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

Pujols and the Cubs

Too Soon?

Comments

Uhh. You should at least use a more current photo showing the bloated, puffy, HGH-using Pujols

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

or the 18/19 year old lazy as hell, fat, fined every-other-week in the minors for being fat and lazy as hell pujols. he's come a long way from the guy with 100 warning signs that led him to being such a late round pick...amongst other personality warning signs. tom lawless made pujols as much of a player as pujols, himself, did.

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In reply to by Old and Blue

he shaped up pretty fast in A ball once the fines for dogging it came rolling in. luckily for him and the cards he started to take his profession and weight seriously pretty quickly in a matter of months, not years. he always performed, but he didn't find his wits for self discipline until lawless go ahold of him.

I say go ahead, sign him for 10 years. Wait... the current year isn't 2005? And also, if he's a Cub, can I still say 'I knew it all along' when we find out he's juice out of his mind on HGH? In all seriousness, this guy is going to get to choose where he wants to play... it's all in his court... the city, the money... And if it were me, the decision would be easy, because I like Chicago and the Cubs, but for someone who isn't necessarily a Cub's fan, the Chicago Cubs is not a desirable choice. Pujols will not be a Cub. You heard it here first.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Bautista's 2010 batting average was .260, his babip was .233. (career babip .270) Matthews Jr.'s 2006 batting average was .313, his babip was .343. (career babip .299) Brady Anderson's 1996 50 hr season batting average was .297, his babip was .286. (career babip .282) Interesting. Let's look at Sammy and McGwire's big hr season: Sosa 1998: .308, babip .321 (career babip .301) McGwire 1998: .299, babip .285 (career babip .255)

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In reply to by Paul Noce

One way to improve your BABIP is to spray the ball around more so that the defense cannot bunch up against you - Buatista became a dead pull hitter last year with his HR binge. There some talk that he's going to adjust to a less pull-conscience approach this year, which will probably cause the BABIP to go up, and HR's to go down. The overall point is that Matthews had his career season via BABIP luck, which is different from how Bautista did it, by hitting balls where fielders couldn't reach them. No one thinks he's not going to regress, but if he's a 35 HR hitter - that's still a nice contract for Toronto.

It is a pretty poorly kept secret by baseball insiders that Pujols is a juicer, right? Also, if he wouldn't accept 7/$200M or 10/$240 or whatever from the Cardinals.....what other team has the need and finances to pay him even 8/$240 let alone more than that or guarantee him 10 years. Would I like Pujols on the Cubs at 1B despite the HGH rumors.....yes. Would I like him on the payroll at age 38 to 41.....no.

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In reply to by George Altman

.what other team has the need and finances to pay him even 8/$240 let alone more than that or guarantee him 10 years. The Cubs, of course, in both cases. Would I like Pujols on the Cubs at 1B despite the HGH rumors.....yes. Would I like him on the payroll at age 38 to 41.....no. I agree, but if you want mid-career Pujols, the cost is late-career Pujols.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

No, not really. The difference is that Pujols signed his previous extension. There are plenty of guys that hit free agency around 27 and produce for the life of their contracts, Bonds and Maddux are two examples of guys that hit FA and produced at top of the game levels for 10 years.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

You're not getting it. In baseball you're eligible to be a free agent after 6 years. If you sign a five year extension, then you have to play five more years before you're a free agent. But guess, what? You're five years older. Bonds had 82.9 in WAR after 11 years. Dave Cameron's WAR FA valuation doesn't really make an effort to match contract dollars by the way. It's a relatively arbitrary number that has no real life application. It's a much better idea to give a 10 year contract to a 27 or a 28 year old, based on what they did the previous three season, than a 31 year old based on what he did 7, 8 and 9 seasons ago.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

