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Last updated 3-17-2024
 
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PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
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Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
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Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
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Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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Joe Hudson 

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* Michael Busch 
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Nick Madrigal
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Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

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David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

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* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

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* David Peralta

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Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



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Jim Hendry's Plan #44

Before I get to what's going on with Aaron Heilman's knee, I've got a few odds and ends to mention.

I've figured out what the heck Cubs GM, Jim Hendry, is up to this offseason. In a nutshell, in an attempt to beef up the middle of the lineup he wanted to add one of the all time great sluggers to the Cub lineup. Unfortunately Hank Aaron is just about to turn 75 years old. So this great idea came to him in a dream...swap out Hanks (Blanco, Williamson) and accumulate Aarons (Miles, Heilman). Voilà, plan #44!

The newest acquisition (Aaron Heilman) grew up as a Cub fan. It seems that this is the first directive from Tom Ricketts, all new organizational members must be diehard fans.

On to Aaron Heilman's medical issues. I've not been able to find a precise diagnosis to his 2008 left knee ailment other than it being labeled tendonitis. This LINK goes to an article from Sept 12th, 2008 discussing what problems Heilman was dealing with last year.

Last night on WGN radio, David Kaplan interviewed Aaron Heilman and specifically asked him about his knee problems. All we got was "athlete speak." It does seem that they have a therapy treatment plan that was worked out for him to address his issues this offseason.

Kaplan:  In terms of your knee. I'm reading an article on ESPN today, it said knee pain played a role in your 2008 struggles. Would you agree that your knee was a problem and how is it today?

AH: Right now it's great. I feel healthy, everything feels good. I struggled a bit early on in the season trying to figure out a routine that would work best for me. By the end of the year I had figured that out. It certainly took a lot longer than I thought it would and that I hoped it would. It certainly wasn't 'the' factor that caused me to have a year I wasn't particularly pleased with. When you are going through something like that, you're trying to figure it out, you're trying to do different things every day, you don't really quite have a routine because you're not sure how you're going to feel the next day, that can play a role into it.  We've got all those issues hammered out. I'm looking forward to staying with a good program, staying healthy all year and just going out there and competing. 

Tendonitis refers to inflammation of a tendon and there are several tendons around the knee. The largest two are the quadriceps tendon (which inserts into the patella/kneecap) and the patellar tendon (which goes from the patella to the tibia below the knee).  Tendonitis of either one is common. There are also hamstrings (medial or lateral) and even the gastrocnemius which is more of a calf muscle but the tendons go behind and above the knee attaching to the femur.

My guess is it was a patellar tendonitis (aka Jumper's knee) as it's probably the most common of these conditions. In a pitcher, this would a significant problem for both push off or landing from a mound. Heilman played through it most of the season, meaning it was nagging but not incapacitating . It wasn't disclosed to the press until the 2nd week in September where there are multiple articles (see the link above for one of these) explaining why they hadn't used him as much in early September. Of course blowing 5 of 8 save opportunities might just be a better excuse to skip calling him from the pen.

I'm sure they had MRI imaging on him as that would be useful to rule additional conditions inside the knee that might make the tendonitis a secondary problem (like a torn meniscus). The treatment is the usual rest and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, better shock absorption in shoes. Therapy includes stretching and controlled exercises also various heat modalities to the inflammed area. In a pitcher it's unlikely to resolve until enough rest can occur, which means the off-season.

He didn't have this in 2007 so I'd expect him to be OK in 2009. I saw that he did have right (his pitching elbow) tennis elbow surgery immediately after the season on 10-23-06. Tennis elbow (aka lateral epicondylitis) is an inflammation of the tendons responsible for wrist extension and originate just above the outside/lateral aspect of the elbow. It develops from repetitive resistance to wrist extension activities hence it's nickname, tennis elbow came from the added resistance of using a tennis racquet. Dr. David Altchek (he's quite a famous NYC Sports Orthopod, who did similar surgery on Carlos Delgado that same week) performed the surgery and although it's obviously unrelated to his knee issues, it is an example of a chronic tendonitis that rarely needs surgery but ultimately he needed it (and presumably got better from the surgery). His stats in 2006 (74 games, 3.62 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) were better than 2008 (78G, 5.21 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) so I guess it was the same nagging thing but he put up with it pretty well. He probably had a bunch of therapy, ultrasound/deep heat rxs and a few cortisone shots for it before the elbow surgery.

