August 2007

By all accounts, Craig Monroe was having an off-season with the Tigers, who asked Monroe to turn in his uniform and his pass to the players' parking lot last Friday, when he was designated for assignment. Here's what Rotoworld had to say at the time of the move:

The Tigers are cutting a guy with 59 homers and 236 RBI since the start of 2005. He's even a pretty good defender in a corner outfield spot. The big negative is that he carries poor OBPs even when he's swinging well. Still, there are more than a few teams that would like to have him around and some would probably even play him regularly. Expect him to be traded before he can become a free agent.

So how far off was Monroe with Detroit this year?

The man in charge of MVN's baseball sites and Pirates blogger Cory Humes tipped me that Craig Monroe has been dealt to the Cubs, his source is the FSN Detroit broadcast. Details to come. UPDATE #1: The deal is for the one and only PTBNL. Let's just flip the guy we're suppose to get from the Pirates to the Tigers and call it an Izturis for Monroe swap. Who's in? Monroe was all kinds of brutal this year with the Tigers, posting an OPS+ of 67. He still hits lefties though, 277/321/501 for his career and 302/317/542 this year. He's played all three outfield positions in the majors although I can't speak about his defense. His Rate2 numbers at Baseball Prospectus are 96, 90 and 104 from left to right for his career, 100 being average, so that's not promising. I assume Jake Fox or Felix Pie are the first casualties of the trade. By the time Soriano is healthy, rosters will have expanded and we'll have September to hopefully figure out our playoff roster. UPDATE #2: The Cubs will also get cash considerations from the Tigers in the deal and a 40-man roster move will have to be made before tomorrow. Arizona Phil speculates either Angel Pagan to the 60-day DL or Neil Cotts being DFA'd. Both sound reasonable to me and I'll throw in DFAing Buck Coats who doesn't seem to have much future with the club. UPDATE #3: Tigers Insider says the Cubs have until October 15th to send over Mr. PTBNL. AZ PHIL: Craig Monroe is signed through this season and is making $4.775M, and will not be a FA until after the 2008 season. He will be eligible for salary-arbitration after this season, where even if he takes the maximum 20% cut, he still can’t get less than $3.82M in 2008. So unless he gets REALLY hot with the Cubs and makes himself indispensible, I’d look for Monroe to be a 12/12 non-tender.

Who knew that day would ever arrive? Way back when, the folks that run ESPN's SportsNation asked me to submit my choice for "The Face of the Franchise". The only stipulation being that it be a current member of the organization. This was back in May and might have gone with a different choice had Carlos Zambrano's extension been signed, but at the time being it seemed Derrek Lee was the obvious choice and my fellow TCR writers seemed to all agree. And so did Paul Sullivan. Ouch! You guys can read all about it over at ESPN.com and feel free to vote. Now pardon me, while I slice my wrists with a dull razor.

Hopefully the Giants bring another fine defensive effort as they did at Wrigley. Is that Rodriguez catcher still around?

Category	Cubs	Giants
Runs Scored	575 (8th)	535 (13th)
Runs Allowed	529 (2nd)	551 (5th)
Team Defensive Efficiency	.716 (2nd)	.702(6th)
Starters ERA	4.07 (2nd)	4.16 (4th)
Relievers ERA	4.02 (10th)	3.95 (7th)
Batting Average	.270 (7th)	.253 (13th)
On-Base Percentage	.331 (9th)	.324 (12th)
Slugging Percentage	.412 (8th)	.386 (15th)

The Matchups

Player	W	L	ERA	IP	K	BB	HR	FIP
J. Marquis	10	7	4.25	146	80	59	18	5.13
T. Lincecum	7	3	3.95	116.3	125	52	11	3.62

Player	W	L	ERA	IP	K	BB	HR	FIP
R. Hill	7	7	3.73	147.3	135	50	24	4.68
B. Zito	9	11	4.48	145.7	100	68	19	4.97

Player	W	L	ERA	IP	K	BB	HR	FIP
C. Zambrano	14	9	3.86	168	139	77	20	4.66
M. Cain	5	13	3.78	157.3	124	70	10	3.87

Game Chat Joel Pineiro vs. Ted Lilly Lineups:

