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

Fall Guy

The Cubs fired hitting coach Gerald Perry today and promoted Triple A hitting coach Von Joshua.

"Every day, we have five guys in the lineup who have played in the All Star Game. For whatever reason, we're just not performing anywhere close to the level that they all have performed throughout their careers. Sometimes you have to try something different."

I don't know enough about Gerald Perry's techniques or his batting cage-side manor to be honest, although I would say that it would seem that Lou took it upon himself a lot when guys were really struggling to help their swings. We just recently heard about looking at video with Milton Bradley and their have been half a dozen or so incidents like that of Lou saying that he's now involved. 

If Joshua can bring the "get-a-hit-with-runners-in-scoring-position" technique with him from Iowa, then it will be all worth it.

Comments

One of my favorite TV shows as a kid...along with Simon and Simon, MacGyver, The Greatest American Hero and Remington Steele.

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In reply to by Rob G.

The Giants were always the one team that really made sense for Lee in terms of his desire to go to the West Coast. I remember all the message board trades this offseason from Cubs fans - I'd imagine there is a greater chance now of Lee going to SF than in the offseason since the Giants can stay in the playoff chase. I find it hard to believe we'd make that move anytime soon, as Rogers is suggesting, and go with Fox and Hoffpauir while the rest of the offense is struggling. I'm also not sure what the Giants can offer right now that really makes sense in a move for the Cubs, unless we decide to call it a season, which I don't expect unless we really tailspin. Personally, I think the Giants are better off trying to trade for Miguel Tejada and either playing him at short, or playing Tejada at 3rd and moving Sandoval to first.

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In reply to by toonsterwu

Has Lee ever expressed a desire to actually go back to the West Coast? Just seems like an assumption on everyone's part like Teix would want to play in Baltimore because he's from Maryland....

I mean, I have no desire to move back to Chicago.

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In reply to by Rob G.

I actually believe he has (something along the lines of, if he went anywhere, he'd go west, or maybe it was a he'd like to end his career closer to home comment). I'll try to look it up when I get a chance.

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In reply to by Rob G.

I think Lee still lives in Sacramento. Trying to nail this down, I found this in a Sullivan piece from October 2008:
Lee has a no-trade clause but could be asked to lift it if he’s dealt to a team in California for pitching help. Lee lives in Sacramento, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

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In reply to by VirginiaPhil

thanks to both, appears he currently  lives in El Dorado Hills, CA...east of Sacramento, so in this case it might be of interest to him especially if the Giants stay in the race.  That being said, he's the only guy with an OPS over .800 on the team besides Fukudome and it's .976 since May 1st.

Pitcher's ump (Phil Cuzzi), slumping offense, wind blowing in... could be a low scoring game.

Rob, I get this message at the top of my browser (Firefox 3.0.11) unless I refresh the page: * user warning: Table './thecubre_thecubreporter/cache_page' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: LOCK TABLES cache_page WRITE in /home/thecubre/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 174. * user warning: in /home/thecubre/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 174.

Will the new guy mention something about taking pitches and clogging the bases with walks? Or is that just so last year?

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In reply to by therealwt

why? Was there something wrong with the 26Ks to 3 BBs the Cubs racked up this series? Granted Baker and Slowey are strike throwers but they aren't strikeout pitchers either so that's still awful.

new deck chairs, same old titanic...

I hate to say I told you so, but on Friday...

Meanwhile In Milwaukee, White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker just pissed his pants.

Perry likely doesn't deserve the blame, but I doubt he really deserved the credit much last year either. This team just needs to do something to relax. I think John Mabry had some tips on that.

OOC, who is taking over at Iowa?

that was as awesome as our .297 ob% leadoff hitter...wait, no it was legit awesome. about time.

Even if the Cardinals win tonight, the Cubs finish the day three games out of first. For a team, that's been THIS bad, pretty damn impressive. Hell, if the Cubs rip off 5 or 6 in a row, they could be in first place. How crazy is that.

I am sure firing Perry is not going to make a difference, but at least the organization is acknowledging that things are not going right. It is not early anymore and there is no guarantee some of these players slumping (K-Fuk, FontNot, Soto, Yahtzee) will turn it around. At least they got the win today, even though they scored only 3 runs. Woo! Just back from vacation and need to go catch up on shit.

Neifi Miles is hitting the ball a little better lately (even if he's hitting it right at people) and has playing some decent scrappy defense this series. Still prefer Blanco and hate the contract, but good job playing like a big leaguer, Aaron.