You're not getting it. In baseball you're eligible to be a free agent after 6 years. If you sign a five year extension, then you have to play five more years before you're a free agent. But guess, what? You're five years older. Bonds had 82.9 in WAR after 11 years. I think I get it fine, thanks. Bonds is interesting. Bonds hit the open market in baseball one meaningful time, when he signed w/ San Fran & left Pitt. He had nearly 50 WAR then, which is a heck of a track record. If we knew about WAR & projections back then, someone may have been able to project his amazing career, and he probably would have been worth whatever he could get from San Fran. Dave Cameron's WAR FA valuation doesn't really make an effort to match contract dollars by the way. So he's what, joking, when he types this for WSJOnline? "Mr. Pujols is expected to produce about 48 WAR over the next 10 years, and estimating future salary inflation at 5% a year, those wins would be worth $286 million." It's a much better idea to give a 10 year contract to a 27 or a 28 year old, based on what they did the previous three season, than a 31 year old based on what he did 7, 8 and 9 seasons ago. Well, of course it is, but it's a much better idea to give gobs of money to Albert Pujols when he's been consistently amazing and projects to be amazing than it is to give any money to anyone else.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

"Mr. Pujols is expected to produce about 48 WAR over the next 10 years, and estimating future salary inflation at 5% a year, those wins would be worth $286 million." First of all, he wrote it for Fangraphs, and it was picked up by WSJ Online. Secondly, the way that he calculates value is... well let me explain it. He takes what free agent players made last year, and adds it all up. Then he takes how much WAR those players earned this year, and divides the dollars by the WAR. The conclusion is "It took this much dollars in free agency to get this much WAR", but it's a worthless value. There's no GM, agent or player in baseball that works with that value. It doesn't represent any real life contract or real life payrolls. FA contracts are awarded on expected value - you can't divide an expected value by a "real value" and come up with a meaningful number. But the point about the six year versus 11 years is it's just arbitrary. He's a very good player who is very old to hit FA for the first time - he's not a better FA than Arod, Maddux or Bonds were when they first hit free agency. He doesn't project to be amazing - he projects to good a 4.8 WARP per year for the length of the deal. Would you pay Daric Barton $30 million a year? Angel Pagan is a $25 million player now?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

There's no GM, agent or player in baseball that works with that value. Sure there are. Boras and other bright bulbs have been using value approximation tools for years. So have bright GMs. Now they all have WAR as another tool in their arsenal to make their case in negotiations. He doesn't project to be amazing - he projects to good a 4.8 WARP per year for the length of the deal. Would you pay Daric Barton $30 million a year? Angel Pagan is a $25 million player now? Right. Pujols = Pagan. And because a player averages 4.8 WAR/yr over 10 yrs, that means that's exactly what he'll put up each year.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

Sure there are. Boras and other bright bulbs have been using value approximation tools for years. Boras probably talks more about soft value than hard value. My statement, regardless is 100% correct. Right. Pujols = Pagan. And because a player averages 4.8 WAR/yr over 10 yrs, that means that's exactly what he'll put up each year. You're the one getting excited over paying a guy $30 million a year for 5 WARP in production. I am just illustrating to you how much that production is. If you're paying Pujols $30 million dollars a year, you're looking for an 8 WAR player, not a 5 one, which is why Cameron's valuation model is ridiculous. The teams that project the players most optimistically are the ones who sign them to the contracts.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

You're the one getting excited over paying a guy $30 million a year for 5 WARP in production You are not this foolish. Those 10 years, in terms of WAR are not going to start at 4.5 or even 5. They're going to start at 8 and run that way for a few years go down to 6 and go down to 4 at the end. Those early years you'll be paying $30 mil and getting $40 mil in value. At the end of the deal, you'll be paying $30 mil and getting $20 mil in value. The last part hurts some, but again, that's the price you pay for a player of Pujols caliber. I'm done with this conversation now. Last word is yours.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

8 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 = 52, not 48. Pick four of those years, and take off a win to get to 48. Do you think it's a good idea to pay $30 million a year for 8 WARP, followed by 7, 6, 6, 5, 4,4, 3 and 3, 2 WAR player? That's what Cameron is saying. Of course, that's my point on the stupidity of Cameron's valuation model. The team that signs Pujols is going to be expecting probably 60 WAR for 10 years, not 48.

