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

How about we talk some baseball?

Unfortunately there's not that much to talk about as the deals are drying up. At some point Barry Zito and the rest of the free agent pitchers will sign and the Pirates will scrape off a player or two that's left since they're required to actually field a team, but the Cubs look pretty much done for the offseason. The only real Cubs news is that Jason Marquis is taking his physical today and the deal is about to be finalized for the 3/21 that was talked about. It certainly sounds better than the 3/24 that Miguel Batista just got from the Seattle Mariners, so let's hope Marquis and Larry work well together.  Jerry Crasnick took a look at next year's free agent crop and puts the odds of Z staying put at 50/50. Here's a quote from Jimbo:
"We certainly have interest in keeping Carlos in Chicago," Cubs GM Jim Hendry said. "That's always been something he's expressed to me that he wants to do. We'll sit down and have conversations with his representatives before and during spring training, and pursue it with our normal diligence."
I think the odds are 50/50 that Crasnick is on crack because for all the Hendry hatred out there, he's still batting 1.000 at keeping the players he wants. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday and just bear with us during the changeover. We'll fix this up in no time. And yes, parachat will be back by spring training, rest assured.

Comments

Not really news but I read this in the AP article about Marquis’ physical today… I didn't know the part about Maddux’s recommendation: “But the Cubs hope pitching coach Larry Rothschild can help Marquis regain the form he had in Atlanta. The two met after the World Series on the recommendation of Greg Maddux, who pitched with Marquis in Atlanta and was with the Cubs for 2 1/2 seasons before being traded to Los Angeles last July. �? I would think Marquis would be an excellent litmus test of Rothschild’s coaching ability.

A Greg Maddux referall must be worth something. Zambrano's contract will be taken care of at ST.

This new web editing system is going to take some real getting used to. ugh. Z will stay a cub. I thought Rothschild had already failed all tests given...

Looks like most of the interface bugs are getting worked out. but you gotta keep us Mac users happy as we are taking over the world sooner or later ... see the Safari screenshot here. Would also like to have the ability to preview before posting a comment. Now to baseball: I don't understand the venom towards Rothschild in some circles. It is hardly his fault that Prior and Wood are injured all the time.

I'm with kjk on Rothschild. He was regarded as one of the better pitching coaches in the business before Wood/Prior imploded, and I'm not sure how either injury was his responsibility. Meanwhile, Zambrano has steadily improved, Rusch and Clement both had some of their best years under Roths, and several nice arms have developer in the 'pen. You can't blame him for Wood/Prior without also giving him credit for the success stories.

Though I should probably make clear that I think the importance of an MLB level pitching coach is generally overestimated. Most of the real "teaching" is done by the time the player gets to that level.

"A Greg Maddux referall must be worth something." yeah, you get a free small bag of fries with your order at any local mcdonalds if you say "greg sent me".

As last season ended, I said that Hendry had to do 5 things to make the Cubs competitive in 2007: 1. Hire a manager 2. Resign Ramirez 3. Get a big bat 4. Get a #2 starter 5. Get a #3 starter Manager, Ramirez, big bat--check, check, check. I think rather than a #2 and a #3, he got a #3 (Lilly) and a #4 (Marquis). The key numbers to Hendry, though, were 32/32/25/32 (Lilly's starts over the last four years), and 32/33/33 (Marquis' starts over the last three years). With a #2 and a #3, the Cubs would be favored to roll in the weakest division in MLB. As it is, the Cubs will be competitive. It seems to me that Hendry is looking for the additional production from small improvements from Lilly, Hill, and Marquis, or from a return to form by Prior. Put the 2003 version of Prior in as a #2, and this team runs away from the rest of the division. Not saying it will happen, saying what I think Hendry sees as one potential outcome. Hendry has put his team in a place to be competitive for the division, given good health of his best players (Z, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano). For most teams not named the Yankees, that seems a good goal going into the season. I agree to a degree with MannyT that he might have been able to do a little more. He's spent a lot of money, why not spend some more, or convert the quantity of pitchers they have into one more quality guy, and stack the deck in the Cubs favor. One More Impact Player.

