists, feel free to mention them in the comments. Also, don't forget about our parachat/donation drive if you can spare a few bucks.

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:34 am

diamond futures has a really nice web design...but jake fox #16? that's pretty brave for a man without a true position who doesnt hit like ryan howard.

Submitted by Eric the Great on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:34 am

Samardz needs to show he can reliably pitch 150+ innings in a season before we need get TOO excited about him. He just doesn't have a lot of baseball experience, which is both cause for excitement (he's this good while that raw?) and concern. Donnie Veal and Tyler Colvin are probably the two guys besides Pie and Samardzija that I'll be watching most closely this year. I think they are our 4 legitimate ML prospects, and whoever we choose in the June draft will make #5. Patterson and Gallagher are worth watching, but I think there is a dropoff to them IMO. Patterson I am concerned that his defense will prevent him from moving to the bigs, Gallagher there is a legitimate question regarding the quality of his stuff. There just isn't enough evidence yet on Cherry and Ceda, but I sure like what I see from both so far (Ceda reminds me an awful lot of Armando Benitez).

Submitted by Rynox on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:30 am

Rob G.:
I should also mention that I read recently that Jeff Samardzija’s impressive spring training showing had the scouts drooling (my apologies as I cannot for the life of me produce the link). If I recall the blurb correctly, he may vault to the top of all the pitchers in baseball with a good year in Daytona.
For those of you who didn't see the games he pitched in ST, he was fan-freeking-tastic. His 2-seamer, which I presume is his best pitch, was very alive, diving with a 10-4 trajectory, at about 94 MPH. Not only that, but a good 80-85% of his pitches were right to the catcher's mitt. I wish Barrett or Hank could have caught him more in ST, that would have been a great experience for Samardzija. Eric the Great:
Samardz needs to show he can reliably pitch 150+ innings in a season before we need get TOO excited about him. He just doesn’t have a lot of baseball experience, which is both cause for excitement (he’s this good while that raw?) and concern.
Yeah, he's got to pay his dues in the minors, if for no other reason, the experience. Suttcliffe was a little overzealous when he said he'd be pitching in the majors this year. It wouldn't suprise me, though, if he was called up at some point in '08.

Submitted by Mickey Kelleher on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:24 am

I saw the bit about scouts drooling over Samardzija on Jayson Stark's blog (available to Insiders only) on ESPN's website.

Submitted by cubswinthepennant on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:30 am

Reading through some of the profiles, it appeared that most agreed that Pie had the talent to be in the upper 20’s if not higher, but seems to have dropped due to concerns of his strike zone judgement and never really dominating at any one level More likely PIE has dropped in some of these subjective lists because the Cubs have refused to bring him up and give him even a single at bat in the big leagues. He's been around too long to not have had that pleasure.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:07 am

yeah Diamond Futures is odd, I wish I knew their formula. I know it's almost completely statistically based, I mean they had Robinson Chirinos as the #10 Cub prospect. thnx for the backup Mickey Kelleher... since I don't have Insider someone must have copied it somewhere but Stark sounds familiar.

Submitted by sean g on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:17 am

From Stark's Blog on 03.26.07: Five Young Players to Remember...
JEFF SAMARDZIJA, RHP, CUBS -- There were people who were wondering whether Samardzija was really worth that $10 million the Cubs laid out to keep him away from the NFL. Well, after watching him this spring (where he had a 1.80 ERA in three appearances), one scout raved: "Best arm I've seen. Ran his fastball up there in the upper 90s, with an excellent slider. He could pitch up here quick. In fact, they had to get him back to the minor leagues to keep Lou (Piniella) from taking him north."
I would like to see him up in some sort of long relief role later on this season. If he performs well and someone (Miller or Marquis) is struggling he could step in as a starter.

Submitted by aaronb on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:35 am

Samardzija will be at least 5th in line to start for the cubs this year from the minors. Chances are that if we are seeing him pitch this year. It will be because the Big club is playing out the string in another lost season.

Submitted by Silent Towel on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:18 am

I suspect that Jeff Samardzija will very soon be considered the top prospect in the Cub organization. Felix Pie, Donald Veal, Rocky Cherry and Tyler Colvin are the other most intriguing names within the system. I'm not wildly optimistic over the major league potential of the rest of the cast of characters at Double A and Triple A, to include Eric Patterson and Mark Pawlenty. Perhaps there are intriguing prospects at single A and Rookie Ball.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:45 am

I really think Patterson is an under-rated prospect. Unlike his older brother he has adapted as he moved up and he, for the most part, has hit well everywhere he has played. Hopefully his fielding woes will clear up, because he isn't going to hit well enough to push Murton out of a job in left. Smardsjuh - I would still like him to do something impressive in a game that counts before annointing him as the next Mark Prior.