Patellar tendonitis can be chronic (which isn't all that common) and then the tendon can be surgically explored or consideration is occaisionally given to  (ESWT) extracorporeal (ultrasonic) shockwave treatment, which is more often used to treat resistant plantar fascitis (arch inflammation). ESWT  is not like ultrasound in a physical therapy center which is mostly a way of delivering deep heat to tissues. ESWT is more like what they use to break up kidney stones (lithotripsy). It actually traumatizes the tendon collagen and brings in new blood supply which then promotes healing of the damaged tissue.

Update: based on a nice pickup from reader ankeith15, it looks like Heilman did undergo ESWT treatment. This LINK from a mets.com archive on November 20th confirms his diagnosis was patellar tendonitis and goes on to say:

After a loss in September, Manuel disclosed that Heilman had pitched much of the season troubled by patellar tendinitis, a malady that affected his landing leg, restricted his conditioning and non-game throwing, and reduced the sharpness of his pitches. Heilman since has undergone a noninvasive ultrasound treatment that has reduced the pain in his knee.

ESWT was used off-label on Magglio Ordonez during his free agent year when he was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the femoral condyle (dying bone in the knee due to damaged local blood supply). I think Mags had to go to Vienna, Austria to get that treatment as ESWT wasn't being used like that in the US then. Ordonez knee did recover apparently enough to hit .298 with 24 HR's and be the ALCS MVP with a memorable walk off 3 run homer to end that series.

A variant on such an example of surgical treatment of a chronic tendonitis was the chronic achilles tendonitis in Cliff Floyd who had surgery (also at the same hospital/same week that Heilman had surgery, but a different surgeon) on it the offseason before he signed with the Cubs.

Of course if you have HMO insurance, they just tell you to change shoes.

 

 

Comments

This post seems familiar. When you get tendonitis, is it always sharp pain? The first time it happened to me, I literally took off my shoe to check it for razor blades. I couldn't figure out what the hell was happening, but it HURT!

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

My shoulder tendinitis flared up after I pitched a bit too much one day. A couple days before I'd been doing some home demolition for a family member; I think that I had basically exhausted my shoulder and then overexerted it pitching. It started off dull, and when I ignored it and kept going, it became sharp. The intensity of the pain dulled over the next couple days until it was just kind of an ache, then seemed to go away. When it acts up now, I tend to get a sudden sort of sharp pain and then general soreness. I know some other folks that have similar experience, but the general consensus among us seems to be that tendinitis is more of an ache than a sharp pain, most of the time. If your shoe was rubbing the spot, though, maybe that could sharpen the pain?

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Totally agree with Charlie and his description of the pain. Mostly a sore-achey feeling (my knee almost felt "tired" if that makes any sense) but once and a while on a particular jump or cut, it'd be a shooting pain, following by general achey annoyance.

I've dealt with Patellar Tendinitis in high school (the golden years) it's more so annoying and nagging than very painful. The only remedy they gave me, which Cubster noted here, was 4-8 weeks off. I'm sure AH will be okay coming off the winter break. Hopefully he's taken care of the issue, and he says he has. I hope he can return to the 2007 AH not the 2008.

