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40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

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
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
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 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Game 46 Recap: Cubs 2, Astros 4

Cheap Salami

W - Sampson (3-3), cheap homers

L - Dempster (5-2), real homers

S - Valverde (13)

Box Score, Photos

Things to Take from This Game

1. A Lamer Grand Slam Never Was Seen

The entirety of the Astros scoring came in the fourth, when Pence lined an opposite field grand slam home run into the first row in right field. I didn't catch the dimensions, but it couldn't have been 350 feet. It came in response to Aramis hitting a mammoth 2-run home run in the top half of the inning. If style points on home runs counted, the Cubs would have won this game.

2. Dempster, Sampson, Ascanio

If you ignore the grand slam, and the consistently getting behind hitters, Dempster had a pretty decent outing. If you ignore the fact that he won the game, gave up 2 ER in 6.2 and only walked one, Sampson looked very pedestrian. Jose Ascanio also made his debut for the Cubs, and looked ok. One of the two walks was intentional, one of the two hits was a blooper on a nice pitch.

3. Lee and Ramirez play see-saw with Soriano

How's that for a visual aid? A few days after all the talk was about how hot Soriano was while Ramirez and Lee were taking 0-fers, and now Soriano and Theriot go 0-8 while Lee and Ramirez go 5-8.

4. Enron/Minute-Maid/NASA Presents the Houston Astros of Texas Field is still stupid.

Really. It's like Baseball meets the fifth course on Excitebike.

 

The architectural criticism, game details, and the relentless pursuit of perfection (isn't that an auto slogan?) below...

 

Game Recap

 

Inning 1 - Top

  • First pitch of the ballgame is about three feet over and five feet behind Soriano's head. The Astros' broadcasters on my local Fox Sports Net broadcast believe it was intentional. But it had such a bloopy arch on it, I wonder if it didn't just slip. Or if it was deliberate, it was deliberately let up on.
  • Soriano then grounds to third.
  • Theriot grounds to Tejada
  • Lee dumps a liner into center for a base hit. Announcers say LouPa is thinking of resting Lee tomorrow, and Lee's lobbying against it.
  • Ahhhhhh and this game is on WGN too. Woo, I can switch.
  • Full count to Ramirez.
  • Ramirez also dumps a liner into center. Bourn flubs the bounce a little bit. Lee had held up at second (odd) but then advanced to third on the bobble. 1st and 3rd
  • Fukudome rolls out to second.

Inning 1 - Bottom

  • Bourn swings over some breaking pitch for strike 3. Not even close.
  • Matsui rolls one through the right side hole for a single.
  • Tejada with the lamest acting effort of all time, taking a full swing, then waving the bat back into a check-swing position and holding it there. Quit embarassing yourself and retire already, Tejada.
  • Tejada flies to Edmonds. They deserve each other.
  • Berkman lines one to right, Matsui to third.. 1 and 3 with two outs, just like Cubs had in the top of the first.
  • Lee chops one to Theriot, easy force at second.

Inning 2 - Top

  • Soto lines one just foul of the 315 pole in left.
  • Soto K's swinging
  • Edmonds pops to Blum in foul territory
  • DeRosa grounds to Blum, who makes a nice pick. Berkman with a nice scoop on the low throw, too

Inning 2 - Bottom

  • Lee ranges off of first for a Blum grounder, flips to Dempster.
  • Pence grounds one to DeRosa, another easy out. Dempster seems to have the ground ball machine going.
  • Towles K's swinging at what I'm guessing is a splitter. Dempster looks sharp.

Inning 3 - Top

  • Dempster grounds to third.
  • Soriano K's swinging
  • Full count to Theriot, pops to Pence.
  • Sampson making it look easy, too. Yeesh.

Inning 3 - Bottom

  • Sampson flies to Fukudome
  • I don't know why, but the last few games Dempster's started I've just become totaly transfixed by that weird grabbing thing he does in his glove, as he winds up. Never bothered me before. Now I can't stop staring
  • Bourn with a pop to shallow center, DeRosa goes and gets it.
  • 1-2 count, and Dempster drops in a beautiful curve that Matsui and C.B. Bucknor just stare at. Called a ball. Yeargh.
  • But he rolls out to DeRosa, anyway.

Inning 4 - Top

  • Lee pulls one down the left field line for a double.
  • Aramis Ramirez hit one way, way out to.. well, no one quite knows where. Carlos Lee just turned around to watch it, but it hit, well, something, in that travesty of a left field wall/bleachers/pavilion/faux train-yard/crapfest, and richochetted back onto the field. In any case, a two-run homer.
  • Soto hits one 415 feet to the warning track in front of that speedbump/enormous dirt clod/prank/hill/crapfest in center. Out.
  • Sampson blows a 90 mph fastball by Edmonds.

Inning 4 - Bottom

  • Tejada hits one off of some.... oh christ, what is that, a banner? Tejada hits it off of a banner in the left field travesty, for a double. Just blow up the ballpark already.
  • Berkman walks.
  • Lee flies to Edmonds, who makes a very nice throw that might have gotten Tejada as he ran for third, except it hit him in the thigh, maybe, as he started his head-first slide. Very nice throw.
  • Berkman advanced to second on it, making it a throwing error. Ouch. 2 and 3, one out for Blum
  • Blum walks. Loaded for Pence
  • Gets behind 2-0 to Pence. Hadn't noticed, but Len says he's throwing first-pitch strikes only a third of the time tonight
  • Crowd gets into it
  • Pence hits one into the first row of seats in right. A pretty cheap grand slam. 4-2
  • Towles bounces back to Dempster.
  • and Sampson chops one into the hole, Theriot just gets him at first

Inning 5 - Top

  • DeRosa singles to left
  • and Dempster bunts him over. 7th sacrifice this year, already, says Len
  • Soriano with a check-swing K.
  • Theriot bounces one to Blum, who makes another nice backhand scoop at third. Out at first

Inning 5 - Bottom

  • Bourn lines to Fukudome
  • Matsui K's swinging at an offspeed pitch.
  • Tejada with a slow roller to Theriot, who makes a nice play on it to get him at first.

Inning 6 - Top

  • Lee bounces back to Sampson
  • Ramirez pops out to Tejeada
  • Fukudome battles, but grounds to shortstop. Sampson rolls on...

Inning 6 - Bottom

  • Berkman K's swinging, looks bad in the process. Neener.
  • 0-2 to Lee
  • Len and Bob get very involved in the Gold Lamme Thong discussion
  • Lee K's swinging. Dempster has settled back down quite nicely.
  • I'm glad that I don't know how to spell "Lamme"
  • Blum singles to right.
  • Pence pulls one through the hole into left for another single.
  • And Towles flies to right.

Inning 7 - Top

  • Soto rolls one through the left side hole for a single
  • aaaaannnnnnnd Edmonds rolls into an easy 4-6-3. Routine.
  • DeRosa lines one off of the Green Monster Knock-off Immitation crapfest in left, and Lee plays the richochette well, keeping DeRosa to a single.
  • Hoffpauir hits for Demptser
  • Hoffpauir gets the first Cubs walk. Sampson wasn't anywhere near the plate.
  • Double switch - Ausmus in for Towles, and Brocail for Sampson
  • 2 on, 2 out for Soriano
  • Soriano K's swinging at a fastball. Guess who suddenly is slumping, again.

Inning 7 - Bottom

  • Ascenio makes his debut for the Cubs.
  • Nice moving fastball gets in on Ausmus, but he bloops it into right for a single.
  • Bourn bunts back to Ascanio, out at first, Ausmus advances.
  • Matsui flies to Soriano in straight-away left.
  • Tejada walks on five pitches, a very low and inside fastball. First and Second for Berkman.
  • Changeup thrown to Berkman for strike one.
  • Berkman K's swinging, and for the second time tonight loses his bat in the process. This one sails towards Carlos Lee in the on deck circle, who sort of wiggles out of the way.
    • Is it possible for Carlos Lee to wiggle?
  • Other than a bloop hit to Ausmus and a walk, a nice debut.

