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

7 Walks!!!!

Seven walks in eight innings and zero runs allowed; that can't happen too often and I don't know if I should praise Z for gutting through a game without his best stuff or laugh at the Astros for their ineptitude at getting guys home. The Cubs now have 5 shutout victories this year, 3 of them against the Astros, 2 of them in games started by Zambrano (The other was by Sean Marshall). The other 2 shutouts were in back-to-back games versus the Nationals in games started by....wait for it.....Zambrano and Marshall. On the rehab front, we've got Derrek Lee taking 20 swings yesterday off a tee, Mark Prior saying he's not giving up on 2006 (even though he should) and Wade Miller is set for another minor league start tomorrow with Iowa. And good news (sarcasm), Miller is probably going to be around next year as well:
We both had pretty much an agreement this was going to be more than just one year. See how it goes this year, and if Iím able to pitch next year, hopefully Iíll be able to stick around here.î
You say you want Murton batting second in the order? Guess who disagrees:
ìNo, not against Oswalt. Not when Neifiís hitting .430-something against him or whatever it is. Thereís probably more temptation to move (outfielder Angel) Pagan in the 2-spot because of his speed and the fact heís a switch hitter. No. We need production out of Murton and hopefully down in the order. ìHeís done pretty good down in the order, sixth or seventh, so you donít really mess with it too much.î
Everyone remember 1984? We had our best hitter batting 2nd all season and had a pretty good offense. There's even a study out there that suggests putting your best hitters in the #1, #2 and #4 slots to maximize offense. Of course I could be wrong, putting guys up top who won't be on base for our best hitters is probably a better idea. UPDATE: Our pals over at "Inside the Ivy" tip us off that AA players Brian Dopirak, Nic Jackson and Gary Cates are done for the year. Apparently Dopirak's foot was still broken when he came off the DL (Shocked I tell you, shocked). Thanks to Steve Holley over there for the info.

Comments

I respect Derrek Lee and Mark Prior wanting to try and get back this year, but is there any need? I would much rather to see them shut down for the year and give the best chance to be 100% healthy come next ST. Jim Hendry needs to step in and say for the betterment of the club, you guys are shut down.

Yeah Lee and Prior should be shut down. If Prior comes back in 2006 I bet he will be under the knife by October. Wade Miller- I read some where his velocity is gone, great, call us when you morph into Maddux. Rob - Hard to argue with Dusty, just look at those numbers in runs and victories for 2006.

I think DLee should play if he wants to and feels up to it. Cubs are not playing a kid there in his place, so no development is wasted. As for Prior, I don't want to see him pitch for the Cubs again this season; but he should try to pitch again before the spring. Winter ball, intstructional league, somewhere. He needs to pitch well again for his own peace of mind. Not to mention finding out if he can even be ready for the Cubs by April. We thought he would be 100% healthy for ST in '06. Can't be fooled on that front again in '07.

Dusty's comments seem to imply that a player cannot be "productive" if he bats in the 2 spot, and that a player can only be "productive" if he bats lower down in the order. Perhaps this explains why Neifi frequently finds himself in this spot in the order. In addition, why should "speed" and "the fact that he's a switch-hitter" be reason to batter Pagan second as opposed to lower down in the order. I know that Dusty believes you need speed at the top of the order (regardless of OBP), but I never knew switch-hitting was a prerequisite to be a productive 2 hitter. I personally don't think Murton should move up in the order (at least not right now) because he seems to be getting comfortable where he is, but Dusty's reasoning for why he shouldn't bat 2nd as opposed to others is ridiculous.

LoL, you got to be kidding me? Dopriak's foot was still broken? To say the Cubs organization medical staff/trainers are incompetent is an understatement.

Uh, before we automatically decide Wade Miller is trash, can we at least see him pitch to MLB batters?

re dop: okay...ive seen this guy swing a bat. he's got huge power. what he's done this year...wow. i havent seen it but friends have told me his swing is all screwed up as hell. he's still a big/strong dude, but his bat wasnt getting around. at least there's a reason. he's a non-vital piece...an interesting power 1st baseman who was 1-2 years away from a taste of the bigs going into this season at best anyway. still, its nice to know he can be put on the shelf and re-evaluated fresh next season. btw...your "inside the ivy" link is broken, bad html...and what's wrong with nic jackson?