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In reply to by Ryno

The guy played solid baseball in St. Louis for 2 or 3 years. I think he'll make his mark on this team eventually--as in, make a positive contribution. Meanwhile, DeRosa 2R HR vs. Carpenter in the first.

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In reply to by Andy

DEROSA!??? The clown bats right-handed, for cryin' out loud. Can't have none o' that. Interesting observation above about Perry -- when things got really bad for a hitter (Pie, Soto, Bradley), Lou would take over.

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In reply to by Andy

Aaron Miles in St. Louis: 2006- .672 OPS 2007- .676 OPS 2008- .753 OPS 2008 is borderline useful, mostly due to a career high avg and slugging pct. The first 2 seasons are brutal...just brutal.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

"pretty damned good" = his career year was slightly better than the Cubs 4th outfielder.

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

Wow..a .675 OPS is useful in 2006 or 2007? In what way is a powerless, no steals, rarely getting on base, average fielder useful? Even with his career season in 2008: 15 doubles, 2 triples, 4 hr's? 49 runs? He'd better be the best fielding 2B ever with those numbers. And better than Reed Johnson? Maybe. Miles: .317/.355/.398, 4HR, 31 RBI, 3 steals, 49 runs,OPS+ of 99 Johnson: .303/.358/.420, 6Hr, 50 RBI, 5 steals, 52 runs, OPS+ of 99

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

This is a crazy idea, I know... but did you even try clicking the link? But solid fielding 2nd basemen are more valuable than below average fielding center fielders, since I am afraid you're too lazy to click and read.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Since you know how lazy I am..lol... Johnson played mostly CF last season, 78 games, 4 in RF, 26 in LF. In CF, he fielded at a .993 pct..1 error, 2 assists, and was below average according to some stats. A guy who will make all the easy plays, and not get to some balls that Mike Cameron, or Carlos Beltran will get to. In short, a guy who had played a majority of games in LF in his career, but as 4th OF, and due to the mishandling of the CF position by the Cubs, was pressed into service in CF. I am sure that it is really hard to find light hitting, good fielding second basemen? Probably not a dime a dozen?

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

That's the point of the WARP stat, to illustrate to you which players are readily replaceable and which are not. If you're 3 wins above a replacement player, you're not readily replaceable. Admittedly, he had a lucky season and spent a good chunk of time in front of the best hitter in the world last year, but this year, as you can see in his last three games, he's been pretty unlucky.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Also, as you can see, for most of his career, he has been a solid fielder, who can't hit enough to balance out the fact he has no power, and walks rarely. He also, over the last 3 games, got a hit on a 327-hopper up the middle, and played a line drive like it was a swarm of bees. He's a nice l'il fella...but he shouldn't be a starting 2B. It's 2009, not 1979.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

You're point about him being the starting second basemen is an excellent one. It's also a point that Hendry and Pinhead agree with. You may have not heard the news, but Aramis Ramirez is injured, which is forcing Miles into the lineup on a daily basis. In a perfect world he occasionally rests Theriot and Pepper Spray against right or left handed pitchers as applicable. The 2009 Cubs are not operating in a perfect world.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

If you want to expand the discussion to include his salary, that's fine, but it wasn't in your original post. Your original post said that he was a horrid player in 2007 and 2008, but in fact he was a little bit above replacement level, something you pay maybe $500K to $750K a year for. I never said that he's not overpaid, I didn't like the signing at the time, and I like it now even less, but I don't try to warp reality to make it seem like he's a worse player than he has been. And as I stated the other day, maybe Hendry thought he was getting another DeRosa here. DeRosa, like Miles was coming off a 'career year' fueled in part by a very high BABIP (.348), but then went on to have two superiors years with the Cubs.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Ok. 1) Miles had a career season at the plate in 2008. Couple the with his solid fielding, and he was a decent player on the cheap. However: 2006:.263/.324/.347 2007:.290/.328/.348 Unless you are Ozzie Effing Smith in the field, these are not numbers of a player who should be your starting 2B. Shouldn't your OBP improve more than .004 if your batting average jumps 27 points? 2) Why would the Cardinals let go a player who is this "good?" I am not warping reality. He is not a good player. Compare Miles "career" season to National League second basemen? Who does Miles play over? Utley? Uggla? Luis Castillo? Kelly Johnson? Brandon Phillips? Freddy Sanchez? Felipe Lopez? Rickie Weeks? Well..ok...usually yes. He's obviously better than Anderson Hernandez and Burriss from SF...and Skip Schumaker too...but that's damning with faint praise, and assuming that Miles could replicate thsoe #'s from 2008.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

HE'S NOT THE STARTING SECOND BASEMEN, HE'S A BACKUP SS/2B. This are his comps: P. Janish T. Greene O. Ifante D. Hernandez J. Castro You may as well be comparing Hoffpauir to Pujols...

