Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Back From Behind

ASTROS 2 CUBS 4
Recap | Box Score | Play-by-play | Game Chart
W: Michael Wuertz (3-2) L: Brad Lidge (1-2) S: Ryan Dempster (4)
It's tough doing the work of six men, so that's why this game report is winging its way to you about a day late. Rob at least has a good excuse - he and his wife were due on Monday to bring their first child into the world, so I hope you'll all join me in hoping that mother and child did and are doing well and that the new proud father will soon return bearing cute baby photos, tales of sleepless nights and big happy smile all over his face. Roger Clemens won't be smiling though. He's having to do the job of not six men, but about fifteen or so, and at the age of forty-two, more than half of which you've spent hurling a baseball at hapless hitters, that can take its toll. Clemens had been cruising - he'd retired ten hitters in a row. But, with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, he then walked Enrique Wilson, which is about as clear a sign as any that a pitcher's injured. A coaching visit to the mound followed, and though Clemens retired the next batter to end the inning, he immediately left for the locker room, leaving the final four frames and a 2-0 lead in the hands of his bullpen. Injured groin or not though, he may have been better advised to stay in the game given the way the Cubs put together a four-run rally off the wild Brad Lidge in the eighth to secure their fourth come-from-behind win in their last seven games (over which they're 5-2). It's becoming increasingly difficult to assess a pitcher when they're throwing against the Houston offence, but, even taking that into account, Sergio Mitre turned in a pretty impressive outing. Only Craig Biggio seemed able to generate any really hard hit balls, two foul down the left field line and one that on any other given day without the wind blowing in would have made its way out of the park for a home run. Instead, it held up just at the ivy at the kink in the left field wall, and though it was a far from routine play, Dubois at this level ought to have made it rather than leaping and coming up with nothing but air. Faced with second and third with no outs, Mitre remained composed, following with three meek groundballs and a strikeout (both runners in scoring position did score though, the first on a botched fielder's choice, the second on a botched double play). And that, coming in the fourth inning, was all the Astros could muster off Mitre. He threw all four of his pitches for strikes, mixing them up and changing speeds well, and getting his usual strew of groundballs. He walked just the one and struck out five. Encouraging. It must have been the facial hair holding him back last year. When he left after the seventh inning, it looked as though his performance would be in vain. Clemens had dominated, and the Astros' bullpen had added two scoreless innings. Jason Dubois though went a long way to atoning for his earlier fielding "error" by leading off with a double, and pinch-hitter extraordinaire Todd Hollandsworth singled him home with one out. With the tying run on board, the Astros turned to Lidge. Two walks, two wild pitches and a huge clutch Jeromy Burnitz single with two outs and the bases loaded did the job of turning the game around. Ryan Dempster then went 1-2-3 in the ninth again. And with that, the Cubs ran their winning streak to three. And Todd Walker will be back for tonight.
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"It must have been the facial hair holding him back last year." I am not sure he had facial hair last year; didn't he just have really long hair in the back? At any rate, that was a fun game to watch and a good win.

As a Cubs fan living in Houston, it's nice-n-quiet 'round here.... Hopefully better seat selection for me come the last series of the year.

Lets not underestimate the power of the RALLY CAPS in the parachat,which was turned on before the eighth.

Dusty Baker and mannytrillo may prefer Henry Blanco behind the plate but your opinion of Michael Barrett will rise after you read this.

Boats: "Dusty Baker and mannytrillo may prefer Henry Blanco behind the plate but your opinion of Michael Barrett will rise after you read this." What are you talking about??? (See Mr. Whipple, following your advice.)