Uh, before we automatically decide Wade Miller is trash, can we at least see him pitch to MLB batters?

wade miller not throwing 90+mph is probally no use to anyone...he's not exactly a control guy even when he was healthy. not like he's wild, but his movement is part of his fastball's effectiveness. he should be up in days/weeks anyway...barring injury. they're paying him 1m and pitching 4 rooks (marshall's in the mix, too). some of these kids have no buisness at all in the bigs. im really sick of watching marmol needlessly get outclassed and outmatched.

re: ceda stuff i posted yesterday. it seems i gave him 2x credit for his game yesterday (sorry)...his REAL updated ytd stats with the cubs: 8ip 4h 1er 3bb 15k (4 appearances)

fixed the link, don't know what's wrong with jackson, he sent me that info via email and said I could post it, but he said he'd put up a story soon with the same info. fuld and petrick are probably done for the year too.

So how much does Dusty's lineup mis-management hurt the Cubs? Going by the lineup tool at: http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py A linenup vs right handed pitchers of: Pierre Jones Barrett Ramirez Pagan Nevin Cedeno Izturis Zambrano Would score 4.85 RPG Dusty's lineup Pierre Izturis Barrett Ramirez Jones Mabry Pagan Perez Zambrano Scores 4.537 RPG Vs LH A lineup of Pierre Murton Barrett Ramirez Nevin Perez Pagan Izturis Zambrano Would score 4.66 per game Dusty's lineup Pierre Izturis Barrett Ramirez Jones Murton Mabry Cedeno Zambrano Would score 3.96 RPG If you use 98 and 64 as the Lefty/Righty split that comes to 63 runs over the course of a season. (I couldn't find Zambranos split so used his vs all #'s)

Crunch is right on Miller. Are rotation now is: Z, Hill, Guzman, Marmol, Mateo Marmol and Mateo need to be helping Iowa win the Central division of the PCL. Given the weakness of the pen market this winter with Danys Baez being the head of a class having Miller and Wood, if we can come to a sensible agreement with him, around to able to give us the room to trade Howry for starting pitching is a nice situtation to have. The only guys that should be guarnteed a spot in the rotation are Z and Marshall. So Hendry NEEDS to find 2-4 starters.

according to the Jaxx announcer it's a "very bad" hip flexor injury to Jackson. Guy can't win...

baez still has one year of club control left i thought.

Interesting projections on the line-ups. Where's Neifi..?

Neifi is batting 6th vs lefties in my lineup and 8th vs Righties in Dusty's. Obviously the assumption that Dusty would use the same two lineups for a season (Month, week etc) isn't valid.

"Brian Dopirak, Nic Jackson and Gary Cates are done for the year. Apparently Dopirakís foot was still broken..." Another reason to re-sign Phil Nevin as a palatable back-up player to ride the pines at a reasonable price. Or - maybe they can sign Julio Franco!

neifi's on the bench...where he should remain as long as these guys can keep their bodys in 1 piece. nomar and aram gave neifi a lotta ab's last year...dlee this year. the back/forth "but but but" for player 1 vs. player 2 of the shuffle of the possible guys that could have been playing insted of neifi (yes, take D into account and where theyre played) pretty much amount to a whole lot of nothing and not anywhere near the player/role theyre supposed to be replacing anyway.

Neifi's defense.... Ever time I watch that effing gremlin play, he makes a bad throw, a double-error at 2B...or goes 0/4. I guess I'll stop watching, and then Neifi! will really shine...

You mean the computer doesn't say to bat Neifi 2nd?

Good analysis, Real. Always nice to see empirical evidence of Dusty's sucking.

Actually, I think Dusty's main focus when constructing a lineup is alternating lefties and righties, which is a totally stupid thing to prioritize of course.