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Aaron Miles was a starting 2B from 2006-2008 for the Cardinals. I am saying that he was putrid enough at the plate that he shouldn't have been for 2006 or 2007. I am also questioning paying a player with that kind of "abiity" that much money to be a backup. Are the caps really needed?

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

1. I haven't called you any names. 2. The Caps is because I am having to repeat myself. You're being very thick. I am not being mean, or an asshole or condescending, you keep acting like he's the starting second basemen for the Cubs and he's not, and never was intended to be. He hasn't even been the every day starting second basemen for the Cardinals. You're just lying. In 2008 the Cardinals had 694 PA's by their second basemen. Of those, well I don't have PA's handy, but Miles had 223 at bats as a second basemen. He must have had a shit load of walks, sac flies and hit by pitches to get close to 694 PA's. In his entire Cardinals career he never had 300 at bats as a second basemen. These are irrefutable facts. Accept them and internalize them if you would like to have a reasonable discussion on the relative merits of utility infielders and Aaron Miles. Continue to ignore facts, and lie to make some nonsensical point, and I will continue to treat you like a petulant two-year old.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Ok. Thanks for enlightening me. Actually, in 2008 you are right. The Cardinals had 694 PA's by their 2B. 300 by Adam Kennedy, 238 by Aaron Miles. Both were let go in the offseason. Why? They stink!! Aaron Miles stinks..he has always stunk...he will continue to stink! He is waaaay overpaid as a backup infielder. Any season he gets more than 200 PA's is a waste. Get my point yet? Your belief that he is some reliable, useful player is laughable. He doesn't walk, has no speed, and has no power. If he isn't hitting .300, he isn't helping you at the plate. He has done that exactly once in his career. As for a backup role, you could find any scrappy, gritty useless sack of baseballs to fill that role as well as he does, except for his amazing 2008 season of slightly less sucking. Getting about 400 PA's a year of sucking makes no sense. That's my whole point. Aaron Fucking Miles for $2.25 mil or so this season and next. Great?

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

That's why I linked you the BP page with Miles' stats, because you can see that he was a little better than the 'average' guy you would call up from AAA, except in 2008 when he was well above that. Used correctly he can have some value. Not $2.25 million worth of value. If he made a DeRosa like ability shift, then $2.25 million would become a bargain, just like DeRosa's contract did. It hasn't happened yet, and there's reason to believe it never will, but he's played really well since he came back from his injury, essentially flashing the skill set - line drive hitting, good defensive middle infielder - that we signed him for. I sure as hell wished he was batting instead of Theriot Friday when the winning run was at third. Keep in mind he replaced Cedeno on the roster.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Great. So they replaced the unbelievably bad with merely bad...Miles is more reliable with the glove than Cedeno...but hey, who isn't? Of course, Miles career numbers of .284/.324/.359 outshine Cedeno's Wheeeeeeeee! DeRosa, if you'll notice, was even more of a part time player than Miles. It took him a rebuilt swing in Texas to break out his second season there. He showed more power and patience. Aaron Miles "breakout" season he hit 4 HR, and hit a career high .317, but still showed that he will not walk or K much. Commence golf clap everyone. You'd rather have the guy hitting .200/.240/.252 at the plate than the starting shortstop? A guy with 4 RBI in 115 at bats, and who drove in 30-35 RBI's each of the last 3 seasons? Oh..and Theriot is on pace to have a career high in HR and RBI? Miles sucks. He is overpaid, and unless he matches his career year every season now, he is barely adequate as a backup.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I sure as hell wished he was batting instead of Theriot Friday when the winning run was at third. Really? Why?

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

I couldn't figure that one out, either. Miles is 3-17 since coming off the DL. He's 3-26 with RISP on the season. Yeah, just who you want up in that situation.