hooray for the return of todd....not sure why enrique wilson is on this team instead of ben grieve at this point...but let's look at the bright side for a second, todd is back. ok, that's over. now we have to look at reality again, which is often more bleak as a Cubs fan. I posted this at the end of the last dying thread, and will re-post it here. this amazing clip is from the daily herald today, which shows how inept the cubs have been at improving their main weakness, offensive on-base, which oh just happens to be the most important stat there is (not making outs): "E-mailer Sanjay H., my favorite GM not working in baseball today, dug up the fact that only three NL teams in the last 10 years have failed to post a .340 OBP in any single season, including this year. They are the Pirates, Expos/Nationals and Cubs. The Brewers even did it twice. Says Sanjay, ìThereís no excuse for an upper-echelon payroll team like the Cubs to be so dismal in its ability to get on base.íí Oh, yeah. The last time a Cubs team had an OBP of at least .340? That was 1945, the last year the Cubs went to a World Series." btw, i believe that a .340 OBP was the NL average for the entire league last year...it's not like we're asking for a team of Ted Williamses here. ---- manny, your post after that one, seemed a bit of a backhanded insult at people like me who know that on-base is by far the most important stat in baseball. if you prefer to stay on as a charter member of the Flat Earth Society, as I like to call those who think that on-base is overrated and newfangled, that's fine. While I disagree with 90% of what you say, you seem to at least see that OnBase and Slugging are very important. While I am generally a Hendry fan (much more than I am a Dusty fan, anyway), stats like the one above make me question it. He seems great at making deals, but not always for exactly the right players. and when oh when is aramis going to do anything approaching last year? please? otherwise one of hendry's previously acclaimed greatest accomplishments suddenly seems like only a good trade rather than a great one. Go Cubs! let's aim for an undefeated homestand against the two worst road teams in 100 years or so. you never know what can get started...

I guess Mitre has proven to Dusty that he at least deserves another start. More props for Burnitz...those two out clutch RBI's are much appreciated.

hooray for the return of todd....not sure why enrique wilson is on this team instead of ben grieve at this point...but let's look at the bright side for a second, todd is back. ok, that's over. now we have to look at reality again, which is often more bleak as a Cubs fan. I posted this at the end of the last dying thread, and will re-post it here. this amazing clip is from the daily herald today, which shows how inept the cubs have been at improving their main weakness, offensive on-base, which oh just happens to be the most important stat there is (not making outs): "E-mailer Sanjay H., my favorite GM not working in baseball today, dug up the fact that only three NL teams in the last 10 years have failed to post a .340 OBP in any single season, including this year. They are the Pirates, Expos/Nationals and Cubs. The Brewers even did it twice. Says Sanjay, ìThereís no excuse for an upper-echelon payroll team like the Cubs to be so dismal in its ability to get on base.íí Oh, yeah. The last time a Cubs team had an OBP of at least .340? That was 1945, the last year the Cubs went to a World Series." btw, i believe that a .340 OBP was the NL average for the entire league last year...it's not like we're asking for a team of Ted Williamses here. ---- manny, your post after that one, seemed a bit of a backhanded insult at people like me who know that on-base is by far the most important stat in baseball. if you prefer to stay on as a charter member of the Flat Earth Society, as I like to call those who think that on-base is overrated and newfangled, that's fine. While I disagree with 90% of what you say, you seem to at least see that OnBase and Slugging are very important. While I am generally a Hendry fan (much more than I am a Dusty fan, anyway), stats like the one above make me question it. He seems great at making deals, but not always for exactly the right players. and when oh when is aramis going to do anything approaching last year? please? otherwise one of hendry's previously acclaimed greatest accomplishments suddenly seems like only a good trade rather than a great one. Go Cubs! let's aim for an undefeated homestand against the two worst road teams in 100 years or so. you never know what can get started...

You must have a short memory manny. You attacked me for hypothesizing that MB could possibly have replaced Blanco on Saturday without the world grinding to a halt. Baker benched a perfectly healthy Barrett because he took himself out of the game Wednesday. MB cleared medical on Thursday and announced Friday to the media that he was ready to start. Nobody here at TCR seemed to be aware of any of this. The story getting play in the media was Dusty's baloney about MB being unable to do anything but perhaps PH. Players don't go around Baker to the media without getting in the doghouse, so MB sat..and sat. You chasitzed me for even suggesting that Baker screwed up Saturday's game when he ran out of players and then refused to use MB...the last position player left on his bench in a ninth inning PH situation. Considering that you're a big fan of Dusty Baker's managerial skills.... I'm not (although I'm not part of the fire dusty brigade)...and Dusty is on record repeatedly dissing MB's skills behind the plate I got the impression you preferred Blanco back there. So pardon me if I got the wrong impression of you. But if you are an MB fan, you have a strange way of expressing it and you don't seem to follow the news about him. I do.