The funny thing about when the Cubs sign Pujols is that Cubs fans will be really smug for two or three years, and then Cardinals fans will get to be really smug for the next fifty.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

If (a big if, I know) the Cubs won the world series those two seasons I'd be okay with an albatross contract. That was the gamble with Soriano that Hendry clearly lost -- that he would help bring a series to the north side and the price would be quite a bit of badness at the end. I don't think Hendry expected this much badness, this soon, but whatever. Anyway, doesn't Pujols have a back that bothered him the last couple years? That's scary stuff when you're feeding $200+ million dollar contracts to guys.

Haters. The only HGH/juicing rumors about Pujols are the ones invented by jealous fans.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

do you know of anything resembling a news source that has reported any link of Pujols to roids or HGH? if we were to believe that he is indeed a juicer, then we have to believe that he started taking something right after getting drafted, it immediately made him awesome, he was smart enough to either start right away with just HGH or started on 'roids and switched to HGH and made sure to cover it all up for 11 years now without any trail whatsoever, despite everyone not associated with the Cardinals hoping to find something.

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In reply to by Rob G.

if only MLB cleared this up when it was an issue...in the late 70s. when things exploded in the mid-80s and then they dragged their feet for another 15+ years while concentrating on cocaine no one did anything. it took records being broken after people ignoring it forever... ...and MLB still doesn't give a shit and hands out forgiveness like handshakes. all this andy pettite talk i keep hearing about him and the HOF and barely a mention (if at all...and not at all on MLB Network) about -admitted- PED use. mark mcgwire has a job...people line up to hand PED users still in the game contracts...petitte would probably be playing this season if he didn't have a trial looming mid-season, imo. wonder if reggie jackson roided? -laugh- ben oglivie -laugh- sigh...i got about 100 more...

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In reply to by Rob G.

That's a false dichotomy. Anyways, I'm not going to get into it, mainly because everyone is going to believe what they believe and we'll have to either find out some day or not ever find out anything. Still, funny to me I thought your comment was sarcasm when it wasn't.

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In reply to by big_lowitzki

The false dichotomy is saying that you either believe he's 100% clean or
we have to believe that he started taking something right after getting drafted, it immediately made him awesome...
But, I don't really want to start shit about this... because I don't really care. I'm just trying to find my place between 'innocent until proven guilty' and naivete. And I choose to believe he's juiced. Do I have evidence? Nope. To borrow the story of Fat Tony from Nassim Taleb:
Assume a coin is fair, I flip it 99 times and it comes up heads each time. What are the odds of my getting a tails on my next flip? Dr. John: Trivial question. One half, course... Fat Tony: I'd say no more than 1 percent. Why so? Fat Tony: The coin has got to be loaded.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

By your logic, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams were juicers as well. You do have evidence, but the evidence is circumstantial. He's really good, and other players who were really good used steriods, therefore Pujols uses steriods. Hell, I'd sort of like to believe it as well, I believe it about Bagwell, for instance, but there doesn't seem to be any smoking gun here.

