Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

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 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Dope Survives Trip on Waiver Wire, O-Dog Released from Animal Hospital

Apparently the Baltimore Orioles had some problems with their waiver wire this week, because 1B Brian Dopirak has cleared Outright Waivers without being claimed, and has been assigned outright to Hi-A Daytona. A high school teammate of Cubs 2003 1st round pick RF Ryan Harvey (both attended Dunedin HS in Florida, the very same high school Jim Hendry and Tim Wilken attended in the 1970's), B-Dope was the Cubs 2nd round selection in the 2002 Rule 4 Draft and was added to the 40-man roster after the 2005 season. No longer on the Cubs 40-man roster, Dopirak will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this December, and can be a six-year minor league FA after the 2008 season. The problem with Dopirak being added to the 40-man roster after the 2005 season is that he would have been out of minor league options in Spring Training 2009, while Derrek Lee's contract runs through the 2010 season. And since Dopirak is a one-dimiensional player (a power-hitting first-baseman with significant defensive shortcomings who probably should be a DH), the Dude had no real future with the Cubs. Also, LHP Will Ohman has been examined by the Cubs team physician in Chicago, and nothing more than the usual wear and tear was found in Ohman's shoulder area. After being optioned to AAA Iowa on Monday, Ohman claimed he had been pitching with a sore shoulder for a while (he said his shoulder had been "barking"), and that he wanted to have the dog checked before reporting to Des Moines. The Cubs were able to option Ohman to the minors on Monday only because he is still a few days short of accruing five years of MLB service time (if he hadn't been optioned out, he would have hit the five-year mark for MLB service time on Sunday). Once a player reaches five years of MLB ST, he cannot be optioned to the minors without his permission. The thing that probably concerns Ohman (and his agent) is that if he pitches poorly at Iowa, he might not get recalled by the Cubs on September 1st (when the rosters expand). However, in order for him to be eligible for free-agency after the 2008 season, Ohman MUST start the 2008 season with at least five years of MLB service time. If he does not start the 2008 season with at least five years of MLB service time, Ohman will not be eligible for free-agency until after the 2009 season, and so naturally he would have MUCH preferred to have been placed on the Cubs 15-day (or even 60-day) DL (where he would continue to accrue MLB service time), rather than go on an optional assignment to the minors.

Comments

I'm wondering what the Cubs saw in Dopriak that led them to believe he'd be anything but a defensive liability at any position - wasn't that the knock on him when he was drafted?

I had forgotten about Ryan Harvey. Update: 4BB vs. 32Ks at Daytona. I will try to forget about him again.

Why couldn't Ohman just suck it up, have the attitude that he'll go down to AAA and shut the league down and then come back up here firing on all cylinders...if the guy's going to be all chickensh*t about it, leave him down there until someone readjusts his attitude. He pitched himself into this situation, he can damn well pitch himself back out of it.

BillyBucks — August 9, 2007 @ 9:41 am I had forgotten about Ryan Harvey. Update: 4BB vs. 32Ks at Daytona. I will try to forget about him again. ============================== BILLY BUCKS: The Cubs should convert Ryan Harvey to pitcher. He threw in the mid-90's off the mound in HS (where he was an OF/RHP), and has one of top two outfield arms in the Cubs organization (Nelson Perez is probably #1). Harvey is also less-likely to incur hamstring injuries pitching than he has playing outfield. It's not the worst thing to have a pitcher in your lineup who is capable of hitting an occasional 450-ft HR between strikeouts.

I disagree completely, Sheffield. Lou pitched him into this situation by using him incorrectly. If we're not going to use him as a LOOGY, trade him to a team that needs one.

You're right Johann, I agree with you that Ohman was used incorrectly a lot of the time. But the fact is that that's what he was assigned to do and couldn't do it. He can point to the stats and claim Lou was using him incorrectly, but claiming a shoulder injury just to get sent to the DL so you can get your free-agent time, and then whining about the situation, really isn't going to help the team and while we're in this slump we need guys with better attitudes out there.