While the Cubs winning the game was great, I thought the best part was Jeff Gordon doing the 7th inning stretch. Wow, was he bad!

Kevin, I hear that Jeff Gordon has been getting booed at the track as well. In one instance he won a race on a technicality and started doing doughnuts. The fans in the stands apparently were offended.

And not even a passing reference to the debacle from Kasper or Brenly when they had Gordon in the booth moments later. What a couple of nancy boys.

H. Vaughn That was just plain weird. It looks like those two are afraid to say anything negative about the game. Which explains why Brenly talks about himself instead of the Cubs. Job security.

That was just plain weird. It looks like those two are afraid to say anything negative about the game. Umm...they are afraid of phone calls from the dugout to the tv booth? You'd think a club owned by a major media conglomerate (sp?) would encourage a balanced look and discussion about the game...but NO not the Cubbies. I love the M and M commercial where Lord Vader is told by the plain M and M that they won't join the dark side....suddenly Vader kills plain M and Peanut M says, "We start Monday".... Reminds me of the Cubs dugout, management and their relations with the broadcasters...

Fascinating historical info, Green Lantern. It's funny, I remember telling a friend of mine a few years ago that the Cubs, since my first hazy memories of them as a 7 year old in '84, are always at or near the bottom of the league in walks drawn. He checked our Total Baseball and confirmed my claims. As a fan of a team with superb management (the Red Sox) he is sympathetic to the continual pig-headedness of this organization when it comes to OBP. For a guy like Dubois, who I think is capable of putting up a .270/.370/.550 line or so, this is a horrible organization to learn plate discipline with, and Baker, has he has proven again and again by his comments, has no patience with hitters who aren't obviously "aggressive" at the plate. The recent move involving Grieve is a case in point. Here is the best option off the bench being demoted, while a completely useless corpse like Wilson remains with the team. If anyone can find a worse foursome than Blanco/Perez/Macias/Wilson on a major league roster, I'll be very surprised. The situation is made all the worse with Baker's fetish for a 12 man staff, leaving only five options on the bench, including the back-up catcher. Meanwhile, a hot hand like Wellemeyer is given half an inning's worth of work in the past two weeks, Remlinger is barely touched, and, low and behold, we run out of position players by the ninth inning (as with the game a few days ago). Baker has always been a nightmare when it comes to roster construction, and as Hendry is Baker's pasty, middle-aged concubine, hope for a change in any of these frustrating facets of the team is ameliorated until the sheik with the toothpick rides his camel out of the ivy-covered confines.

and Dusty is on record repeatedly dissing MB's skills behind the plate I got the impression you preferred Blanco back there. Not to argue with you, but I don't think Manny has ever said he preferred Blanco to Barrett, he simply argued that Barrett wasn't available to catch and that Macias could not fill in as a replacement at catcher. Not to be nitpicky, but there is a difference. I agree with you Bluewater that Barrett was likely in the doghouse and could have been a defensive replacement. That being said, the difference seems to be in taking Dsuty as 100% truthful in what he reports about player's status. Manny took the report at face value, you I, and likely many others did not. It's easy to get excited with Manny when he says things we disagree with, but no need to clown him for things he hasn't said.

Dear Mr. Whipple I was the target of a tagteam troll attack for suggesting that Dusty mismanaged the game Saturday. I was right. The trolls were wrong. Rather than give himself a chance to win DB kept MB on the bench and let Blanco make the last out. I didn't initiate anything. The two high-fiving jamokas who did it were rabid but didn't have the facts on their side ...as usual. They look like idiots now. One of them was manny. Neither has apologized. An apology I would readily accept. Tagteam troll attacks are about as low as you can go and TCR shouldn't encourage them. There's no place for that crap here.

LET. IT. GO.