Submitted by George Altman on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:59 am

Eric the Great brings up an excellent point about IPs for Samardzija. No doubt he has the golden arm and stuff from all the scouting reports. Without checking his IPs in college, I'm going to guess he was lucky to hit even 100 IP in any season. Very, very often HS and college pitchers 'hit the wall' when they get near or over that mark in their first couple of seasons of pro ball. I think the term is 'dead arm'. AZ Phil could probably shed more light on this. Bottom line, as good as Samardzija might be and as badly as the Cubs could probably use him, he would benefit long term from 2007 and 2008 in the minors working on his command, mechanics, and stretching out his endurance. Very exciting prospect, though.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:06 am

I don't know about E-Pat, he really didn't have a very good year in AA .263/330/.408 46 BB/89 K in 441 AB's pitcher-friendly environment and all but that's hardly exciting. he had a nice stretch in Iowa to end the year, but he's got plenty to work on as well. Samardzija is starting in Daytona and I imagine he'll get a call-up to AA if he dominates down there. I expect he'll start in AAA next year and get ready to be called up. We're in deep trouble if he's pitching in the majors this year.

Submitted by Borowski on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:14 am

"the next Mark Prior." Christ on a cracker, I hope not.

Submitted by cubswinthepennant on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:20 am

Samardzija never pitched 100 innings in college. In three seasons he totalled 240 1/3 IP.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:27 am

.263/330/.408 46 BB/89 K in 441 AB’s That is after skipping high A, then he hit really well in PCL, .358 .395 .493, the AFL .345 .408 .460 and ST with the Cubs .417 .417 .750.

Submitted by aaronb on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:28 am

In regards to Samardzija an IPs. I mentioned several times last season about Sean Marshall's lack of innings before last season. I stated then that I hoped the cubs would ease up on him as the season wore on. It didnt happen, and now it looks to have been a mistake. I hope the same mistake isnt made YET AGAIN with Samarzija.

Submitted by Virginia Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:31 am

Agree with Neal in #11 that Patterson is a serious prospect, although I didn't get a glimpse of him in ST. (Was he optioned early?) I did see Gallagher in ST and liked what I saw. I'd probably wager that he wins the race with Samardjiya to the majors, and that he also gets there before Mateo and Marshall. Of course, Gallagher is the type of guy that Hendry trades right about now. Veal and Gallagher at Tennessee--that's a nice 1-2 combo. Hey, I'm eager for the minor-league seasons to start!

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:34 am

17 games in AAA, yeah Doesn't everyone hit well in the AFL? (note the sarcasm) he was already too old for his league in Peoria, so he was where he should be in AA. I'd feel better if he started off slowly and then adjusted to the league, he did the opposite in AA, slowly got worse. http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/pl/452/452221WesSLb06.html I don't hate the guy or anything, but let's see if he actually does anything in AAA this year.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:47 am

e.pat is nice and all...but seriously...seriously... who would know/care about this sub-1st round pick that closely if it wasnt for his brother? yes, he's done a decent job at the bat and advanced through the system nicely, but he's not extraordinary and he's not got the added plus of being solid at his position. that said, im damn happy to have him around as a possible future option.

Submitted by Silent Towel on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:50 am

Eric Patterson can't field and isn't all that spectacular offensively. Part of the reasson why Jim Hendry signed Mark DeRosa to a three year contract certainly has to do with the fact that he isn't wild about Patterson's major league future.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:52 am

it wouldnt hurt anyone in the world to see a 24 year old felix pie and/or a 26 year old e.patterson around...dont think anyone would cry "wasted tallent" to see them play at those ages insted of earlier. its not like this is brian giles wasting his days in AAA spinning his wheels for 2-3 years when he's ready.

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:10 am

"Christ on a cracker, I hope not." Can you explain what this means? Is this a Southern or "cracker" expression?

Submitted by cubswinthepennant on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:12 am

Mayo also did a Top 50 prospects at the end of the 2006 season no kidding

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:16 am

relax dude, you linked to the 2007 division list the 'also" was an acknowledgement of your post....