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In reply to by Tito

How many K's has he had in those 17 at bats? Theriot swung at an unhittable pitch to finish turning a walk into a strikeout.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

For someone who claims to be as smart as you do, and claims to understand statistics, this is just baffling. You really want to point to the ONE at-bat and say that Miles should have been up there over Theriot?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Okay... since you want to play stupid games, here you go: zero And you really want to use 17 at-bats as indicative of anything?

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

I was using the fact that he's been spraying line drives all over the field since returning from the DL as indicative that he was more likely to do what was required than Theriot who has struck out 8 times over the same period. *edit: Yes, 17 at bats can be indicative of something.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Sure... except for the fact that streaks (both good and bad) are not indicative of future success, even when just wanting to predict success of the next at-bat.

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

Where'd you get that little bit of bullshit from? When one guy is missing the ball when he swings, and the other guy isn't that's not a streak, that's indicative of someone who is struggling and someone who is not.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I believe it was in The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. He found that no matter the streak, it had no predictive ability in future at-bats.

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

Do you believe he adjusted for HR rates and K rates when doing that study? I believe he did. Just out of curiosity, did you ever play baseball? When you hear a batter say he's in a groove, do you always think 'Well, it's just BABIP luck?' Do you think that Soriano is the exact same hitter right now that he was in September of '07?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Do you believe he adjusted for HR rates and K rates when doing that study? I believe he did. I don't recall... but I don't believe that he adjusted for K and HR rates within a streak. In other words, his argument was that even if it a guy has struck out 10 times in a row, it is not predictive of the 11th at-bat. Just out of curiosity, did you ever play baseball? Yes... When you hear a batter say he's in a groove, do you always think 'Well, it's just BABIP luck?' No, hot streaks exist. I never denied that. Do you think that Soriano is the exact same hitter right now that he was in September of '07? No. But here is the thing. Just because hot streaks exist doesn't mean that the will continue. And just because slumps exist, doesn't mean that they will continue. If Pujols is 0 for his last 20 with 10 K's, and Aaron Miles is 10 for his last 20 with zero K's, I still want Pujols at the plate. Because Pujols' past performance is much more indicative of future success than his last 20 at-bats. I think it is funny when you completely ignore the stats when they don't fit your argument,

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

Sorry, but if you can't see that Theriot has been struggling, you haven't been reading the box scores or watching any games. Players struggle. When you're coming off a season where you K'd 10% of the time and now you're striking out 25% of the time for a week, it's not bad luck, it means you don't know what you're doing at the plate. And the proof was that he struck out, again. I think it's funny when you try to hide behind some statistics even when they don't prove your point. Last year Miles struck out in 9.8% of his at bats (less than Theriot). This year he's stuck out in 13.9% of his at bats (Less than Theriot), and he was injured for the majority of those at bats. For their career (tug your left ear, see if you can spot the trend), Miles has struck out less than Theriot. How many plate appearances are required for Miles to be a better contact hitter than Theriot, 10000? Dude, you're a joke.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

but if you can't see that Theriot has been struggling, you haven't been reading the box scores or watching any games. Please point out where I said that Theriot has not been struggling. When you're coming off a season where you K'd 10% of the time and now you're striking out 25% of the time for a week, it's not bad luck, it means you don't know what you're doing at the plate. I agree. I have not denied this at all. Nor have I attributed it to luck. At all. Not sure why you feel the need to create straw man arguments, though I guess that they are much easier to shoot down. Last year Miles struck out in 9.8% of his at bats (less than Theriot). Sure... but Miles struck out in 9.1% of his plate appearances, which would be more than Theriot's 8.8%. In case you can't figure it out, that means that Miles was more likely to strike out. This year he's stuck out in 13.9% of his at bats (Less than Theriot), and he was injured for the majority of those at bats. Again... plate appearances would be more relevant. Miles - 13% of his plate appearances have been k's. Theriot - 15% - we are talking a very small difference there (6 k's). Miles has also had the advantage of almost always getting the switch-hitting advantage. For their career (tug your left ear, see if you can spot the trend), Miles has struck out less than Theriot. Again... plate appearances. Miles - 9.5%. Theriot - 9.9%. A very small difference. And again, Miles has often had the switch-hitting advantage. So when we combine the very small difference in K's, and factor in the fact that Theriot is simply a better hitter, then yea, I am more confident with Theriot at the plate than Miles. I still say that Theriot is the better hitter, and regardless of recent struggles, I still say that his past performances are much more indicative of his success in the next at-bat than his last week of at-bats. Simple question for you - if Pujols had gone 0 for his last 20 with 10 k's, and Miles had gone 3 for his last 17 with 0 k's, who would you want at the plate? Dude, you're a joke. And you are as classy as ever. And clueless enough to think that the only thing that matters in that situation was a minuscule difference in K rates.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

BTW I love your use of the words internalize, irrefutable, petulant. Word of the day TP?