" I agree to a degree with MannyT that he might have been able to do a little more" Outside of Schmidt who else was there to get? I believe he still has a trade to make between now and March.

Just getting rid of the "comment by" was a big improvement as far as I am concerned. Good job guys. I heard on the Score a few days ago that Hendry supposedly feels Pie is right on the cusp of being ready and that makes Hendry not very interested in even adding someone like Lofton (I know he went to Texas). Then they said that Hendry might try and sign or trade for a good glove for CF as insurance if Pie isn't ready in the spring, but that seems more like something he would do close to or during spring training. However, it would probably be smart to bring in a capable centerfielder anyway because Pie could play well for a month and go into a prolonged tank, you never know with a rookie and it could be good to have someone else around to keep some pressure off of him. What do you guys think? Someone a week or two ago suggested Jeff Davanon in a possible trade with Arizona, which would be a great move, but Hendry doesn't seem to like guys who work the count and prefers sluggers. And that leads me to my final point... John Dewann was on the Score today and had an interesting stat...no team in the history of MLB has finished last in fewest walks by hitters and also won the World Series. He said last year the Cubs were last in walks and the improvements this offseason are Soriano, a guy who never walks, and Derosa, another guy who never walks. It's going to be a frustrating year with the typical peaks and valleys on offense. When everyone is clicking we'll score 6-7-8 runs or more for a long streak and then go right back to being shutout twice a week. Why doesn't Hendry ever learn on this stuff?

From Espn.com Jerry Crasncik- "Although Ichiro is on board with moving to center field next year" Ooooh! Mid 2007 Scenerio-Pie tearing it up in AAA, Mariners out of it. Pie for Ichiro?

I love Ichiro but he's the type of hitter that will not age well. I don't know how many more years he has in him playing at this level, maybe 5, 2, 1, who knows. But single/double hitters who hit for average and have high OBP just from high contact but few walks lose their value as their bats slow down with age. Those guys turn into .275-.285 hitters with .310 obp, and then they aren't very valuable. I'd love to have him in his prime, but someone with a good eye doesn't lose their knowledge of the strike zone as they age, if anything it gets better. That is something whoever signs Ichiro in a year when he is a free agent needs to keep in mind.

Rick Kranitz named B.A. "coach of the year"...no, B.A. doesnt hand out awards that will get front page on ESPN, but they are a group that not only cares about baseball, but actually goes out to research/debate and view in person what they care about.

kranitz is an ex-cubs minor league coaching farmhand for a couple decades. he was the marlins' pitching coach this year.

Just having Derrek Lee over Neifi/Hairston will take us out of the last spot, although we'll still be near the bottom. We'll see how much of a difference a hitting coach can make with a different philosophy. It also remains to be seen if Soriano has transformed his game a bit...

Lee walks >>> than Neifi/Hairston/whoever else played for him walks Soriano walks 2006 >>> Soriano walks career Gerald Perry seems to preach patience. Is a chart necessary? and they'll still be near the bottom, but doubtful they'll be last in walks.

gotcha...when you said "the last spot" i was assuming the team's record, not the walks thing.

kjk — December 19, 2006 @ 4:23 pm Looks like most of the interface bugs are getting worked out. but you gotta keep us Mac users happy as we are taking over the world sooner or later … see the Safari screenshot here. Would also like to have the ability to preview before posting a comment. That must be your computer, cause mine (Safari, Mac OSX) looks fine. And by fine I mean how they intend for it to look as I don't like how it looks Now to baseball: I don’t understand the venom towards Rothschild in some circles. It is hardly his fault that Prior and Wood are injured all the time. Perhaps he could be spotting mechanical flaws that could be saving them from injury. Just sayin... "Pie for Ichiro?" count me out on that one

Chad: That must be your computer, cause mine (Safari, Mac OSX) looks fine. And by fine I mean how they intend for it to look as I don’t like how it looks Interesting... it looks good now ... Perhaps he could be spotting mechanical flaws that could be saving them from injury. Just sayin… Maaaaybe you could make that argument with Prior, but as for Wood, it soulds like people have been preaching to him about his mechanical flaws for years, and he chose to do nothing about it.

