Updated Cubs 2014 Minor League Camp Rosters (3/27)

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 3:30pm

Five players arrived from the Cubs Dominican Academy this week and were assigned to the Kane County squad, although they will be remaining in Mesa for Extended Spring Training once Minor League Camp has concluded:

Varonex Cuevas, INF
Frailyn Figueroa, LHP
Dalfis Ortiz, INF
Jose Paulino, LHP
Alexander Santana, RHP 

2014 CUBS MINOR LEAGUE CAMP ROSTERS (last updated 3-27-2014):

NOTE: All four of the Cubs full-season minor league affiliates (Iowa, Tennessee, Daytona, and Kane County) must get down to the 25-man Active Roster limit by Opening Day. There will be some downward roster movement this weekend, but most roster cuts at the very end of Minor League Camp are made by releasing players or placing injured players on the Disabled List. Almost all minor league clubs carry 13 pitchers and 12 position players. The Kane County squad will be split in half this weekend, with 25 players assigned to KC, and the remaining players either released, placed on the DL, or moved down to the Boise/Mesa squad (Extended Spring Training).
 
* bats or throws left 
# bats both

IOWA (39)

AAA

PITCHERS (20): 
Frank Batista 
Dallas Beeler
Casey Coleman  
Paolo Espino
Marcus Hatley
Kyle Hendricks 
* Tommy Hottovy
* Eric Jokisch 
Marcos Mateo
Yoanner Negrin
Blake Parker
Carlos Pimentel
Neil Ramirez
Armando Rivero
* Zac Rosscup
* Jonathan Sanchez
Brian Schlitter
Nick Struck
Arodys Vizcaino
* Tsuyoshi Wada 

CATCHERS (3):
* Charlie Cutler
Luis Flores
* Rafael Lopez

INFIELDERS (7):
# Arismendy Alcantara 
* Lars Anderson
Javier Baez
Edgar Gonzalez
Chris Valaika
Christian Villanueva
* Logan Watkins

OUTFIELDERS (9):
* Chris Coghlan
Jae-Hoon Ha (limited activity only)
* Brett Jackson 
Darnell McDonald 
* Mitch Meier (INACTIVE - may have been released)
* Rubi Silva
Matt Szczur
Josh Vitters 
Casper Wells (limited activity only - knee) 

TENNESSEE (33):

AA

PITCHERS (17):
Corey Black
Lendy Castillo
Zach Cates
* Hunter Cervenka
* Frank del Valle 
C. J. Edwards
P. J. Francescon
Pierce Johnson (limited activity only - hamstring)
* Austin Kirk
Matt Loosen
* Jeff Lorick 
Starling Peralta
Ivan Pineyro  
Dae-Eun Rhee 
Jose Rosario
Ryan Searle 
Tony Zych 

CATCHERS (4):
Willson Contreras
Taylor Davis
Chadd Krist 
Lance Rymel

INFIELDERS (7):
Stephen Bruno 
Kris Bryant 
Dustin Geiger
* Walter Ibarra
Jonathon Mota 
Matt Scioscia
Jeudy Valdez 

OUTFIELDERS (5):
John Andreoli 
Albert Almora (limited activity only - knee)
# Zeke DeVoss
Anthony Giansanti  
Jorge Soler (limited activity only) 

DAYTONA (32+1)

Hi-A 

PITCHERS (15): 
Justin Amlung
* Nathan Dorris
Zack Godley
* Michael Heesch
Michael Jensen 
* Andrew McKirahan
Felix Pena
Steve Perakslis
Austin Reed
Tayler Scott
Tyler Skulina
Yao-Lin Wang
Ben Wells
* Al Yevoli
* Rob Zastryzny

CATCHERS (3+1): 
Cael Brockmeyer
Ben Carhart (ex-3B)
Nate Maldonado (player-coach) 
* Justin Marra