I agree a little bit that Lou pitched Ohman into this, but his job is still to get the outs. Look at Wuertz last year - he got sent down, blazed through the minors, and is now one of our better relievers. I think Ohman is very capable of doing the same.

its so hard to give up on a guy like harvey and his power. too bad its looking like batting practice power at this point. he's just not making the adjustment to anything but the fastball and/or mistake. hell, he's not even adjusting well to "good" fastballs. sucks...happens. he plays like bo jackson...only with less idea wtf he's doing at the plate than bo...and that's not good.

Why shouldnt Ohman try the route he tried? He just watched Mark Prior pull the same stunt and the Cubs caved. If I were Ohman and I thought it could make me an extra couple of Mil. I probably at least think about pulling this stunt. Unfortunately when the local paper, doubles as the house organ. You better be ready to get skewered in the press.

ohman dont have any pull besides the 1.5m he's owed next year. he's not gonna have the fans or media going to bat for him with the numbers he's holding now and ohman isnt a guy the club needs to take careful steps with not to piss off. he's lucky he's gonna be worth an extra few hundred K than what he'd probably get if he finished the season out uninterrupted. another year of him hanging around on the ass end of arb eligibility shouldnt kill him even if its at the expense of being a cub another year. maybe he's not a fan of the day game or bullpen (issues some player have problems with...some really hate that cubs pen right next to a wall of fans with no protection but security and other players).

He just watched Mark Prior pull the same stunt and the Cubs caved. Except Prior was hurt. AZ Phil... if a team had claimed Dopirak, would they have had to place him on their 40 man roster? Also... if he would have been claimed, would he have still been eligible for the Rule 5 draft? While Dop has not been good, I am still somewhat surprised that no team claimed in to see if a change in scenery would make a difference.

july - .288/.368 avg/ob% aug - .346/.372 avg/ob% unfortunately...he hasnt slugged over .400 all year...even with that 1 and 1/2 months of "back on track"... j.jones...

oops...he's slugging .500 this month thanks to 4 doubles (2 of which were pretty "cheap" dying liners).

I gotta say that I agree with Ohman's stance. He is not being selfish, he is just asking to be treated with respect. If it is a matter of a few days of service time then the honorable thing to do would be to keep him around and give him the time on the roster. He has tried to do well by the Cubs, and he has been a "company man." It might not be a big deal to the Cubs in the grand scheme of things, but it could be pretty big to Ohman. This is his livelihood, versus just one cog in the machine for the Cubs. Treat your players with respect and more will want to come play for you.

ohman got 900K this year...probably, minimum, 200K more than he'd be worth. he's due 1.5m next year which is at least 500K overpaid given what he'd probably be worth vs. what he's gonna get paid. what's on the line for him is his freedom of choice for 2009, but i guess that's no small thing.

"Look at Wuertz last year - he got sent down, blazed through the minors, and is now one of our better relievers. I think Ohman is very capable of doing the same." I disagree about Wuertz. He pitches OK unless the game is on the line, then you can forget about it. Does anyone know his inherited runner stat? I know Marmol's is unbelievable. Remember Les Lancaster in 1989. He was incredible that year and never came close again.

By the way, WSCR is reportinig the Cubs have claimed Shannon Stewart off waivers and have 48 hours to make a deal. Is he a free agent at the end of the year? He should help, but he is not the power hitter we need.

wow...even though july saw ohman with a 1.59/1.24 era/whip his line was 5.2ip 5h 2bb 1k. that's not like ohman. his K totals are off for that month and the partial horrible month he played this month. hard to draw a conclusion from 7 total IP in the last month and 1/2, though. ohman's had 1 12-pitch month...the rest are 5ip and a 7ip month. that's sparse use for a guy who wasnt even being used as a "loogy" and saw more ab's vs. righties than lefties.