wood's "mechanical flaw" isnt even major and i can more than a few guys who step across their release even worse than wood who arent changing anything. a flaw isnt helping anything, but a lotta guys get away with it well into their 30s and even through their entire career. a lotta people are still trying to figure out how d.willis is still in one piece.

please forgive me if ive missed this, but can i assume then that JJ is staying put?

just going by what ive read it seems JJ is being shopped, but either hendry is waiting on a hell of a deal or hendry refuses to shift JJ just for the sake of doing it. a c.floyd signing may force the issue. it seems likely he won't be with the cubs come march, though nothing is close enough to say its 100%.

the one thing that bugs me more than any so-and-so got how much for how long is this whole JJ being shopped baloney. i think its possible that such baloney about is he going, whos the stop-gap, will pie be ready, is ultimately going to pressure pie himself to show them the money at ST. i think itd be best to let him relax and have fun like a young man with a bright future should. let him play with "no mind" like they say in last samurai instead of sweat all the eyes that will be on him. ill sleep easier once this is all over, and sleep peacefully if they can quit this nonsense with a "stop-gap" when we dont even friggin need one. and if he goes, then shame on jim and good luck to JJ finding some stones with his next club. IMO

i would be more than happy to see JJ play CF next year for the cubs unless they get a good return on him. while its unfair to have JJ be a bench option like floyd would be used...getting rid of JJ to sign floyd and getting nothing worth having in return for JJ wouldnt be too slick, imo.

The Cubs need Adam Dunn, Fonzie in CF, and Matt Murton in RF. Cliff Floyd as 4th OF. Trade Pie, he doesn't look so hot to me. Jock, who cares. 1. Soriano 2. Murton 3. Lee 4. Ramirez 5. Dunn 6. Barrett 7. DeRosa 8. Izturis What the hell is wrong with that lineup? 4 guys that will hit 40 HRs, and two others likely to hit 20. I'll take that.

murton in RF is kinda scarey, too...a backup is one thing, but his routes in LF can get weird enough...not to mention his arm isn't close to RF-strong. dunn's pretty much a 1st baseman at this point anyway...he's really clumbsy in LF for a guy who's not exactly statue-slow. btw, those into murton batting 2nd better pray for a few steals and singles-doubles power from him to break there....or the utter failure of derosa/izturis in spring.

Did Crasnick say why he thinks the Cubs have only a 50-50 chance on keeping Z? I would guess the chances are actually 90-10. Why? The Cubs have shown that they are willing to show stars the money. So unless Z ends up having a personality conflict with Lou, I would guess Z is a lock to re-sign with the team.

"Looks like most of the interface bugs are getting worked out. but you gotta keep us Mac users happy as we are taking over the world sooner or later … see the Safari screenshot here. Would also like to have the ability to preview before posting a comment." hey ken, im on a mac too, but i use firefox2 and the site looks great! :D

i have zero fears at all that Z will walk away from the Cubs. For all of Hendry's flaws he has never lost a FA he wanted to keep and Z is a keeper in any GM's book.

hey ken, im on a mac too, but i use firefox2 and the site looks great! -- 10Man Hey, partner! For some reason with Safari, I need to reload a couple of times before that grey stuff goes away. No problems with FireFox for me either. If Z's main priority is a ring, he may have doubts about signing long-term. If it's money, I have more faith something will be worked out. Did you ever figure out our CubsFun login problems? I can't even see the comments, let alone make a post! :)

I think Crasnick's odds thing was more about whether or not the listed players would sign this winter and skip free agency all together like Wells did. He wasn't necessarily saying it's 50/50 that Z will leave, but it's 50/50 whether or not he's willing to sign a deal prior to being a free agent.

If Murton bats second behind Soriano next year, we'll can schedule revisiting the debate whether there's any merit to calling someone an "RBI guy" next year at this time. Not that I want to start a flame war here, but I think he'll be a perfect candidate for showing how RBIs are so dependent on the performance of other players.

For the record, I have Windows and the MVN webmaster has a Mac.

