That Matt Holliday is sure some kind of gamer!

 

You were wondering too.
"What's the matter with Napoli?" 
He's rolling around on the ground for no reason whatso...
Then they showed the replay.
DID YOU SEE HOW FAR HIS ANKLE BENT?
Oh my GOD!
I fell off the couch making dog noises.
Just get a freaking stretcher and have a surgeon re-attach his foot.

But then he... stood back up.
Mike Napoli is made of stuff I have no experience with whatsoever.

Conversely, there's St. Louis' future Alfonso Soriano, Matt Holliday.
Here's what it says at St. Louis SB Nation:  
"The St. Louis Cardinals will be without Matt Holliday for the rest of Game 6 of the World Series, after their star outfielder injured his little finger in the course of getting picked off at third base in a crucial bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning. The Cardinals outfielder has had an incredibly rough game, making a critical error that led to an early run and looking uncomfortable at the plate; his only solid play in the game was a brilliant takeout slide of Ian Kinsler that led to the Cardinals' third run."  

BWA HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Are you kidding me?
What a gamer Matt turned out to be.

But seriously, the above is a buncha nothin', because this was just one of those games that make you love the game of baseball, even if you hate the Cardinals.
You experienced every single emotion you can have even if you're not emotionally attached to a single person on the field. 
You saw every kind of play imaginable.
Errors and slop, brilliance and heroics, clutch hits and coming back from the dead.
And of all things, the Cardinals make it go the full seven, winning 10-9 in 11.

Didn't you think Josh Hamilton won it with his 10th inning 2-run dinger?
What a great story - guy playing with some sick injury we'll all know more about later.
But no.
Freaking Berkman ties it up in the bottom.
And this hometown kid David Freese from St. Louis - he turns out to be The Man with his walk-off homer to center in the bottom of the 11th.
Oh, and that was after he hit the game-tying triple in the bottom of the 9th on what I thought was the last strike of the season for the Cards.

Amazing game.
Amazing.

BTW - Mike Napoli went 2 for 3 with an RBI and walked 3 times. 

Submitted by CubbyBlue on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:04am

Comments

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:05am

seems to be fixing my javascript problem for the time being...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:06am

this will have to suffice until I have time to figure it out....apologies to all.

and eff the Cardinals.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:29am

I sort of like the color scheme.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:22pm

eff the Cardinals would make a good t-shirt.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:49pm

wish i could help...this is killing my eyes.

good luck with fixing your $ variable issue.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:30am

For a lot of people, rolling your ankle like that, while it hurts like hell at the time, doesn't really hurt much after a couple of minutes.

Submitted by Charlie
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:34am

I guess we'll find out today, but the real pain usually comes about 12 hours later when it swells up like one of those dinosaur capsules you put in hot water.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:17pm

I've sprained my ankle pretty bad a few times playing basketball back in the day, black and blue nastiness that I was limping for a week. But as I mentioned in the earlier thread, I could still play on it for a few hours until I went home and rested, by the next day it was a fucking mess.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:49pm

X-rays negative fwiw and Washington says he's fine and should play.

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:31am

I'm confused!!

/grabs blanket lays down in corner

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 11:27am

I thought I was on the wrong website.

--

Nice art and article, Tim. Holiday is a wuss.

Submitted by CubbyBlue
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:40pm

I always screw up dates, but I think he'll be 37 in the last year of his contract @ 15 mil in 2017.
Alfonso is what? 35? I'll be so happy when Matt gets the Fonsie treatment in St. Louis.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 3:31pm

I remember commenting when he signed that deal that the Cards were so impressed by the over priced left fielder contracts of Soriano and Lee, that they figured they should get one for themselves.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:13pm

Jerry DiPoto likely to be Angels GM, Tony LaCava likely to take over O's.

Orioles gave John Stockstill an interview late in the process.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:27pm

I'm sure there's an example of this, but has any team come back to win after blowing a clinching game that badly?