I'll believe the Cubs are interested in Pujols when the Cubs brass starts leaking stories about how they're not interested. Anyone remember this story,
Cubs | Soriano likely not in team's plans Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:10:58 -0800 The Chicago Tribune's Dave Van Dyck reports the Chicago Cubs are likely not interested in Washington Nationals 2B Alfonso Soriano if he is traded by the club, due to his $10 million salary and what it would do to the team's payroll.
Not to mention what it would do to the Cubs outfield. But then one day in July, the Nationals played the Cubs and Soriano had four extra base hits right in front of Lou himself which changed everything. So that fall we had this story
Cubs | Piniella pursuing four free agents while conceding one may exit Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:07:32 -0800 The Chicago Tribune reports Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella is targeting free-agent OF Alfonso Soriano (Nationals), OF Gary Matthews Jr. (Rangers), SP Barry Zito (Athletics) and SP Jason Schmidt (Giants) on his top four list of free agents. Piniella also conceded OF Juan Pierre may not be in the team's plans and may be already gone to another team once the free-agent signing period commences.
From this episode I learned three things. (1) All those stories we're reading about Hendry being constrained by a tight budget, are probably planted by Hendry. We've seen it before. They're a cry for help. (2) It wasn't all Hendry and the Cubs Lamebraintrust. Lou gets a major chunk of the blame for wanting Soriano in the first place (3) The Cubs are truly lucky Piniella didn't get the other three on his list. Dodged a bullet there.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Something fishy about this story. While it's possible Piniella was at RFK when Soriano collected those extra-base hits, Dusty Baker was in the dugout for the Cubs. Piniella may have put in a good word for Soriano before the Cubs went after him, but I'm not going to blame him for the other guys mentioned here, since the Cubs didn't pursue them. Piniella had nothing to do with Fukudome, for sure, and probably little to do with Bradley. The common thread here might be Gary Hughes (in addition to Hendry).

in a world where carl crawford gets one of the worst contracts handed out in baseball, pujols is gonna want a lot more loot than what STL offered. his starting price is probably 25m...whether someone is talking 8 years or 10 years.

The book came out Tuesday, and if you're in to prospects, probably the best single source going - too expensive though. Talent Ranking - pre Archer and Gorz trades: 8th. "One pro scout opined that the Cubs had more future big leaguers than any other organization." 1. Chris Archer "If Archer continues to progress the way he has last year, he'll arrive in Wrigley Field around midseason (as a Ray). 2. Brett Jackson "He's not a true five-tool player or a pure center fielder, but Jackson does a reasonable impression of both." 3. Trey McNutt "He can neutralize lefhanders by pitching to their back foot with his power breaking ball, which is more of a curveball than a slider." 4. Hak-Ju Lee "He has the bat speed and strength in his hands to hit for some power once his upper body develops..." 5. Josh Vitters "The Cubs noted a greater sence os urgency in Vitters this offseason and think he's poised to break out in Tennessee in 2011." 6. Chris Carpenter "His low 80's breaking ball is a solid slider with bite at times and more slurvy at others." 7. Matt Sczur "He has more upside than any position player in the system..." 8. Hayden Simpson "The Cubs project him as a No 2 or 3 starter with four average or better pitches including a knee buckling curveball..." 9. Rafael Dolis "Dolis's stuff kicked up a notch when current big league pitching Coach Mark Riggins had him go to a full windup in the fall of 2009." 10. Brandon Guyer "Scouts see Guyer as a lesser version of Brett Jackson or a stronger version of Reed Johnson." 11. Alberto Cabrera "He has one of the best fasballs in the system, maintaining a 92-97 mph fastball as a starting pitcher." 12. Darwin Barney "He lead PCL shorstops with a .970 fielding percentage in 2010." 13. D.J. LeMahieu "LeMahieu has size and strength and the Cubs believe he can hit 15 homers a seaons once he learns to recognize pitches he can drive." 14. Scott Maine "Maine projected as a potential sandwhich pick in the 2003 draft but went unselected because he was strongly committed to Miami." 15. Jay Jackson "The Cubs moved him to the bullpen in May to prepare for a possible callup, but when he pitched well and didn't get promoted he went into a funk." 16. Robinson Chirinos "He projects as a possible .275 hitter with 15 homers a year." 17. Wellington Castillo "It's easier to project Castillo developing into a regular than it is with Chirinos." 18. Marcus Mateo "While Chicago has helped him calm down his delivery to some degree, Mateo still throws with a lot of effort at the expesne of his command." 19. Robinson Lopez "Lopez has an advanced change-up for his age, throwing it with sink and deception." 20. Kyle Smit "Tall and wiry, he resembles a young Ryan Madson." 21. Logan Watkins "Chicago had resolved to get him time at shorstop and center field, and when that finally happened in 2010, he looked like a natural at both positions." 22. Ryan Flaherty "Flaherty will try to solve AA pitching in 2011, when he and LeMahieu will shuttle around Tennessee's infield." 23. Reggie Golden "Multiple scouts have compared Golden to a Young Kevin Mitchell for his stocky build and well above-average raw power." 24. Ben Wells "He's athletic and repeats his delivery well,though he's going to hav eto work to make sure his 6'3" 230-pound body doesn't go soft on him. 25. Aaron Kurcz "Kurcz could be the first member of the 2010 draft class to reach Wrigley Field." 26. Brooks Raley "He loves to compete and challenges hitters on the inside corner almost to a fault." 27. Junior Lake "If he doesn't make progress in 2011 it will be tempting to think of his arm on the mound." 28. Jae-Hoon Ha "He caught fire in the final month, when he hit .364/.370/.537, and one club official credited him with having the most competitive at-bats of any Chicago farm hand.: 29. Esmailin Caridad "He relies mainly on his fastball and his command, because his slurvy breaking ball is avrage at best and his changeup is fringy." 30. Dae-Eun Rhee "His formerly plus changeup is just an average pitch at the moment, but his curveball showed improvement late in the season." No mention of the kid from Boston, but two guys from Washington: 18. A.J. Morris "Morris's fastball has explosive, heavy sink and bore, helping him post a 2.16 groundout/airout ratio as a pro." 19. Michael Burgess "His power and arm give him a chance to be an every day right fielder if he can imporve his feel for hitting."