An outfield of Dunn, Soriano, and Murton could only be given true justice if the Cubs took the field to the tune of "Yakety Sax" every inning. Home runs are nice. Scoring runs is typically the goal. But so is catching and throwing. Dunn and Murton can't find their way out of a paper bag out there. Dunn more so than the Ginger, but still. What we should do is trade Murton for Manny, so we have both Dunn and Manny in the same outfield. That would be the most hilarious outfield combination in baseball history.

ERIC: "The Cubs need Adam Dunn..." You can't be that "GREAT" if you believe this. UGH!

I have no doubt either about Z. Hendry knows he is next in line and will get it done. I can't figure this OF picture out yet though. If we do trade Jones will it be for prospects or something we can use this year? Phil Rogers quoted a NLC manager as saying Wood could be a monster in the ninth. I agree and if he does with Howry and Eyre setting him up does that mean Dempster could too be traded? Even if a team likes him as a starter with the market these days he would have some value.

It looks like in this upgrade we lost the crunch "Adam Dunn" function. Will that come back with parachat and the preview button?

It sure is getting scary here. We already have a very shaky defensive outfield and then we read suggestions that we add Dunn to the mix. We'd need to add a 4th outfielder like they have in slow-pitch if we do that. That way we could catch all of the short popups that Dunn can't get to and also to relay all of JJ's and Murton's throws.

LF defense is SO overrated. I'll take the 40 HR, 390 OBP, and 900 OPS, thanks. I don't recall Kingman, or Moises, or Oh Henry, or even Billy Williams as far as that goes being anything less than awful with the glove. Big deal. Each of them could wave the stick, too. Reds won't trade Dunn, and Cubs won't pursue him--but it doesn't mean the Cubs wouldn't be a helluva lot better team with him.

Murton's defensive problems are hugely overblown as well. He's nowhere near being a defensive liability... average defense at worst.

murton's arm is his liability defensively, but as far as LF'rs go...he's not horrible. he doesnt give up on stuff...no one can call him lazy out there. he just gets a "deer in the headlights" thing going on sometimes when he's starting his route.

hey for get dunn, if we're going to discuss OF combos that wont ever happen, how about soriano, murton, and mickey mantle? he switch hits, and can play right and center! sure he's dead, and hendy isnt a necromancer, but it doesn't mean teh Cubs wouldn't be a helluva lot better team with him.

murton is getting more confident out there, though...in 05 he looked straight up lost out there. early in 06 he was patrolling out there like a pro, but for some reason it broke down a bit as the season went on.

BTW, is LF the easiest position? I assume it is when guys like Duncan and Dunn play LF. I'd be curious to see someone rank the positions by difficulty. Not that it would be all that useful, but it would be interesting... I would guess... LF, 1B, 2B, CF, RF, 3B, SS, C

shouldnt rios from TOR be the new TCR dreambook item, anyway? hell, TOR even has room for j.jones. sure, there's been no indication of talks between the clubs, but hey, that's prime rumor material there! hehe

"early in 06 he was patrolling out there like a pro, but for some reason it broke down a bit as the season went on." Does the "glove hand only" catching technique bother you at all?

"...even Billy Williams as far as that goes being anything less than awful with the glove." Really? Billy Williams anything less than awful with the glove? Did you see him play? I did. Many times. He kicked ass over any of the players you mentioned defensively. Good luck with Dunn on your fantasy team this year. Let us know how he works out for you.

Does the “glove hand only�? catching technique bother you at all? Rickey Henderson says it doesn't bother Rickey Hendrerson, so it shouldn't bother you.

Murton doesn't have a cannon, but he can put some juice on it when he wants. Most importantly, he's pretty accurate and knows when to hit the cutoff man. His defense is average at worst.

murton has tons of upside. got a high ceiling. he's ready to go the next level. got an extra gear he does. upside galore im telling you.

murton is a hell of a nice gamble to pencil into the lineup. if the cubs actually snag a happy-to-play-bench c.floyd as extected there's even less to worry about. that and murton is gonna cost next to nothing the next 2 years, minimum, and gonna be pretty cheap for 3-4.

man i almost forgot the value that he brings to the table. we should sign that guy! somebody get me murtons agents phone number.....what? hes already on our team? SWEET!