I recall World Series 2002 Game 6 and of course Cubs 2003 Game 6 and Red Sox in 2004 down 3-0.

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:42pm

1975 Reds over the Red Sox.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_World_Series

"The sixth game of the Series was a twelve-inning classic at Boston's Fenway Park. While there are many memorable moments from that game (among them Red Sox pinch hitter Bernie Carbo hitting a game-tying home run in the eighth; Reds reliever Will McEnaney pitching out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the bottom of the ninth; and Boston's Dwight Evans making a spectacular eleventh-inning catch to rob Joe Morgan of a go-ahead home run), it is remembered in Boston for the walkoff home run hit in the bottom of the twelfth by Carlton Fisk. Fisk's home run gave the Sox a 7–6 win to send the series to a deciding seventh game, which the "Big Red Machine" won to clinch the first of back-to-back World Series championships."

"Momentum? Momentum is the next day's starting pitcher." - Earl Weaver

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:44pm

thanks...recall the walk-off, forgot they were down 3 in the 8th though.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:50pm

replaced by Adron Chambers on roster, Allen Craig will start.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:24pm

No Cubs (not a surprise). David Price probably will be the one that hurts the most, assuming he's not on some long term draft deal still:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/10/price-p...

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 6:06pm

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:24pm — The Real Neal
Super 2's
No Cubs (not a surprise). David Price probably will be the one that hurts the most, assuming he's not on some long term draft deal still:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/10/price-p...

==================================

REAL NEAL: To qualify as a "Super Two" after a given season a player must be above that season's MLB Service Time cut-off (which varies from year-to-year) AND accrue at leat 86 days of MLB Service Time that season.

So Red Sox RHP Scott Atchison shouldn't be on the list, because he did not accrue at least 86 days of MLB Service Time in 2011 (he rode the Boston-Pawtucket Red Line back & forth for much of the year, and only accrued about 60 or 61 days).

BTW, although no Cubs qualify as a "Super Two" this year, there is a fairly good chance that Starlin Castro (presently at 1+150), Tyler Colvin (presently at 1+138), and/or Andrew Cashner (presently at 1+126) will qualify as a "Super Two" after next season (presuming they spend most or all of the 2012 season on the Cubs MLB 25-man roster and/or 15-day or 60-day DL).

Also, if James Russell spends no more than 19 days on optional assignment to the minors in 2012 he will automatically qualify for salary arbitration after next season because he will have 3+000 MLB Service Time through the 2012 season (players accrue a full season of MLB Service Time if they spend no more than 19 days on optional assignment to the minors in a given season), but if he spends at least 20 days on optional assignment to the minors in 2012 and does not accrue a full seaon of MLB Service Time, he still could qualify for salary arbitration post-2012 as a "Super Two" (presuming he comes in above next year's "Super Two" MLB Service Time cut-off - TBD).

Submitted by John Beasley
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 6:33pm

Seems like Starlin just got here, and now the price is going to start going up already.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:03am

Which is why a lot of us were arguing he shouldn't have been called up last year, or at least not until September.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:28pm

Little blog on a all-time lineup of guys who never made the WS. Three guesses to which team is often mentioned.

http://calltothepen.com/2011/10/21/the-top-ni...

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:02pm

2pm in STL and there's dozens of scalpers milling around outside STL's box office and entrance.

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 7:44pm

F the cards

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:45pm

Scott Miller at CBS saying that Commish Bud Selig believes the Theo compensation will wind up on his desk for him to make the final decision on Tuesday.

http://tinyurl.com/3fqfp65

Submitted by tbone
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 12:29am

Did Bud mention whether he'd climb out from under his desk to actually make a decision that might make a MLB owner mad at him?

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:01pm

Transcript of a Boston radio interview with Larry Lucchino...love that LL throws darts at the media too (more after the block quote ends).

transcript...
http://tinyurl.com/3wuk5pc
audiolink...
http://tinyurl.com/42mzdw4

Can you tell us why the compensation with the Cubs is taking so long?