Shannon Stewart will probably signal the end of Murton's at bats. Proven vets dude!

Who get's called up/optioned today? Can anybody find the logic in calling up Patterson, Pie, and Cedeno only to use them as late inning PH/subs? If, that was how Lou planned to use them then what's the point of keeping guys like Soto and Coats on the 40-man?

until either hill or kendall goes...unless dlee gets injured...having soto up and seeing him get ab's is probably a longshot. he'll be up in a few weeks...hopefully he'll get some time behind the plate. there's questions about his ball blocking skills...interesting since bob bren went out of his way to heap praise on k.hill's defense and ball blocking skills last night. personally, i could live with soto replacing hill very easily. getting worried about people running at will on kendall...the double steals, the steals with no throws, the throws that end up way off target...

Wuertz has inherited 29 runners and allowed 2 of them to score according to ESPN.

Compare that to Marmol, who has inherited 27 runners and allowed 1 one of them to score. Not too different.

"He is not being selfish, he is just asking to be treated with respect." Blech. Oh-Man! SUCKS!

Johann, thanks for the Wuertz information. I am truly amazed. He just doesn't seem,that effective to me. Whenever he comes in and the game is tied or we are one run ahead or one behind, I always say to myself, "The game is over, Cubs lose" and I am usually correct. Or so it seems to me.

Didn't Ohman almost go to arbitration (or go to Arbitration) a couple of years ago? He has been a company man, I guess, fought back through injuries. But he isn't nearly as sharp as he was in ST of '05. Wear and tear, or whatever, his pitches don't have the same velocity and break.

Can anybody find the logic in calling up Patterson, Pie, and Cedeno only to use them as late inning PH/subs? Sure. We have vacancies, so we need players.. Hendry called them up. Lou doesn't do that. And Lou is correctly using them as subs because that's all they're good for. If any of those three decide to pull a Fontenot or Theriot and actually produce, they'll win a spot. Lou is like that.

That was last year that Ohman filed for arbitration. He asked for $775,000; the Cubs offered $500,000. And then they avoided arb at something above $600K.

ohman then signed a contact giving him 900K this year and 1.5m next year, fwiw. 2.5m for 2 years of a decent loogy isnt bad at all and gave him something he could count on. with a dodgy arm right now that 1.5m next year should be something he's happy he's got.

dave — August 9, 2007 @ 10:08 am He just watched Mark Prior pull the same stunt and the Cubs caved. Except Prior was hurt. AZ Phil… if a team had claimed Dopirak, would they have had to place him on their 40 man roster? Also… if he would have been claimed, would he have still been eligible for the Rule 5 draft? ========================= DAVE: Any team claiming a player off Outright Waivers must place the player on their 40-man roster, so if he had been claimed, Dopirak would have been added to his new club's 40-man roster and would not have been eligible for the next Rule 5 Draft. Sometimes a club will claim a player off Outright Waivers and then the new team will immediately place the player on Outright Waivers AGAIN, hoping that nobody else is interested. This happened with both Rob Bowen and Koyie Hill in 2006, when both were claimed off Outright Waivers (Bowen by DET from MIN and K. Hill by NYY from AZ), and then were placed on Outright Waivers again by their new club. Bowen was claimed by SD (from DET) and remained in the big leagues, but K. Hill was not claimed when the Yankees placed him on Outright Waivers after acquiring him from the D'backs, and so he was outrighted to the minors and spent the balance of the 2006 season at AAA Columbus, before becoming a six-year minor league FA after the '06 season. I thought that's what BAL might do (claim Dopirak and then immediately place him back on Outright Waivers), since ex-Cubs Scouting Director John Stockstill now is the Scouting Director for the Orioles and his his brother Dave is the O's Player Development Director. The Stockstills have been "collecting" Cubs minor league cast-offs for the last couple of years (including Francis Beltran, Jon Leicester, Jason Dubois, Brandon Sing, Luis Montanez, Chadd Blasko, and Carlos Perez, not to mention ex-Cub major leaguers Corey Patterson, Paul Bako, Steve Trachsel, Freddie Bynum, and Scott Williamson). But apparently they forgot to put in a claim.