Ryan 2B	Theriot SS
Ankiel LF	Jones CF
Pujols 1B	Lee 1B
Encarnacion RF	Ramirez 3B
Rolen 3B	Ward RF
Edmonds CF	DeRosa 2B
Molina C	Murton LF
Pineiro P	Kendall C
Eckstein SS	Lilly P

Game Chat : BR Preview : Press Notes Anthony Reyes vs. Sean Marshall Lineups:

Eckstein SS	Theriot SS
Taguchi CF	Jones CF
Pujols 1B	Lee 1B
Encarnacion RF	Ramirez 3B
Rolen 3B	Ward RF
Ludwick LF	DeRosa 2B
Molina C	Murton LF
Reyes P	Kendall C
Ryan 2B	Marshall P

Possible chance of rain, you can check out the live webcam of conditions outside the park if you wish. (Thanks to reader cubswinthepennant for that link)

Game Chat Braden Looper vs. Rich Hill Lineups:

Eckstein SS	Theriot SS
Ludwick LF	Jones CF
Pujols 1B	Lee 1B
Encarnacion RF	Ramirez 3B
Rolen 3B	Ward RF
Edmonds CF	Murton LF
Molina C	Fontenot 2B
Looper P	Kendall C
Ryan 2B	Hill P

With the big Z news, I'll keep this short and save the starter's previews.

Category	Cardinals	Cubs
Runs Scored	533 (10th)	564 (8th)
Runs Allowed	596 (12th)	519 (2nd)
Team Defensive Efficiency	.698 (9th)	.713(2nd)
Starters ERA	5.16 (16th)	4.06 (2nd)
Relievers ERA	3.87 (6th)	4.07 (10th)
Batting Average	.273 (5th)	.271 (7th)
On-Base Percentage	.338 (6th)	.332 (8th)
Slugging Percentage	.405 (11th)	.412 (8th)

The August 15th deadline has passed, and the first 68 players selected by MLB clubs in this past June's Rule 4 Draft (First-Year Player Draft) opted to sign, including all players selected in the 1st round and the Supplemental 1st round. A total of 98 of the first 100 players drafted ended up signing pro contracts. The Cubs signed 33 of the 50 players they drafted, including the first 18, and 23 of the first 24. #1 pick Josh Vitters was signed with just hours to spare. Notables who got away include 25th round pick Victor Sanchez (third-baseman on the Team USA Junior National Team) and 33rd round pick and University of Texas catcher Preston Clark (the #1 catcher for Team USA who was rated the #5 college catcher going into the draft by Baseball America). Here is the current status of players selected by the Cubs in the draft, as well as players signed as Non-Drafted Free-Agents (NDFA) after the draft, and 5th Year College Seniors and Draft+Follows (DNFs) signed prior to the draft:

Game Chat Bobby Livingston vs. Jason Marquis Lineups:

Hamilton CF	Theriot SS
Keppinger SS	DeRosa 2B
Griffey Jr. RF	Lee 1B
Phillips 2B	Ramirez 3B
Dunn LF	Fox RF
Hatteberg 1B	Murton LF
Valentin C	Jones CF
Encarnacion 3B	Hill C
Livingston P	Marquis P

Hide the women and children if the Cubs lose this and get swept by the Reds at home. A loss also means the Cubs will be back at .500.

Game Chat Phil Dumatrait vs. Ted Lilly Lineups:

Hopper CF	Theriot SS
Keppinger SS	Kendall C
Griffey Jr. RF	Lee 1B
Phillips 2B	Ramirez 3B
Dunn LF	DeRosa 2B
Conine 1B	Fox RF
Encarnacion 3B	Murton LF
Jorgensen C	Jones CF
Dumatrait P	Lilly P

Game Chat Aaron Harang vs. Carlos Zambrano Lineups:

Hamilton CF	Theriot SS
Keppinger SS	Jones CF
Griffey Jr. RF	Lee 1B
Phillips 2B	Ramirez 3B
Dunn LF	Ward RF
Hatteberg 1B	DeRosa 2B
Valentin C	Murton LF
Encarnacion 3B	Kendall C
Harang P	Zambrano P

As discussed earlier today, the Cubs have optioned Sean Gallagher and Eric Patterson back to Iowa and called up Illinois-native Carmen Pignatiello along with Jake Fox. Henry Blanco was moved to the 60-day DL to make room for Pignatiello on the 40-man roster.