I think the process has been decided upon because the parties have different views of what is significant compensation. That’s the operative standard, in our view. That was made clear in the first conversation with the principal owner of the Cubs. People have different views of what exactly that phrase means. That’s one thing.

So, it stands to reason that the commissioner’s going to jump in here?

I don’t know. I think that’s a possibility. But we now have general managers in place on each team who have some job security, some comfort going forward, and are more able to make this decision than the individuals who were participating before. I think that we now will give Theo and Ben a chance to work it out as best they can. But now there’s at least a mechanism.

The importance of making the decision to proceed even though the issue of significant compensation had not been resolved, I think was evident last week. We were able to start a new chapter. I think Ben Cherington introduced himself beautifully the other day. You see the kind of general manager who is going to be leading the baseball operations of the Red Sox going forward. And we were able to make some progress and stop dwelling on the past and playing the blame game and doing all the nonsensical things that the media was leading us into. We were able to move forward. I think bifurcating those things was a good thing.

Did he just say it was the media’s fault? I think he did. You said the media was leading you into these awful things?

Yeah, Callahan, I think for example it led you into a pathetically petulant and misleading article about John Henry.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:25am

Theo to Boston: You never should have hired me. I'm a dirt bag and can't evaluate a badly designed baseball video game, much less a real roster. Good luck getting one of our prized prospects from us now, because I'm clearly worth next to nothing.

It's just all so weird. I kinda like it.

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:10pm

Tim Wilken interview in Sun-Times, supposedly he's very happy about the new regime.

http://tinyurl.com/3qsmnl4

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:46pm

i wonder if that shirt and jacket still has the tags on it...some people never look at home in a suit.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 12:48am

Even with a step back in the system over the past year, the Cubs have put 14 players into the big leagues from their last six drafts and international signing classes — a number that ranks among the top five in baseball.

neat...let's try and name them.

Castro, Samardzija, Colvin, Carpenter, Clevenger, Barney, Campana, Cashner, Donaldson, Guyer, Russell, J. Harrison, LeMahieu,

missing one

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:26am

Erik Hamren, now with Padres.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/h...

Released by Cubs in 2009, signed with Padres in October, 2010. Made big league debut in 2011.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 12:39pm

Casey Coleman not in your list. Esmailin Caridad? Dolis pitched in one game in September. Al Alburquerque was signed by Jose Serra and began his pro career in '06, but maybe he signed in '05.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 8:43pm

Dolis signed in 2004, Caridad in 2007 though and did indeed miss Coleman

maybe they meant just with the Cubs which would exclude Harrison, Donaldson, and this Hamren fella which means still missing two.

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:11pm

The Cubs are the Red Sox to the Cardinals Yankees.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 9:46am

Still spewing bile this morning. sigh

Submitted by The Joe
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:42pm

This website makes my eyes bleed.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:11am

Are the Cubs going to hold a press conference for Jed Hoyer?

Submitted by The Joe
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 6:26am

Ok, which one of you is "PoopHolesMustGo" trolling the Cardinals page?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111...

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 12:34pm

cj wilson speaks...

"The baseball angle here is very strong," Wilson said. "We’ve proven we can win. We have guys on the team coming back. We have a lot of pieces that I think are complementary to me and vice-versa, so in that regard, that kind of speaks for itself. I like it here in that sense. They’ve treated me with a lot of respect the last two years as a starting pitcher and they’ve given me a chance to improve, given me a chance to solidify my role on the team as well as around the league as a premium starter. I feel like a lot of my success is because of the team that I’ve been playing on."

...yeah, after he threatened the club if they didn't start him they "treated him with respect"...if he wasn't in TEX more people would notice this guy's quirks. people are gonna learn this off-season, though. he's a guy who's really good at sounding/acting like a total self-centered jerk when you put a mic in front of him. he shows up ready to play and in shape, though...he gets the on-field part right.

my favorite cj quote...from 2+ seasons ago...

