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Minor Leagues
Pennant Fever
Not for the major league team, but some of the lil' Cubs are making a push for minor league post-season glory.
AAA - Iowa Cubs
There are four divisions in the 16-team PCL and they play a full season, as opposed to some lower levels splitting their season into halves. The Iowa Cubs are making a bid for a second straight playoff appearance and trail the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals affiliate) by two games and the Nashville Sound (Brewers) by a game and a half as of this writing. Iowa will have 20 games to close the gap, 14 of them at home. The season ends on September 7th, so they'll have to deal with September call-ups raiding the roster. Don't be surprised if the Cubs make some minor league free agent signings to help them out, plus some Double A promotions.
AA: Tennessee Smokies
No surprise that a team with many of the 2008 Florida State League Champions would be doing well as a team at the next level. The Tennessee Smokies are tied with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Mariners) atop the North Division thanks to a 5-game winning streak. There are 17 games left in the season and they finish with a 5-game set at West Tennessee.
Hi-A: Daytona Cubs
They finished the first half in second place, but 7.5 games back in their division. The second half has been unkind though and it doesn't look like a two-peat is going to happen as they're in last place, 14.5 out.
A - Peoria Chiefs
It was a strong 38-31 first half for the Chiefs, but that was only good for third place. They second half has gone even better though and they sit at 31-20 with a 3.5 game lead in the division. Carlos Zambrano pitches for them tonight in a rehab outing, probably the closest he'll get to post-season fever. The Chiefs have 18 games left on the year.
Lo-A: Boise
The good news is that Boise is in second place...the bad news is they're 7 games back and 4 games under .500.
Some other Cubs-related notes after the jump...
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Recent comments
Sonicwind75 (view)
Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.
At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.
Childersb3 (view)
AZ Phil:
Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
crunch (view)
masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around. i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.
That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.
Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.
Childersb3 (view)
Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa
Taillon and Wisdom up
Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.
crunch (view)
booooooooooo
also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.
crunch (view)
cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.
taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight. who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.
p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury. good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.
Bill (view)
A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return. Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.
Sonicwind75 (view)
Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention". Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."
Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost. But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.