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

You're welcome. My understanding is that they've got a few guys, namely Jim Callis, Will Lingo and John Manuel who do a little of their own scouting, but primarily have access to scouts and other system types to get their info. I assume that they don't pay for anything, but work sort of a neutral exchange market where a scout can give a bit of info on one kid, maybe from their organization, and in trade get something back. Two of the three ranked Harper as the #1 prospect, the other had Mike Trout, with Harper as 2nd. Jackson ranks #37,#41 and #41 on their top 50 lists. McNutt is #45 on Callis's.

Okay, so the only two players that have not yet made an appearance at Spring Training are Castro, who played winter ball, and also had a two-week off-season fielding session, and A-Ram, who, as far as I can tell, did JACK SQUAT! GREAT START, DILLHOLE!

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In reply to by Jace

His agent should be punching him in back of the head or maybe plans on not getting any new paper after this season.

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In reply to by Jace

only thing i gleen from it is that aram doesn't like golf. =p it's the time of year for those that report early to get mysterious 1-day back soreness. soriano's technically checked in to mesa, but it seems that was for hellos and high-5s. it'd be nice to get a report on if aram is in shape or not, though. speaking of...wonder where silva's weight is currently.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

That's enough to convince me. Sign him up. No matter how badly he drops off he couldn't be more of a disappointment than Soriano has been and will be. The Rickett's "signature signing" angle does make a bit of sense, Hendry can overpay with the best of the GM's (NTC for sure), and it would fill a gaping need of a legitimate offensive threat, a strong defensive first baseman, and an unquestioned team leader who would be a good influence on his younger teammates.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

Several years ago, many posters were saying that we should sign Soriano to whatever it takes. The same posters are now saying that We should never have signed Soriano. Now, many posters are saying that we should sign Pujols for whatever it takes. The same posters will be the first to complain about his performance and his money. One problem with the Cubs is the same problem with many cub fans. They do not learn from the mistakes of the past.

[ ]

In reply to by DavidP

Too quote one of my favorite Dana Carvey bits, as George Bush Senior on the eve of the First Iraq War: "Iraq will not be another Vietnam, because we have learned the valuable lesson from Vietnam--don't get into a war in Vietnam."