# 28 - WSCR reporting Stewart deal on hold because “A’s are asking too much.” Good. Hands off of the prospects.

The Real Neal — August 9, 2007 @ 10:48 am Didn’t Ohman almost go to arbitration (or go to Arbitration) a couple of years ago? He has been a company man, I guess, fought back through injuries. But he isn’t nearly as sharp as he was in ST of ‘05. Wear and tear, or whatever, his pitches don’t have the same velocity and break. ============================== NEAL: Ohman was eligible for salary arbitration after the 2005 season, but ONLY because he had spent two full seasons (2002 and 2003) on the Cubs 60-day DL while recovering fom TJ elbow surgery, and time on the 60-day DL counts toward a player's MLB service time. So eligible for arbitration post-'05, Ohman then asked for what would be a typical salary for an MLB relief pitcher with three-years of MLB experience ($775K), but the Cubs did not see it that way, and offered $500K. As a result, there was some bad blood between Hendry and Ohman for a while, before Ohman and the Cubs finally compromised. But I doubt that the Cubs feel bad about optioning Ohman to the minors less than a week before he could accrue five years of MLB service time. After-all, payback is a...

At the end of the 48 hours (rougly this time tomrrow) Beane will probably dump Stewart on us. Stewart is owed bewteen 300 and 800 thousand dollars depending on how many incentives he reaches. Even though they he most likely would be a type B free agent (the compensation would be a sandwich pick between rounds 2 and 3 I think, AZ Phil could fill in the gap there) I doubt Beane would give him arbitration because I dont think he wants to give a million dollars plus for a guy who would be a part time player for them in 08.

Also they want to give as many at bats as possible to Travis Buck, Jack Cust, Dan Johnson, and Kurt Suzaki to determine where they stand going into the 08 season. Having a vet guy around not playing when he can be earning incentives for playing is usally not good for the clubhouse.

The stuff about Ohman being misused is BS. Several times Lou would put him in to pitch to a lefty and he'd walk the guy. What the f*** do you do then? Most of the time Lou just left him in to get himself out of the jam. If Ohman wants to be more successful he should suck less. He's had 6 appearances this year in which he did not record a single out.

ohman's pitched to more righties than lefties...right outta the box you got an issue there. he's walked way too many lefties to be comfortable, but he's been noticably more effective vs. the lefties. either way, the last month and 1/2 he's not getting his Ks vs. righties or lefties and was just lit the hell up his last 2 outtings.

chifan3887 — August 9, 2007 @ 11:19 am At the end of the 48 hours (rougly this time tomrrow) Beane will probably dump Stewart on us. Stewart is owed bewteen 300 and 800 thousand dollars depending on how many incentives he reaches. Even though they he most likely would be a type B free agent (the compensation would be a sandwich pick between rounds 2 and 3 I think, AZ Phil could fill in the gap there) I doubt Beane would give him arbitration because I dont think he wants to give a million dollars plus for a guy who would be a part time player for them in 08. =========================== CHIFAN: Compensation for a Type "B" MLB free-agent who is offered arbitration by his old club but signs elsewhere is a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd round, but only after all the Type "A" FA sandwich picks are allocated. This past off-season, Juan Pierre was a Type "B" FA, and after signing with the Dodgers, the Cubs got the #48 (overall) pick in the 2007 June Draft, and used that pick to draft C Josh Donaldson (Auburn). However, if Pierre had waited to sign with the Dodgers until December (the Dodgers made a "first-strike" and didn't wait until arbitration had to be offered), it's unlikely the Cubs would have offered arbitration to Pierre, and so the Cubs would not have received a compensation pick. Therefore, while Shannon Stewart might indeed be rated as a Type "B" FA, the Cubs might not choose to offer arbitration to him, just because you never know what the arbitrators are going to do. The Cubs would have to decide whether to offer arbitration to Stewart by December 1st. So the best thing for the Cubs would be if Stewart signed with another club prior to December 1st (some team wanting to make a "first-strike," as the Dodgers did last year with Pierre), but with Shannon Stewart, that's probably unlikely to happen.