If the Cubs don't get back in the playoff race and Maddux okays a trade, there are stories today that indicate Atlanta wants Greg Maddux back.

Good god, I'm going to be defending Manny Trillo here, but let's have some more fun with the contradicition king: #6 of 20: By bluewater boats (May 25, 2005 10:00 AM) Dusty Baker and mannytrillo may prefer Henry Blanco behind the plate but your opinion of Michael Barrett will rise after you read this. #172 of 220: By bluewater boats (April 8, 2005 03:36 PM) why is Barrett still catching? He's been out there too long. Supposedly our backup catcher is superior defensively to MB. So put him out there already. This game can be won with one stinkin' run!

Bluewater Boat's "Bleeding Blue and Manny Trillo are trolls" schtick is to 2005 as Cubfan's "Let's re-define what Games Over .500 means" is to 2004.

Give the trolling a rest bb. What kind of anal personality keeps collections of misunderstood old posts here and proudly regurgitates them out of context? Sarcasm, irony, hell anything written in English is totally lost on you. If you spent half the time getting your facts straight as you do trolling you might be worth paying attention to.

Eric Byrnes...I know nothing about the rumors, but random blind speculation is more fun than reading about who's insulted more by whose comments. Looking at his stats & outlook on ESPN, I've got to say he doesn't look bad - Stats, Inc.'s scout seems to love him - but I don't see anything all that amazing about him either. According to what I'm seeing, he's a 29-year-old with one good year at the plate (coming at the exact time a player is supposed to peak, age 28), two partial years of not doing anything all that impressive (and two meaningless sub-20-game seasons) and he seems to be a very good defender with an all-out approach who dives a lot for catches - I kind of wish I had my BP book on me, that'd give me more info. Oh, and he seems to not exactly be picking up where he left off last year with the bat so far, which would make him fit right in with the Cubs. Anyways, to be frank, I'd really hate to see the Cubs trade away either of their two (TWO? Is that really all...?) homegrown position players away for someone who wasn't a sure-thing, an absolute steal, and I'd be surprised if Oakland didn't demand one of them (Dubois or Patterson) in exchange...and I'd be even more surprised if Hendry could outright swindle the A's. Anyone else have any more information, or have a different take on him, or angles on possible trades?

Weeks T. Olive. email address [email protected] Nothing like a fake email address to enhance the credibility of a guy tossing molotov cocktails.

Jiraiya, The Cubs contacted the A's ten days ago about Byrnes. Since then they've sent Grieve down and decided that Hairston will be listed and play as an outfielder while adding another infielder to the roster. Given those facts, I'm sure the crew here at TCR can figure out what's going on.

hey bluewater...where'd you hear the eric byrnes rumor? i'm mildly interested in him, but weary of trading with the a's, as mr. beane would fleece mr. hendry of some high on-base kids, or the one young reliever that will end up panning out (wellemeyer? wuertz?), if there are any in the organization. i don't know what byrnes really adds to this particular team though...i like him but if you're going to get another outfielder for this team, i'd rather play dubois and let him improve, unless we're getting someone in the Dunn/Abreu/Huff category. byrnes is good. he would be a nice guy that could play center instead of hairston when corey needs a day off. but i don't think getting a guy who at 29 is not a prospect, and has numbers not as good as burnitz, is an answer for this year or the future...

Bluewater- I use a fake email address on this site and many others to avoid being caught by spammer bots. Many other posters here do the same (as you should, too). I have been a part of this website far longer than you have and your intended insults of calling established posters trolls seem petty and childish.

The Byrnes story is hot off this morning's CNNSI wire.

Byrnes is fun to watch (I live in SF and see a lot of A's games) and he's a decent guy to have on your team, but I don't really see why the Cubs should be after him. PS - lots of us use fake email addresses, not so we can troll, but for spam management.