"the back/forth "but but but" for player 1 vs. player 2 of the shuffle of the possible guys that could have been playing insted of neifi (yes, take D into account and where theyre played) pretty much amount to a whole lot of nothing and not anywhere near the player/role theyre supposed to be replacing anyway." I can't really undestand that, but was Neifi really supposed to be backing up Lee? "A whole lot of nothing not anywhere near the player/role they're suppose to be replacing anyway"... that describes Neifi replacing Lee to a tee.

neal...it comes down to this... cedeno vs. neifi neifi vs. mabry etc etc... the argueing of which flavor of suck...or bat vs. d...in most every case a lot of it is nothing worth bitching about cuz 1- the pros/cons of each player with bat/d factored is comparing 1 flavor of crap to another flavor in most cases 2- neither case comes close to replacing what was lost its not about neifi replacing lee...its about who else is involved in the mix and what they bring to it.

Jose Vizcaino was DFA by the Giants. Somewhere in Houston, a certain NL manager is overheard saying into a cell phone, "Oh, yeah. We could use a dude like that down the stretch."

j.viz killed the cubs...esp. in houston. seems like every time he came up he played like an all-star.

Vizcaino didn't crush us as bad as Orlando Merced. Mabry is a better hitter than Neifi and a better first basemen than Walker. When your team is going in the crapper because they can't score any runs, you shouldn't be saying "I am not sure if I should risk playing a 2nd basemen at 2nd and a first basemen at first" in order to boost the offense, you should just do it. That's why Mabry was signed. I wonder what he was thinking when he found out he wasn't going to replace Lee in the lineup... probably "guess I need to play more drop the soap with Dusty"

The Real Neal: "That's why Mabry was signed." Actually Mabry was signed to be a bench player and LH bat off the bench. Not really to backup Lee at 1B. Mabry has only played 37 games at 1B over the past 3 years. Actually there was nobody signed to backup Lee. That is why we traded for Phil "THE SAVIOR" Nevin. "Mabry is a better hitter than Neifi" Yes, by career numbers Mabry is slightly better than Neifi. Neifi Career - .270 avg, .301 OBP Mabry Career - .269 avg, .325 OBP But not last year (2005). Neifi 2005 - .274 avg, .298 OBP Mabry 2005 - .240 avg, .295 OBP

Sorry Manny I didn't realize. Of course Mabry wasn't signed to backup Lee. Obviously it was Neifi's job. Probably Walker had a 1st basemen's mitt and Mabry didn't have one too. Make sure you don't park adjust those stats too. Mabry career OPS+ 92, Neifi? 65. Right, Manny, they're essentially they're equal hitters, my bad.

Oh yeah, Manny, weren't you just arguing that Mabry should get 25 starts, even without a Lee injury?

The Real Neal- In the last 2 posts, you misrepresented what I said or meant, at least 2 times. "Right, Manny, they're essentially they're equal hitters, my bad." Where did I say that? I said for career numbers Mabry is slightly better. Which he is. And I also said that Neifi was better than Mabry last year. Which he was. "Manny, weren't you just arguing that Mabry should get 25 starts, even without a Lee injury?" No I was NOT. You need to go back and re-read what I said a little better. What I said was that bench players, even the 25th man, nowadays get at least 25 starts and 225 AB's. Just the way managers are using the bench more to keep their players fresh. Never ANYWHERE did I say that I agreed with it or liked it or argued for it, just was stating what is going on MLB wide with bench players who are on the roster for the entire year.

I was surprised that looking at OPS did not really give Mabry a huge advantage. Neifi Career - .678 OPS Mabry Career - .735 OPS Neifi '05 - .681 OPS Mabry '05 - .702 OPS But it is an advantage to Mabry.

this is what im talking about...crap vs. crap. the touch of glove vs. a touch more of power. its not like what these guys bring in comparison is night/day or even a slam-dunk no-brainer. its crap vs. crap. no one wins cuz its 2 flavors of crap that either side can be argued for except for the fact neither would be starting if it was not for lack of health. it happens, but when you're in a mabry vs. neifi arguement (or neifi/cedeno or etc) its time to take a step back and weigh the real impact.