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

I love that they have stats like WARP3 to show us that Aaron Miles is somehow a useful ballplayer. All of these years I have watched baseball, and I would have been sure that he sucks of Neifi-esque proportions. Thank you stat guy!!!!

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In reply to by The Real Neal

The thing is, fine, he had a WARP3 of 3.3 last year. That's great. But you already noted his lucky season and the Pujols effect. So what should Hendry have expected from him this year? If Miles was 3 wins above replacement level each season, then I would agree that he would be a good investment for a back-up 2B to Fontenot. And I would agree that he would be an ok player. But here is Miles WARP3 by season: 2004 - (.4) 2005 - (-.3) 2006 - (.3) 2007 - (.8) 2008 - (3.3) I think it was silly to give this player a 2-year deal for that much money, when it is very likely based on his track record that you could easily replace him with a replacement level player.

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

You should be using WARP1. What were Mark DeRosa's WARP1 scores before coming to the Cubs? Let me look them up for you: 2004 -1.1 2005 0.5 2006 3.8 (Obviously a career year) 2007 4.3 OK, this was the career year 2008 5.4 ... uh, maybe there is a reason to have major league scouts.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Well put TRN. DeRosa was lucky to spend time in Texas with Rudy Jaramillo as his hitting coach. I seem to remember reading about how they rebuilt his swing...or timing mechanism..or something...

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

Oh, another stupid thing you said here: "If Miles was 3 wins above replacement level each season, then I would agree that he would be a good investment for a back-up 2B to Fontenot." If he was 3 wins above replacement level each season, he's not going to be a backup, he's going to have a starting gig somewhere, and probably be making more than $2.5 per year.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I like how he is too lazy to follow the link. Here is a thought, just type in the two players Warp3 scores or whatever here!!! It shouldn't be to hard since you clearly took the trouble to go to both players pages and look them up and then took the time to paste in the link to one of them...

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

You could have done that instead of typing out this bit of childishness, couldn't you have? Oh yeah... the hypocrite thing. Is 'Master Hypocrite' handle already taken by someone on the TCR board? You could easily switch over to it, I am sure no one would have trouble identifying you.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I already did post Miles WARP3, in fact for his entire career - jackass. See comment 56. You on the other hand failed to post the actual facts you are talking about in comments 42, 46, 50, 54, 55, and now 57. You stay classy...

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

You didn't post Johnson's WARP scores, though. It's almost like I wanted him to clink on the website and look around at it, rather than just posting numbers. I've done that countless times, but unless people understand what WARP means - which is going to take some effort on their part, what's the point?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I think most people understand what WARP means, but don't use it as the end all be all of deciding factors of a players worth.

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In reply to by mannytrillo

The thing about WARP is that it's objective. The thing about 105% of the people who visit this board is that they're unable to maintain much objectivity when it comes to player evaluation. They see one error and decide that a player isn't good at a position etc. It's also readily available. There are some other player summation scores (Win Shares being the most prevalent) but I understand WARP and it doesn't base itself on 1/2 = 1 like Win Shares does. If someone would correct Win Shares it would probably be a better stat that WARP.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

warp is objective? i guess, kinda....especially for a stat that keeps changing every other year to "make better" what's "better". people applying it to MLB projections from the minors make my head spin, though...along with other weird uses.

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In reply to by crunch

Well, for instance WARP takes into account how many outs Soriano makes or assists in while playing outfield, whereas Steve Stone, for instance, gets all worked up about the hopping and the balls that go over his head that he doesn't catch and deduces that he can only be a DH.

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

Let me put it into Theriocism for you. Had he performed at the same level he did last year over as many PA's as Theriot had he would have been worth .9 wins more than your personal hero, essentially tying Soriano and Soto for 4th best position player on the team.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Keyword - HAD Theriot's WARP3 last year alone is greater than Miles entire career total.