Hey Neal, thanks for getting me started with your post on the last thread as well as being the source of my HMO line. Pain is always somewhat subjective but certainly it can be sharp pain. What is happening is the collagen that makes up a tendon is tearing on a microscopic level. The body tries to heal it but tendons have limited blood supply so it often just leads to small areas where there is tendon degeneration. Some of the listed treatments are just trying to bring blood to the tendon so it can heal the degenerative tissue. That's probably what surgery does as well as the ESWT.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

yeah this wasn't subjective pain. I was really surprised to find I wasn't bleeding. That's why I always cut Prior some slack because if he even pitched through a little of what I felt, he must have been one determined Mo'fo. Are some people more pre-disposed to get it? It seems that Heilmann has got it twice now, and now I am wondering if the constant ache in my left hand could be the same thing.

These tendonitis conditions are common so I don't think it's often a predisposition thing. Unfortunately, when an athlete gets problem after problem (I guess this would be true for a non-athlete) one has to wonder if there is a unifying reason. Tennis elbow symptoms are mostly at the elbow. There are several tendonitis conditions that cause pain around the wrist and hand though.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I have at times had pain in both my right shoulder and my left knee, both connected to sports. The right shoulder flares up when I pitch or throw from the outfield. The left knee used to hurt a lot when I played soccer and when I was running a lot. In both cases I first hurt the joint due to my own negligence/stupidity. The shoulder was from over exertion and ignoring pain. The knee was from over exertion, playing through pain, and not paying attention to how far I was running on what surfaces--concrete wreaks havoc on my knees. I was also never as serious an athlete as I could have been, which means that my form in both pitching, running, kicking, and tackling has always been pretty mediocre. It also means that I under trained, physically, for baseball. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that in some cases the underlying condition may not be physical--it may be behavioral.

Also on a more dramatic pain front, when people get acute achilles tendon ruptures (which is different from tendonitis)...the patient often says that it felt like they got whacked in the calf with a baseball bat or they felt like they got shot by a gun. It's a classic description but when they look around nobody else heard or felt anything but them.

Sorry to go all health study on everyone...but I'm in that line of work. Studies at the University of Missouri found that increased intake of folic acid and B12 has a greater impact on inflamation than acetaminophen... Anyone have the number for an old NY Mets trainer or a Houston Astros short stop? Sounds like after a few shots of B12, strategically placed in say the knee area, we should have ourselves 200IP, a 2.97 ERA, and 21 wins.

"By the end of the year I had figured that out." Whoa! Aaron, what did you figure out? You were terrible the second half. 2.15 WHIP .480 OBA against .435 Slugging against .915 OPS against And downright pitiful in September 3.27 WHIP .667 OBA .545 SLG 1.212 OPS

Cedeno celebrated the trade last night by whacking a two-run homer for Aragua as they fell behind Caracas three games to two in their best-of-seven VWL championship series. Jose Ascanio is the closer for Caracas. He got a one-inning save, striking out three. The box score says it's his eleventh save. That may just be a playoff stat, I'm not sure.

Aaron's a personal friend whom I coached for 4 yrs-a real competitor(which explains that look when he's on the mound). If he says he is OK then he is & for sure he's anxious to be a Cub. What a bargain this man is.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

not at all, tho Paul would tell you even more about Aaron's make-up. Why be so negative about a guy who hasn't thrown that first pitch? Can't start ? When the Mets gave him a few starts 3 yrs back, how about a complete game one-hit SO plus other quality starts? Then he went to the pen....?

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Fine then explain his 3 years in a row of not only being a decent reliever but a dominating one? You want to pick out a month? I will pick out 3 years and match that against your month and we will see what Heilman can do. Christ he has a track record of success in the majors, he isn't up one year then a disaster the next then good again and then a disaster. He dealt with an injury and if he is over that your getting a guy as a reliever who can sport a 3.00 ERA and probably be a damn fine #5 starter who could win 10-15 games. Yes he is that good. Don't let last year fool you, Heilman is a good pitcher.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

explain his 3 years in a row of not only being a decent reliever but a dominating one How about, He didn't have a debilitating tendonitis in his left knee until last year? You want to pick out a month? Sure, I picked the last month of the season because Heilman said he had finally "figured it out" by then after suffering with injury most of the year. I'd think someone who had suffered through The Towel Years with the Cubs wouldn't have to be spoon fed this stuff.

