I knew they would trade Eloy, because that’s their MO, as long as they have a chance at the playoffs. The minor-league pitcher surprised me, because he’s supposed to be a stud and they need pitching, but Epstein tries not to rely on pitching prospects. So it was all inevitable once you appreciate Epstein’s boldness. […]
John Smoltz did a pretty good job of analyzing what everybody could see last night during game five of the World Series–everybody, that is, who wasn’t occupying a spot in the Cub dugout. What Smoltz diagnosed was Cleveland’s strategy with Baez at the plate. Throw him a first-pitch strike, Smoltz said, and then throw him […]
My list of Cub untouchables would be the guys who could be crazy-great, you’re just not sure (and the GM on the other side knows it), and so you’re liable to sell a little low and conclude a trade that you will regret later on. Schwarber is in that category, partly because of the injury […]
The word in the Sun-Times this morning, going into the third day of the winter meetings, is that the Cubs want to sign Jason Heyward and then offer Soler to the Braves in exchange for a controllable young flamethrower like Miller or Teheràn. Meanwhile, there are reportedly talks with the Rays involving Javier Baez and […]
¶
Posted 08 December 2015
† Phil
§
prospect § trade
‡
°
Also tagged: cael brockmeyer, chris bosio, eloy jimenez, gleyber torres, jeimer candelario, jorge soler, kris bryant, kyle schwarber, mike borzello, tim cossins, willson contreras
This is a ranking system that considers a base that is stolen to be as valid a unit of offensive production as a base that is attained any other way. It takes the sum of total bases + walks + SBs, adjusts it slightly, and divides by games played to arrive at a score, according […]
¶
Posted 16 August 2015
† Phil
§
prospect
‡
°
Also tagged: addison russell, anthony rizzo, billy mckinney, bryce harper, chesny young, gleyber torres, ian happ, joey votto, jorge soler, kris bryant, kyle schwarber, mark zagunis, mike trout, paul goldschmidt, willson contreras
The table below purports to show everybody in baseball last season who was 22 or younger; who showed some pop, with a minimum of nine or ten home runs*; and who started the season at double-A or higher. Twenty-two seems to be the age by which players who are on a fast track get their […]
¶
Posted 18 February 2015
† Phil
§
prospect
‡
°
Also tagged: arismendy alcantara, bryce harper, chris owings, christian yelich, dexter fowler, enrique hernandez, eugenio suarez, gregory polanco, joc pederson, jon singleton, jonathan schoop, kris bryant, manny machado, mike trout, mookie betts, nick castellanos, oscar taveras, rougned odor, wilmer flores, xander bogaerts
There’s a lot of excitement about the Cubs’ acquiring toolsy shortstop Addison Russell, who is at or near the top of a couple of major prospect lists; and while I’m excited along with everybody else, it still sticks in my mind that, not very long ago in 2012, when the new front office conducted its […]
I buy into the current Cubs’ front-office’s promises to build a championship-caliber team in due course, and am on-board with their timetable for success, even if it means enduring another uncompetitive season. But as the proprietor of a blog that has followed the progress of Cub prospects for going on six years now, I recognize […]
¶
Posted 18 April 2014
† Phil
§
prospect § trade
‡
°
Also tagged: al alburquerque, andrew cashner, angel pagan, arismendy alcantara, brandon guyer, brett jackson, brian schlitter, chris archer, d.j. lemahieu, dale sveum, dan vogelbach, darwin barney, hak-ju lee, james russell, jason mcleod, jed hoyer, jeff samardzija, jim adduci, jim henderson, josh donaldson, josh harrison, josh vitters, jr., junior lake, marwin gonzalez, matt garza, oneri fleita, rich harden, robinson chirinos, rubi silva, ryan buchter, ryan flaherty, sam fuld, shawon dunston, starlin castro, theo epstein, tony campana, welington castillo, zac rosscup, zeke devoss
A select group of prospects has been working out and hanging out in the Chicago area this week as part of the Cubs’ Rookie Development Program. Here they are by position: Pitchers: Pierce Johnson, Kyle Hendricks, Neil Ramirez, Eric Jokisch, C.J. Edwards, Armando Rivero, Arodys Vizcaino Outfielders: Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Rubi Silva Infielders: Javier […]
¶
Posted 17 January 2014
† Phil
§
Uncategorized
‡
°
Also tagged: albert almora, arismendy alcantara, armando rivero, arodys vizcaino, c.j. edwards, christian villanueva, eric jokisch, jorge soler, kris bryant, kyle hendricks, mike olt, neil ramirez, pierce johnson, rubi silva
These are the final regular-season numbers for Cub hitting prospects in 2012. Rizzo is the starting 1B on the major-league team for the foreseeable future, and is kept on this list for historical purposes. (He did spend half the season at Iowa.) I exclude him from the top-ten list of hitting prospects, which, based on […]