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In reply to by WISCGRAD

Only if you count his horrid start to 2009. Lend Hendry your time machine and see if he signs a different backup infielder.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

And alas, The Real Neal astutely illustrates the problem with stats: They tell you what a player has done in the past, not what he will do in the future. Sure you can try to find trends or whatever, but in real life these guys are subject to slumps, declining careers, the pressures of moving to new venues. Real life is messy, not like a columnar sheet of numbers and decimal points.

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In reply to by Ryno

While I'm criticizing Aaron Miles today..I sure like how he scrapped that ball off his body on a line drive...

I know the whole "what happens in Parachat stays in Parachat" rule, but I can't help but break that just once. I owe Chad an apology for being so douchy to him today. It was totally uncalled for. Sorry, bro.

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In reply to by Mister Whipple

I'm sad I missed it. I know the things Whipple says that he isn't sorry about. I can't imagine... :-p

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In reply to by Ryno

There's a difference between being goofy or even pushing the envelope and being intentionally antagonistic. I'm man enough to admit that I was being uncool and apologize for it. The content itself was much more benign than any cancer jokes.

Congrats to Phil Jackson! One for the other thumb. AMAZING!! Jackson now has 10 rings and us Cubs fans are hoping for just one World Championship in our lifetime.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

Not sure what's more amazing, the 10 titles or the fact that this is the first one he's won without having the most talented team.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

The Lakers did have the most talented team this year, Boston's starting five when healthy is better but the Celtics have no bench. That's why the last 2 years they have been forced to go dumpster diving for washed up players like Marbury, Miki Moore and PJ Brown. Granted he did not have 2 out of the top 10 players in the association this time around but he did have the best team on paper in 2009.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

Well, if we're talking injury free, then I'd take the Rockets (and the Rockets likely would have also taken the Lakers), but I think that both of the Eastern Conference finals participants have more talent than the Lakers. I guess it depends on how you rank the players though. Guys like Lamar Odom are very talented, but that doesn't really seem to translate on the court.

will we ever see ryan freel with cubs again? if we do i hope it is not at blancos expense.

[ ]

In reply to by rokfish

According to Lou's pregame presser before the game yesterday, he should be going to Iowa to play in a few games this week. My guess he would be he and Fox will be called up after the Atlanta game next Monday and Waddell and most likely Ascanio will be sent back. With the DH for 6 games, Lou can extend the SP as far they can go on a given night so we can play with a short pen in terms of numbers (even if the guys sent down are rarely used anyway)next week.

Bruce Levine's blog entry on the G Perry/Von Joshua move... the title of his post is the punch line for a standup comedy bit I've heard where the army guy is sent to the imfirmary because his CO says he looks bad (but the soldier says he feels good)...until the nurse in the infirmary looks up his diagnosis in a medical textbook. Looks bad, feels good The Cubs firing Gerald Perry isn't the solution; who they replaced him with is http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4257893&name=levine

Couldn't help but notice how dutch "Von Joshua" sounds. After this year's WBC I think the Cubs could use some more dutchiness.

When Perry was asked to leave in Oakland, weren't there stories of clashes between him and a coach or player? Possibly physical? Just asking, it seems to ring a bell for some reason. What are the chances Hendry just wanted to put Joshua in Perry's place? The fact that Lou seemed to be taking a more hands on approach to helping hitters out as mentioned in the article has to indicate there's a story behind this. And Lou has been hands on since pretty early in the season, I believe.

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In reply to by OakLawnGuy

Lou was taking a hands-on approach with Paul O'Niell 16 years ago, it's nothing new. When you've got a manager who considers himself a pretty good hitter in his days, odds are that he's going to work with some of the guys or at least look for things to spot. Baker, Baylor, Trammel all have done this, it's nothing new.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

True, and Lou could be the best hitting coach the Cubs have. There's the idea that several guys came out raving about Joshua in the press that got me wondering about all this too. Then again, it was mostly guys he coached in the system the last 3 years or so.

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In reply to by OakLawnGuy

Well I like the O'Niell example, because when he got away from Lou he became a pretty good hitter. The guys who came up from AAA haven't been all of the problem. There's Fukudome recently, Bradley, Miles and Soriano as well. Here's hoping it works, though.

The newly minted stats like those mentioned above are fantastic measurements, and have revolutionized the way baseball people think about baseball. But you can't eliminate good ol scouting and the human factor from the equation, even if Christina Kahrl claims "we won". http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=300757&src=152

Did you also want Miles up on Sunday when Theriot drove home the winning run?

Recent comments

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  • crunch (view)

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  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

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  • 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.

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