Submitted by O. Julius on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:35 am

#23: The Nats look brutally bad so far, and they've only played the Marlins. Very few things can make someone feel fortunate to be a Cubs fan, but living in DC with this team is one of them.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:38 am

Rob G. — April 4, 2007 @ 11:34 am 17 games in AAA, yeah Doesn’t everyone hit well in the AFL? (note the sarcasm) he was already too old for his league in Peoria, so he was where he should be in AA. I’d feel better if he started off slowly and then adjusted to the league, he did the opposite in AA, slowly got worse. =========================== ROB G: Somebody, somewhere started this "too old for a league" thing, and that just isn't relevant. What matters is how much professional experience the player has and whether the player continues to progress at a steady rate. What would be worrisome is if Patterson was like Daytona 2B Nate Spears, who will be spending his third straight year in the Florida State League! Eric Patterson (who will turn 24 on Sunday) saw his very first professional AB at Peoria on Opening Day 2005 (E-Pat signed late in 2004), and while he probably should have received a mid-season promotion to Daytona, he did skip over Daytona and went to AA in 2006, and after the 2006 season, he played in the AFL and was THE best lead-off hitter there. While Patterson's defensive struggles at 2B are a big problem, he continued to progress as a hitter this ST. He can bunt, he will go deep into the count, and he's a good hitter who drives balls into the gaps and gets a lot of EXBHs and an occasional HR. And best of all, he is NOT his brother. They are two distinctly different personalities, and two completely different ball players. If Patterson can overcome his defensive shortcomings and become at least passably mediocre in the field, he could be the Cubs second-baseman and #2 hitter as early as next season, or 2008 at the latest. If he can't fix his defensive problems, then he'll probably get traded at some point and become an outstanding lead-off hitter and CF with somebody else.

Submitted by The Transaction Guy on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:42 am

@ Chad -- right click the MLB.tv feed (screen), then: 1. on the Tools menu, click Options. 2. In the Options dialog box, click the Performance tab. 3. In the Video Acceleration area, move the slider to None. That always gets rid of the green screen.

Submitted by The Transaction Guy on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:48 am

Actually, ignore the tools menu bit. When you right click, just click the 'options', um, option.

Submitted by aaronb on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:50 am

Re: Eric Patterson .299 .368 .466 So far in the minors is pretty f'n outstanding for a middle infielder. If he was a shortstop we would be pounding his name into the ground like we do with Pie.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:53 am

Eric Patterson (who will turn 24 on Sunday) saw his very first professional AB at Peoria on Opening Day 2005 (E-Pat signed late in 2004), and while he probably should have received a mid-season promotion to Daytona, he did skip over Daytona and went to AA in 2006, and after the 2006 season, he played in the AFL and was THE best lead-off hitter there. I'll put more stock in his (mostly) full AA season than the cup of coffees at AAA, AFL and Spring Training. As I said, I'd feel better if he got better as the year went on, but it looks like the league catches up to him and he's having trouble adjusting. He also strikes out a bit too much for a guy with only doubles power. Hope he proves me wrong, I just don't think he's all that special.

Submitted by aaronb on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:02 pm

He was 22 when he made his debut. Making it to AAA during your age 23 season is nothing to diminish his prospects. Especially for a college product.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:06 pm

He was 22 when he made his debut. Making it to AAA during your age 23 season is nothing to diminish his prospects. Especially for a college product. I agree, saying he was too old for his league when he started in Peoria. He's right where he should be now. I'm not saying he should have started in Daytona but as AZ phil suggested, he should have been promoted at some point as it was obvious he could handle that league with no problems.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:10 pm

Rob G, If you actually check the age of A ball players, you'll see Patterson was about average, maybe a little less.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:12 pm