INFIELDERS (7):
Gioskar Amaya
# Jeimer Candelario
* Wes Darvill
* Marco Hernandez
Tim Saunders 
* Rock Shoulders
* Dan Vogelbach 

OUTFIELDERS (7):
Yasiel Balaguert 
* Pin-Chieh Chen
* Jose Dore (INACTIVE - may have been released)
Reggie Golden (INACTIVE - may have been released)
* Jacob Hannemann 
Trey Martin 
# Oliver Zapata


KANE COUNTY (60):

Lo-A 

PITCHERS (34)
Jose Arias
Paul Blackburn
Tyler Bremer
Trevor Clifton
* Gerardo Concepcion
Josh Davis
* Frailyn Figueroa
Scott Frazier
David Garner
Trevor Graham
Zak Hermans
Luis Hernandez
Corbin Hoffner
* Tyler Ihrig
Trey Lang 
Erick Leal
Dillon Maples (limited activity only)
Trey Masek
Jeferson Mejia
Juan Carlos Paniagua
* Jose Paulino 
Hector Perez 
* Anthony Prieto
James Pugliese
Jasvir Rakkar
Brad Renner (limited activity only) 
Orbandy Rodriguez
Reinier Roibal
Alexander Santana 
Daury Torrez 
Jen-Ho Tseng 
Duane Underwood 
Michael Wagner 
* Sam Wilson (limited activity only)

CATCHERS (6):
Tyler Alamo 
# Mark Malave
* Alberto Mineo
Will Remillard
Rony Rodriguez (ex-OF)
Antonio Valerio

INFIELDERS (14):
* Zak Blair
David Bote
* Danny Canela (ex-C)
# Varonex Cuevas
* Jordan Hankins
Jesse Hodges
* Danny Lockhart
# Dalfis Ortiz
Giuseppe Papaccio
Carlos Penalver
* Jacob Rogers
# Alex Sanchez (INACTIVE - may have been released)
# Trevor Stevens (limited activity only - right hand injury) 
Gleyber Torres

OUTFIELDERS (6): 
* Kevin Brown
Charcer Burks 
* Rashad Crawford  
* Shawon Dunston Jr 
Eloy Jimenez
* Bijan Rademacher

++++++++++++++++++++++++

STILL NOT PRESENT ON FIELD: (going back to beginning of Minor League Camp)
* Jeffry Antigua, P  
# Kevin Encarnacion, OF (INACTIVE - rehabbing from injuries sustained in off-season car crash)
Mike Hamann, P 
Loiger Padron, P 
* Brian Smith, P 
Elliot Soto, INF (RESTRICTED LIST - 50-game Drug of Abuse suspension)

===================

BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING)

NOTE: The Boise/Mesa (Extended Spring Training) squad will form during Minor League Camp, and will consist of players who will be left behind in Arizona to provide a replacement cadre in case of an injury to a player at Kane County, Daytona, Tennessee, and/or Iowa during the first two months of the season, inexperienced players who are competing for jobs with one of the "Short Season" teams that begin league play in June, and players (both MLB and minor league) getting into playing shape and/or rehabbing from an injury. 

PITCHERS: 
TBD 

CATCHERS: 
TBD 

INFIELDERS
TBD 

OUTFIELDERS 
TBD 

PITCHERS REHAB GROUP (7):
Marcelo Carreno (2013 shoulder surgery)
Jesus Castillo (2013 unknown-type injury)
Josh Conway (2013 elbow stress fracture)
Eduardo Figueroa (arrived late) 
Barret Loux (shoulder) 
Ryan McNeil (2013 TJS) 
Trey McNutt (shoulder) 

Tags: 
Cubs Minor League Camp
Cubs Minor Leaguers

Comments

Submitted by crunch  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 6:43pm  
"Gordon Wittenmyer ‏@GDubCub Villanueva gets fifth spot. Rusin to be sent out." tonight exhibition vs arz (@chase field)...boni (SS), lake (lf), rizzo, olt, sureholds, sweeney, baker, barney, ejax ...castro expected to play SS in tomorrow's game (also @chase)

Submitted by The Joe  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 7:17pm  
Good for him. He definitely sucked less than Rusin.