Along with Prior and D.Lee the Cubs seriously should consider shutting down Howry and Eyre when the rosters expand in a couple weeks. Eyre 51 IP Howry 57 IP I know it's not exactly Goose Gossage pitching 100+ IP but these two guys are overworked as it is and when you throw in how many times they've gotten up during a game then sat back down they've both thrown a ton of pitches. Bring up K.Lighenberg and a couple others to get shelled in the middle innings and move Wuertz to setup...tank this season and get a top 2 draft pick. Not that I have a ton of confidence in whatever next season's roster brings, but at least Howry and Eyre will still have their arms attached when the Cubs can conceivably compete again in 2008.

Ranch, If you take out Neifi's Coors years, which is why I used the OPS+ from baseballreference you get 65 to 92. Some simple math shows Mabry to be about 40% better by that standard. Manny, ""Right, Manny, they're essentially they're equal hitters, my bad." Where did I say that?" You implied it by showing a 'set of stats' that casts Neifi as a superior hitter in one regard, and Mabry a superior hitter in another. If you're going to pick two stats to evaluate a hitter, you don't use average and OBP you use one of them. Of course you know that your were just trying to cherry pick stats that show Neifi in the best light possible. How come you didn't cherry pick the 22 GIDP's from last year, a Guiness book worthy stat, considering he was batting behing Patterson for most of the year? Using OPS, OPS+, EQA or Slugging Mabry comes out on top for last year and easily on top for a career. Nice try Manny, but I think you need to come up with a better Dusty excuse than that.

pierre izturis pagan ramirez jones mabry cedeno blanco mateo lol

Oh, and the other thing about the bench starts, you were arguing it. You're argument was, "All managers do it, therefore you shouldn't hold it agaisnt Dusty." How many starts does Neifi have? How many does Mabry have? How many games have Cedeno, Walker, Izturis and Theriot missed due to injury? How many have Lee and Ramirez missed? If you were to put the 2006 Cubs team problems in order how would you do it? 1. Defense 2. Pitching 3. Offense This is Dusty's thought process: Man, this team can't score any runs... where can I best hit Neifi to get us going? And of course everyone in baseball, with the notable exception of Hendry, knows the best to hit him is batting practice..

lightenberg would have to be added to the 40-man...that's pretty much a no-go. iowa's in a pennent chase, itself...hell, depending on how that goes the cubs may not see pie til the playoffs are over if they make it. eyre is a workhorse...howry's still throwing 94+mph. personally, i'd like to see their use held back to a pace that's comfortable to them...whatever that may be.

You'd like to see Eyre and Howry held back crunch? WADDABOUT Z?!!! I'd like to see Z limited to 5 inning stints the rest of the way if we hope to have him healthy in 2007.

I think they shouldn't add Pie to the ML roster, they can just give him, Wells, Gallagher and Hoffpaiur the 'big league tour' like Montreal used to do. No, good reason to start the arbitration clocks. They could waive Novoa to make room for Lightenburg, that wouldn't bother me one bit. He ain't no Heatcliff Slocumb.

People were talking about Dr. Mike Marshall the other day. This quote of his made in March from the Q&A part of his web site is interesting, "I did take some pleasure in reading that Mr. Rothschild has taken my advice about Mr. PRIOR's 'Looping,''' Marshall responded. "Mr. PRIOR does have to stop moving his pitching hand close to his head just before he starts the baseball forward. ... "Unfortunately, Mr. Rothschild does not understand anything that he is doing. When Mr. PRIOR learns how to not move his pitching hand close to his head before he starts the baseball forward, he will move the unnecessary stress from the inside of his pitching elbow to the back of his pitching shoulder. Therefore, he will exchange one problem for another." Ouch!

The only reason to shut done Eyre and Howry would be to wave the white flag and say that we don't want to try to win baseball games. And the unwritten rule of baseball is that you owe to the other teams to still try and compete even if you are out of it. As far a Z goes, he's in the running for a Cy Young award and pulling him after five innings will not sit with him too well when he thinks about signing long term here.

zambrano and his pitch totals have been one of the topics of the day, both on talk radio and cubs blogs. he is currently on pace to throw approx 4,000 pitches. this is an obscene amount of work for some one who pitches on a club that was out of contention in mid-may. (the 4,000 does not include his w-b-c work). calling zambrano a "caballo" is probably a nice compliment. but my $.02 is that it is better to shut down this horse before he needs to be put down from unnecessary, excessive, fruitless work.