"It's no secret I don't think I should be limited to the set-up role. I have too many weapons," said Wilson. "Here is the reality. It is real simple. There are not very many guys that have the stuff that I do that would be willing to sign here if they were free agents. There is no experienced pitcher that has my stuff that would sign here, historically."

RESPECT, CJ...RESPECT.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 2:18pm

Dempster officially picks up his $14M option for 2012.

http://tinyurl.com/3lbxlfo

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:11pm

garza/dumpster/??/??/??

awesome.

chance of Z sticking around...i don't mind wells, myself...??/cashner/ninja...i refuse to add coleman to this list and reluctantly added ninja.

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:30pm

Garza/Dempster/Zambrano/Marshall/Wells

Cashner/Samardzija/McNutt/Jackson ready to step up if needed.

I'd rather have Cashner in the rotation, but I think that AZ Phil is right, the Cubs seem to be looking at him as a bullpen guy for 2012 at least. I also agree with AZ Phil that the Cubs ought to prepare Marshall for the rotation in 2012.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:38pm

"the Cubs seem to be looking at him as," etc.

I doubt that you're talking about Epstein and Hoyer here, because they're too new. But if you're not talking about Epstein and Hoyer, who are the Cubs?

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:39pm

marsh may never find his way to the rotation again...he's got issues going 80-100+ pitches while maintaining his stuff. it could happen, but he's not shown in the past he's capable when given a chance.

it seems like a pitcher is going to have to come from somewhere unless they want to go cashner/ninja/coleman...two pitchers if Z leaves...

i don't mind dumpster staying on another year, myself...i think he's a perfectly fine 2-3 slot pitcher...he's worth closer to 10m than 14m, but whatever...it's not a "soriano" contract difference of price vs. worth.

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 4:23pm

I'm not sure there's any substantial evidence for your 80-100 pitches theory, crunch. Marshall only had two years in which he pitched primarily out of the major league rotation, 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he only started 7 games and in 2009 only 9 games. At the point when you start shuffling a pitcher back and forth between pen and rotation, you can no longer draw many meaningful conclusions about his stamina based on the results he gets in those starts.

In 2006 he was a rookie and less than two years removed from having ruptured a tendon in his forearm twice (during the 2004 season and during the 2004 AFL). In 2007 Marshall had some sort of arm injury that I can't remember and can't track down the specifics on, but that seems to be why he ended up spending part of the season in the minors.

You may well turn out to be right, crunch. I just don't see enough available data to support your theory. And I'd be willing to gamble on it since the reward would seem to be a pretty good starting pitcher, while the risk is a poor starting pitcher (but a good relief pitcher).

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 5:07pm

there's plenty of evidence of him hitting a wall 80-100 pitches...it's why he got removed from a lot of games. some guys can't throw 100+ and keep their location/velocity.

i'm not saying it's impossible...it very well could happen because he's not a guy who's gonna walk a lot of guys and waste his arm in 4-5 innings. his career is full of pitch counts in the 80s and 90s, though. i remember him losing his stuff as the pitch counts hit 70-90...he was usually tapped out by pitch 100.

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 5:16pm

I'm more concerned about his recent tendency to pitch backwards--curveball more than fastball--but I'd be happy to see the new management give him a real shot at the rotation, especially now that our rotation so thoroughly stinks and he'd hardly be blocking anybody else with real potential (except maybe Cashner).

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 5:38pm

The problem with Marshall as a starting pitcher is that, being a Cub (plus having spent his entire major-league career until this year under a slider-oriented pitching coach), he doesn't throw a changeup. For a lefty, a changeup is nice on those occasions when you want to get a righty hitter out, since it runs away from him (or seems to). As a reliever, Marshall usually comes in to face the more left-handed area of the lineup. Name me some good lefty starters who don't rely on a changeup. Hamels, Sabathia, Cliff Lee--of course they rely on a changeup. They're not Cubs.