The Score is reporting that the Cubs are looking to acquire a 3b. That doesn't sound good for A-Ram.

aaronb: Shannon Stewart will probably signal the end of Murton’s at bats. Proven vets dude! 266/342/367 298/360/399 Which one is Murt, which one is Stewart? Just sayin'.

I am sure that Beane will let Stewart go because he's African American and Milton Bradley told me so. I just wonder what Beane was thinking when he signed and traded for those two. Were they adopted and it just came out that their real parents were not caucasians?

I wonder what the record is for most second basemen and left fielders on a 25 man roster is.

Maybe Miguel Cabrera magically fell through waivers and will be a Cub. He'll play 3rd if Rammy misses any time and will move to right field when Rammy gets back. OK, OK, that is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. I know!!!!!

What 3B is possible available at this point (that will pass through waivers to us also)? Ty Wigginton may be the best available that possibly may pass through waivers--but I have to figure he will be claimed before he gets to us. Any other possibilities that anyone can think of?

Maybe Miguel Cabrera magically fell through waivers and will be a Cub. He’ll play 3rd if Rammy misses any time and will move to right field when Rammy gets back. ---------------------------------------------------------- Chad is drinking that Kool-Aid today :-)

Can anybody find the logic in calling up Patterson, Pie, and Cedeno only to use them as late inning PH/subs? I'll take a crack at that. In Piniella’s system, you have to hit to play. Patterson will get a couple of starts, and if he doesn’t hit a few gappers or homers, he’ll be relegated to pinch hitting. I’m a big Pie backer, but I also like Lou’s pressure-cooker system. Right now, Pie is a late-inning replacement, which will net him two or three at-bats a week. He has to use them like there’s no tomorrow. He has to stop hitting grounders to first and second and little flares to short. When he drives a couple, he’ll get a start or two and can go from there. The important thing is that Pie realizes that he’s not in a friendly, nurturing environment. He never was, but he's starting to realize it. Since Pie just came up and has some momentum going from Iowa, he may get a couple of “unearned” starts, I don’t know. I care more about Pie than Piniella but there’s nothing wrong with tough love. People on TCR said that Murton couldn’t pinch hit, but what do you know, he hits a pinch home run and then starts the next day and gets two more hits. I hope he’s on his way. But that’s the way you have to do it.

Vegas Brian: Ty Wigginton may be the best available that possibly may pass through waivers–but I have to figure he will be claimed before he gets to us. Any other possibilities that anyone can think of? It makes one wonder if Pat Burrell can play 3B.

Shannon Stewart since the 2nd half: .261 BA .320 OBP .359 SLG .679 OPS Murton since he's been called up: .350 BA .409 OBP .550 SLG .959 OPS Shannon Stewart the second half in 2005 (last year he was hurt): .271 BA .312 OBP .396 SLG .708 OPS Murton in the second half last year: .319 BA .390 OBP .522 SLG .912 OPS Not entirely conclusive, and Shannon hasn't been overall horrible the second half, but certainly the last few years anyway. Could be getting exhaustion from getting older and injuries or something, but Murton is hitting very well right now and Shannon is not. Shannon also hasn't been any good since 2004. He's ok this year, but nothing special and has no future.

# 38 At the end of the 48 hours (rougly this time tomrrow) Beane will probably dump Stewart on us. # 39 Having a vet guy around not playing when he can be earning incentives for playing is usally not good for the clubhouse. I agree. Then we should indeed send over Floyd to return the favor to Mr. Beane.