http://deadspin.com/5142053/roger-clemens-will-be-ready-to-pitchright-a… Former Yankee trainer Steve Donahue said part of Roger's pregame warm-up was taking a whirlpool bath at the hottest possible temperature, enough to where he'd "come out looking like a lobster." Then there's this little trick, which gave The Rocket the additional competitive edge he needed before Game 2 of the 2000 World Series against the Mets, courtesy of Fan IQ: Then Donahue would rub the hottest possible liniment on his testicles. “He’d start snorting like a bull,” the trainer said. “That’s when he was ready to pitch.”

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

The deadspin commenters were great on this. Guy A: You know you've really made it when you can pay a guy to rub ointment on your balls Guy B: And you know you haven't made it, if your the guy doing the rubbing

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

This suggests that the Cubs were offering a minor-league deal--otherwise he would have accepted whatever the Cubs were offering to make the 25-man. It also suggests that the Uribe rumors had nothing to do with Hoffpauir being trimmed from the active roster. Unless you include Fontenot, the Cubs have one lefty power bat. Righty, they have four, assuming you still consider Lee a power bat. I know we don't like rookies, but let's all go easy on the Hoffpauir-to-Iowa rumors. It would be a shame to send a guy back to a league he just got finished tearing up. You might as well just shoot him.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If Hoff or somebody other than Aaron Miles could play 3b decently, while putting average offense for MLB 3rd basebasemen either on the MLB or AAA roster, I would like to have Hoff on the bench, but we need a Bobby Bonilla type who can play all 4 corner spots. I cant believe why Hendry isnt trying to outbid the 1 or 2 million dollars the Pirates are offering Hinske to play the same role for them.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

All accounts that I've seen say that Hinske really is God-awful at third base. At this point the Cubs need a caddy there for A Ram's annual muscle yank. I am not sure who that could be, but I don't think Hinske is that guy. Maybe they can wait out Joe Crede!

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

Man, I don't know. I don't know that anyone can tell given this market. Dunn and Abreu and Cruz and four or five other good players are still looking for work. Garland settled for a lot less than I am sure he imagined he could get. And while he ain't Ozzie Smith, Uribe dropped from $4 mil last season to the major league minimum...if he makes the 2009 Giants that is. Crede should be able to get a starting job somewhere, I doubt he'd have to settle for a backup role like on the Cubs.

if the Cubs had $5M or more to spend on a second basemen, they would have kept DeRosa...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Agreed, We got Aaron Miles and Paul Bako signed. Why would we need Orlando Hudson?

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

Hudson is a switch hitter. Maybe hendry can sign him to a really backloaded deal?

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Was replying to Rob and was talking about DeRosa. I agree that if we had the money for Hudson, we would've kept DeRosa.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

while I realize you were joking around, I'm sure there are some who think DeRosa got moved just to add another lefty to the lineup...

I'm sure that was part of it, but the bigger part was to free up cash. The Cubs weren't going to downgrade to Fontenot/Miles just for left-handedness, they needed the room to sign Bradley and fill out the rest of their roster.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

It just further illustrates jimbo's continued insistance on paying full retail price for every guy he gets. Instead of Bradley and miles for 12.5. Maybe he could have gotten Hudson and abreu for 13? Care to make a wager on which tandem will be more productive next season?

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

No, but I care to wager on which crack dealer has the clearest rocks for $10.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Not logical. DeRosa started over fifty games in the outfield last year. Bradley is an outfielder. A big difference between Bradley and DeRosa is handedness. My first instinct was that Miles replaced Cedeno and Bradley replaced DeRosa. Handedness helps explain both changes.

maybe O Dog will take an extremely back loaded contract...like $500K this year and a bazillion dollars until armageddon happens. The risk is he might help the Cubs win the World Series and then we'd have armageddon to deal with.

