Cubs Minor Leagues

The most exciting thing around the Cubsverse right now is the minor leagues competing in the playoffs. Meaningless as a victory may be to the big league club down the line, it's fun to follow and have a rooting interest in something, other than the Cubs losing for a better draft pick slot.

Jeimer Candelario singled and doubled and knocked-in a run, helping the Cubs defeat the Angels 3-1 in AZ Instructional League action this afternoon at Diablo Park Field #3 in Tempe.  

Shawon Dunston, Jr drove in three runs with a two-out two-run RBI single that capped a four-run 1st inning and a solo HR leading off the bottom of the 6th, and Dan Vogelbach singled and scored in the 1st and clubbed a tape-measure HR over the RF fence in the bottom of the 7th to put the game away, leading the Cubs to a 10-5 victory over the Brewers in Opening Day AZ Instructional League action this afternoon at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa.

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:

Max Ramirez crushed a two-run HR onto the roof of a house on the north side of 8th Street, and Xavier Batista slammed a three-run HR onto the street, leading Boise/Mesa (EXST CUBS) to a 6-5 victory over the Iowa Cubs in a six-inning intra-organization game played at Fitch Park #3 this morning, in what was the official end of Minor League Camp and the beginning of Extended Spring Training for the players remaining in Mesa.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Cubs will be heading to Round Rock, TX, for PCL Opening Day on Thursday.

D. J. Fitzgerald singled, doubled, tripled, stole a base, scored one run, and knocked-in two more, and LHP Austin Kirk threw four shutout innings, as the Peoria Chiefs rallied to tie the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Los Angeles Angels Class “A” affiliate) 3-3 on Field #2, while next-door on Field #3 Michael Burgess clubbed a grand slam HR over the RF fence and Evan Crawford doubled, tripled, walked, stole a base, drove-in two runs, and scored another, as the Daytona Cubs rallied from an early 5-0 hole to tie the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels Advanced “A” affiliate) 7-7, in Cactus League Minor League Spring Training action at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ, this morning.

This was the “getaway day” game for both Daytona and Peoria, but since the Iowa Cubs will be remaining in Mesa for another day (they open the season Thursday at Round Rock, TX), I-Cubs catcher Welington Castillo stayed at Fitch Park and served as a DH for Daytona while his teammates traveled to Diablo Park in Tempe to face the Angels Salt Lake Bees AAA affiliate.

Richard Jones blasted a solo HR onto 8th Street and drove in another run with a single and LHP Eric Jokisch (2010 11th round pick out of Nortwestern) threw three shutout innings with five strikeouts, leading the Peoria Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Asheville Tourists (Colorado Rockies Class “A” affiliate) on Field #2, while next-door on Field #3 the Daytona Cubs were cracking the Modesto Nuts (Rockies Advanced “A” affiliate) by a score of 11-4, as Matt Cerda went 3-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, Junior Lake had three hits (a double and two singles), scored one run, and drove in another, and Evan Crawford doubled, singled, stole a base (home), scored twice, and knocked in two runs, in Cactus League Minor League Spring Training action at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.

Cubs #5 starter Andrew Cashner made his final Arizona start this morning on Field #1, throwing three innings (and getting hammered) in an intrasquad game between the Iowa Cubs and the Tennessee Smokies.

Although they are assigned to the Iowa squad, RHP Blake Parker and Hung-Wen Chen pitched in the Daytona game this afternoon rather than the intrasquad game this morning, because they were bumped by Cashner.

In Minor League Camp roster news, a number of players were released or demoted today:

Carlos Marmol allowed three first-inning runs, facing five batters and retiring only one (BB, 2B, HBP, F-7, 2B), and a four-run 8th inning Iowa Cubs rally fell one run short (the potential tying run was left stranded on 3rd base), as the Fresno Grizzlies (San Francisco Giants AAA affiliate) almost blew a 6-1 lead but held-on to edge the I-Cubs 7-6 on Field #3, while over on Field #2, Steve Clevenger “celebrated” his assignment to AA (for the third year in a row!) with an RBI single and a double, but two baserunners were thrown at key points in the game (Josh Vitters trying to advance from 1st to 3rd on a hit & run single to CF in the 4th, and D. J. Lemahieu trying to score from 1st on double in the 8th), as the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants AA affiliate) edged the Tennessee Smokies 4-3 in Cactus League Minor League action at Fitch Park this afternoon

Brandon Watson (signed yesterday after getting released by the White Sox earlier in the week) doubled, tripled, and collected two RBI, Fernando Perez (just demoted from big league camp) singled, doubled, scored a run, and knocked-in two others, and Blake Lalli tripled and singled, scored a run, and drove-in another, helping the Iowa Cubs mount a fierce five-run 8th inning rally to close a 6-0 deficit to just one run, but Watson was left stranded at 3rd when Scott Moore and Matt Spencer struck out (Moore looking and Spencer swinging) and Ty Wright popped out to RF, and the Salt Lake Bees (Angels AAA affiliate) hung-on to edge the I-Cubs 6-5 on Field #3, while over on Field #2, Cubs LHRP Sean Marshall (sent to Minor League Camp to get work) threw a 13-pitch 1-2-3 1st inning (F-9, 5-3, F-9), Ryan Flaherty and Rebel Ridling hammered solo home runs (Flaherty’s a towering 450-foot job over the “Green Monster” Batter’s Eye in dead CF), and Nate Samson reached base three times (a triple, a single, and a walk) and drove-in two runs, leading the Tennessee Smokies to a 4-1 nine-inning victory over the Arkansas Travelers (Angels AA affiliate) on Field #2 (although the game was extended an extra half-inning to allow LHP Chris Siegfried to pitch his pre-scheduled inning--bumped to extra innings when Sean Marshall arrived, and the Travelers scored four runs in the top of the 10th), in Cactus League Minor League action at Fitch Park this afternoon