Iowa Cubs Get Stung by Bees

Submitted by Romero on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 9:55am.

Thanks, Rob.

And is that information accurate about Chirinos? I remember him being converted to a catcher. Was he then converted to a pitcher?

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ROMERO: Subject to change at any time (because rosters at Minor League Camp are altered almost daily), Robinson Chirinos is presently one of the three catchers with the AA (Tennessee) squad (Steve Clevenger and Blake Lalli are the other two).

I have never seen Chirinos pitch, although it's not unusual for catchers in the minors to take the mound in the 9th inning of a blow-out.

There are a couple of converted catchers presently assigned to the AA squad's pitching staff  though (RHPs Blake Parker and Jake Muyco).  

Submitted by Old and Blue on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 10:46am.

How's the weather in AZ, AZ? I'll be there Sun-Wed, and am hoping it's not too much of a broiler.

I screwed up -- my seats for Sunday's game are along the wrong lines of the field and NOT where the awning is at Ho Ho.

Also, I guess Jason Dubois is formally a 4A guy (I know, it's just a formality).

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OLD & BLUE: It was so windy last night (50 MPH+ winds) they actually shutdown Sky Harbor Airport! We had the windows open at the casa and it was blowing a steady gale through the house. It was like one of those blustery winter days in Chicago, but without the snow. Other than that, the weather has cooled off a bit.

As for Jason Dubois, I predict that he will be released prior to the start of the regular season, mainly because his AAA roster slot will be needed once the big club makes it's last wave of cuts (Andres Blanco, Esteban German, Brad Snyder if he clears waivers, etc).

Also, although they are probably getting paid about $200K on their minor league contracts and could be replaced by cheaper organizational players like Matt Matulia or Matt Camp, don't be surprised if the Cubs keep both German and Rivas "on retainer" at Iowa in case something bad happens to Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, Aaron Miles or Mike Fontenot.

Today (nine days prior to MLB Opening Day) is the first day MLB players can be placed on the 15-day DL, and it's also the earliest date a 15-day DL assignment can be backdated. (If a DL assignment is backdated to a date during Spring Training, the injured player cannot appear in an "official" Cactus League or Grapefruit League game during the backdated period, although the player CAN appear in a minor league Spring Training Game

(MLB players can be placed on the 60-day DL anytime during Spring Training, as long as his club's 40-man roster is full, and the injured player is replaced on the 40-man roster by another player).

Also, next Wednesday (4/1) is the deadline for a club to place a player with a non-guaranteed contract on Release Waivers (the player must be released by next Friday) so that the player is owed only 45 days termination pay (1/4 of his 2009 salary). This is how and why the Cubs ended up with Reed Johnson last year, after he got released by Toronto.

All non-guaranteed contracts automatically become 100% guaranteed on MLB Opening Day (4/5), and because it takes two business days for a player to clear waivers, and because Saturday and Sunday are not considered "business days" once Spring Training has ended, the waiver request must be made no later than the Wednesday prior to MLB Opening Day (which is a week from Sunday, even though there is only one game that day) so that the player can be released by the Friday prior to Opening Day.

All MLB clubs have to get their Active List (25-man roster) down to 25 players no later than Sunday 4/5, even if the club doesn't actually play its first game until Monday.  

Submitted by rob9999 on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 11:28am.
Arizona Phil - I absolutely love your contributions to TCR!!

I am from Peoria and can't wait until the Chiefs get rolling. Any insight as to where Vitters starts this year? It appears that Flieta would love to jump him to Daytona, but I haven't heard anything more about it. I would definitely be bummed to miss out on Vitters considering Cashner, Colvin & Samninja all leaped over Peoria

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ROB9999: Although it's possible that Josh Vitters could get moved up to the Daytona squad prior to Opening Day, it usually doesn't work like that at Minor League Camp. The movement of players is almost always downward (or in some cases, a player just gets released instead of being demoted).

Last time I checked, Vitters was the 3B with the Peoria squad at Minor League Camp, and Jovan Rosa was the 3B at Daytona, although I guess Rosa could be moved to 1B (or maybe even to a corner OF spot) at some point to make room for Vitters at Daytona.

Also, Tyler Colvin (rehabbing from TJS) is DH-ing with the AA (Tennessee) squad right now (because they use one or two DHs in minor league Spring Training games), but once the season starts, Colvin will almost certainly be the primary DH at Daytona (Peoria and Daytona use the DH in all their regular season games, while Tennessee and Iowa only use it when they play an American League affiliate on the road), so Colvin's presence would make it difficult for Rosa to be used as the DH at Daytona.

Although some of them were subsequently released, the following Cubs minor league position players were converted to pitcher over the past few years:

Oscar Bernard (ex-C)
Randy Brown (ex-OF)
Gasner Guerrier (ex-C)
Leon Johnson (ex-OF)
Junniol Lami (ex-3B)
Josh Lansford (ex-3B)
Carlos Marmol (ex-C)
Jake Muyco (ex-C)
Blake Parker (ex-C)
Leonel Perez (ex-C)
Andres Quezada (ex-OF)
Luke Sommer (ex-OF)
Blake Taylor (ex-3B)
Randy Wells (ex-C)

There also were a number of "two-way" players (like SS-RHP Ryan Acosta, OF-RHP Marcus Hatley, OF-RHP Jay Jackson, OF-RHP Tarlandus Mitchell, and SS-RHP John Muller) signed by the Cubs out of HS or college over the past couple or three years who became pitchers (exclusively) after they signed.

Position players who were converted to catcher by the Cubs in recent years include:

Matt Cerda (2B in HS)
Robinson Chirinos (ex-2B)
Steve Clevenger (ex-2B)
John Contreras (ex-3B)
Blake Lalli (ex-3B)
Casey McGehee (although he kept playing 3B in addition to catcher)
Geovany Soto (ex-3B)

The only pitcher I can think of who was converted to a position player by the Cubs was Nelson Perez, who (with the release of Ryan Harvey) probably has the #1 or #2 OF arm in the organization (along with Kyler Burke). Perez has an absolute cannon for an arm.

BTW, the Cubs signed N. Perez at the urging of Alfosno Soriano (right after they signed him as a FA in November 2006), and Oneri Fleita very quickly decided he had too much power and athleticism to not be tried as a RF. If you've never seen him, Nelson Perez sort of resembles Sammy Sosa, except he hits LH.

Although I'm sure they hope he can develop as a RF (he is still EXTREMELY raw), knowing the Cubs, if the outfield doesn't work out for him (as a hitter, he murders fastballs, but is totally confounded by breaking balls), Perez could still end up a RHP. 

Submitted by navigator on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 12:10pm. Do you have any insight into WHAT the Cubs were thinking by double promoting Josh Lansford last year (first to A+ then to AA) if they were going to (rightly) decide he was just a strong arm who couldn't hit (at all)?

It makes a lot of sense to try to turn him into a pitcher (he's got a fantastic arm) but I really don't understand the fast track through minors he was on.

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NAVIGATOR: I think it was partly because Lansford was blocking Marquez Smith at Daytona, and moving Lansford up to AA got him out of the way, and partly because the Cubs will not convert a postion player to pitcher or to catcher unless the player agrees to do it.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect the Cubs may have suggested to Lansford that he might consider a move to the mound, but he didn't agree to it until he found out for himself that he didn't have the chops to hit at AA, and moving him up to AA was a way to show him his limitations.

Lansford may have been conflicted about making the switch, because while his brother (Jared) is a pitcher is in the A's organization, his dad (Carney) was a big league 3B and A. L. batting champion, and a couple of his uncles (Phil and Jody) played 1B-3B in the minors.