Inning 8 - Top

  • Theriot flies out to right
  • Lee singles to left
  • Ramirez takes a huge rip at an inside fastball from Brocail, comes up empty.
  • Ramirez lines one to deep right-center. Bourn tracks it down just to the right of that monstrosity of a hill. Lee has rounded second, and has to get all the way back to first.
  • Fukudome with a lazy fly down the left field foul line. Easy out, inning over

Inning 8 - Bottom

  • Carlos Lee hits what looks like it could be trouble, but winds up being a lazy fly to left center, Edmonds gets it
  • Blum hits a liner to "deep" right, and Fukudome makes a nice running, jumping catch on the warning track. Would have been a double.
  • Ascenio throws a fastball to pence that starts inside, tails back over the plate, and Pence hits a shot that lands maybe four feet in front of the flag pole on that lump travesty to baseball that defiles center field. No, not Edmonds, he goes and picks it up quickly, keeping Pence to a double.
  • Erstad pinch "hits" for Brocail. LOL
  • and is intentionally walked...
  • ... in order to face someone even less threatening than Erstad, Brad Ausmus
  • who grounds into the 4-6 force

Inning 9 - Top

  • Valverde in to try to nail down the save.
  • Soto with a check swing K on a pitch in the dirt
  • Edmonds works a 3-0 count.
  • four-pitch walk. Very nice.
  • First pitch to DeRosa bounces, kicks up off ausmus, Edmonds to second.
  • Three straight splitters to DeRosa moves the count to 1-2. The last two were wicked.
  • And then the 97 MPH fastball. Grounds out to SS. Valverde is tough.
  • Fontenot up for Ascanio, 2 outs.
  • First pitch swinging, Fontenot pulls one to Matsui's left. No trouble, 4-3 putout. Game over.

Parachat Recap

Inning 1

  • Where Should Soriano Bat?
  • Should We Move On From This Debate? (Yes.)
  • The Revenge of Jason Dubois. (Eh, if the sequel is anything like the first one...)
  • Whip insists he doesn't need my validation. Heh.
  • Is Manny appearing in our Fantasies? (Rob's, evidently. Not mine.)
  • Herve Vilachez.
  • Is Parachat really Twin Peaks? (.sey)
  • Am I too me? (Yes.)
  • Some other sport is having a draft. It involves tall people. And thumbs. Not sure what the thumbs reference is about, but it seems important.

Inning 2

  • More on this strange non-MLB sport.
  • Anger-management.
  • HOF worthy delusions.
  • We fear internet tough guys.
  • Low-information white working class voters. LIWWCVs, for short.
  • Who's volunteering for the firing squads?

Inning 3

  • Tiny American Flags (inc.) (Made in China.)
  • Verlander hasn't stunk it up yet, tonight.
  • Amputating Peavy's arm
  • Amputating Rob's arm.
  • Go back to Europe, Andy.
  • Bluetooth headsets.
    • and Herpies. (They're equally ubiquitous and annoying, methinks)
  • Is Whip a middle aged yuppie? (Dunno.)
  • Noise Assassins.
    • Assassin. Heh.
  • Shooting Chuck Norris out the end. (!?!?!?!)

Inning 4

  • The Military's critical shortage of virus-free porn.
  • What will happen when Rob leaves TCR? (Only Good Can Come Of It.)
  • Noble terms for the anus. (Noble?)
  • Sort of paying attention to the game
  • A round of applause for Piazza
  • Can Carlos trust us to help him cheat on his exam? (No.)
  • The Gay Witchcraft meme doesn't die, it just goes into hibernation while hanging from the ceiling of a cave, waiting to return every 50 years.
  • I get exposed as a fraud.
  • Holocaust Historiography, Pence's Grand Slam, and other depressing things.
  • Who fought Atila?