(Remember Rich Hill's changeup? Or Kenny Holtzman's? Neither do I. I'm skipping a few decades there, but who am I leaving out? Jamie Moyer--but maybe he learned to pitch after he left the Cubs.)

On the other hand, Marshall has three very good pitches including a mid-to-high-80s slider and a high-70s curve plus pinpoint control of everything. Righty hitters don't seem to bother him, so maybe he could do this.

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 6:05pm

I can see why you would think that if you are judging his repertoire based on the last few years, since he's moved to the bullpen. But he threw a changeup 20% of the time in 2006, 10% of the time in 2007, and even 5% of the time in 2008 (when he made only a few starts). (These numbers are all from fangraphs.) I clearly remember his changeup from his starting days, and it was a decent secondary offering. He throws his cutter a whole lot more since his move to the bullpen, which may be because it complements his improved velocity out of the pen (he occasionally touches 93 now, which probably looks like a fireball compared to his big curve). He also just throws the curveball a much larger percentage of the time now than he did before, so he's obviously going to that against both lefties and righties--and it's working. Not many people throw a lot changeups in relief appearances.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 6:50pm

Interesting about the gradual disappearance of Mashall's changeup, thanks. I never paid much attention to him before this year. He has become fun to watch.

On your point that not many people throw changeups in relief, I would mention that not many lefty relievers face a lot of righty hitters. It's not smart for a lefty reliever to throw a changeup to a lefty hitter.

Grabow's best pitch is his change, but (a) he didn't come up with the Cubs and (b) he seems to have lost the complementary pitches.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 7:33pm

Kershaw doesn't need a changeup and Wilson throws one but probably doesn't need it either.

I think Marshall would probably break his back out if the Cubs expected him to move to the rotation. Wilson's a pretty good comp there. He didn't throw one in the pen but added it when he got his shot at the rotation, to increase the effectiveness/reusability of his fastball.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 8:14pm

Sean Marshall will be a free-agent after next season, and the Cubs need to find out ASAP if he can be a starting pitcher or not. If he doesn't have the stamina or array of pitches to be an effective starter, fine. But at least give him a shot and see what happens.

If the Cubs keep Marshal in the bullpen in 2012 he will be more-likely to reject any contract offers he might get from the Cubs and test free-agency, because lefty relievers (even good ones like Marshall) don't get the kind of FA contract that a lefty SP would get.

And if Marshall becomes a FA post-2012 and makes it clear he wants to be starter, some club will give him that chance. Might as well be the Cubs in 2012, anf if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out.

With all of the Cubs auto-renewal lefty relief candidates (Russell, Gaub, Maine, and Beliveau), it would probably not be wise to give Marshall a multi-year contract to be a LHRP past 2012. But if he can prove himself as a starter next season, then that is a different matter.

And if Marshall does prove himself as a starter next season but then signs elsewhere for 2013, the Cubs would almost certainly get at least one if not two draft picks as compensation.

Submitted by Eagon
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 9:59pm

So you think he'd qualify for a Type A or B ranking?

According to http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/10/stats-u...

"Position is designated as the position at which the player appeared the most over the last two seasons."

Going by that, he'd be categorised as a RP so would be ranked by:

Total games (total relief appearances + 2 * total starts), IP (weighted slightly less than other categories), Wins + Saves, IP/H ratio, K/BB, ERA

Going by that, I think he'd be screwed over slightly

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:12pm

If that is indeed the formula, and he pitches well, he would do fine. He'd probably lead all the relievers in innings, and near the top in wins. He was 23 NL relievers clear of being type B, according to them, though his 2010 was a bit better than 2011.

Submitted by Newport
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 9:45am

They should give him a 2 or 3 year RP deal, THEN convert him back to starting.

Submitted by Tony S.
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:26pm

Az Phil (or anyone else..): How much have you watched Marshall pitch in person?

Many of you have far more experience watching/seeing/semi-scouting guys than I do (which is basically none), but I saw him start in 06 and 07 (I believe), in Houston and I think Chicago.