Dear everyone, I'd like to ask you to take a step back. We are not enemies here. We all love the Cubs. We have diverse backgrounds and opinions regarding what makes them good and what will help us win. We all enjoy TCR. That being said, can we try to difuse rather than escalate tensions? There are certainly some on TCR who have a difficult time communicating their perspective in ways that doesn't come off as rude. But it is my sincere belief that they don't know that by doing so, what they want to communicate ends up lost in translation--and they care about what they're trying to say. With a little more patience and thicker skin, we will all be able to say what we have to say and hear what others are saying. If we all simply start anew and make a serious effort to difuse anger rather than retaliate, we can all have a much nicer time. If though, we jump on people, yell at them, get offended, get sarcastic, and so on, we create a hostile environment that eventually degrades the overall quality of TCR as a community. I'm as guilty as the next guy (especially with the sarcasm and more recently with anger), but I'm doing my best to turn over a new leaf and put my best foot forward (and not take any wooden nickels or something). You might be surprised at who else here has agreed privatley to make an attempt to difuse hostilities over the next month. Please everyone, try to keep in mind: we're all extremely passionate about the boys in blue, so it's easy to get wound up. Let's try to let past wounds heal and act like this is still a gentlemans' (and ladies') game. I mean really, what's so funny bout peace, love, and understanding? Sincerest thanks, Mr. Whipple

Group hug.

Listen weeks t. olive I don't know how many times I have been told that my opinion has no value at TCR because I am the "new guy." This is an "attack the new guy site." Pretending that it's the other way around while you hide behind a phoney email addy is disingenous. And it's not going to stop me from correcting "oldtimers"(I have no idea who they are or why I should care) when they have the facts so bungled up they can't analyze jack. I know a few entrenched inflated egos are upset when they look bad. Sorry. But if you're honest, you know that what really bothers people is that a new guy is making so many posts. That's not going to stop me from posting news to this otherwise exceptional weblog in an effort to inform the actual Cub fans here, athough you and a few others may not appreciate it. For those who don't like my posts skip 'em. Or just get the mods to ban me if that's what you're about.

i don't see anywere on the news wires that walker is starting tonight, is this info correct?

personally, i dont take any of this seriously, but some people are so dead set on expounding their negativity they are blinded by applying their own logic to things they complain about. for every person who busted me over and over and over about what i said about dubois, i'd like them to step back and tell me what ive said about dubois that isnt true. i had some people call me some really stupid and shortsighted "names" for daring to say something negative about a player...which is kinda funny considering a lotta people who busted me on this are some of the most negative posters to this board. all i ask for is if you're gonna call my opinions uneducated or ill advised, i'd like to see more of a responce than "how do you know?" or "but..but..option 2 sucks!" i am capable of being wrong...its happened before, it'll happen again. and no, im not calling out anyone in particular...there's too many to call out for this specific example. its no biggie...i welcome differing opinions, but at least come with substance before labeling me things like a lier and other crap ive put up with from some over the past few month. once again, its no big deal, but i refuse to have another conversation with someone where i bring substance and all im met with is some circumstancial #s that dont even apply to the player being mentioned or a total whitewash of what ive said. its a msg board, i dont expect credibility from anyone, period...but if you wanna call my credibility into question, and i defend it...if you continue to take a bite at it, bring some substance, please.

Just to add a little fire during the midst of a 3-game winning streak, I'm going to throw this out there: When Dusty Baker decides to leave after this season, or is politely asked not to return (and god I hope Hendry has the balls to do that), we should give the managerial job to Orel Hershiser. Who wouldn't want the bulldog as our manager? And with what he's done with the Rangers staff, and especially Chan Ho Park, he deserves the job. As a pitcher, he knows that you can't over tax the arm (which would help Wood, Prior, and Z stay off the DL), and he has faith in young players and young pitchers (which would help Wellemeyer, Wuertz, Leicaster, Ohman, and the cubs in general). Here's to Orel in 2006!

Bluewater- You misunderstood my post. I have no problem with the fact that you are a new poster. I welcome new posters, so long as they have something of substance to contribute. They key word there is "substance." Attacking well-established posters and calling them trolls does not fall under the definition of "substance." Though I do not need to speak for either of them nor anyone else here, Bleeding Blue and Manny Trillo are anything but trolls (though we all know that Manny sometimes does exibit trollish behavior - just kidding, Manny! :-) Certainly, I welcome anyone who has anything of value to add to a conversation at this and all other websites. Posts # 21 and 26 are the perfect examples of what "value" does not entail. Those are the things that I and many others at this site dislike and try to discourage. Your vitriol does nothing but hurt yourself. As for the email thing, that was answered in 31 and also by BJ in 33.