Inning 5

  • Feces-flinging monkeys taught to plagiarize from wikipedia. What grade do you give them? (F+)
  • Andy wants to know if anyone else has a drooling cat. (No.)
  • Cat insults.
  • Does your cup runneth over? (Yes.)
  • "Hey, now that Kennedy has cancer... when does he pitch his no-hitter?"
    • Send your hate mail to CT Steve.
    • I already sent mine.
    • LOL
  • What are the services like at "The church of man-love"?
  • Don't Jinx the Recap!

Inning 6

  • BEES!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • (bees!)
  • Sura 16 of the Quran is called "the Bee." (I'll take Whip's word for it.)
  • Bob Sura
  • Race and the Democratic primaries. (Can any good come of this?)
  • Cuban cigars
  • Would you sooner vote for a black terrorist, a gay terrorist, or what other sort of terrorist?
    • Monkey terrorists, of course.
  • Pickle Surprise! (No longer surpised. Eh.)
  • The death of pop culture. (As long as it's dead, can we beat it?)
  • Is the Brewer Home Run Slide really a Poop Chute? (Yes)
  • Some guy named Obama. As a LIWWCV, I have no idea WTF anyone is talking about. Somebody give me a ballot.

Inning 7

  • SHOW ME THE QUOTATION!
  • "It's just amazing that people ignore facts" - Mike
  • "an intellectual monster truck rally" - Whip
    • RAWR! VROOM!
  • 'Your political treasure trove is straight from Davey Dumb's locker" - Whip
    • That's it. Whip wins cyberspace.
  • My politician rides a pegasus and yours doesn't. Neener.
  • Welcome to the First Annual Parachat Battles of 2004 Reenactment Society.
    • Hollandsworth or Dubois?
    • Choi or Karros?
    • Clement or Willis?
    • Patterson just needs another year
    • GAY WITCHCRAFT!!!!!!
    • We Need Nomar
    • Do you think MLB has a steroids problem?
  • Mr. Kurtz is still dead. Five recap-points for the nice literary reference.
  • Whip is afraid Liberals are trying to steal our bodily fluids. I'm wishing they would.
  • BEES!
  • BABOONS!
  • Gary Numan frequents strip clubs?
  • It's time for your daily Carlos Stream of Conscience Discussion Suggestion:
    • let's talk about albino americans who like to snort vodka off guy ritchie's hand, while he performs fellatio to 80's one hit wonder gary numan who once sang in a band with TCR reader mister_whipple, a guy who works at a nude/strip bar for a living. crunch, by the way, once gave him a dollar. he fucking earned it.

Inning 8

  • How high is your poll number?
  • At this point, Parachat devolves into a nebulous cloud of toxic gas, suffocating all oxygen-dependent life forms. Here is what a good parachat might have looked like:
    • Implementing a workable plan for World Peace based upon a blend of respecting national sovreignty while recognizing the efficacy of international organizations, collective security and NGOs
    • Evaluating the levels of symbolism in Moby Dick
    • GAY WITCHCRAFT
    • IN YOUR PANTS
  • But no, this wasn't to be... Back to the "real" conversation in artificial space..
  • My cup runneth over.
  • Obvious.
  • Gender identity therapy. (Very effective. Gets a bad rap.)


Inning 9

  • Rally Arabic
  • C.B. Bucknor Is.....
  • C.B. Stands For.....
    • Simultaneous answers that would move this Parachat Rating from a PG-13 to an R
Game Recap record falls to 6-3.
Tags

Comments

Rob... something is causing my browser (Camino, OSX) to freeze. It only occurs when I go to individual posts. Firefox is working perfectly fine though.