I don't have a pitch count, but by the third time through the lineup, he'd get a very obvious hitch in his delivery, like an extra 'push' with his back leg. Never failed, he'd start getting knocked around soon after.

He was obviously tired, and laboring. Not sure if that's something that conditioning could fix or not, but it was obvious even to an untrained eye.

Disclaimer: Marshall is one of if not my very fave player on the Cubs right now, pending Woody's return. Marshall has wanted to start from the beginning, but never really bitched about it and has done EVERYTHING they've asked of him (including a little LF, if memory serves).

That's an asset the Cubs need more of.

Submitted by navigator
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:36pm

It will be interesting to see how Epstein deals with this revolting development.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:52pm

the guy could get 10m-ish on the open market, multi-year...it's not that huge of a deal for 1 season.

will they negociate a multi-year deal to offset some 2012 money? i wouldn't be too happy about that unless the cubs could manage a 3/30-ish type deal. he is a much better pitcher than that 4.80era he put up...his arm still seems to be in good shape, too.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 3:19pm

Carrie M. writes the rare Mailbag with useful info...including a vague, yet helpful "who's doing what in the new regime" rundown. A big ass bucket of water is also thrown on the p.fielder/a.pujols talk.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...

Submitted by Brick
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:25pm

Neither Prince nor Albert is in the can.

Submitted by crunch
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 3:02pm

*golf clap*

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 9:05pm

In the last few days, four players who would have been MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agents (6YFA) next Wednesday have been added to MLB 40-man rosters:

OF Brandon Barnes (HOU)
C Luke Carlin (CIN)
OF Denis Phipps (CIN)
OF-1B David Winfree (AZ)

Still waiting to see if the Cubs will add RHP Robert Coello back to their 40-man roster. Coello is eligible to be an MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agent post-2011 by virtue of having been released previously in his career.

The Cubs have until Tueday to decide.

The Cubs could try and re-sign Coello to a 2012 minor league contract (for "big league money") instead of adding him to the 40-man roster, but if they do that, he would be eligible for selection in the December 2011 Rule 5 Draft, and if he is eligible, he will likely get selected.

If the Cubs do add Coello back to the 40, the most-likely outright candidates are RHPs Esmailin Caridad, Marcos Mateo, and Kyle Smit, and OF Lou Montanez. (In fact, all four could get outrighted to make room for other Cubs minor league players who will likely be added to the 40-man roster by the 11/20 deadline).

Both Mateo and Montanez are out of minor league options, and both can be minor league free-agents if outrighted.

Coello would have two minor league options left if he is added back to the 40-man roster.

Caridad and Smit cannot be minor league free-agents if outrighted.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 11:07am

The odd wrinkle with Coello, of course, is that Epstein traded him in February.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:48pm

Dave Van Dyke in the Trib says Theo et. al. adding more saber-staff...

sources say they are close to adding Arizona Diamondback scout Joe Bohringer as pro scouting coordinator. He's a 1993 graduate of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and like new GM Theo Epstein believes in making decisions informed by both scouting and statistical analysis.

http://tinyurl.com/4yjpr6d

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:54pm

he's put in enough frequent flyer miles to never pay for a vacation flight the rest of his life...he's seen a lot of guys play a lot of baseball on a lot of levels.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 9:34am

Sounds a little over qualified to be a scout for long.

Submitted by crunch
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:30am

he is quite honestly...the expos made him a scout and he loved it.

ARZ stole him and let him hone his chops. he's a true eyes + spreadsheet guy and one of the best "young" talents (been at it almost a decade).

he's not just a MIT degree and a back office with tapes...he's put mega-miles in seeing games all over this country.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 11:56pm

looking like his option will be declined...be an interesting market for him.

Could make sense if Cubs trade Byrd and want to keep Jackson's Super Two clock from starting or if they dump Soriano or maybe even for RF.