From MLB.com article in November, one that talked about Heilman reportedly saying "start me or trade me" (those were my words, not his)....... Moreover, a physical problem developed. After a loss in September, Manuel disclosed that Heilman had pitched much of the season troubled by patellar tendinitis, a malady that affected his landing leg, restricted his conditioning and non-game throwing, and reduced the sharpness of his pitches. Heilman since has undergone a noninvasive ultrasound treatment that has reduced the pain in his knee. Sorry, dont have the link as I just closed the window I was viewing it in, but there is the official info, Orthopod Joe. From one Cub diehard, medical professional (tho far less experienced) to another...:)

Nice pickup ankeith15. That article is from Nov 20th, 08. It does confirm my guess that his problem was patellar tendonitis. It also implies that he had ESWT as I mentioned in the last paragraph of the writeup. http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081120&content_id=36… The reference to noninvasive ultrasound probably implies that he did get ESWT (extracorporeal shock wave therapy) which is not like ultrasound in a physical therapy center which is mostly a way of delivering deep heat to tissues. ESWT is more like what they use to break up kidney stones (lithotripsy). It actually traumatizes the tendon collagen and brings in new blood supply which then promotes healing of the damaged tissue. ESWT was used off-label on Magglio Ordonez during his free agent year when he was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the femoral condyle (dying bone in the knee due to damaged local blood supply). I think Mags had to go to Vienna, Austria to get that treatment as ESWT wasn't being used like that in the US then. Not sure it was the reason Ordonez recovered but the WSux thought he was a goner (an expensive goner). Detroit took the risk and the 2006 World Series was proof of his recovery although it's still pretty sketchy from medical data that it works on that diagnosis.

The Cubs supposedly were considering Ordonez during the 2005-6 offseason. He didn't sign until Feb 07, 05 which was very late in the offseason. They did go and sign Jacques Jones on January 10th, 05 (a 3 year deal which was, even in Hendry terms, one year too long). He replaced Jeromy Burnitz in RF. Of course we all know that in the post-Sosa era, right fielders need to hit left handed to come to the cubs...and they need to be signed before the Cubs convention too.

I think JH offers "market rate" deals (exception: Soriano). As far as I can surmise, he treats people fairly, in an honest manner, and has an excellent reputation among the MLB fraternity. This is certainly not a bad thing. 2006 was his worst year with his lack of preparedness. I was one of his more ardent detractors (but can't hold a candle to MANNY). However, he turned the ship around, imo. It is not really his fault that the team totally choked (and they did choke), in three games. So, we'll see how this year turns out - and then we can all make our calls then. But - two years in a row - we had a chance to get to the dance at least.

Baltimore Sun has the Hill story also. (http://tinyurl.com/af7zo)

The Orioles...would be gambling on familiarity to help turn (Hill) around. Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz was Hill's pitching coach at Triple-A Iowa in 2005 and bullpen coach Alan Dunn coached Hill at Double-A Tennessee in 2005 and Triple-A Iowa in 2006.

What I know about knee joints is as follows. As an athlete you pound the joint, over time this causes wear on the meniscus (i.e. the shock absorbent material that separates the bones.) Over time this material recedes and you have osteoarthritis. In a normal day to day life one gets older and the edges of the meniscus wear out. One compensates for this by exercising. If you don't eventually the joint hardens up and you need a surgery. My orthopaedic guy is Vanderbilt's team doctor and he says that replacement is the best long-term option. For a paid athlete the priorities are different and they will likely "postpone the inevitable" by doing intermediate surgeries to prolong their careers. That's probably where Heilman is although rehab could effectively cope with his situation. This is a layman's perspective from someone who also has knee problems.

Can we go ahead and trade Tyler Colvin while he still has value? Rich Hill could have netted Erik Bedard last year. Probably 75% of Brian Roberts as well.