Pie now up to .056 -- HR, BB, SB. Nice. Samardzja (sp) gets clobbered again; ERA now over 6.00. Colvin checking in at .233. Seems like both are a long, long way away.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Samardzja (sp) gets clobbered again; ERA now over 6.00. Colvin checking in at .233. Seems like both are a long, long way away. If that's true, then who in the Cubs system isn't?

"It's like Baseball meets the fifth course on Excitebike." best parachat comment that wasnt said in parachat of the night...or ever, maybe...maybe...

I think the Neifi grand slam in St. Louis that stuck in the bottom of the foul pole is the only one I've seen that could challenge Pence's for wimpiest grand slam.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

It wasn't a May game. Piazza was traded on May 15th before the Cubs went back to LA. The game was April 24, 1998. It was the 2nd inning. Wood through a ball to Piazza, followed by a swinging strike, followed by a called strike. The fourth pitch was a grand slam down the right field line. Two starts later, on May 6th, Wood struck out 20.

Minute Maid Park in Houston has to be the worst in baseball. Who's bright idea was it to put a hill and a flag pole in center field? Baseball meets obstacle course. All the field needs is a ferris wheel and a roller coaster to make it a complete carnival. "I went to the county fair and a baseball game broke out..."

anyone else think dempster's outing has any relation to the terrible Buckner and his strike zone? That guy is miserable every time behind the plate.

"Samardzija, who signed a five-year, $10 million deal in '07, got off to a hot start at Double-A Tennessee this year. Tuesday, however, he gave up six runs in five innings to Mississippi in his third consecutive start of allowing six or more runs. Over his last six starts, Samardzija has allowed 27 runs in 251/3 innings for a 9.59 earned-run average, with 26 walks and 17 strikeouts." Cubs brass was hoping to bring him to the MAjors post-AS Game. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-080520-…

I thought this update on some recent ex-Cubs might be interesting to some: After his hot start for the Brewers, Jason Kendall has cooled considerably. He has hit .226 for the month of May dropping his season average to .268. In about two weeks he will have played as many games for the Brewers this year as for the Cubs last year, and his stats are shaping up to be eerily similar. Angel Pagan, hitting over .300 as late as Aprl 23rd for the Mets, succeeded well when starting to begin the season. He had at least one hit in 17 of the 22 games in which he received at least 3 at-bats. Since his playing time has been cut he has struggled. He only has a hit in 2 of the 10 games in which he has just 1 or 2 at bats. He then predictably got injured, bruising his shoulder while falling into the stands. He finds himself on the DL for the 3rd time since 2006 (60-Day DL-Hamstring, 15-Day DL-Colitis, and now 15-Day DL-Bruised Shoulder). In 25 games pitched for the Braves Will Ohman is 1-0 with 7 holds, only 1 blow save, a 2.33 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Left handers are hitting .233 (10/43) off of him. Since coming off of the DL on May 8th, Omar Infante is 8 for 26 (.308) for the Braves. After a stint on the DL, Cliff Floyd is hitting .308 (12 for 39) for the Rays. Buck Coats was 1 for 5 in a brief stint with the Blue Jays this year, and is hitting .288 with AAA since his demotion. Craig Monroe is hitting just .247 for 4 HRs in 85 at-bats with the Twins. The Orioles have a vast collection of ex-Cubs. Steve Trachsel is 2-4 with a 6.75 ERA. Freddie Bynum is hitting .267. Scott Moore was 1 for 8 before being demoted to AAA where he has hit only .187 in 91 at-bats. Alex Cintron hit .288 for AAA and is 4 for 7 since being recalled on May 11th. I don't know the story here, but Rocky Cherry has pitched only 3 innings all year, 2 in AA and 1 in AAA. Jacob Renshaw is 6-2 with a 3.93 ERA for the Orioles High-A team. After hitting just .165 for the Tigers Jacque Jones was released, but recently signed with the Marlins. Neither Mark Prior or Michael Barrett, both injured, have played for the Padres this year. Rob Bowen is hitting .217 as the back-up catcher for the A's. Cesar Izturis is hitting .273 with a .373 OBP as the starting shortstop for the Cardinals. Clay Rapada has a 4.50 ERA in 10 games for the Tigers. Since being picked up by the Phillies and then returned to the Twins, Tim Lahey has a 3.93 ERA in 18 innings for AAA-Rochester.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