Based upon what I've seen of them over the years, and what I saw last month in ST and at minor league camp, here are my Cubs Top Ten Prospects. 1. Felix Pie, CF (ETA 2007) 2. Jeff Samardzija, RHP (ETA 2009) 3. Tyler Colvin, CF (ETA 2009) 4. Eric Patterson, 2B (ETA 2008) 5. Donald Veal, LHP (ETA 2008) 6. Sean Gallagher, RHP (ETA 2008) 7. Jose Ceda, RHP (ETA 2010) 8. Rocky Cherry, RHP (ETA 2007) 9. Josh Lansford, 3B (ETA 2010) 10. Billy Muldowney, RHP (ETA 2010) Also, although he needs to be a starting pitcher right now to get more innings under his belt, I see Veal more as a future closer or 8th inning set-up guy than as a starter, because he throws too many pitches per inning to be more than a 5-6 inning starting pitcher. I also like Rocky Cherry as a closer or set-up guy right now. There are also about a half-dozen other Cubs minor league position players who I believe will play in the big leagues, but who might not be considered "prospects" (as such). 1. Micah Hoffpauir could very well replace Daryle Ward as the Cubs 1B-LF-LHPH next season. Hoffpauir would have probably been brought up to Chicago last September, but he suffered a season-ending oblique injury in August. 2. In another year or two, Jake Fox could be a really nice LF-RF-1B-3B-C back-up guy who could provide some big-time power off the bench. 3. If he remains with the Cubs, I can envision Scott Moore as a future Geoff Blum/Rob Mackowiak-type supersub IF-OF. 4. Sam Fuld is another one of those pesky insects (like Ryan Freel, David Eckstein, Eric Byrnes, and Ryan Theriot) who could be an excellent MLB 4th OF. 5. Casey McGehee is another possible future MLB back-up guy (3B-1B-C-RHPH). He has a nice line-drive stroke. 6. Matt Camp is presently the 2B at Peoria, but he also plays CF, and he's still another one of those Theriot/Fuld-types, who could be a fine MLB back-up IF-OF in a few years. Among the pitchers traveling outside the realm of "prospects," I believe LHP Clay Rapada and RHP Federico Baez have a future as MLB relievers. Rapada (who was the best reliever in the AFL last year) is the protypical side-arming LOOGY, and ex-SS Baez (who pitched for Team Puerto Rico in last year's WBC) is an ideal rubber-armed "swing-man" who can relieve one day and spot start two days later. I also like Matt Avery (Daytona closer in '07, and the closer last year at Peoria). LHP J. R. Mathes (the Opening Day starter at Iowa) and RHP Mark Holliman (at AA Tennessee in '07) are a couple of rotation starters who could fill the back of an MLB starting rotation in another year or two. Mathes was a 16th round pick out of Western Michigan in 2004, and is a sinker/slider pitcher with excellent control, and he has stayed healthy while continuing to progress steadily right along through the pipeline. Holliman was a #3 pick out of Ole Miss in 2005, but he signed late, so he made his pro debut at Daytona just a year ago. He slots in the '07 Tennessee rotation right behind Gallagher and Veal.

Submitted by The Transaction Guy on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:19 pm

ARIZONA PHIL: What's Ceda's ceiling? How old is he? Why weren't the Padres so high on him?

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:21 pm

yeah, I'm the first person ever to mention that E-Pat's Peoria season wasn't special for his age. (more sarcasm) Age/Minors info http://www.strikethree.com/01/07/14/dac.shtml http://www.baseballexaminer.com/FAQs/stats_faq.htm Felix Pie is special for many reasons, one being that he's produced at each level while being considerably younger than everyone else. E-Pat had one great year in a league he was a bit old for and done nothing special since. There's a reason no one has him that high on their lists, he's not going to hit like Chase Utley and he doesn't play D like Orlando Hudson. If we're lucky, we get Mickey Morandini out of him.

Submitted by Joey from Iowa on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:26 pm

Rob G., et al, Is there a Cardinals site that any of you would consider "strong"? In other words, one that has more activity and bloggers than the rest? Thanks. Joey

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:27 pm

CARLOS: Jose Ceda just turned 20 in January, and he is probably the hardest thrower in the Cubs organization (he throws 95-97), but when the Cubs got him, while he threw very hard, he had problems with his command, his breaking ball, and his off-speed pitch. I saw him throw five shutout innings on Saturday in an intrasquad game versus Daytona at Fitch, and while Mark Pawelek was all over the place and almost killed Alberto Garcia with a pitch, Ceda was calmly throwing strike after strike (he struck out the side twice), mixing his heater with a really good slow curve that he was consistently dropping for strikes. Now if he can just get the change-up together, he'll become one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.

Submitted by Romero on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:28 pm

AZ Phil-- I'd love it if the Cubs used their younger players to fill the roster in the way you're suggesting. And perhaps they will-- it does seem like they're purposefully grooming players to play with a lot of positional flexibility. I find that encouraging. Also-- can you tell us what you saw in Lansford? His numbers last year weren't as good as I'd hoped. I'd love to hear something more encouraging about him than his stat line in A-ball. thank you!