"Here's to Orel in 2006!" That doesn't sound too catchy. It doesn't even rhyme. Gotta find a catchy name that rhymes with 6, like Stevie Nicks in 2006 or Nikki Sixx perhaps. Ok I'm done now but Orel has done a terrific job as pitching coach in Texas, but for whatever reason pitching coaches don't have a great track record as managers. Not sure why, but it seems to be the norm.

Enough is enough! Let's talk about baseball. My post above (17) made some ad hominem attacks on Baker and Hendry, but that's lots of fun and they are actually paid a lot of money to put a winning team on the field. We are unpaid folks who care deeply about a product that has provided diminshing returns for decades, so I think we all deserve respect and sympathy, no matter our opinions. Let's give the complaints, bitterness, and legal mumbo jumbo a rest and keep comments focused on the greatest game in the world (and I'm not talking about rounders). By the way, John (Hill), speaking of rounders, I have a British friend who loves to make fun of baseball as a "girl's game" because he remembers rounders as a game played mostly by little girls in Britain. Any suggestions on how I can respond to his insults, or should I just give up and play a tight second sanctuary next rounders match? :)

how about a 175K Perl script to manage a team...slap together a weighted lineup generator that takes injury concerns + stats into account since the human element is not needed to run a club. joe torre...your days are numbered.

Oh give it a rest weeks t. olive. What a load of crap. They attacked me, you're trying to say I attacked them go away

re:44 baseball is one of the few world sports where after you come out of the lower ranks and are drafted/signed, youre still on average 3+ years away from seeing action on a professional level if you reach that point at all. swinging a bat 80mph+ with accuracy vs. a guy throwing 90+mph just isnt as easy as it looks on tv. hell, i bet if your friend stood in a batters box with a bat, not even swinging, and just watched a 90+mph ball come within 2-3ft. of him he'd get a little jolt of energy running through him before that pop of the catcher's glove rang in his ears. its a job that pays milllions...if it was really that easy to play, a lot more would.

Oh, how I wish the USENET ability to *plonk* posters existed at this site!

In the past the moderators have asked everone to refrain from making comments about other posters and to only address previous posts substantively rather than characterizing the writer's intent, motives, etc. Its a simple rule and at least for awhile it made the board a much more pleasant and interesting one.

to finish... ive said my personal piece, mostly cuz im still catching a bit of "hell" from people over things ive said who insist on keeping it alive with really weak arguements or non-arguements. this isnt a competition of baseball minds and when it comes down to personal attacks on myself or calling my credibility into account, i do wish to defend myself. im just kinda sick of being brought back into things only to hear nothing of substance in return. the dubois issue i brought up because of all the hell i got for a simple breakdown of his skills. this is not secret ninja knowlege...its stuff that's blatently evident to anyone who's watched him play. not everyone here has their only exposure to baseball pro games on wgn/espn/whatever. call me nuts, call me crazy, call me what you want...but back it up, please. that's all i ask if you're gonna push a point with me and expect to be taken seriously. if its jokes, its jokes...that's fine...if you wanna play serious discussion, then play serious discussion. we can all learn something or have some fun...whatever.

"I don't know how many times I have been told that my opinion has no value at TCR because I am the "new guy." This is an "attack the new guy site." Pretending that it's the other way around while you hide behind a phoney email addy is disingenous." Blue, sorry to say, but you're out of line. I started posting here probably around the same time you did, maybe more recently, though not nearly as frequently. I have never once felt disrespected because of my "new" status. People have disagreed, and even at times irked me, but it wasn't that big of a deal and it was because the took issue with what I was saying or how I was saying it, not because I wasn't respecting their 'status'. You're allowed to go atomic sometimes - so are other people. If you can't take it, you shouldn't carry it on so far. Keep in mind it's just a message board - and even though it's easier to let things escalate, it's counterproductive. You're here to talk baseball, not to get into fights, am I right?