Submitted by crunch  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 7:04pm  
exhibition baseball @montreal might be a regular thing if crowds like this show up. place is f'n packed for [email protected]. good for them.

Submitted by John Beasley  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 7:36pm  
Watched 2 innings. Awesome to see a game there again. The city deserves another chance for a MLB team, as soon as we strip one away from Miami or the South Side.

Submitted by Ryno  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 9:06pm  
The ball park (at least on TV) looked horrid. Maybe they could relocate the Miami Dolphin display when they move them to Montreal, just to spruce things up.

Submitted by crunch  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 9:31pm  
it's always looked horrible...we've just been fortunate not to have these crappy "multi-use" indoor stadiums around for quite a while. OAK's ballpark is a piece of crap, but at least it's outside with natural grass/field. TOR wins in the bottom 9th...attendance was 46,121

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 9:36pm  

It wasn't exactly like Jack Nicholson sitting front row court-side at Lakers games, but my one stand-out memory of Olympic Stadium was seeing actor Donald Sutherland (who was an Expos season ticket holder for several seasons) sitting alone in a front row box seat next to the Expos dugout in mostly-empty stands. It seemed like every time the camera showed him he was taking a nip out of his pocket-flask.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 8:09am  
Sutherland really seems like a pocket flask type of guy. I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way.

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 10:21pm  

The Kane Ciounty roster will get most of the movement this weekend, but if I had to guess and based on what I have seen so far, I would say (just spit-ballin' here) that the Cougars Opening Day roster will look something like this:

STARTING PITCHERS:
Jose Arias
Trey Masek
Juan Carlos Paniagua
Daury Torrez
Jen-Ho Tseng

BULLPEN:
Tyler Bremer (closer)
Corbin Hoffner
Orbandy Rodriguez
* Gerardo Concepcion
NOTE: Plus four more pitchers who I think will probably get moved down from Daytona to KC:
Justin Amlung
* Nathan Dorris
Zack Godley  
Steve Perakslis

CATCHERS: 
Cael Brockmeyer (also 1B)
* Justin Marra or Lance Rymel  
Will Remillard
NOTE: Rony Rodriguez could make the KC roster instead of Marra or Rymel as the 3rd catcher and 1B-LF-DH

INFIELDERS:
David Bote (2B-3B-SS-LF-CF)
* Danny Canela (1B)
* Jordan Hankins (3B)
* Danny Lockhart (2B)
Giuseppe Papaccio (2B-3B-SS-LF-RF)
NOTE: I think SS Carlos Penalver making the KC Opening Day roster is only 50/50. He might, but he hasn't had a good Minor League Camp.

OUTFIELDERS:
Yasiel Balaguert (RF-LF)
Shawon Dunston Jr (LF-CF)
Trey Martin (CF-LF)
* Bijan Rademacher (LF-RF)
NOTE: Balaguert and Martin are both presently asSigned to the Daytona squad, and two of three among Balaguert, Martin, and Jacob Hannemann (maybe even all three) will probably get moved down to KC



Submitted by QuietMan  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 11:01pm  
I see you bumped Duane Underwood. Is he okay after his last start?

Submitted by Hagsag  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 5:52am  
I have tickets for the season's first series at the Quad Cities. KC should be an interesting team. Hope to see Daury Torres pitch.

