Submitted by toonsterwu on Mon, 03/01/2010 - 7:38pm.
Me personally, I doubt Colvin makes the 25 man to start the year. There's very little purpose in having him on the bench over having him getting regular AB's in Iowa. You'd be better off having Sam Fuld as a backup CF and calling Colvin up if someone got hurt.

As for Diamond, I guess there's a chance he wins one of the two final spots, but he still has some command kinks to work out. With so many guys competing, some guys simply have built in advantages (Parisi as a Rule 5, Silva with his contract, and so forth) that a UDFA like Diamond, as intriguing as he is, might have a hard time cracking.

But if he really excels, all bets are off.

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TOONSTER: I agree with both observations.

Tyler Colvin makes the 25-man roster only if he has an outstanding Cactus League AND Sam Fuld gets hurt. Otherwise, I think Fuld essentially has a bench slot on the 25 going into Spring Training, and Colvin goes to Iowa and plays CF everyday. I also think the Cubs might want Colvin to bat in the lead-off spot at Iowa (with Darwin Barney hitting 2nd) to get him more PAs and to force him to try and be more patient & selective at the plate. I would say that Colvin and Barney are also the two most-likely 2010 trade candidates among position players.

I believe Piniella when he says there is open competition for spots on the Cubs pitching staff, especially in the bullpen. Thomas Diamond is a younger version of Brad Penny, but I suspect he probably will enter MLB as a middle reliever and maybe get an opportunity to win a job in the starting rotation somewhere down the line.

It is also interesting that Piniella mentions Andrew Cashner as being in the mix for an MLB bullpen slot, because Cash was the #1 closer in college baseball (at TCU) in 2008, and his plus power stuff (96-98 MPH fastball and wipe-out slider) profile better for bullpen work (set-up or closer) than it does for the starting rotation (he also adds about 2-3 MPH to his fastball when he knows he is working just one inning).

I think Cashner would indeed have a good chance to make the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster if he is used as a one-inning guy in Spring Training, AS LONG AS he throws strikes in Cactus League games. Also, remember that if Cashner makes the Cubs 25-man roster (and 40-man roster) at any point in 2010 and then gets sent back to the minors prior to the end of the season, he will get a 4th minor league option year because he has completed only one full season through the 2009 season. Same goes for Starlin Castro, BTW.

I also can tell you that Cubs minor leaguers are very aware that Ricketts has put a priority on player development as a way to build the Cubs. Previously, there has always been an understanding that players were being developed primarily to use in trades for more-established players. Now players are being specifically developed and projected to fill specific positions, lineup slots, and roles on the big club, and I think everybody (Cubs minor league managers, coaches, and players) are excited about that. Morale is very high right now.

they're (well, most) not from ARZ...they're bringing their collective germs from all over the western hemisphere.

they're obviously going to rush castro...he's already been tabbed as coming up as an injury replacement if anyone goes down by hendry (i think it was hendry...it was someone in the org).

as quickly as the guy gets the bat through the zone the dude's upside right now is pretty boring.

we're not getting a lineup changer even under many positive projections for the guy.