Jon Connolly Released

[ThePenguin11]

Connolly was #23 on last year's nsbb prospect board. So much for his potential. Another one bites the dust. Who did we trade for him?

 

Jon Connolly - R - Cubs

 

Cubs released Jon Connolly on Saturday.

Connolly never totally got back into form this March after rotator cuff surgery last year. "It’s doing pretty good," Connolly said. "I had a couple of good outings (during spring training) and a couple of bad outings. It’s spring training." Apr. 9 - 10:37 am et

Source: The Daily Star

[NCCubFan]

I believe we traded Sanchez (I don't recall his first name), a minor league pitcher.

[BigbadB]

I believe we traded Sanchez (I don't recall his first name), a minor league pitcher.

 

Felix.

[Jehrico]

Felix was the flamethrowing lefty that had a knockout spring in '03, and was competing with Guz for the Rookie of spring camp award of whatever they call it. I think he actually got a taste of the majors with us at one point though.

 

Has anyone actually heard why he was cut loose? Was it injury problems he wasn't expected to recover from?

[BigbadB]

Felix got into 3 games in 2003, and hasn't seen the bigs since. Not really sure why they traded him, but it turned out to be a pretty good call. Although at this point, it's a wash since neither of the guys we got for Sanchez are with the Cubs anymore.

[BigbadB]

This thread is interesting in the fact that Dontrelle Willis' name has come up in a lot of threads recently. I could be off base here, and I'm just guessing, but I would venture to guess that there would have been a bigger buzz on this site (at the time of the trade) if when the Cubs traded for Clement and Alfonseca if Felix Sanchez was involved in the trade rather than Willis.

 

I seem to recall Felix having quite a following. I'm not sure what happened, but I'll take a guess that it was injuries.

[Jehrico]

Felix was the flamethrowing lefty that had a knockout spring in '03, and was competing with Guz for the Rookie of spring camp award of whatever they call it. I think he actually got a taste of the majors with us at one point though.

 

Has anyone actually heard why he was cut loose? Was it injury problems he wasn't expected to recover from?

 

Fixing my own question: I meant Connolly when I asked why "he" was cut loose above...

[FergieJ31]

Felix got into 3 games in 2003, and hasn't seen the bigs since. Not really sure why they traded him, but it turned out to be a pretty good call. Although at this point, it's a wash since neither of the guys we got for Sanchez are with the Cubs anymore.

 

Felix made his MLB debut on Sept 3 at home vs St Louis, the famous "6-run Cardinals lead" game.

 

Sanchez came in to relieve Clement with two on and two outs in the 6th with the Cubs down 2-0. He promptly walked Vina to load the bases, gave up a granny to Drew, walked Pujols, then got Tino out on a deep drive to center. Cubs started their comeback in the bottom of the 6th vs Fassero and would eventually win 8-7. Good times.

 

(Perhaps this is a bad day to recall the inauspicious MLB debut of a Cub southpaw vs. the Cards.)

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Sanchez was an all-stuff lefty that couldn't throw strikes or spot his pitches. He was nothing.

 

Connolly was an interesting guy, and a good gamble for Sanchez. Jon has soft stuff, but he throws strikes and knows how to pitch. Excellent control. Unfortunately, a soft-tosser needs to be REALLY good to advance, especially in the Cubs' system, and a rotator cuff setback makes that unlikely for us. So in the end, it's another case of young minor league pitchers, as happens 90% of the time, not panning out. No big whoop.

 

I wish Connolly success whereever he lands though.

 

BTW, the Cubs' impatience with Connolly is almost surely driven in part by a pure numbers game, too. We have a LOT of starting pitchers in our system, and at the AA level, I'm sure the Cubs looked at the candidates and made the decision to give the time to others. Mateo's return certainly did Connolly no favors.

[UK1679666180]

For some reason Sean Marshall's twin brother Brian Marshall was released. He's a very good pitcher and I hope having Sean in the organization can help sway him to the Cubs if they are interested in him.

[wilk]

UK, yes, I noticed the Sox released Brian too. I know the Cubs were always big on both Brian and Sean. Brian dropped off some but he used to be known as the twin "who throws harder" and would probably make a nice sidearm lefty specialist. I thought the Cubs might pick him up too, but I haven't heard anything since he was released...

[Laura]

I read in one of the papers that Brian was at Wrigley last night along with other family members for Sean's debut.

[BigbadB]

I don't know who it was, but when they flashed to the Marshall family prior to the start of the game, a kid in the row in front of mom (who I assume was part of the family) looked an awful lot like a young Ryne Sandberg.

[UK1679666180]

Brian was there right in front of his parents, wearing a Cubs hat. He isn't hard to miss, considering he's Sean's twin. He was drafted ahead of Sean.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Sign him.

[Jon]

From Cubs.com:

A 6-foot-7 lefty, Marshall impressed the Cubs with his poise this spring -- and the fact that he had good command of three pitches. His family was in the Wrigley Field crowd of 39,839, including his twin brother, Brian, who has battled some shoulder problems and was recently released by the Red Sox.

[SouthSideRyan]

Also sign Craig Griffey.