Submitted by craig  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 9:04am  
"STARTING PITCHERS: Jose Arias Trey Masek Juan Carlos Paniagua Daury Torrez"Jen-Ho Tseng" Interesting speculation, there, Phil. A month ago I would have considered Blackburn to be the safest bet for Kane's rotation. And I'd have thought Tseng one of the least likely, that they'd just take him slow. It would be pretty interesting if they held both Blackburn and Underwood back, while skipping Tseng all the way to Kane. Have you seen anything of Blackburn? I haven't heard his name at all this spring. Hope he's OK health wise. Of course, they often have some piggy-backs. Wouldn't shock me if there were 7-8 "starters" at Kane via piggy-back. I've wondered all along with Arias and Paniagua, whether they'd be rotation or relief. I hope your guess is correct that both are in the rotation loop, at least for a while. Whether Paniagua has any clue where the plate is, remains to be seen I suppose. Q's: 1. I understand Concepcion has gotten his weight back that he'd lost two summers ago, and that he's also recovered his average velocity. (88-92 isn't special, but lots better than mid-80's.) Does he look a little stronger physically to you? (Having average velocity without command, movement, or a swing-and-miss breaking ball obviously won't get him far, but we'll see how that goes….) 2. Any idea what's up with Maples' health, or Sam Wilson? 3. Pugliese, I wonder if he's piggy-back, relief, or release? 4. I imagine you've not seen them pitch, or not much, if they've just come over and are strictly XST guys anyway. But lefties Jose Paulino and Frailin Figuroa are both 18, 6'2" perhaps with some projection left, and both had some pretty interesting stats in DSL. Any idea if we might have something with either of them? Or probably pretty average-sized guys with variably average velocity? I thought BA's writeup on Paulino was pretty favorable, so hopefully we've got something with him and/or Frailin. Interesting that both list as 6'2", but Frailin lists at 203 (on milb), almost 40 more than Paulino. I'd like to see Frailin make it; I'm imagining you could have some with headlines using a name like Frailin Figuroa.

Submitted by craig  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 7:49am  
Blackburn will be Kane, he said. Perakslis at Daytona.

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 11:18pm  

Q-MAN: Duane Underwood is OK and back participating fully, but I think he will begin the season atr EXST.  

Submitted by QuietMan  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 11:22pm  
Thanks Phil.

Submitted by jacos  on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 11:54pm  
Olt, rizzo, Castro , Bryant Baez This could be 21st century version of 90's Indians

Submitted by John Beasley  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 8:40am  
Sure, but we also have plenty of upside potential with Castillo, Almora, Soler, Alcantara, and Vogelbach. Just for the sake of argument, your 2017 Cubs: CF Almora 2B Alcantara LF Bryant SS Baez 1B Rizzo DH Vogelbach 3B Olt RF Soler C Castillo Blue Jays Castro

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 1:45pm  
yow...a.cabrerra's last couple of outings doomed him to DFA after a damn good 9 outings before his implosion. schlitter gets the last pen slot.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 4:54pm  
hammel goes 4ip 2h 0bb 5k. is there a reason he's not being pushed? he finishes out his last spring start throwing only 48 pitches. *shrug* n.ramirez follows up with 1ip 0h 0bb 3k also, a.alcantra hit his 2nd spring HR.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 4:57pm  
Dunno, think they were saying that was the plan, though...

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 6:31pm  
kershaw, who's velocity has been down all spring, sent to the 15-day DL with back issues. 1/3rd of the 30 million man club...the first to join is the first to raise a bit of alarm.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 6:44pm  

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10622213/th...


It's a big change from the previous regime, whose old-school methods prompted the overhaul. When one of Epstein's hires told scouts they'd be using Microsoft Excel for scheduling, one asked, "Sorry, but what is Excel?" When McLeod took over player development, just eight of 24 area scouts had email linked to their smartphones. "Hendry is a great guy, but this was the Stone Age," says a player-development source no longer with the team. "A report would be, 'Plus-plus makeup -- I love this kid.' What does that even mean?" Scouts did not take video of players -- a basic and invaluable task with today's technology. The job of one executive under the computer-shy Hendry consisted of scanning the Internet for relevant stories and distributing printouts twice a day. "Theo finally told him to stop," the source says. "They let the guy go, which is sad, but nobody needs stuff that's three hours old when they have MLB Trade Rumors up on their computers and the app on their phone."

