You’re the Iowa Cubs. You’re in Albuquerque in game eight of a nine-game road trip, trying to make it home still clinging to a slight edge over the fast-closing Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), who will meet you in Des Moines this weekend for a season-ending, division-clinching four-game set. Two of your starting pitchers, Coleman and Diamond, [...]
Like many fans, I have enjoyed the work of some (not all) Cub rookies this year, and look forward to September, when the Cubs will have nothing to lose by filling the dugout and also the daily lineup card with fresh faces. The top prospects may be otherwise engaged, however. Double-A Tennessee is a sure [...]
With the late-July trading season approaching, the usual rule applies that you trade older, more expensive players at positions where you have a surplus. While I hope they make a few deals, this team does not need to be “blown up,” as some fans are saying. The Cubs won’t make the postseason, and the [...]
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Posted 01 July 2010
† Phil
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Hendry § Piniella § prospect § soriano § trade
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Also tagged: alfonso soriano, andrew cashner, brett jackson, carlos silva, d.j. lemahieu, derrek lee, geovany soto, jim hendry, jody davis, joe carter, joe girardi, lou piniella, marlon byrd, rafael palmeiro, rebel ridling, robinson chirinos, sean marshall, shawon dunston, starlin castro, ted lilly, tyler colvin, welington castillo
I fancy myself a bit of a scout–a scout of the armchair, box-score persuasion, one who never set eyes on any of the players mentioned in this post unless they happened to be on WGN on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in March.
The results of my scouting are tabulated, weekly during the season, in the [...]
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Posted 12 March 2010
† Phil
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prospect
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Also tagged: alex maestri, alfonso soriano, andrew cashner, aramis ramirez, blake parker, brad snyder, brandon guyer, brett jackson, carlos marmol, chris archer, chris carpenter, chris huseby, david cales, derrek lee, dexter fowler, dustin sasser, geovany soto, greg reinhard, hak-ju lee, james adduci, jay jackson, jeff beliveau, jeff stevens, jeffry antigua, john gaub, jose valdez, josh vitters, juan pierre, koyie hill, kyler burke, logan watkins, manolin de leon, marlon byrd, matt camp, michael bourn, nyger morgan, ryan buchter, sam fuld, starlin castro, tony campana, tyler colvin, willie taveras, xavier nady
Word was out last week that nineteen Cubs not currently on the 40-man roster have been invited to spring training with the major-league team.
Infielders: Barney, Camp, Castro, LaHair, Lalli, Scales, Vitters
Outfielders: Jackson, Snyder
Catchers: Chirinos, Clevenger, Robinson
Pitchers: Cashner, Coleman, Diamond, Kennard, Mathes, Perkins, Russell
Say hello to your 2010 Iowa Cubs!–with the exceptions of under-22 prospects Vitters, [...]
Soriano is hitting .174 in June, after hitting .217 in May. April, when the Cubs were winning, was a long time ago.
I don’t think your leadoff hitter can go into a six-week swoon without killing the offense.
Soriano is untradeable, and what’s worse, he’s unbenchable. You can’t bench a guy with 5-1/2 years remaining on [...]
It’s been a great spring for filling scarce roster spots, not so great for showcasing legitimate major-league prospects.
This is going to be an excellent Cub team, the best I’ve seen, good to the last roster spot. All of the battles for positions and roster spots have broken the right way. Fontenot has replaced DeRosa at [...]
I read in the last two days that Nelson Cruz is likely to be in the opening day lineup for the Rangers, and also that Cruz has been offered a starting position in the Dominican outfield now that Melky Cabrera of the Yankees has dropped out of the World Baseball Classic.
I like to track Cruz’s [...]
The Cubs have improved in some areas this winter but there are still three trouble spots.
First, they haven’t created an opportunity for Micah Hoffpauir. Hoffpauir was a lefthanded power bat that the Cubs should have gotten into the lineup, even at the expense of Derrek Lee. Fontenot is an additional lefty bat, sure, and so [...]
The table below tries to put Micah Hoffpauir’s performance in 2008 in the context of other AAA hitters. It shows all AAA hitters from 2004 through 2008 who meet these criteria:
A minimum of 200 at bats. Hoffpauir had 290.
A minimum batting average of .320. Hoffpauir hit .362.
A minimum slugging percentage of .600. Hoffpauir’s was [...]