hell, im a "new guy" =p i think my oldest posts date back to late 04 aside from some random early 04 and maybe a late 03 post. ive been lurking/reading for a year before i posted cuz i wanted to not get sucked into...a....heeeeeeeey...i screwed up! =p hehe...ive butted heads, but thats what happens when a collection of people get together that dont know each other or have to hang around each other. that's fine...expected, even. this is the only blog/msgboard i visit...i like it here. even some of these off-the-wall posts sometimes gets my head in another area and helps me see sides of looking at the team that i probally wouldnt see on my own so quickly.

I'm a realtively "new guy" and have only been posting this season (before as TMK and various variations before taking on DC Tom moniker). I don't think I have ever been attacked on this site, I have, in fact, found it rather welcoming. Then again, I am always correct in my observations and use unassailable logic, thereby making me impervious to attack...(last sentence a joke).

Out of line, sure.. LOFL. Did any of you "cub fans" notice that Remlinger has been put on the DL? Effective (5/21) it says here. Finger.

It was just yesterday, "Remlinger, who had a 4.97 ERA heading into Monday's play, said there are no health issues. "I could make a start tomorrow," Remlinger said"

rem not being healthy for a month now has been the worst kept non-secret in baseball...but his finger?

LIVERPOOL!!!!! You'll never walk alone! I know this is off topic, and for that i apologize. But, for anyone for who this doesn't make any sense, you just missed a legendary comeback win...

That was quite a comeback, Shawn! Great to see a Premier League team take the European Cup. Highlights are supposed to be on the Liverpool site on-line pretty soon. But it is a little bit like deciding the World Series with a home-run derby, isn't it? I guess Boston still woulda won.

No that does not mean I think he plays for Liverpool.

Hairston Perez Lee Burnitz Ramirez Walker Dubois Barrett Maddux

Palmeiro Self Biggio Berkman Lamb Ensberg Vizcaino Ausmus Backe

Thanks for the spoiler, shawn. That was on the Tivo.

Looks like Houston is going to try out the AAA line-up tonight. I started to write that "Orlando Palmeiro/Todd Self makes Hairston/Perez batting 1/2 seem pretty good" but it's not true, unfortunately. Let's hope the "Walker Batting 6th" is a temporary blip.

DC Tom, Houston's lineup tonight has hit a total of 20 home runs.

Right you are, John Hill. You have been the MVP of TCR for quite some time. Who are Scott and George anyway? Have they posted anything this month? Maybe I have missed some. I also remember Transmission posting some interesting stuff a few weeks back. Either way, I still read the site frequently 'cause the content is still good. Keep it up.

This just in: Left handed reliever Ryan OíMalley has been promoted to AAA Iowa from AA West Tenn.

Luke-- "By the way, John (Hill), speaking of rounders, I have a British friend who loves to make fun of baseball as a "girl's game" because he remembers rounders as a game played mostly by little girls in Britain. Any suggestions on how I can respond to his insults, or should I just give up and play a tight second sanctuary next rounders match? :)" The next time someone gives you the slightest nudge, accidental or otherwise, tumble to the ground theatrically and repeatedly roll over while clutching your scratched fingernail in agony and screaming "penalty, ref, penalty!"

Can someone from TCR please go ahead and remove the "Vote Neifi" link from the postings? The guy's batting .197 in the month of May with an OPS barely north of .500; his season OPS is crawling its way down below .700. I understand the campaign was partly tongue in cheek, but it was also based on the merits of his April performance. Unfortunately, the clock struck midnight a while ago.

Horace Grant- You must of pissed off Neifi with your post as he is 3-3 tonight, with the only RBI so far.

todd wellemyer has one walk/11k's in 9 innings pitched. hit the lever get a pellet-what else does he need to do to earn more innings? i'm guessing they trade him-that would be cub- like... put ramirez on the d/l already. the guy is not right. i love the remlinger d/l story. it was either the recliner or the beer tab...

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.