Submitted by 433 on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:30 pm

Seeing the chatter about Samard. not having built up arm strength in college, it's strikes me that this may be one of those old school baseball myths that nobody really questions. Can a pitcher really build up permanent arm strength and stamina by pitching a solid number of innings (say, 150+) for a few years in a row, when he takes 3-4 months off after each season? It seems that after a break like that a guy would be starting over each spring. Put another way, if Samard. did throw 140 innings 4 years in a row in college, it may prove that he is capable of doing so, but I don't think it would make him any more prepared or equipped to do so in the future. Thoughts? Is there a doctor in the house?

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:41 pm

Romero — April 4, 2007 @ 1:28 pm AZ Phil– I’d love it if the Cubs used their younger players to fill the roster in the way you’re suggesting. And perhaps they will– it does seem like they’re purposefully grooming players to play with a lot of positional flexibility. I find that encouraging. Also– can you tell us what you saw in Lansford? His numbers last year weren’t as good as I’d hoped. I’d love to hear something more encouraging about him than his stat line in A-ball. ============================ ROMERO: Josh Lansford is an outstanding defensive third-baseman (vacuum cleaner with a powerful arm). From what I saw of him in the Arizona Instructional League last Sept-Oct and at minor league camp this ST, his offensive numbers at Boise do not reflect his skills as a hitter. He is an "advanced" hitter who knows the strike zone. To make himself a really solid prospect, he just needs to learn to turn on the ball more often. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a "break-out" year at Peoria in '07. And you are correct about the Cubs player development people emphasizing versatility. Believe it or not, I even saw Brian "The Big Lebowski" Dopirak play LF last week!

Submitted by Rynox on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:53 pm

aaronb:
So far in the minors is pretty f’n outstanding for a middle infielder. If he was a shortstop we would be pounding his name into the ground like we do with Pie.
Yeah, but he's got butterfingers.

Submitted by dave on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:00 pm

mention of Aramis as a breakout candidate this year Yea... he is my sleeper mvp pick.

Submitted by Virginia Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:04 pm

"Hoffpauir would have probably been brought up to Chicago last September, but he suffered a season-ending oblique injury in August." I wondered about that, AZ Phil, thanks for clearing it up. Of course, he still would have been behind Mabry and Henry Blanco on Dusty's depth chart for first base!

Submitted by Virginia Phil on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:14 pm

AZ Phil, did I ever tell you how much I appreciate the way you eyeball all these players and tell us what they look like? It's a little retro, though. The younger guys just sit in front of computer screens and toss numbers around. You're a dinosaur, Phil.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:58 pm

- T. Hafner doubled to right - V. Martinez singled to center, T. Hafner to third, V. Martinez to second advancing on throw - C. Blake intentionally walked - J. Michaels hit for D. Dellucci - D. Aardsma relieved M. Thornton - J. Michaels struck out swinging - J. Peralta struck out swinging - J. Barfield struck out swinging ...damn.

Submitted by Transmission on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:35 pm

I didn't see it anywhere upon a (quick) scroll through, but the community of readers at John Sickels' website is a pretty scouting-savy bunch, and did a community-vote based ranking of the top 100 prospects. They had Pie 42nd, Veal 64th, and Patterson 84th.

Submitted by dave on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:51 pm

Man... things sure seem pretty quiet around here for being the first week of the baseball season. Should I start a fight about black athletes vs. white athletes? Or maybe a discussion about the use of female body parts as a derogatory slur? That would probably create a lively discussion...

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:53 pm

payroll figures (official) as they currently stand trickling in... New York Yankees $ 189,639,045 Boston Red Sox $ 143,026,214 New York Mets $ 115,231,663 Los Angeles Angels $ 109,251,333 Chicago White Sox $ 108,671,833 Los Angeles Dodgers $ 108,454,524 Seattle Mariners $ 106,460,833 Chicago Cubs $ 99,670,332 Detroit Tigers $ 95,180,369 Baltimore Orioles $ 93,554,808 STL in the #11 slot with a 90.2m team

Submitted by Transmission on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:56 pm

Dave? ~punch1~ Here's a question for Rob, or really anyone - why am I haveing to reenter my name and email address for every single message I post in the message board threads? there's no box to remember my info?