Adam Dunn=DH. Any guy who gets a standing ovation for catching a routine flyball has no business playing in the OF. I bet the Reds could find a blind guy to play a better LF if they convinced MLB to use one of those beeping balls. He actually makes the orange guy look like Willie Mays. In 3 years when Dunn hits 30 y/o, he'll be 300lbs+. I would fear for the structural integrity of all brink walls in his range, should he play in Wrigley.....oh wait, nevermind, the goon probably can't make it there. And think of the poor bullpen guys, imagine having this gigantic bumbling fool running your way. Keep him in Cincy, so we have more opportunities to mock his coordination, and marvel his amazing K rate and 500ft bombs. $7.5M in 06 $10.5M in 07 $13M club option in 08 with a $500k buyout. Murton $400k in 07!

kjk, Chad, any other Mac users...just want to plug Firefox, finally caved and switched to the Mac version a couple of weeks ago. Now I feel like a fool for waiting so long. Also glad to see no one's worried about Z. No way Hendry spends the way he does this offseason if it's going to cost him the ONE guy who worked out for us. Third, not just upside on Murton. Last three months of the season last year: OPS's of .861, .925, and .969., I'll let a couple guys score from first on singles to left if he can continue to approach those numbers.

Heh, shoulda read the entire thread before posting. Looks like Firefox already got it's plug. :x (do we have that one?)

Yeah, lumping Billy Williams with Kingman, Rodriguez and Alou is not right. He wasn't great but good Lord, those three suck. Kingman, like Dunn, was actually in physical danger out there. Dunn needs to get to the American League ASAP and his mitt needs to be shredded, burned and buried in an abandoned salt mine in Utah. And then the salt mine needs to be filled with nuclear waste so no one even considers going there and finding even an atom of evidence that Dunn was once allowed to play defense in the major leagues.

new marquis story up at ye olde tribune...hendry explaining why he paid that much, citing market demand and price etc. one blurb from marquis worth noting...a rehash of things said, but straight from his mouth... --- "I have something to prove to myself and the city of Chicago, and that's about it," he said. "I know what I'm capable of doing, and the Cubs know what I'm capable of doing. There's a big upside. Being around Larry those couple of sessions made a big difference. We got on the same page, and I like his ideas. It can be a real positive experience over the next three years."

jackstraw, 10man, and kjk all in the same thread...the 3 wise men from afar. a new format brings back the alumni. not sure which impact position player could be brought in that would: not block pie and/or put soriano back at 2b and/or cost murton or barrett. i rather hope hendry musters up his courage and his cash and swaps a couple of his bullpen logjam crowd for another starter. or, completely goes criminally insane and makes the big push for zito. the yankees have proven for 6 years running that the murderes row lineup is not the answer; i'd rather have 7 starters for only 5 slots and let them fight it out in arizona. history would say the health of all pitchers won't be there for an entire season anyhow.

z/lilly/marquis a given. as of now there are 3 guys fighting for the last 2 slots considered front runners...prior/r.hill/w.miller. in the background, if not traded, are guys like a.guzman and s.marshall. other dark-horses like ryu/marmol/etc. in the mix, too. unless they trade away rich hill for some reason its doubtful they'd be looking in any way for another starter. and yeah...im leaving rusch outta all this.

well, r.hill or prior, i guess...either way i dont see hendry giving up on either of these guys given the current and upcoming market for starters and their crazy pricetags. not much of an indication of this slowing down next year.

its doubtful the CF'r of the cubs future will come from the FA market unless hendry loses his f'n mind and signs s.finley. some have mentioned erstad, but i believe his CF days are pretty much gone with his health. dont think there's much left outside of that besides chancing on j.burnitz or b.williams. cubs have excess pen and supposedly they have a CF situation unless j.jones decides the distractions last year don't bother him enough to want to leave and hendry still wants him around...doesnt seem like jones is staying, though. whatever comes in to play CF on the absence on jones, i hope he can at least come close to matching his production or has some comparable/favorable tradeoff.