#41 of 42: By The Real Neal (August 15, 2006 06:38 PM) They could waive Novoa to make room for Lightenburg, that wouldn't bother me one bit. He ain't no Heatcliff Slocumb. --- #39 of 42: By crunch (August 15, 2006 06:23 PM) lightenberg would have to be added to the 40-man...that's pretty much a no-go. REAL NEAL & CRUNCH: There is one opening on the 40-man roster right now, and another spot could easily be made available just by transferring Kerry Wood to the 60-day DL, so it would be no big deal to add Kerry Ligtenberg to the 40-man roster, if the Cubs wanted to do that. When (if) Wade Miller is activated from the DL, that will require one of the spots (Miller is on the 60-day DL), but that still leaves the other one (the other being the transfer of Wood to the 60-day DL). Depending on what they intend to with them the rest of the season, the Cubs could also transfer Mark Prior, Derrek Lee, and./or Glendon Rusch to the 60-day DL. (Sean Marshall and Freddie Bynum have recently been assigned to minor league rehabs at Iowa, so they will both probably be activated on or before September 1st). If Prior and/or Rusch were to be transferred to the 60-day DL, that would automatically make them unavailable for the rest of the season. If Derrek Lee were to be transferred to the 60-day DL, he could be reactivated no earlier than September 22nd. Kerry Ligtenberg will be a MLB Type XX FA after this season, whether the Cubs add him to their 40-man roster or not. And he hasn't pitched well recently, either. Of course, that doesn't mean that the Cubs won't add him to the 25-man roster before the end of the season. Just that it doesn't matter one way or the other, since the Cubs are going to lose him anyway. If Roberto Novoa spends another eight or more days this season on option to the minors (he has already spent twelve days on option), the Cubs will burn his last minor league option. However, If he remains with the Cubs the rest of the season, Novoa will still have one minor league option left next season. And although a lot of Cubs fans wouldn't care if that happens, Jim Hendry probably does. Hendry has shown with Leicester, Mitre, and Wellemeyer that he has no use for "borderline" pitchers who are out of minor league options. Hendry likes to be able to shuttle his young pitchers back-and-forth between AAA and the majors as needed, and he can't do that if a pitcher is out of options. As of right now, Jerome Williams will definitely be out of options next Spring Training, and Angel Guzman COULD be (or he could get a 4th option year), depending on how many days he spent on active rosters in the minors in 2000-03. If he spent less than 60-days on an active minor league roster in any of those seasons, he will be eligible for a 4th option next year. Otherwise (like Jerome Williams), Guzman will be out of options, too. (David Aardsma will definitely be getting a 4th option year in 2007, because he will have only three "full seasons" on active minor league or MLB rosters by the end of this season, and if he has less than five "full seasons," he gets a 4th minor league option). Since Iowa is still in the playoff hunt and could be in the PCL post-season, and barring additional injuries on the big club, it's unlikely that any player or pitcher on the I-Cubs (Soto, Pie, Ryu, et al) will be recalled before Iowa's season is over. The only exceptions would be Sean Marshall and Freddie Bynum, who are on minor league rehabs at Iowa and could be ready to be reactivated from the DL real soon. Same goes for Wade Miller. - * 2006 