Submitted by Charlie  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 7:57pm  
C'mon. Really? Also: MLB front offices are reading MLB Trade Rumors? Ugh.

Submitted by jacos  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 1:30am  
This is equivalent to starting a space program in Cuba. Jesus Christ, anyone complaining about Theo spending money is like a FEMA recipient asking where their helicopter pad is going to be. Then I heard Levine say on the radio that the Cubs can't spend money more than their gross income until 2018 because of some money saving clause Zell put in when he sold the club. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What other obstacles and bull shit can they put up against this team? This like trying to build a Victorias Secret in Iran. Having to ask an idiot alderman and shithead tavern owners to build better accommodations in their ball park to compete. If you propose this to movie studio they would say it's too unrealistic. "After Earth" is on my cable right now! We will be lucky if Theo and Jed don't walk after this season. Good God, the odds couldn't be more stack against the Cubs than picking a perfect NCAA tourney bracket.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 3:12am  
scouts are amazingly underpaid...even the good ones...and even the ones that do a ton of traveling. it's kinda sad to see some people give them shit at minor league games when people figure out they're a scout and working for a MLB team (or MLB, itself, which runs it's own general scouting organization)...asking unreasonable favors or being a bitch because they assume they're rolling on the MLB gravy train. there's a whole lot of scouts working 6-8-10 months a year making 20-40K and the "highly paid" scouts make about 50-100K a year if they're the proven cream of the crop working beyond the regional level (and there's not many). it's a rather crappy field of work, imo. it sounds easy/simple...and in a lot of ways it is...but you're doing a lot of travel, watching a lot of games whether you feel like it or not, and sometimes it's only to file a few reports a paragraph long with a few gun readings (even less if you're scouting a specific player at the highschool/college level). there's some very angsty people in scouting...even some young guys who are already burnt out on the whole thing. a lot of the older guys tend to stick around for quite a long time because they can handle the travel and monotony...which leaves even less room for the youth to move up even a few ticks in income and opportunity. that said...rebuilding a scouting system is a matter of leadership, hiring, and trust...money is barely a blip compared to what was already being spent, and especially compared to even a low/mid-level boring contract player. you hope the leadership hires the right people and can trust the information they provide feeds everyone in the chain (from the GM to the manager to the batters/pitchers) information that's useful for them to get their edge on other clubs. i hope whatever that 2018 crap is...isn't true. i'm sick of watching this joke of a club in the 3rd largest market in the US act like they're a bottom market team. there's plenty of teams out there spending loot and enjoying youth coming through their systems. the poverty game is getting old. building teams designed to trade away guys and set up losses for a high draft pick is getting old. 3 more seasons of what we've had would f'n suck unless all these kids...or trades for other talent using these kids...somehow bring this team up to a level of interest where something matters more than the draft. having the MLB team rely on a bunch of 20-24 year olds without proven records (most of which aren't even up to the MLB level yet) and the only 2 guys who are on longterm deals are kids who fumbled last year is bothersome. i like the rizzo/castro deals, but another fumble year from them would be disastrous to the cubs fan psyche given the shit sandwiches we keep getting served with promises of chocolate cake dessert in the future. also, lol. 10/10 post.

Submitted by Newport  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 7:46am  
It's actually 2019. http://www.bleachernation.com/2014/03/19/the-...

Submitted by johann  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 10:11am  
Wow that's a really well researched and written article

Submitted by Ryno  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 11:18am  
Why did Fred Phelps have to die instead of somebody more worthy of death, like Sam Zell?

Submitted by Ryno  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 11:19am  
Too much?

Submitted by Newport  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 11:44am  
Not enough.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 1:17pm  
Wow, there's more analogy in that there passage than a book on analogies. (nailed it)

Submitted by John Beasley  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 8:27pm  
Cubs finish spring training -42 RS/RA. Yeesh.

Submitted by Jackstraw  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 9:16pm  
I worry about them peaking too soon myself.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 03/29/2014 - 10:07pm  
losing is the new winning...draft picks are the new world series championships. everything is awesome. carry on and hope the houston astros start winning games or else the cubs are screwed.

Submitted by Carlito  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 10:10am  
So are you pro rebuild, or anti-rebuild? Quit sitting on the fence.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 2:29pm  
don't read into it...just read it. that above is jokes... i'm pro-rebuilt and pro-spending. the notion that it's either/or is really weird....especially considering the guy in charge did it in BOS. that said, it seems there's little to be done about be pro-spending if rumors of this offseason and forced financial restraint is true.

Submitted by George Altman  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 11:16am  
OMG.........how long are you going to beat this horse? It's dead, dead, dead. The Cubs are 23rd in payroll going into 2014. Who f'n cares? Tell us......who should the Cubs have signed/kept since the end of 2011? What super astute GM moves should have been made? Let's see they could have signed/traded for Kershaw, Posey, Trout, Molina, or.....wait, clubs are now signing their young stars to cost-controlled deals during age 24-30 when their most productive. Oh, I know.....they could have signed Fielder, Pujols, Hamilton, or wait......how is it working out signing free agents over age 31 to $75-100m deals? Last, how many pennants have the Cubs won being a Top 5 payroll 'acting like a big market' team? Right.....what the little boy shot at -- nothing. Is Theo's plan the Holy Grail, the only plan? Hell, I don't know but neither do you. What has been painfully obvious since Leo patrolled the dugout is that NOBODY in charge of any aspect of this team has had any plan. You got specific plans, strategies, tactics to definitively make this team compete ANNUALLY for a playoff/championship runs then let's hear them. If not save your rocks for when you do.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 1:25pm  
No, you don't understand: scouts are amazingly underpaid that said...rebuilding a scouting system is a matter of leadership, hiring, and trust...money is barely a blip i'm sick of watching this joke of a club in the 3rd largest market in the US act like they're a bottom market team. there's plenty of teams out there spending loot and enjoying youth coming through their systems. See?

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 2:43pm  
omg...you can rebuilt a system and spend money (if you have it). people bring up tons of "dead horses" on this board...including the now "dead horse" replies of serious musings to joking around. that stuff up there...is jokes...of which i'm going to cut back on because they seem to be more popular than the serious musings. since we're into serious replies... 1- contrary to stated, i do not believe losing is the new winning...in fact, many teams have proven in MLB's long history that losing is not winning, nor will losers be considered winners in some new change of how standings work. 2- draft picks are actually not new world series championships. in fact, they're not going to start handing out rings for getting draft picks or sell commemorative DVD+Tshirt combos after a team drafts a player. 3- everything is awesome. this may or may not be true, but it has very little to do with the issue at hand. as far as being a cubs fan, though...this does not seem to be true across the board. the debate goes on. 4- carrying on and hoping the houston astros start winning games or else the cubs are screwed is an ill informed serious statement, the astros being in the AL should have little bearing on the cubs, and if it does effect the cubs it would most likely be in a world series game (coming in 2019, obviously, -joke alert-). there. we've cleared up the serious piece of journalism i wrote above. =p

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 3:07pm  
Aha! I think I've figured out the problem here. Crunch, I'm not sure you actually know what a joke is. "Obama is the worst president in the history of the United States." Hyperbole. Not a joke. "Why are umpires fat? Because they always clean their plate." Awesome joke.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 3:24pm  
i rarely find the "NotTomRicketts" twitter funny...4000+ people find it awesome enough to follow and it shows up in the left column on this page a lot. that said, it doesn't require a serious response to off-the-wall comments which may or may not be jokes depending on the beholder. as far as humor goes, i think my serious response to my own stupid "jokes" was funnier than that initial jokes...which some may not find funny, one of both. we're deep down the rabbit hole. also, as an aside, i don't understand how i live in a world where Tim and Eric's comedy are considered comedy...or Neil Hamburger. i "get" what they're doing...i just don't like it.

Submitted by Ryno  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 4:21pm  
Fun fact- Joe Ricketts has started a Koch-like super pac aimed at reducing the size of government. #fueltothefire

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 5:29pm  
I was only joking.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 03/30/2014 - 1:20pm  
everything is awesome ...when you're part of a team?

Recent comments

Subscribe to Recent comments
The first 600 characters of the last 16 comments, click "View" to see rest of comment.
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 4 hours 51 min ago (view)

    20s sounds about right. Considering they have gotten pretty much nothing out of pitching development in the last decade and only number one picks and Bote on the hitter side in the same time frame, that's pretty telling. I guess Contreras falls into that too but he had been around quite a while before Theo and Jed

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 4 hours 53 min ago (view)

    I was thinking that too, Phil. EJM failing so badly was another spectacular miss. Guess they should have let sleeping dogs lie when his first deal fell through (Dodgers or Giants, I think?)

     
  • tim815 5 hours 45 min ago (view)

    MLB.com rated the Cubs 22 out of 30.

    This season figures to tell quite a bit. No teams are terrible at player development anymore, and no teams look at the draft as a hopeless puzzle.

     
  • KingKongvsGodzilla 8 hours 59 min ago (view)

    Are these guys out of the org now? 

     
  • K Dub 13 hours 36 min ago (view)

    PHIL: Any velo readings on Ramos? Earlier reports also had him sitting 98-99. Thanks!

     
  • George Altman 19 hours 37 min ago (view)

    Phil, serious question: How good is the Cubs Player Development Department? Scale of 1 to 30 with 1 being best.  I mean, I can think of 5 teams right now who don't have near the Cubs resources but do better year after.

    I mean there are organizations across sports who seem to coach the crap out of their draft picks and signees. They just got 4 teenagers for Darvish, but do they have the coaches to get any of them to the show? 

    My pessimistic grade would be about 24.

     
  • Arizona Phil 19 hours 52 min ago (view)

    DJL: How about Eddy Julio Martinez as a spectacular miss? A $3M signing bonus out of Cuba and he never made it out of AA. 

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 19 hours 58 min ago (view)

    Wow, that's a pretty spectacular miss. He was so highly thought of when he signed.

     
  • Arizona Phil 20 hours 30 min ago (view)

    TIM: Richard Gallardo doesn't seem to be progressing as a SP, so he has apparently been moved to the bullpen.  He has a tendency to labor through innings and nibble too much and throw a lot of pitches. 

     
  • tim815 20 hours 44 min ago (view)

    Anything on Gallardo, of interest, from today?

     
  • Arizona Phil 20 hours 46 min ago (view)

    The Cubs have released LHP Ryan Kellogg, RHP Alex Moore, 3B Fidel Mejia, OF Jose Gutierrez, OF Eddy Julio Martinez, and OF Zac Taylor from Minor League Camp. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 20 hours 52 min ago (view)

    And despite what you might read elsewhere, It was - NOT - a "hot" gun.  

     
  • Arizona Phil 21 hours 18 min ago (view)

    He certainly could have forced the Cubs to release him with full salary as termination pay, so he must like it with the Cubs.  

     
  • Charlie 23 hours 9 min ago (view)

    Follow-up on last week's discussion of Baez's contact and plate discipline woes. Another Fangraphs article notes that he is among league leaders in combined positive change in zone swing rates (swinging at more pitches inside the strike zone) and reduction in chase rate (swinging at pitches outside the zone). See the last table: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-look-at-some-earl...

    This makes his 45% strikeout rate and 1.7% BB rate all the more strange.

     
  • crunch 1 day 2 hours ago (view)

    he may not be worth much to us as fans, but every indication points to him being quite popular in the dugout.  nice to see him stick around as an emergency callup catcher.

     
  • Wrigley Rat 1 day 14 hours ago (view)

    Tony Wolters clears waivers and is sent to the Alternate Training site in South Bend.

     
more
Click "More" for the last 50 comments in full.