I think LOOGY's have been terribly overrated for a while now. The Angels and Padres have proven for a while that you don't need one to have a successful bullpen. During the postseason with off-days and only 4 starters I can see it being useful, but a roster spot to record one out seems like a steep price to pay. When Cedeno comes to the plate PH'ing in a tight game against a lefty I've never found myself thinking "I wish we had a better option, but I'm damn glad Ohman's on the roster to face the occassional lefty" I don't mind having a lefty around to face Prince when the Brewers are in town, but to earn his roster spot, he'd better be able to retire a few righties too. Ohman couldn't do that, so I see no use for him right now.

"The Score is reporting that the Cubs are looking to acquire a 3b." Even if Ram's wrist MRI results comes back clean, he will still need atleast 1 day of a week because of his legs. I think it has more to do with Fontenot not even being a solid spot start option than it does about Ram being hurt. Like Jacos is said if Ram is DLable hurt the season is done for and I dont think Hendry would gut the farm for some half assed option.

Jedi Knight — August 9, 2007 @ 12:02 pm I think LOOGY’s have been terribly overrated for a while now. The Angels and Padres have proven for a while that you don’t need one to have a successful bullpen. ====================== JEDI: And the '84 Cubs had an all-righthanded bullpen, and they did OK. I would say mediocre LOOGYs are worthless, but if you have a lefty reliever in your bullpen who is really and truly death on left-handed hitters, that would be useful, especially if he can at least hold his own versus right-handed hitters, too. But it's stupid to allow a lefty reliever to take the spot of a right-handed reliever just so you can have a lefty in the pen, if the RHP the LHP is replacing is clearly the more-effective pitcher of the two.

Worst-case scenario re: Aramis: DeRo has impressed defensively at third and I would not mind him becoming the full-timer over there. Then you can plug in Fotenot/Patterson/Cedeno over there if any one of them can get any kind of hot. That's not so bad, is it? ::sheds tear::

"I think LOOGY’s have been terribly overrated for a while now." agreed. however, the cubs have one under contract for 07/08. he's just best used as one of those guys who strives for 70+ appearances where he faces 1-3 batters per outting...going after the L or the L/R/L (L or S interchangeably)... i could live without a loogy and lou's bullpen managing style could live without it, too.

Rishi — August 9, 2007 @ 12:13 pm Worst-case scenario re: Aramis: DeRo has impressed defensively at third and I would not mind him becoming the full-timer over there. Then you can plug in Fotenot/Patterson/Cedeno over there if any one of them can get any kind of hot. That’s not so bad, is it? ====================== RISHI: It isn't that DeRosa isn't a good defensive third-baseman or that Fontenot couldn't play 2B most every day, it's the loss of Ramirez's run production and HR bat from the middle of the lineup that's the real killer. I don't think losing Ramirez right now would be survivable for the Cubs (even if it's only for a couple of weeks), especially when it happens concurrent with Alfonso Soriano's injury.

"Aubrey Huff?" I'd imagine the Angels and Twins would put a claim on him. The best guy that I'd think could get to use on on waivers is Pedro Feliz. He is a free agent at the end of the year and the Giants seem like their going to go young in 08.

Arizona Phil, I agree 100%. That's why I shed the tear at the end of my post. I'm just saying that we don't need to pick up any detritus off the waiver wire should the unthinkable happen.

Re: Wuertz - I remember at least two separate situations early in the year where he came in, bases loaded, no outs, and proceeded to strike out the side. I think he's had a bit of bad luck lately.