minor league option has been exercised HAS NO OPTIONS LEFT: Freddie Bynum WILL HAVE NO OPTIONS LEFT AS OF SPRING TRAINING 2007: * Jerome Williams WILL HAVE ONE OPTION YEAR LEFT AS OF SPRING TRAINING 2007: * David Aardsma Ronny Cedeno * Angel Guzman * Rich Hill * Miguel Negron Roberto Novoa (12 days accrued toward 2006 option being used) Will Ohman * Geovany Soto * Michael Wuertz NOTE 1: David Aardsma will get an additional (4th) option year in 2007 because players get a 4th option year IF they have not played five "full seasons" in the major leagues or minor leagues by the time they have used up their three minor league options. NOTE 2: Because of time spent on the DL in 2004 and 2005, Angel Guzman will likely get a 4th option year in 2007, because he will probably not have played five ìfull seasonsî (minimum 60 days on major league or minor league active roster in each of five separate seasons) by the time he has used up his three options. NOTE 3: If Roberto Novoa spends eight more days on option to the minors in 2006, he will be out of options as of Spring Training 2007 WILL HAVE TWO OPTION YEARS LEFT AS OF SPRING TRAINING 2007: * Brian Dopirak * Carlos Marmol * Scott Moore Angel Pagan * Felix Pie Mark Prior * Jose Reyes * Jae-Kuk Ryu * Ryan Theriot WILL HAVE THREE OPTION YEARS LEFT AS OF SPRING TRAINING 2007: Sean Marshall, LHP Juan Mateo, RHP Matt Murton, OF - POTENTIAL MLB TYPE XX FREE-AGENTS AFTER 2006 SEASON: Henry Blanco Kerry Ligtenberg (at AAA) John Mabry Wade Miller Phil Nevin Juan Pierre Aramis Ramirez (player option for 2007-08) Kerry Wood (club option with buy-out for 2007 - ìno tradeî thru 2006) NOTE: Aramis Ramirez has a player option for 2007. If he exercises the option, then there is either a mutual option for 2009, or a player option (only) if he plays 270 games (combined) in 2007-08 SIGNED BEYOND 2006: Michael Barrett (thru 2007) Neifi Perez (thru 2007) Glendon Rusch (thru 2007) Scott Eyre (thru 2007 & player option for 2008 - ìno tradeî thru 2006, limited "no trade" in 2007) Cesar Izturis (thru 2007 & club option for 2008) Ryan Dempster (thru 2008) Bob Howry (thru 2008) Jacque Jones (thru 2008) Derrek Lee (thru 2010 ñ ìno tradeî thru 2010) - WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR ARBITRATION AFTER 2006: Carlos Zambrano (FA after 2007) Will Ohman (FA after 2008) Mark Prior (FA after 2008) COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR ARBITRATION AFTER 2006: Jerome Williams (19 days MLB service time accrued so far in 2006) NOTE: Jerome Williams would be eligible for salary arbitration after 2006 season if he accrues at least 97 days of MLB service time in 2006, although he would likely qualify as a ìSuper Twoî with about 75 days of MLB service time. Except there are only 47 days left in the MLB regular season, so even if he was recalled tomorrow, the most MLB service time he could accrue in 2006 is 66 days. -- SIX-YEAR MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENTS (PLAYER OPTION) IF NOT ADDED TO 40-MAN ROSTER BY 10-15-06: * not assigned or active at this time Hugo Castellanos, RHP (AAA) Gary Cates, IF-OF (DL - AA) Wilton Chavez, RHP (AAA) Buck Coats, IF-OF (AAA) Jeff Deardorff, OF-1B (AAA) Brandon Emanuel, RHP (AAA) * Cristian Gonzalez, RHP (RESTRICTED LIST) Nic Jackson (DL -AA) Casey Kopitzke, C (AAA) Albenis Machado, SS (AA) Luis Montanez, OF (AAA) Augie Ojeda, INF (AAA) Carlos Perez, LHP (Daytona) Carmen Pignatiello, LHP (AA) Michael Restovich, OF (AAA) Brandon Sing, 1B (AA) Jon-Mark Sprowl, C-1B (AA) Mac Suzuki, RHP (AAA) Carlos Vasquez, LHP (AA) Les Walrond, LHP (AAA) Aron Weston, OF (AA) - ELIGIBLE FOR 2006 RULE 5 DRAFT IF NOT ADDED TO 40-MAN ROSTER BY 11-20-06: * not active and/or not assigned to a minor league club at this time Thomas Atlee, RHP (AA) Federico Baez, RHP (AA ñ 6Y MLFA after 2007) Justin Berg, RHP (Daytona) Oscar Bernard, RHP (Mesa - 6Y MLFA after 2007) Ryan Bicondoa, RHP (Daytona) Todd Blackford, RHP (Peoria) * Chadd Blasko, RHP Jerry Blevins, LHP (Boise) Bobby Brownlie, RHP (AA) Edward Campusano, LHP (AA) * Jose Caridad, RHP Rocky Cherry, RHP (DL - AAA) Robinson Chirinos, 2B (Peoria - 6Y MLFA after 2007) Matt Ciaramella, OF (Daytona) Matt Craig, 1B (Daytona) Darin Downs, LHP (Boise) Mike Fontenot, 2B (AAA) Jake Fox, C (AA) Alfredo Francisco, RHP (Boise) Sam Fuld, OF (DL - Daytona) Alberto Garcia, 1B-OF (Peoria) * Lee Gwaltney, RHP * Luke Hagerty, LHP Ryan Harvey, OF (Daytona) Lincoln Holdzkom, RHP (AA) Micah Hoffpauir, 1B (AAA) Jesse Hoorelbeke, 1B (AAA) Jonathan Hunton, RHP (Daytona) Fabian Jimenez-Angulo, LHP (Peoria) Scott Koerber, LHP (Peoria) Tim Layden, LHP (Daytona) Richard Lewis, 2B (AA - 6Y MLFA after 2007) * Dary Maria, RHP J. R. Mathes, LHP (AA) * Zach McCormack, LHP Casey McGehee, 3B (AAA) Adalberto Mendez, RHP (AA) Ryan Norwood, 1B (Peoria) Ryan O'Malley, LHP (AAA) Isaac Pavlik, LHP (AA) Leonel Perez, RHP (Mesa) Billy Petrick, RHP (DL - Daytona) Jose Pina, RHP (Boise) Elvin Puello, 3B (Boise) * Robert Ransom, RHP Clay Rapada, LHP (AAA) Tony Richie, C (AA) Alan Rick, C (Daytona) Carlos Rojas, SS (AA - 6Y MLFA after 2007) Issmael Salas, INF (Daytona - 6Y MLFA after 2007) Joel Santo, RHP (Peoria) Paul Schappert, LHP (Daytona) Chris Shaver, LHP (AA) Andy Shipman, RHP (AAA) Jemel Spearman, IF-OF (Daytona) Nate Spears, 2B (Daytona) Jesus Valdez, OF (Peoria) Chris Walker, OF (AA) Randy Wells, RHP (AAA) Olin Wick, C (Peoria) Jesus Yepez, LHP (Peoria) NOTE: Although they were selected in the 2004 Rule 4 (June) Draft, Jeff Culpepper, Jesse Estrada, Grant Johnson, and Eric Patterson will not be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft until after the 2007 season because the first contracts they signed were for the 2005 season. Also, if Sam Fuld signed a 2005 contract in July 2004 after he was selected by the Cubs in the June Draft (due to a broken wrist, Fuld did not play baseball in 2004 after he signed with the Cubs), then he will NOT be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time until after the 2007 season. --- 1st TIME ELIGIBLE FOR RULE 5 DRAFT POST-2007 (TOP 10 AS OF NOW): 1. Donald Veal, LHP 2. Eric Patterson, 2B 3. Sean Gallagher, RHP 4. Mitch Atkins, RHP 5. Mark Reed, C 6. Yusuf Carter, OF 7. Jake Muyco, C 8.. Matt Avery, RHP 9. Grant Johnson, RHP 10. Jeff Culpepper, OF

The Real Neal: "You're argument was, "All managers do it, therefore you shouldn't hold it agaisnt Dusty." That is your problem, you don't know what my argument was. I stated what it was and you, for whatever reason, want to SPIN it to something else. Sorry man....

Have we become so jaded that we can't even see that a healthy Wade Miller would be an asset next year. He has a lot of time to regain velocity. He's a top pitcher if healthy.

I didn't mean shut Eyre & Howry completely down, just limiting them to one or two appearances per week instead of 5 or 6 like they are enduring now in a hopeless cause. BTW, maybe someone posted this already but I've heard that Prior is considering playing winter ball this off-season...somehow I don't see that happening.

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.