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, micah hoffpauir, rafael palmeiro, rebel ridling, robinson chirinos, sean marshall, shawon dunston, starlin castro, ted lilly, welington castillo
Can Soriano or Fukudome be traded?
Following Tyler Colvin’s impressive spring performance, Lou Piniella has promised to steal three starts a week from Byrd and Fukudome and give them to Colvin. Xavier Nady, meanwhile, will replace Soriano from time to time. Truth be told–and the truth is seldom more than whispered when hefty contracts are in [...]
Lou Piniella says his pitching coach won’t let him keep fewer than twelve pitchers on the 25-man active roster. That leaves thirteen position players, of whom ten, I would say, have already made the team. The ten includes two catchers (Soto, Hill), four infielders (Lee, Fontenot, Theriot, Ramirez) and four outfielders (Soriano, Byrd, Fukudome, Nady). [...]
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, micah hoffpauir, michael bourn, nyger morgan, ryan buchter, sam fuld, starlin castro, tony campana, willie taveras, xavier nady
Tyler Colvin had a decent half season at Tennessee (AA) and got called up in September. Starlin Castro had a good half season at Tennessee and is expected by many people to join the Cubs soon. (He’ll be twenty in March.) It’s hard to predict the future of any prospect but we can say with [...]
Many Cub fans saw the report recently that their team was 27th in organizational talent rankings according to Baseball America. Observant fans know, however, that there was a lot of healthy ferment last season in the Cubs’ lower minors, and that the high-A Daytona team, for example, won the Florida State League championship with [...]
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Posted 11 April 2009
† Phil
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Hendry § Uncategorized § prospect
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Also tagged: alex maestri, blake parker, brandon guyer, brian schlitter, casey coleman, casey lambert, darwin barney, hung-wen chen, jake fox, james russell, jay jackson, jeff samardzija, jeremy papelbon, john gaub, josh lansford, kosuke fukudome, nate spears, sam fuld, tim wilken, tony thomas, welington castillo
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 [...]
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 [...]
This is a list of Cub minor leaguers (Peoria and higher) who, through Sunday, Aug. 3, had hit ten home runs or batted .330 or above. Of the four hitters with .330+ averages, only two, Craig and Deeds, have fewer than ten home runs, and they have nine. They certainly belong on a list of [...]
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Posted 04 August 2008
† Phil
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prospect
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Also tagged: blake lalli, bobby scales, brandon guyer, casey mcgehee, doug deeds, jake fox, jason dubois, kosh kroeger, koyie hill, luis bautista, marquez smith, matt craig, micah hoffpauir, yusuf carter
Edmonds gives the Cubs three things they need: a centerfielder who can catch and hit; a short-term solution to the centerfield riddle, which is what they wanted; and a lefty power bat for the 5, 6 or 7 hole.
He’s perfect!
As far as his being a former enemy, I consider that the Cubs’ fault. Before the [...]