Weird WBC story ... runners to start each half-inning on 1st and 2nd beginning in the 13th inning. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/worldclassic2009/news/story?id=3870558 Makes sense for the nature of this tourney but very, very left-field. It's almost like a shootout on ice in that it's designed to score the maximum amount of times quickly to simply induce a result, unnatural as it might be considered. They should make backup catchers be the pinch-runners.

To update Wittenmeyer's twitter I can confirm through my team sources that the PTNBL will be a 5'7-5'9 athletically challanged 2B or who can play SS in a pinch. ==== LOL. Can we get Scott Moore back to play 3B? At Iowa. or maybe Jerry Hairston III, futures

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Actually Scott Moore would be a good get, we can put him at Iowa and keep Hoff on the MLB roster. When Aram goes on the DL we could always call him up or if he has one week long nagging injuries we could send Hoff or the 12th pitcher down and call him up, assuming he has an option left this year.

Is the general feeling that Tyler Colvin will never get to the bigs? I mean...he isn't ever going to be a .300/.380/.550 type hitter..because those are just everywhere, but is .280/.330/.480 out of the question? I'd like to see him get a little more time in developing before we write him off to Jason Dubois-land....

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Picking him in the first round caused many a Baseball America jaw to drop. He's a "toolsy" guy (yep another one of those), doesn't hit the lefty too well, has proven to be quite inconsistent in his pro career and, as so many top Cub picks in the past, is "working on learning the strike zone". He's recovering from TJ surgery too, right? The consensus is he projects as a 4th outfielder.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

That's right, I remember now. Didn't the Cubs give up their 2nd and 3rd round picks for free agent signings that year as well? Still....it's not like they were a poor franchise. I would think they could pick a high priced prospect, lay out the money for him AND get Shark as well.

[ ]

In reply to by OakLawnGuy

nothing wrong with taking a leap that makes the armchair prospect crowd take notice, they did the same with Ryan Flaherty. Safe picks get you Luis Montanez and Ryan Harvey...

Colvin was also on Team USA soon after he was drafted who owes nothing to the Cubs, so Wilkin isn't the only one who thinks he has some talent.

His K/SO ratio is terrifying though...

Cubs overpaid for Mark Pawelek the year before who was a Boras client, so they've certainly been shown many times over to pay well over slot when they felt like it.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

you mean like Mark Prior or Samardzija?

maybe they just liked Vitters more? maybe they have a draft and sign budget set by the failing Trib that wouldn't have let them sign the other 49 or so guys if they signed Wieters..., maybe they knew they had something in Soto before any of us did....

 

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 11:43am.

We didn't have picks in rounds 2-4 because of Jack Jones,Scottie Ire, and Bobby Howry

We did spend on Chris Huseby though

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

DR AARON: Cliff Andersen (9th round), Chris Huseby (11th round), Drew Rundle (14th round), and Nate Samson (34th round) all got considerably "above-slot" money in 2006 to give up their college plans (Huseby - Auburn, Andersen - Oklahoma State, Rundle - Arizona, and Samson - Daytona Beach CC) with the money the Cubs saved from not having draft picks in rounds two, three and four of the 2006 Rule 4 Draft.

The Cubs also signed 3B Jovan Rosa (selected out of Lake City CC in the 22nd round of the 2006 draft) and RHP Jordan Lathan (selected in 29th round of 2006 draft out of the College of Southern Idaho) as "Draft & Follows" in May 2007, giving both a substantially higher signing bonus than a 22nd or 29th round pick would be expected to get. (Rova had planned to transfer to NC State, and Latham was all set to transfer to Arizona State).

The Cubs do a good job of signing their HS and JC draft picks, but of course the problem with HS & JC players is that there is a lot more projection involved than is the case with players who have played three or four years of college ball .

I think they did take Wieters, just some dumb transcription error when they got to pick and it got spelled Vieters so they went with it as it was phonetically close.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
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    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
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    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).