Crazy Legs Campana Headed to the Desert
Last week, the Cubs outrighted Tony Campana off thier 40-man to make room for Scott Hairston. Today, the Diamondbacks agreed to give up two pitchers for the speedster...RHP Erick Leal and RHP Jesus Castillo. Judging by the quality going out, I wouldn't expect much on the quality coming in, but maybe the Cubs unearth one of those diamonds in the rough. Leal, a 6'3" righty out of Venezuela, will be playing his age 18 season and Castillo is a 6'2" righty also out of Venezuela and will be playing his age 17 season. In both cases, plenty of time for them to learn the "Cubs Way." Nick Piecoro had both of them in a write-up on some of the D'Backs international signings from back in late 2011 that you can view here and see some video. Here are the quotes from the D'Backs international scouting director Carlos Gomez at the time:
Re: Castillo ($250K signing bonus)
“He’s about 6-2, 165, 170 pounds. He’s long, lean and all kinds of projectable. He has a loose, cool rhythm about him, really free and easy. His fastball ranges from 82-89 mph, but he pitches 85-86 right now. I think he has a chance to throw a lot harder. His best secondary pitch is his changeup and the breaking ball isn’t bad. The spin is there, but it needs work and consistency. He gets really good extension, almost jumps off the mound. We think he can start; we see starter’s arm action and delivery from him.”
Re: Leal ($75K signing bonus)
“He’s 6-3, 180 pounds. He has a nice delivery, a nice arm action, and the highlight again is the breaking ball. He’s a kid who can spin it. It’s 74-76 mph already and his fastball is 86-88. He has the physical size, the delivery, a breaking ball and a present, useable fastball for his age. He’s one of those guys who looks like he might have slipped through the cracks. A lot of that same type of guy was going for more earlier in the year. His delivery is pretty balanced, but he drives pretty aggressively out front; he really gets over his front side well. You can tell the extra breaking ball spin he gets is a function of his finish.”
Something is better than nothing and Crazy Legs was always a lot closer to nothing in my in opinion.
Comments
Both will likely pitch for
Since both Erick Leal and Jesus Castillo are from Venezuela, both will likely pitch for the new VSL Cubs affiliate in 2013.
BTW, the trade was made right at the 2 PM (Eastern) deadline when the Cubs would have had to place Tony Campana on Outright Assignment Waivers. He could not have been traded once he was placed on Outright Waivers, and it would have been necesssary for the Cubs to place him on waivers today (waiver requests must be submitted by 2 PM Eastern) so that he would either be claimed off waivers or outrighted on Wednesday (the 10th day of the DFA).
The D'backs must really like Campana a lot. Obviously they would have claimed Campana if he had been placed on waivers, but they couldn't be sure that another MLB with a higher waiver priority (worse 2012 record) wouldn't also put in a claim and get him instead, so they made a "pre-emptive strike."
Arizona placed RHP Daniel Hudson (TJS rehab) on the 60-day DL to make room for Campana on their 40-man roster.
unless a move is coming or
unless a move is coming or injuries, Campana's got a few roadblocks from ever playing for the D'Backs...certainly a lot tougher than getting playing time for the Cubs.
Eaton, Parra, Pollock, Kubel, Ross..Hinske too.
It's really hard to slot a
I'm trying to find it, but I
It was Jacos.
ah yes, by virtue of his
ah yes, by virtue of his limited stature and whiteness, Campana has been awarded the prestigious scrappy honor...Ryan Theriot approved.
Total Members of Scrappy Baseball Hall of Fame:
2,315
members that are over 6'0" and/or non-Caucasion:
3
joey gathright...we saw more
Without knowing their options
regarding s-crappy...where is
TOONSTER: Adam Eaton has
TOONSTER: Adam Eaton has three minor league options left, and A. J. Pollock has two left.
BTW, Tony Campana has two minor league options left, too, so there is no reason why the D'backs can't just stash him at Reno until he's needed, even if it's not until 2014.
Baseball America's write up
Jed Hoyer on today/tonight's
Good to see Garza getting off
must give him a $100M
must give him a $100M extension because he's the default "best SP available"
(sarcasm font)
oh canada...u so crazy.
Wes Darvill does not approve
http://www.urbandictionary
lulz internet.
"Alfonso Soriano has given
per Rotoworld...
"It'll be just like making a
"It'll be just like making a
if you're bored
if you're bored
http://withleather.uproxx.com/2013/02/cubs-fa...
"'Cubs Facebook' Is the Hot New Twitter Account That Celebrates Outraged Cubs Fans"
and the twitter account
https://twitter.com/FacebookCubs
(someome posting actual comments from the Cubs Facebook account)
potential Soriano landing
potential Soriano landing spots speculated by Jay Jaffe
http://mlb.si.com/2013/02/19/alfonso-soriano-...
Orioles, Giants, Rangers, Rays, Yankees, Mets
he's perfect for the yanks..
So...
As noted a couple of times,
sweet.
10 minute interview with Theo
AZ PHIL:
Vogelberg
E-MAN: There is nobody to
E-MAN: There is nobody to compare to Tony Campana in the organization, but the fastest runners would be (in order of furthest along in development and not including the DSL guys I haven't seen) Logan Watkins, Matt Szczur, Evan Crawford, Arismendy Alcantara, John Andreoli, Rubi Silva, Zeke DeVoss, Pin-Chieh Chen, Tim Saunders, Gioskar Amaya, Trey Martin, and Rashad Crawford, with Szczur probably #1.
BTW, Szczur hammered LHP to the tune of 458/552/625 with 0 strikeouts and was tied for 7th in walks and tied for 5th in SB in the AFL post-2012 (and the AFL is approximately equivalent to AA), so he could be in Chicago as a RH platoon CF and lead-off hitter sooner rather than later. He really struggles to hit RHP, however. I'm not sure he will ever be anything more than platoon player or 4th OF (albeit a very useful one).
I'm curious as to how
Wood will definitely go to
I'm hoping to see this
I kind of feel like if Wood
Russell has 3 options
Russell has 3 options
http://www.thecubreporter.com/cubs-40-man-roster
Don't think Bowden or Rondon are by any means players the Cubs will worry much about losing.
bowden is a lot better than
"This is how you know Theo
"This is how you know Theo Epstein is a heartless, calculating bastard. Sure, Campana can’t “hit” or “get on base” or “play baseball” in a major-league sense, but he was so f’n cute."
and with that BP wins the Campana trade anaylsis!
"As the ultimate underdog, Campana connected with the Cubs’ fan base in a big way. During introductions at the team’s annual fan convention last month, Campana might have received a bigger ovation than Ernie Banks. It was really close. Yet, Epstein and his cronies apparently believe that actual organization building outweighs the fact that Campana is the kind of player grannies like to bake for. Cynical pricks"
Snark done right!
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php...
http://www.youtube.com/watch
i'm still blown away by how
Goddamn it! that's not the
I love what KC did to
"When I had Corey Patterson
I thought he was putting it
Yep. It was horrific when I
I remember feeling exactly
I think it was just a matter
Charlie- I agree with Lofton
I badly wanted Corey to
Just walked past Tom Ricketts
Tom- "How are the plans for
lulz...so much lulz.
"Do you see it!?!?"
Wow...I knew they got snow in
Cubs win 7-3 (White beats
"Ian Stewart is day-to-day
"Josh Vitters was unavailable
Ian Stewart getting an MRI,