Right skillset, right age and might want to take 1-year incentive deal to build up his value.

interesting option nonetheless...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 12:45am

probably won't be posting tweets in the comments as much regarding Cubs.

On the right sidebar, will just be favoriting them and they will show up there.

Per example, a few from Kevin Goldstein about LaHair.

Submitted by jacos
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 8:14am

Rock shoulders and dunston jr are good tweeters

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:32pm

Buster Olney's blog commenting on the Theo Compensation and the Commish:

Bud Selig believes the whole Theo Epstein compensation thing will drop in his lap. It's an interesting position for the commissioner to be in, and the guess here is that the Red Sox will get relatively little return -- in part because of the general effort to tamp down the perceived value of executives by baseball's central office.
Let's say that Selig were to support the position of the Red Sox and give them major return -- two top prospects or right-hander Matt Garza, for example. That would reinforce the belief of some general managers that they are among the most underpaid folks in the game relative to the importance of their work for their respective franchises.

http://tinyurl.com/3r6wh55
(subscription required)

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 6:30pm

a whole bunch today, the most interesting name probably being Aaron Harang at a mere $5M

Submitted by QuietMan
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:53pm

@cst_cubs
cst_cubs Cubs exercise Ramirez's $16M option for '12. Ramirez informs club he'll decline. Cubs secure sup.draft pick comp.
---
SunTimes tweet

Submitted by tem99
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 3:56am

Nice to see. A complete no-brainer move, but you have to wonder what Hendry would have done. Two nice things about having Theo on board: Having someone who understands roster management and compensation picks like this, and second, having someone in charge whose long term plan won't be a series of one year plans.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:06am

Completely agree!

I'm going to predict that Chase Headley is our 3rd baseman going into 2012.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:48am

So, we would be paying for "future performance", then?

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:59am

He's an average to above average defender. He has good On base and a Mark Grace-ish left handed stroke. His power should improve by getting out of Petco.

Plus he's under 3 more years of club control and shouldn't to too expensive to get.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:10pm

He's going to cost a pretty penny, and San Diego has no incentive to trade him.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:15pm

It'll probably take a Szczur and a Dolis or something of the like.

I'm figuring he gets dealt by the deadline next year because

a) He is going to start getting expensive in arbitration

b) San Diego has James Darnell pushing him for the job

He reminds me of Bill Mueller and at 27 should be getting into his prime right now.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:36pm

Are the Padres a team in financial difficulties?

He'd probably cost a little more than that in trade value. It's not some big secret that Petco is a tough place to hit. He also sported a .368 BABIP this year.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:00pm

Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:36am — The Real Neal
Re: That Matt Holliday is sure some kind of gamer!
Are the Padres a team in financial difficulties?

He'd probably cost a little more than that in trade value. It's not some big secret that Petco is a tough place to hit. He also sported a .368 BABIP this year.

================================

TRN: Being a a small market/low revenue team, the Padres are never averse to moving players who are eligible for salary arbitration, if they can get a couple or three "auto renewal" guys back in the trade.

With Jed Hoyer now responsible for putting together the Cubs 25-man and 40-man rosters, adding players he knew from his days in Boston and San Diego would not be a surprise.

And with the Cubs needing a 3B and with Chase Headley eligible for salary arbitration again (he was a "Super Two" last year), the Cubs acquiring Headley in exchange for a package of two or three prospects (possibly as part of the Hoyer/McLeod compensation deal) would not be a surprise.

Headley is a good defensive third-baseman, and he was a much better hitter on the road last year than he was at Petco Caverns.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:51pm

I think mostly positive things about folks named "Chase", exept for the demise of Bill Chase http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Chase

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:54pm

stats by pitch counts

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/spl...
1-25 .659 OPS
26-50 .743
51-75 .745
76-100 .935

Submitted by Mornington Crescent
on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 11:15pm

I have no idea if this has been posted here already, but here are some home movies from Wrigley Field in 1961.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvQAq6f-PzY

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:27am

Thanks so much! That was great!

