Rockies Belt Malave Offerings Around Salt River Fields & Beeler to I-Cubs

sbwilliams: Javy Baez is at Riverview Park, but it rained yesterday so he couldn't do anything except hit in the enclosed batting cages, and he didn't make the trip to Salt River Fields today. 

E-MAN: I saw a lot of Stephen Bruno at Minor League Camp last month, in BP, fielding drills, baserunning drills, and games. He was with the Iowa squad until the last week, and then he was moved down to AA. But he easily could have started the season in AAA, and in a lot of other organizations, he would have. 

As far as his skillset is concerned, he's OK defensively at 2nd base, but nothing special. I wouldn't compare him to D. J. Lemahieu. More like a younger version of Aaron Hill. Somebody like that. Bruno also doesn't have the skills required to play multiple-positions (he has a second-baseman's arm for one thing), and he has (at best) average speed, so I don't see him projected as a bench guy, either. His bat will have to carry him to big leagues because he will need to be an everyday 2nd baseman to play in MLB, and his glove isn't what will get him there.

So far so good, because he has been hitting like a maniac at AA.

I do believe Bruno will be an MLB second-baseman, I just don't think it will be with the Cubs. In fact, Bruno will probably be one of many current Cubs minor leaguers who will likely get traded, claimed off waivers, or selected in the Rule 5 Draft over the next couple or three years.

I would go further than that and predict that within five years the big leagues will be crawling with players drafted and signed by the Cubs, but most of them will be playing for other teams. The Cubs should be in a great position in July to package prospects for the "mssing link" (whatever that might be), even if they "overpay" to get that piece. But it won't matter if they overpay because for every player they trade, there are more coming along behind them. 

The main thing is to correctly identify the players who will form the nucleus of the Cubs team over the next six years, and not trade any of them. In other words, you don't want to trade the next Lou Brock or Bill Madlock, but otherwise, everybody else should be available in a trade, because everybody else can be replaced by somebody else who is already in the system. The Cubs are that deep right now. 

For those of you who might glance at the Extended Spring Training box scores I present and wonder which pitchers matter most (like who the projected Eugene starters are), Carson Sands, Justin Steele, Austyn Willis, Jose Paulino, and Alexander Santana right now project as the five starters at Eugene. So even though a rehab guy or a conversion guy might start the game, those are the five pitchers who matter most, and you might notice that while they actually do pitch in rotation, that pitcher might not actually literally start the game. 

For example, Santana didn't actually start the game, but he pitched two innings (which is the current game innings limit for all Cubs pitchers at Extended who are not AA or AAA rehab guys) last Tuesday at Oakland (Jesus Camargo and Adbert Alzolay pitched 1-2, but they are projected as starters at AZL Cubs, not at Eugene), Carson Sands followed Austin Reed (TJS rehab) Wednesday at home versus Colorado, Justin Steele was one of the starting pitchers in the intrasquad game on Thursday even though the Cubs weren't playing another team that day (just so he could stay in rotation), Austyn Willis did start yesterday at Milwaukee, and Jose Paulino followed Malave and Reed today at Colorado, but Paulino is actually projected as the true Eugene starter of the ones who threw today.

Dylan Cease had TJS just after he signed with the Cubs last June, and he is throwing only "live" BP right now. However, he is the best of the bunch. Nobody can hit him. He has absolutely filthy stuff. But he will probably be at AZL Cubs this summer (at least at the start of the short-season) so he can be a starter but where the Cubs can keep more control over and limit his outings (AZL Cubs usually carry at least 20 pitchers, while Eugene might carry 15).

There are other pitchers of note still down here (lefty reliever Sam Wilson is looking VERY good and he should be moving up to South Bend or Myrtle Beach any day), but the Big Five (Sands, Steele, Willis, Paulino, and Santana) plus Cease (when he is cleared to pitch in games) are the ones to keep an eye one.  

So when checking out the daily Cactus League Extended Spring Training box score, remember to look for the Ones Who Matter Most. They are there, but sometimes you have to look a little bit "Beyond the Box Score" to find them.  

And also remember that while there are some weird rules variances (like multiple designated hitters, fluid batting orders, rehab exceptions, etc) in Cactus League Extended Spring Training games (hey, there is a DH in the A. L. but not in the N. L., isn't that a major rules variance?) and that the games are not "official," the games are not company softball games. The games are real and the performance of the players on the field are no different than what you would see at Myrtle Beach, South Bend, Eugene, or AZL Cubs. The players are trying to improve, they play to win, and they give their all every day. A player will make a spectacular diving catch and then on the next play he might make an error; another will make a great defensive stop, and the next inning commit a "little league" baserunning gaffe; you might see a "golden sombrero" one day and then the same player might hit for the cycle the next game. But you see that at South Bend, too. 

Cactus League Extended Spring Training performances may not be "official," but they are legit. The games are the real thing. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.  

A lot of people think Joe Maddon is a good-time upbeat guy, but he has a serious side, too...  

link