Cubs 2010 2nd round draft pick Reggie Golden slugged a two-run HR over the LF scoreboard and onto 8th Street to give the Cubs a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the 6th, but the Brew Crew rallied for four in the 8th as the Cubs and Brewers played to a 7-7 tie in the Cubs 2010 AZ Instructional League opener at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa this afternoon.
There are 47 Cubs minor leaguers participating in Instructs at Fitch Park (22 pitchers, five catchers, 12 infielders, and eight outfielders), including eight players who are making their U. S. debut after spending the 2010 season playing in the Dominican Summer League, four draft picks and one non-drafted free-agent who signed too late to get into game action in August, and one Korean bonus baby. Also among the 47 is Cubs 3B prospect Josh Vitters, who is at Instructs rehabbing his broken hand and preparing for play in the Arizona Fall League next month.
Two of the newcomers made their pro debut in today's game, as LHP Casey Harman (2010 29th round draft pick out of Clemson) threw 1.1 IP of hitless shutout ball, walking one while striking out two, and catcher Max Kwan (2010 NDFA - U. of Washington) went 1-3 with a single and an RBI.
Harman was Clemson's #1 starter ("Friday night starter") in 2010 and beat #1 ranked Arizona State at the College World Series in June. Although he was selected in the 29th round, Harman received a $150,000 bonus (equivalent to "5th round" money) when he signed with the Cubs at the August 16th deadline.
Kwan suffered through an injury-plagued college career at Tulane and then later at Washington, but he has good size for a catcher (6'3 220), and helps provide depth at the catching position going into the 2011 season.
The Cubs will be playing a 21-game AZ instructional League schedule, with the last game on October 16th (they play every day Monday-Saturday up through 10/16, with no games on Sundays).
Here is today's abridged box score (Cubs players only)
Bonus amount has been added.
Jim Callis@jimcallisBA
#Cubs pay Trey Masek $357,400. Talent bargain in 5th rd. Texas Tech RHP, 89-93 to 95, shows some sharp curves, VG in Cape Cod Lg. #mlbdraft
alright cubs...having e.jackson + vanillawafers fail in the same outing...in the same inning...isn't good for fan morale.
the 6th inning sucks.
Gordon Wittenmyer@GDubCub
Sveum says Cubs likely to get bench back to full strength for weekend Houston series, get pen back to 7 guys. Clev or Sappy are possible.
welly with his 9th walk on the season...8th since may 23rd. ...still waiting on his 1st xbase hit of the month (9 singles).
also, cubs tie bottom 2nd on a play at the plate that rizzo would have been out by a mile on if y.molina didn't drop the ball.
I thought the Hannemann bonus was high because of comments his father made right after the draft about what he'd be signing for. More like slot. Which was higher than most thought because they had him ranked lower on draft boards.
The guy is already 22 with minimal baseball experience. I'll be rooting for him to turn into the next Ellsbury (without the injuries). But...
COL is going to option j.francis to AAA
Beat the Streak players everywhere groan. There's always Pelfrey.
COL is going to option j.francis to AAA...roy oswalt, welcome back to the bigs.
it's $263,800 over slot ($736,200), they paid $261,900 under slot for Zastryzny, doesn't seem that crazy since he had some leverage. So far 4th rounder Skulina is the biggest overslot at $323K, although if 12th rounder Clifton did get "3rd round money", he'll probably net the biggest difference.
Bryant is probably going to come in under $6M, so Cubs should save there as well.
damn...that's about 400-500K more than most people in round 3 have signed for so far.
it's pretty much early/mid 2nd round loot...and 100K less than the cubs very early 2nd round pick Z-nasty.
they also signed their 4th round pick for $800K...which is about 300-400K more than expected.
here's a tracker btw,
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2013xteam.p...
"Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Wednesday that he expects David DeJesus (shoulder) to miss about a month."
Holy overpay Batman.
Jim Callis@jimcallisBA
#Cubs, 3rd-rder Jacob Hannemann agree on $1 million. Brigham Young OF/cornerback, VG speed, also bat, power & CF skills. #mlbdraft
Groan
Sandberg never made sense as a base coach because he was best going from third to second.
"The Houston Astros say they have signed right-handed pitcher Mark Appel of Stanford, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft earlier this month.
Terms were not disclosed Wednesday ahead of a news conference with Appel."
http://espn.go.com/mlb/draft/2013/story/_/id/94038...
Somebody e-mailed me to ask why Gerardo Concepcion is eligible for selection in the December 2013 Rule 5 Draft if he signed his first contract in March 2012.
Concepcion is eligible because any player who has been outrighted previously in his career is eligible for selection in all subsequent Rule 5 Drafts, even if he otherwise would not be eligible.
Have they changed the meaning of extend again? Kids these days, just when I've gotten used to bad meaning good.