[Kendall's] stats are shaping up to be eerily similar. Yea.. except for his ridiculously good CS%. Where the hell did that come from? As for Angel Pagan, I hate to be an "I told you so" kinda' guy, but... I told you so! His OPS has only dropped about 250 points in a month. :)

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Yea.. except for his ridiculously good CS%. Where the hell did that come from? It was widely reported that Jason Kendall turned to his dad, Fred, for help.
"Kendall had trouble throwing out runners (15.3% success rate). But Kendall said he already has starting working on flaws with his father, Fred, a former big-league catcher who now serves as Kansas City's bullpen coach. "It's more footwork than anything else," said Kendall, who was formally introduced at a media session at Miller Park.
Footwork. It was what turned Aramis Ramirez around when we got him from Pittsburgh.

It's practically impossible to sit Soto right now, as almost every ball he hits looks like it has a chance to leave the yard (and he's playing pretty great D as well), but is anyone else concerned Lou might be riding him a little too hard? Hank White only has 25 ABs on the season in 16 games, which means when he plays he's not usually starting the game. I want Soto in the lineup every game too, but I'm a little worried how he's going to hold up for the entire season (and we all know he's not getting a scheduled mid-season break as he'll be starting for the NL in the AS game).

If the AS game were today, Soto would be the most deserving of any player on the Cubs' roster. Here are some stats to back that up (team ranking in parentheses) HR - 9 (2) RBI - 33 (1) BB - 27 (2) BA - .315 (3, although I'm not sure if Ronny qualifies) OBP - .418 (1) SLG - .604 (1) OPS+ - 161 (1) He also leads all NL catchers in OPS, HR, RBI, and SLG. He's a close second to McCann in BA (.321 to .315) and Martin in OBP (.428 to .418). Also, it looks like Torre is riding Martin even harder than Lou is riding Soto. Martin's played in 45 games and has 187 PAs.

I was at the game on Tuesday night to cheer for the Cubs. I thought the Astros manager overemphasized the advantage of a left-handed hitter against a right-handed pitcher by batting Geoff Blum in front of Hunter Pence. Blum is only hitting about 0.210 while Pence is hitting about 0.290. Unfortunately, the Cubs played along with Cecil Cooper’s thinking. Dempster walked Blum to load the bases for Hunter Pence. Pence’s homer was a 330-foot line drive. If Fukudome had been positioned about two steps further back, he might have caught the ball. I don’t see the Astros as much of a challenger to the Cubs. The Astros have holes at three positions: centerfield, third base and catcher. Centerfielder Michael Bourn is a fine defensive player, but a leadoff hitter needs to hit much better than 0.210. Blum has made a career as a utility player. Catcher J.R. Towles is hitting about 0.144. He can’t hit a breaking ball. When Towles left the game in a double switch in the seventh, he was still waiting to see a fastball from a Cubs pitcher. I was impressed with Jose Ascanio. His fastball was 94 mph. In the seventh, he walked Tejada with two outs and had to face Berkman. Larry Rothchild came out of the dugout and chewed him out for walking Tejada and allowing Berkman to bat in the inning. I wonder if Ascanio knew he was facing the Astros best hitter. He challenged Berkman and struck him out swinging. Berkman was fooled by the last pitch and his bat went flying into the stands. I hope Pinella made a mental note of how well Ascanio pitched to Berkman; he may want to repeat that match-up later in the year. Jim Edmonds is still a fine defensive centerfielder but I have doubts about his ability to hit. Even during batting practice, his hitting looked weak.

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
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • 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).