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 9:48am

Thanks a bunch! The fabulous Ed Bouchee is apparently playing 1b for the Cubs that day.

Yep. Things have not changed much. The team finished in 7th place out of 8 in the NL.

It was funny as you indicate to see the fan slamming his hands down. I imagine he was doing that alot that year! This was also a "College of Coaches" year with four managers.

What an innovator Wrigley was.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:48pm

I was at that game! (although I took the "L" rather than a helicopter).

It was one of my first games ever at Wrigley Field.

I actually remember the game very well because it was a really crummy game right from the start.

Ken Boyer hit a grand slam HR with no outs in top of 1st inning after Bill White loaded the bases with a drag bunt.

BTW, although the idea of having a rotating head coach and an athletic director was lame, Phil Wrigley's idea for a "College of Coaches" (instructors who teach rather than coaches who play gin rummy) is the basis for today's roving minor league instructors and the post-season Instructional League. The idea just didn't work at the big league level.

At the Leo Durocher press conference after he was hired by Wrigley after the 1965 season:

WRITER: Leo, will you be the head coach?

LEO: Hell no! I am the MANAGER!

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:54pm

Haha!

That is pretty cool PHIL, that you recall that.

My first game was in '68, when my dad took me and I begged him to try his beer. Didn't like it at the time, but I enjoyed me a nice Frosty Malt.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:20am

Cubs exercise $16M option, Ramirez opts out

Cubs get their draft pick now if he moves on and save $2M in the process.

Next up Pena...

Submitted by Cubster
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 6:27am

Rotoworld said on their blurb on ARam that the Cubs will get two draft picks. I understand the supplementary round draft pick, isn't there a 2nd pick (from whatever organization sign ARam)?

Leaving $16 million on the table seems risky for an aging corner infielder, but Ramirez's agent likely believes his client has a four- or five-year offer coming. Chicago will receive a pair of compensatory picks if Ramirez signs elsewhere.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 9:03am

they must be thinking he's a Type A, which I suppose is still possible.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 9:03am

missed QuietMan's post on this, sorry.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:40am

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/...

Submitted by garsky
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 8:15am

Hopefully it's the one where he gets his walking papers

Submitted by Newport
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 9:16am

DRUNK TONY IS RETIRING!!!!!!!

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:09am

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/10/31/2526776/to...

Submitted by jacos
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:29am

Hey Quade! Leave them kids alone!
http://www.suntimes.com/mobile/8476860-463/pi...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:55am

Can you have a Saturday night concert at Wrigley?

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:21pm

"Ol 'n ol it's just ah-
nother brick in the woll."

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:58am

Indians trade for Derek Lowe and $10 million (leaving $5 left to pay him) from the Braves for a "second line player".

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/10/indians...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:37pm

No edit?

Anyway, Chris Jones, a high A lefty reliever was the return http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/play... ... more fuel for the Keep Zambrano movement.

Submitted by navigator
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:23pm

Is there a way to use B-R's many search functions to find this information?

Rob Neyer's column:Oct 31, 2011 - "Oddly, nobody ever seems to talk about managers' postseason records. Shoot, I couldn't even find them anywhere. Not even at Baseball-Reference.com (granted, sometimes I just can't find stuff because there's so much there). So I compiled the records myself, "

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:33pm

I don't see anything. It would be funny if they hire Ryno to be their new manager.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:42pm

Funny how? Like "ha-ha" funny? What do you mean, funny?

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:51pm

Like: "We are the Cardinals, and you are the shitty Cubs, and it will always remain thus." funny.

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:53pm

I don't find that very funny, but I guess it is a matter of prospective.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:20pm

"matter of prospective"--you mean like BJax or Vitters?

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 3:21pm

More Bjax than Vitters at this point.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:55pm

Elias player Type rankings up at MLBTR site now.

Some surprises to me. Check it out.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:03pm

Well there goes my interest in Kelly Johnson.

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