June 2011

Dustin Geiger and Gioskar Amaya drove-in three runs a piece, leading the AZL Cubs to an 8-3 victory over the AZL Diamondbacks in Arizona League action at Whirlwind Field at Salt Rivers Fields at Talking Stick east of Scottsdale his evening.  

Before yesterday the last time I saw Randy Wells start a big league game he failed to retire a batter, though he may have broken a sweat. By that low standard his outing versus the earnest young Royals of Kansas City was, I suppose, an improvement. After the first five hitters he faced hit safely and the sixth was walked, Wells' remarkable streak of futility with yours truly in attendance had reached the depth of a dozen consecutive batsmen. Might he again retire having retired no one? No, he persisted and slogged into the 7th, though it turned out that the game was already lost by the time he got around to recording an out. The sorry Wells appears more beleagured than big leaguer these days, and so, for that matter does the team he works for.

If there were highlights from yesterday's daytrip to KC for any Cub fans in attendance, and there were thousands of us, they were these:

*Of the three balls I saw the visitors swat into the seats while watching more than a half hour of batting practice, two were swatted by Marlon Byrd. I'll check him out against live, professional pitching tomorrow afternoon here in Des Moines.

*Reed Johnson, despite three strikeouts at the plate, also banged a double off the wall in the middle of what passed for a Cub rally and also made a pair of sparkling grabs in center field, one of them a do or die diver. He always seems to make a contribution when in the lineup.

*Geo Soto was all over the game; homering, doubling, plate-blocking, down-gunning. It would be nice if he made one or more of those occasional features a habit!

*Chris Carpenter posted triple digits several times on the scoreboard speedometer. Unfortunately, his stuff looks more imposing there, to the fans, than it apparently yet does to big league hitters. He may become a serviceable piece down the road.

Randomly, I saw LaHair and Castillo go back-to-back Friday night in Des Moines and they did it again yesterday while I was on the road. LaHair is now leading the PCL in homers and hitting .350+. Ho-hum...

Leonardo Ochoa singled three times, walked, scored two runs, and drove-in another, leading the AZL Giants to an 8-5 victory over the AZL Cubs in Arizona League Opening Night action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa this evening.

With the Boise Hawks slated to begin league play tonight and with the AZL Cubs ready to go on Monday night, here are some updates on signings by the Cubs since the conclusion of the 2011 MLB Rule 4 Draft last week.

According to the Mayan calendar, the Cubs will win the World Series in 2012, causing an apocalypse about six weeks later.

So since it's getting late, here's a look ahead at what the Cubs roster might look like in about six months, and what the player payroll obligations will be going into the historic 2012 season.

This does not address potential free-agents the Cubs might pursue or players the Cubs might target in a trade, although it should give you some idea of how much the Cubs might have available to spend for free-agents.

Minor League Field Coordinator Dave Bialas and the coaching staff at Fitch Park have completed their final observations and evaluations of the newly-signed draft picks, and so here are the rosters for the Boise Hawks ands AZL Cubs as of 7 AM (MST) this morning:

ROUND 31 (939): Ronnie Richardson, OF (U. of Central Florida)
B/R, 5'6, 170, 21 years old
COMMENT: Draft-eligible college sophomore... Considered a bit of an under-achiever... Was a member of USA Junior National Team in HS, and was selected out of HS by Twins in 11th round of 2009 draft but did not sign... Strong arm and a good defensive CF... Above-average speed... Hit 312/440/422, with 36/44 BB/K and 19 HBP, and 15 SB (5 CS) in 62 games (297 PA) for Golden Knights in 2011...

ROUND 1 (9): Javier Baez, SS (Arlington Country Day School - Jacksonville, FL)
R/R, 6'1, 205, 18 years old
COMMENT: Rated by Baseball America as the best HS hitter in the draft... Hit .771 with 64 hits, 22 HR, 20 doubles, 52 RBIs and just three K in 2011... Very aggressive hitter with plus bat-speed and plus raw-power... Above-average arm but just barely average range for SS... Figures to eventually outgrow SS and move to another position (most likely 3B)... Emotional player on the field... Signed NLI with Jacksonville U...

The EXST Diamondbacks turned four double plays and took advantage of seven EXST Cubs errors to score three unearned runs, en route to a 6-3 victory in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa.

Today’s game was extended an extra half-inning so that all of the Cubs pitchers who were due to throw could get their scheduled work. Several other Cubs pitchers threw in a “sim game” on Field #2 simultaneous with the EXST game on Field #3.

Max Kwan laced a line-drive single through a drawn-in infield to score Reggie Golden from 3rd base, as EXST Cubs Squad “A” rallied for a run in the bottom of the 9th to tie EXST Cubs Squad “B” 6-6 in an Extended Spring Training intra-squad game played this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa.