Matt Carasiti Headed for Japan
The Cubs have released RHRP Matt Carasiti so that he can sign with the Yakult Swallows (NPB). Since Carasiti was under MLB club control, the Cubs will likely receive a substantial release fee (perhaps as much as $1M) as part of the deal.
So the Cubs MLB reserve list (40-man roster) now stands at 36 (four slots are open), with the 2018 MLB Contract Tender deadline 8 PM (Eastern) tonight (Friday 12/1).
The 26-year old Carasiti was acquired from the Colorado Rockies last June for LHRP Zac Rosscup and was the closer for AAA Iowa the last half of the PCL season. He was named to the PCL All-Star team in July, and was added to the Cubs MLB 40-man roster last month after the conclusion of the World Series. He had been expected to compete for a slot in the Cubs MLB bullpen in 2018.
Recent comments
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cubbies.4ever 6 hours 27 min ago (view)
Just to continue my conspiracy theory that Theo has a requirement you have TJS to pitch for the Cubs Trevor Megill had it in 2013. The Cubs must have a support group for pitchers who have had TJS.
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Arizona Phil 8 hours 3 min ago (view)
After losing two players off the Iowa reserve list in the Major League Phase and selecting four players in the AAA Phase, the Iowa reserve list has one slot open, so now would be an excellent time to try and outright C. D. Pelham to AAA.
Keep in mind that he can't elect free-agency if he's outrighted, and if he is outrighted, he won't be a minor league free-agent until post-2021.
And if he gets claimed off waivers? No big deal.
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Arizona Phil 8 hours 25 min ago (view)
LHSP Faustino Carrera and 2B Carlos Sepulveda were among the first players signed by the Cubs out of Mexico in 2014-15. The Cubs ended up signing more than two dozen more Mexican players over the next three years.
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Arizona Phil 8 hours 28 min ago (view)
Vimael Machin can play anywhere in the infield & outfield, but he also went through the catcher conversion program at post-2015 Instructs so he can even catch in a pinch, too. He could be a very useful 26th man.
Machin is bi-lingual (he is from Puerto Rico and went to college at Old Dominion), and was projected by the Cubs as a future coach or manager. He's a savvy & astute baseball guy.
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Arizona Phil 8 hours 41 min ago (view)
BRADSBEARD: Every year the Cubs convert two or three position players to pitcher (it was Galazin, Hughes, and Zardon in 2019), so it's very possible that Suiter will be given a chance to pitch.
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bradsbeard 9 hours 37 min ago (view)
Suiter, who pitched in HS and briefly in college and who doesn't appear to be much of a hitter, seems to me to be a good pitcher conversion candidate.
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Arizona Phil 10 hours 19 min ago (view)
BTW, three of the four players selected by the Cubs in the AAA Phase of the Rule 5 Draft (Stewart, Suiter, and Masters) will be minor league free-agents post-2020, and the fourth one (Vance Vizcaino) is a second-contract player (he was previously released by KC) so he could be a post-2020 minor league free-agent, too (TBD).
Incidentally, David Masters was selected by the Cubs after signing a minor league successor contract with the Nationals.
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Arizona Phil 10 hours 26 min ago (view)
So LHSP Brailyn Marquez, INF Christopher Morel, RHSP Cory Abbott, SS Aramis Ademan, RHSP Erich Uelmen, RHSP Keegan Thompson, and LHSP Brendon Little stand-out among the Cubs 2020 first-time Rule 5 Draft eligibles, and RHRP Oscar de la Cruz, LHSP Luis Lugo, and LHRP Jordan Minch are probably the ones to watch among the Cubs post-2020 free-agent eligibles.
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Arizona Phil 10 hours 26 min ago (view)
For those of you who like to plan ahead, AS THINGS STAND NOW here is how the Rule 5 Draft and minor league free-agency shape up for the Cubs post-2020:
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bradsbeard 17 hours 8 min ago (view)
You say that in jest, but just from the 2016 draft, which did not feature a first or second round pick, the Cubs drafted 4 players who were added to 40 man rosters this winter (Hatch, Miller, Rucker, Short) with Mekkes, Giambrone, and several others being potential mid-season additions.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 17 hours 25 min ago (view)
So I guess he's the first guy since Rondon we've taken in rule 5 with a shot at making the roster. That's kinda cool
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crunch 17 hours 30 min ago (view)
"Megill is a guy we tried to trade for, actually, prior to the Rule 5." - hoyer
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Dolorous Jon Lester 17 hours 40 min ago (view)
That's a bummer. He does what few on the big league club do: put the bat on the ball.
Also hate to lose Rucker. He's a perfect type to be on AAA shuttle and cheap middle relief at minimum.
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QuietMan 17 hours 41 min ago (view)
Good stuff indeed.
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crunch 17 hours 42 min ago (view)
A's trade for machin...probably not getting him back.
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crunch 17 hours 54 min ago (view)
cubs seem to be using the minor league phase of the rule5 to attempt to build a farm system...better than their recent non-1st-round draft record so far, i guess.
Comments
Surprised? I though he had a
BILLYBUCKS: Given the
Interesting.
Just as a point of
One million or so sure beats
welly returns to catch for
Welly had himself a year last
Hector Rondon non-tendered by
shocking/not-shocking.
Not sure why they're wasting
i would feel a lot better
So what will the bullpen look
addison reed and jake mcgee
With six slots now open on
With six slots now open on their MLB 40-man roster, I would expect the Cubs to sign as many as five or possibly even six free-agents, including at least one or maybe two SP (depending on whether or not the Cubs are able to acquire a second starter via trade), three established MLB relievers (including one closer and one lefty), and a veteran back-up catcher (possibly either Alex Avila or Rene Rivera).
Even after projected arbitration raises, the Cubs now have about $60M in available 2018 payroll to spend on additions to the club (if they are so inclined).
Also remember that although Shohei Ohtani will get a relatively small signing bonus, the MLB club that signs Ohtani has to pay a - $20M - posting fee to the Nippon Ham Fighters. So while Ohtani himself might not cost that much, the posting process does. (BTW, a posting fee paid to an NPB or KBO club does - NOT - count against a club's payroll when calculating the club's luxury tax liability).
Rivera seems like a smarter
Hope Grimm isn’t part of it
Assuming health and
Don’t know if I’d call Grimm
Hopefully, they tendered
How quickly it goes....Cards
Oh Noooooooo
https://clyp.it/zyqjmtng
Regarding the Ohtani mania...
last i checked, squaring up
Good coaching can help a
"FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman
"MLB.com's Jon Morosi reports
I must say I enjoyed Robbie
BB, I'm curious why you think
I don't think it matters how
VA Phil -- To me, losses
I have an advantage here, in
My take on Trubisky is that
George Halas must be rolling
My son just texted me a great
The Stanton and Ohtani dramas
as much as i wish the cubs
It appears the Cubs may be
+dodgers in the mix according
I am not getting my hopes up
What's the fun of not getting
None of those other teams on
Does Cubdom know how
Don’t follow the NFL so I can
Agreed. Theo only took job
Regardless of Darvish, I don
Most boring offseason evah.
Arizona Phil (AZP):
AZ Phil goes back to Cubs
You realize the Cubs got
Yes, "it happens", and what
I’d say one of the big
E-MAN: When the current Cubs
E-MAN: When the current Cubs regime took over post-2011, the Cubs hired long-time Vanderbilt pitching coach Derek Johnson to be their new Minor League Pitching Coordinator. Johnson was something of a pitching "guru," having developed his own unique pitching philosophy/ideology. He wrote at least one book (maybe more) on the subject of pitching, but it was a sort of "my way or the highway" type of approach.
So each pitcher in the system had his own unique "Player Development Plan" detailing his goals and objectives and how to get there. Minor league pitching coaches were no longer allowed to veer off the reservation and go rogue and impart their own personal ideas, as had often been the case previously.
Back in the day it wasn't unusual for a pitcher to receive conflicting information and instruction from different pitching coaches as the pitcher progressed up the ladder through the system or as pitching coaches received new assignments within the organization. It also wasn't unusual for pitchers who had been very successful in college or high school to be told to change what it was that got them to pro ball and try something else, sometimes for no apparent reason
. .
For example, Cubs 1997 1st round draft pick RHP Jon Garland was completely messed up by the Cubs within a year after he signed. Even though he was successful in his pro debut in the Summer of '97, the Cubs changed his arm slot and release point at Instructs post-1997 (with terrible results). He was traded to the White Sox for RHRP Matt Karchner in 1998, and the Sox immediately showed him video they had recorded of him when he was in high schoo (the White Sox had hoped to draft Garland with their 1st round pick, but the Cubs picked ahead of them), and told him to forget everything the Cubs had told him to do and go back to pitching the way he had pitched in HS. Within two years he was in the White Sox MLB starting rotation and he had a successful MLB career. There are other examples I know about that did not end happliy-ever-after for the pitcher (including other Cubs high draft picks), but I'm not going to go into them here.
So the hiring of Derek Johnson and the implementation of a Player Development Plan for each pitcher was supposed to avoid the missteps and bad decisions of years past.
The problem is that despite the change in philosophy and new instruction methods (to more of a college-type approach), the Cubs saw a couple or three of their pitching prospects either stall or flame-out in their system and then develop into effective big league pitchers in another organzation. It was especially troubling with regard to RHRP Tony Zych (who had been the 4th round draft pick of the Cubs in 2011),.because within a few months after he was traded to Seattle (in lieu of being released), he was in the Mariners MLB bullpen.
So after the 2015 season, Derek Johnson was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers as their new MLB Pitching Coach, and the Cubs hired Kansas City Royals AA Northwest Arkansas Pitching Coach Jim Brower to be their new Minor League Pitching Coordinator (BTW, Brower's influence in the Cubs organization in 2016-17 was one of the factors that led to the Cubs acquiring ex-KC pitchers Mike Montgomery and Alec Mills in trades), and Seattle Mariners Minor League Pitching Coordinator Terry Clark (who was credited with "fixing" Tony Zych) to be the new Pitching Coach at AA Tennessee.
The idea with assigning Clark to Tennessee is that AA is considered the make-or-break spot for legit pitching prospects (that's where the Cubs "lost" Zych), and so you want your best teacher at AA, in part to teach advanced pitching methods but also to fix problems and save the pitcher before things sprial out of copntrol..What happens before AA is important but it's just part of the process and AAA is a "finishing school," but AA is where the rubber meets te road, because (barring injury) talented pitchers almost always get to AA without a lot of difficuity.
What will be the ultimate result of the change from The Derek Johnson Method to Brower/Clark has not yet been determined, but hopefully it will result in more "home grown" pitching talent reaching Wrigley Field and helping the Cubs.
great read. thanks.
Thank you for the insight.
Speaking of the rubber
BRADSBEARD: I don't know what
BRADSBEARD: I don't know what happened to Clifton, but I haven't heard anything about an injury. He was doing fine for his first 60 innings (up until mid-June) and then he just seemed to hit a wall.
I do know he left the Smokies in August and did not return, so he may have been dealing with some off-the-field issue.
Any word on a Brower
Awesome PHIL. Zych certainly
TIM: No word yet, but the
TIM: No word yet on who the new Minor League Pitching Coordinator will be, but the Cubs will probably announce their 2018 minor league staff sometime within the next ten days.
I don't know who the Cubs might be looking at outside the organization, but if they go in-house the three most likely candidates would be AA Tennessee Pitching Coach Terry Clark (who was the Seattle Mariners Minor League Pitching Coordinator prior to joining the Cubs), Mesa Rehab Pitching Coordinator Ron Villone, and Assistant Minor League Pitching Coordinator Mike Mason.
Clark was hired by the Cubs specifically to be the AA Tennessee pitching coach because the AA pitching coach job is so critical, so I don't know if the Cubs would want to move him to the coordinator slot.
Villone took over the Mesa Rehab Pitching Coordinator gig in 2016 after Rick Tronerud retired and has done a very good job there, but as with Clark, the Rehab Pitching Coordinator is a critical rate and the Cubs might not want to move him to another slot right now.
Mason is a very good pitching coach (he was the pitching coach on the Angels/Cubs Advanced Instructs co-op team post-2015 and post-2016) and while he could get promoted to Minor League Pitching Coordinator, he also might be the guy to replace Clark at AA Tennessee or Villone at Mesa Rehab if either of them become the new Cubs Minor League Pitching Coordinator.
Maitan to Anaheim. Del
"not targeting pitching early
Abysmal?
You touched on something that
Correct if I am not
I just don’t agree that the
"Johnson still has a chance
Not sure Astros with their 1
Yeah, the Astros hit on
To be fair, they also hit on
I’ll start with the Dodgers:
Cardinals have a win in Wacha
BA Top 100
These are different
Cashner for Rizzo. Who ya
Yeah, but who do they have
The Cardinals and (especially
I guess my frame of reference
Prior was a very early choice
A team trying to win should
From what AZP says, Albertos
It could be a very big HOF
Chatwood. Three years.
Chatwood splits:
Don't let him pitch against
I was gonna say, that is a
i just noticed you posted
2016 did weird things to my
Yay, the Cubs made a move!
I think we just stuck our
I think we just stuck our hands on a hot stove.
Age 28 season coming up,
I like signings like this one
Love the C+C Music Factory
Hey, 1 hitters and pitchers
at this point, if ohtani didn
https://www.mlb.com/gameday
Just hope Chatty's transition
i'd like to see him throw
Hehe....Stanton only wants to
MLB TV network is reporting
rangers (who scouted him in
At least he's in the AL, so
Agreed.