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:05 pm

let's see... On my Mac using Firefox, go to your preferences and click Privacy and check "remember what I enter in forms and the search bar" and "accept cookies" On my PC using Firefox, you go to tools and then options and then Privacy and do the same. See if that helps... On my PC I just have to type in the first letter each time and it fills it in, on my Mac it's already there

Submitted by dave on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:26 pm

Trans... I would punch you back but I am a pacifist. Maybe we should start a conversation on whether or not there is a legitimate use for violence! :)

Submitted by Transmission on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:21 pm

What's weird is, I don't have this problem with any other website - I have firefox set to remember my form information. The firefox Privacy tab doesn't have any options to check to remind it to remember my settings, just the chance to clear all of my browsing history .... basically, last time I cleared the history, it cleared the info from the TCR message board. Everywhere else, it's remembering my info as I re-enter it, except here, where each time it forgets! Brack. Oh wow, Dave, yeah, that was an epic thread that I made sure to stay out of....

Submitted by Romero on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:39 pm

AZ Phil, You didn't mention "on the bubble" guys at Iowa like Angel Pagan and Buck Coats and Geovany Soto. Their numbers suggest that they each might become solid-MLB back-ups. What do you see in these guys? Do you see something more? Do you think they'll stay in the organization? thanks for all your responses, Phil. It's fun asking you these questions.

Submitted by Eric the Great on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:51 pm

I'll take a stab at that last one. Soto is a non-prospect; he just can't hit. While his defense is OK, it's not Blanco-esque, so it's difficult to see much upside here. Soto has been in this slot for the third year now and hasn't made anything happen yet--that's a pretty strong indicator. Pagan and Coats are twins. The upside for both is to be a big league team's 24th or 25th man, hard to get excited about that. Both run (really) well, but neither is a great defender, and their biggest knocks are that neither has sufficient SLG to make the grade. Of the two, Coats is somewhat more versatile, but I'd take a McGahee or even Mike Fontenot as a bench player over these two any day. It's too bad Buck couldn't cut it at SS.

Submitted by 368 on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:50 pm

I guess he wouldn't be considered a "prospect" but Sean Marchall acquitted himself pretty well last year.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 04:12 am

Romero — April 4, 2007 @ 9:39 pm AZ Phil, You didn’t mention “on the bubble” guys at Iowa like Angel Pagan and Buck Coats and Geovany Soto. Their numbers suggest that they each might become solid-MLB back-ups. What do you see in these guys? Do you see something more? Do you think they’ll stay in the organization? thanks for all your responses, Phil. It’s fun asking you these questions. ===================================== ROMERO: I didn't mention Angel Pagan because he has one year of MLB service-time and so he is no longer a "prospect" (same goes for Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, and Carlos Marmol). Pagan is a legitimate MLB "4th OF" and would have made the Cubs Opening Day roster if it was a 26-man roster. He's not a particularly good hitter but he has occasional power when he hits left-handed, he has plus-speed, he's a good base-stealer and base-runner, and he can play all three OF positions. His shoulder is in much better shape now than it was last year (he had shoulder surgery a couple of years ago). Buck Coats is athletic and versatile, but he is not an adept defensive player at any position, He would be strictly a short-term option at several different positions (LF-CF-RF-3B-SS-2B-1B), but you wouldn't want to have to use him in the field for more than a game or part of a game. Like a lot of defensively-challenged athletic supersubs, Coats will make a "Web Gem," and then turn around and blow a routine play. He is a much better outfielder than he is an infielder. He has more power than his stats indicate, and he also has plus-speed, but with a long stride that lends itself more to base-running than base-stealing. I would say he is another Freddie Bynum, but with minor league options (Bynum was out of options). Players like Bynum and Coats have more value these days as teams go with a 12-man pitching staff and a five-man bench, where athleiticism and versatility are valued attributes. But I like Scott Moore a lot more than Coats as a future multi-positional "supersub." Geovany Soto is an OK (but not great) defensive catcher, and he's not a bad AAA hitter. I would project him as a borderline future MLB back-up catcher, but nothing more than that. He has good catching mechanics (receiving skills), but with a slightly below-average arm. He will also be out of minor league options next ST, and since Blanco is signed through 2008 with a club option for 2009, Soto's future will probably be elsewhere. Michael Barrett is a FA after this season, and if the Cubs don't re-sign him, they need to replace him with a legitimate MLB front-line catcher, because going into 2008 with Blanco and Soto as their catching corps is just not a viable option. BTW, Soto is the cousin of former Cubs utility infielder Ramon Martinez.

Recent comments

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