Whether Aramis Ramirez is out for a few days or not, the Cubs need to recall Geovany Soto from Iowa immediately and let him catch most every day. Maybe the Cubs can get away without Alfonso Soriano for a month, but if so it has to be where the offensive black hole at catcher is filled by an offensive threat. Even more-so if A-Ram is out for any length of time. As I mentioned yesterday (and as Cubs Win the Pennant mentioned the day before), Soto is leading the PCL in SLG and OPS, is 2nd in BA, and 3rd in OBP, and has a 1.209 OPS with runners on base and a 1.122 OPS with RISP. He also has thrown out four of the last ten runners who tried to steal against him, and he knows the Cubs pitching staff very well. There is no way of knowing in advance how Soto will perform at the MLB level, but desperate times require desperate measures.

Anyone concerned that the St. Louis Cardinals have crept up to 6 games out of First place?

No concern with the Cardinals. We have been in this bad of a tailspin and they have managed to close the gap by a game. If we play even decent baseball, the Cards stand no chance of overtaking us this season...not with that pitching staff.

The Cards are not even in the conversation until they hit .500. Until they do they are not on my radar. I'm with Phil, BTW. I don't see why Soto would be any worse than what we are dealing with.

Whether Aramis Ramirez is out for a few days or not, the Cubs need to recall Geovany Soto from Iowa immediately and let him catch most every day. HERE!! HERE!! AZ PHIL. What the hell are they waiting for?

Anyone concerned that the St. Louis Cardinals have crept up to 6 games out of First place? Sure, Rory. This could be the year the Central Division Champ has a losing record. It's that bad right now.

Virginia Phil — August 9, 2007 @ 11:52 am Can anybody find the logic in calling up Patterson, Pie, and Cedeno only to use them as late inning PH/subs? I’ll take a crack at that. In Piniella’s system, you have to hit to play. ........................................................................ Unless you are Koyie Hill, Jason Kendall or a veteran that Lou fears will Poison the clubhouse

Virginia Phil — August 9, 2007 @ 11:52 am Can anybody find the logic in calling up Patterson, Pie, and Cedeno only to use them as late inning PH/subs? I’ll take a crack at that. In Piniella’s system, you have to hit to play. ……………………………………………………………… Unless you are Koyie Hill, Jason Kendall or a veteran that Lou fears will Poison the clubhouse ____________________________________________ Or Soriano and Floyd.

Actually, I guess you meant Floyd by the poisoning the clubhouse thing. You know, I changed my mind from a few posts ago. Screw Floyd, play EPat in RF so we have someone who might have a future and who isn't an arrogant prick.

Isn't ironic that Wood gets activated and 3 position players have esentially gone down? Soriano, Pagan and now Aram. Wood stole their MOJO! This team is reverting back to it's ugly form. Boo.

*No concern with the Cardinals. We have been in this bad of a tailspin and they have managed to close the gap by a game. If we play even decent baseball, the Cards stand no chance of overtaking us this season…not with that pitching staff. Chad says: August 9th, 2007 at 1:09 pm The Cards are not even in the conversation until they hit .500. Until they do they are not on my radar. * Maybe the Cubs will just keep losing until they have a worse record than the Cardinals. This is the same kind of hubris shown regarding the Brewers, when everyone was so sure overtaking them was a GIVEN. The same type of foolish hubris displayed when people held up signs about Dustiny and Dynasty when the Cubs hadn't even won the NLCS. And look how that turned out.

Hubris? I got news for you Dr. No, we control nothing. There is no such thing as hubris of fans as our careless attitude will not cause the Cubs to win or lose a single game. The only thing that matters is the Cubs winning. If they continue to win the will go to the playoffs. If the finish this season playing under .500, they will not. The Cardinals cannot do a thing about that. As well, until the Cards show that they can get to .500, they will not win a thing. You must be at least .500 to get into the playoffs. While there is obviously no rule about that, there has never been a sub .500 team in the playoffs.

I got news for you Dr. No, we control nothing. There is no such thing as hubris of fans as our careless attitude will not cause the Cubs to win or lose a single game. But heavens forbid they mention a no-hitter in parachat!

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • 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.