Jeff Vorva at The Daily Southtown reports that sources are claiming the Cubs will call-up 24-year LHP Carmen Pignatiello from AAA before tonight's game at Wrigley Field versus CIN, and that RHP Sean Gallagher will be optioned to Iowa, where he can get regular work as a rotation starter. Pignatiello was named Illinois Baseball Player of the Year by Gatorade and the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year in 2000, as he went 14-0 with a 0.79 ERA for Providence Catholic HS in New Lenox, before being selected by the Cubs in the 20th Round of the 2000 Rule 4 Draft. Tiggy led the Florida State League in strikeouts while pitching for the Daytona Cubs in 2003. The Cubs have been operating with one lefty in the pen (Scott Eyre) since Will Ohman was optioned to Iowa a week ago. As you can see by his stats at Iowa, Pignatiello is not just a LOOGY, but he is in fact more effective against left-handed hitters (.163 Opp BA and 0.80 WHIP) than he is versus right-handed hitters (.245 Opp BA and 1.28 WHIP). In his last eight appearances, Pignatiello has thrown 8.0 IP, allowing one run on six hits and one BB, while striking out eight. Tiggy is eligible to be a minor league FA on October 15th if he isn't added to the 40-man roster by that date, so doing it now merely keeps the Cubs from further postponing the inevitable. Pignatiello was eligible to be a six-year minor league FA after the 2006 season, too, but he opted to re-up with AAA Iowa after getting a Cubs slot in the Arizona Fall League and an NRI to Spring Training. To make room on the 40-man roster for Pignatiello, I would think the Cubs will likely transfer injured catcher Henry Blanco (neck) to the 60-day DL. Since Blanco has already spent 60+ days on the 15-day DL (and since time spent on the 15-day DL counts toward time spent on the 60), he can be reactivated at any time. UPDATE FROM ROB: Jake Fox is on his way up too, no word on the corresponding roster move.

Esteemed reader Chad sends in an idea for a little off-day procrastination.... -------- I sent in a definition to Urban Dictionary of the word Cubbery:

To lose a game (or play so poorly) in such a strange manner that only the Cubs could do, that one can only sit in amazement.

The examples cited were: Wow, my team just walked six straight batters then threw a wild pitch to blow a three run lead, then gave up a grand slam to lose. That is some real Cubbery! Or: That team's Cubbery stopped them from scoring a run even though they had the bases loaded with no outs. The examples of Cubbery through the years are plentiful, a meltdown in the Big Apple being the most noticeable event this year.  So go at it, what are some of the most Cubbery moments in your lifetime?

Game Chat Sean Marshall vs. Tim Harikkala Lineups:

Theriot SS	Mastui 2B
Jones RF	Tulowitzki SS
Lee 1B	Holliday LF
Murton LF	Helton 1B
DeRosa 3B	Atkins 3B
Fontenot 2B	Spilborghs RF
Kendall C	Barmes CF
Pie CF	Gil C
Marshalll P	Harikkala P

Jim Callis, Baseball America's minor league guru was on XM Radio Saturday morning. He updated the first round draft choices which haven't signed yet. The deadline to sign is this next Wednesday, August 15th. The only one signed in the top 5 is Pittsburgh's (#4) pick potential closer Dan Moskos, who did sign for the slotted $2.5 million dollars. Callis thinks Cubs (#3) pick third baseman Josh Vitters will sign but is waiting to see what the #2 pick gets, KC's Michael Moustakas (a Scott Boras client). Everyone involved is eager to see how much above the MLB slot money the agents particularly Boras can get. He believes #1 pick David Price (also in the Boras camp) will sign and that they may already have an agreement but are trying not to release it until the last minute. It seems that if they announced it early it will affect how much above the slotted money the other top picks sign for. It's a game of chicken so blinking at the last minute makes it harder to make the other's blink in unison leading to falling dominoes. Although Callis thought all the top picks will sign, the two with the highest probability to not sign would be Boras clients, Moustakas and catcher Matt Wieters (#5, Baltimore).

Game Chat Jason Marquis vs. Aaron Cook Lineups:

Theriot SS	Taveras CF
Jones RF	Mastui 2B
Lee 1B	Holliday LF
Murton LF	Atkins 3B
DeRosa 3B	Hawpe RF
Fontenot 2B	Tulowitzki SS
Kendall C	Torrealba C
Pie CF	Baker 1B
Marquis P	Cook P