Interesting OP-Ed from the Boston Herald on R.Sox philosophy: "To build a championship team, you start with a pitching staff made up of young power arms. With Josh Beckett [stats], Jonathan Papelbon [stats] and Matsuzaka, the Red Sox now have three 26-year-old right-handers who have the potential to win the Cy Young. None of the three is eligible for free agency until after the 2010 season." They look at 86 wins as an embarrassment! Shows where the Cub org is currently at, eh? http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=172802

I’d be curious to see someone rank the positions by difficulty. Bill James did this 20 years ago. He called it the "defensive spectrum." Here it is: 1B, LF, RF, 3B, CF, 2B, SS, C, P. Players tend to slide left on the spectrum (except for pitchers, of course), rarely to the right. Also players on the right of the spectrum tend to be worse hitters. There has only been one change in the spectrum: in the late 1800s and early 1900s, 3B was considered more difficult than 2B, because there were few double plays. So early 2Bs tend to be strong hitters but mediocre glove men (think Rogers Hornsby, probably the last of the kind), while today that is the 3B profile.

Cubby: "please forgive me if ive missed this, but can i assume then that JJ is staying put?" Looks like JJ is taking over the Todd Walker role from last year. Clearly Hendry wants him traded, but either wants too much or nobody wants him.

BJS: "Murton’s defensive problems are hugely overblown " Some people said the same thing about Dubois and Cedeno. Now I don't think he is as bad as Dubois, he is average at best.

What kind of arm did Tony Gwynn have in RF for the Padres? I know he won some GG's, but I don't remember him being talked about with Ellis Valentine and Dawson. Kerry Wood is Dr. If. If he's healthy, If his head is on straight, If he can pitch back to back games, If he can pitch every 5th day... I will be shocked if he appears in more than 25 games in 2007.

Scott de B.: Here it is: 1B, LF, RF, 3B, CF, 2B, SS, C, P. Players tend to slide left on the spectrum (except for pitchers, of course), rarely to the right. Also players on the right of the spectrum tend to be worse hitters. Interesting... Steve Stone contends CF is an easier position than RF.

The E-Man: The Boston Herald: “To build a championship team, you start with a pitching staff made up of young power arms. I agree with this 100%. I think the Cub's should have gone after one of the big arms instead of Soriano. Of course their offense was bad in '06, too, so I guess it won't hurt.

Interesting… Steve Stone contends CF is an easier position than RF. There are a lot of people who would say this, because you can get a better read on a ball and you don't have to deal with the corners/bullpens in LF/RF. But it also requires more speed bceause you have more ground to cover.

Ryno: Yeah, man. Its just this team had holes in like half-of the roster! Oy! The FA pitching market, as we are all seeing is just TERRIBLE. I am not convinced that the new teams of Schmidt and Zito are going to be that pleased with the results...Did you see Zito in the Playoffs? Yuch. As Cubs fans, hope is what keeps us alive. Let's "hope" that our pitching staff will perform well enough to keep us in many ballgames this year. Agreed? I would se no reason why, at the trade deadline, if something really is juicy available, Hendry would go after it if we're seriously in the hunt.

Link?

"Some people said the same thing about Dubois and Cedeno. Now I don’t think he is as bad as Dubois, he is average at best." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I don't know what Cedeno has to do with anything, but Murton's an all-world defender compared to Dubois.

In case I did not do this correctly, it's in the most recent edition of the Chicago Tribune.

Great, thanks. Here's hoping it's not a straight Murton/Floyd platoon -- that would be a terrible waste of Murton's talent.

Eric "the great" Regarding #26 - "Adam Dunn is the solution to LF" - you are on crack. The last thing we need is another non contact, all or nothing hitter. we already have plenty of power on the team. if you look at good playoff teams, they have pieces that mesh together. plus his defense is attrocious. not to say he's not a good player - but he surely would not make the cubs a better team, especially for the cost to get him. merry christmas.

Laugh of the day- I don't know if anyone else has seen the video of the German kid destroying his computer keyboard while screaming at his screen. Turns out he was a Cubs fan- http://64.111.216.59/post.phtml?pk=1796 If you thought Rob G was mad about Marquis signing. Amazingly a Cardinal fan did this on his Commadore 64.

The German kid was trying to load a FPS he is complaining about loading screens through almost the whole thing.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • crunch (view)

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • crunch (view)

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

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

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

  • 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.