[ ]

In reply to by DavidP

I don't remember that so much. I remember most people being happy that they had signed him, but everyone knew that the contract was going to end up bad. There were two schools of thought, it would be good in the short term and bad in the long term, or that it was just bad.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I remember thinking they wouldn't sign him because the Cubs don't spend that kind of money nor sign the biggest fa which Sori was at the time. ---- Same thing here. And I was happy they signed him while knowing the contract would be an albatross by the end of it. That's the same way Pujols' next contract will be for whomever signs him.

[ ]

In reply to by DavidP

Of course, Soriano and Pujols are the same type of player. Uh....not. Soriano: .277/.326/.509 Pujols: .331/.426/.624 Pujols doesn't depend on his speed to be part of his worth, and doesn't play the outfield. He is the best player of this generation, period. That said....10 years? Yikes.......Again I say how about 6/$180 million?

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

He's just not worth a ten year contract, nor is any 30+ free agent. It's an enormous gamble that is almost sure not to pay off in its second half. The Cardinals are incredibly fortunate to have developed him and kept him on the team this long--they are the winners in the history of Albert Pujols. The next team will be overspending on him for 10 years in order to get the first 3-5 years of him. But in a world where Ryan Howard gets $25 million, Pujols is absolutely "worth" $30 million a year. [Edit: By which I mean that signing Pujols to a 10 year, $275 million contract is not nearly as stupid a decision as the contracts given out Gary Matthews Jr., Carlos Silva, Milton Bradley, Chone Figgins, etc.]

Bruce Miles likee Trey McNutt...
the one eye-opener today was Trey McNutt, who features a hard breaking ball. Scouts say he has three plus pitches he can throw for strikes. There’s the fastball and change. Nobody’s quite sure how to characterize the breaking pitch, curve or slider, only to say it’s hard and breaks late. It was fun standing behind the fence and watching him. McNutt could be here sooner rather than later.
http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/5209

Casket managment in the DR... Muskat article about Soriano and his mom's recent passing:
All of Quisqueya attended the funeral. By coincidence, the Cubs had a front-office contingent in the Dominican Republic, including chairman Tom Ricketts, his brothers Pete and Todd and player personnel director Oneri Fleita. They were trying to finalize details for a new baseball academy in the Dominican. They attended the funeral and watched, somewhat horrified, as the casket was beaten up and damaged following the ceremony. "If you don't break it, somebody will come in at night and steal it," Soriano said. Isn't that hard to watch? "That's what they do in the Dominican," Soriano said, matter-of-factly. "You have to break it down, poke some holes so people don't steal it. It's crazy."
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110219&content_id=16…

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In reply to by tbone

That is really depressing. Jesus, the poverty there is insane. I know people get buried for religious reasons but I might go with cremation if I was in the DR. ------------- or mount camera's and machine guns on posts in the cemetary.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

when 1/3rd of the able youth who actually finish school are still facing poverty, even with a job, you can probably imagine what opportunities are out there for those that don't finish school. it feeds a cycle where a lot of these dropouts leave school not because they want to party, but because they need to add income to the family. woo...poverty. it's not an island of desolation, though. there are a good number of "haves" mixed with the "have nots" along with a huge tourism industry. people see money and what it brings. there's people doing things like, for instance, burying their dead in caskets worth $2000+. stealing a casket and re-selling it for $100-$200 goes pretty far in that kind of economy.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 02/20/2011 - 10:39pm. Bruce Miles updates from crappy weather in AZ today, FPerez is switch hitting again, a KW interview, Russell getting stretched... ======================================= CUBSTER: When I wrote that Fernando Perez was back to switch-hitting last week, I neglected to mention that while he is driving the ball right-handed, his lefty swings are weak. He just isn't swinging with much authority left-handed (so far anyway).

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    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.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.