Chadd Blasko Shut Down for 2006

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Yeesh, what a sad story this has become. I don't expect to see him pitch in the Cubs system again.

 

Scout.com[/url]"]“Chadd has had a setback and will not throw this season,” said Cubs Farm Director Oneri Fleita on Wednesday.

 

...

 

“Chadd is looking great,” Fleita had said in April. “He’ll probably spend a few weeks here just to make sure that he is ready to go.”

 

The Cubs’ Director of Player Development since 2000, Fleita reiterated again in May that Blasko was nearing a return, saying he had “a really good chance to be somewhere in our farm system by the end of the month.”

 

But after reports surfaced earlier this week claiming that Blasko had stopped throwing in Arizona, Fleita admitted that Blasko would not pitch at all this season after suffering what was termed “another setback.”

 

The extent of that setback was not disclosed, but Cubs minor league officials confirmed that it was shoulder-related.

 

...

 

“He’ll keep going through the same rehab and we’ll continue treating him the same as when he first had the surgery,” Bialas answered. “It’s a matter of how [blasko] himself is going to deal with it.

 

“It’s very difficult to go through this rehab program. It’s a day to day process and it’s a lot of work. You have to be really strong mentally to go in every day and do this. The surgery isn’t the bad part about this, it’s the rehab.”

[NCCubFan]

It's a shame. Both Blasko and Hagerty looked like they were going to be something a few years ago. Now neither seems to be able to come back from injury.

[Jehrico]

It's a shame. Both Blasko and Hagerty looked like they were going to be something a few years ago. Now neither seems to be able to come back from injury.

 

It seems every top prospect has taken a step backwards in the last year or two. There's sooooo few decent prospects anymore that's worth getting excited about. I'm beginning to come of the opinion that Flieta needs to go when they finally can Dusty and crew as well.

[roadster]

It's a shame. Both Blasko and Hagerty looked like they were going to be something a few years ago. Now neither seems to be able to come back from injury.

 

It seems every top prospect has taken a step backwards in the last year or two. There's sooooo few decent prospects anymore that's worth getting excited about. I'm beginning to come of the opinion that Flieta needs to go when they finally can Dusty and crew as well.

 

Not sure it's fair to blame Oneri for the troubles of Blasko and Haggerty.

[Jehrico]

It's a shame. Both Blasko and Hagerty looked like they were going to be something a few years ago. Now neither seems to be able to come back from injury.

 

It seems every top prospect has taken a step backwards in the last year or two. There's sooooo few decent prospects anymore that's worth getting excited about. I'm beginning to come of the opinion that Flieta needs to go when they finally can Dusty and crew as well.

 

Not sure it's fair to blame Oneri for the troubles of Blasko and Haggerty.

 

Where did I do that? I commented on the overall, drastic backwards movement of the system. Injuries to prospects are going to happen, but the system as a whole has digressed incredibly over the last 3 years.

 

Name one power-hitting prospect that is showing any promise right now? We have none in the system that are worth getting excited over. Who was the last position playing all-star that we've drafted and groomed? That's an indictment of our ability to develop position players, and Oneri is the head of player development.

[Mephistopheles]

Who was the last position playing all-star that we've drafted and groomed?

 

To be fair, how many teams have been able to develop starting pitching like the Cubs? They've drafted or signed 4 potential number ones (Prior, Wood, Z, Willis). Yeah Prior was a no brainer, but still. Since 2000 the Cubs have spent two-thirds of their first and second round picks on pitchers. They drafted pitching more than hitting. It all starts there.

 

Also, look around baseball. Who was the last star position player the Padres developed? Giants? Diamondbacks? Expos/Nationals? Yankees? Red Sox? Mariners? Angels? The Cubs system has worked. They have netted talent through the minors via trades and have developed pitching. That is more than most teams can say. Can it be better? Of course. Could it be a lot worse? Absolutely.

 

And to answer the true question. Corey Patterson would have been an All-Star in 2003 had he not gotten hurt. Excluding him, the last is probably whenever Mark Grace made the all star team last.

[Jehrico]

Who was the last position playing all-star that we've drafted and groomed?

 

To be fair, how many teams have been able to develop starting pitching like the Cubs? They've drafted or signed 4 potential number ones (Prior, Wood, Z, Willis). Yeah Prior was a no brainer, but still. Since 2000 the Cubs have spent two-thirds of their first and second round picks on pitchers. They drafted pitching more than hitting. It all starts there.

 

Also, look around baseball. Who was the last star position player the Padres developed (Khalil Greene)? Giants? Diamondbacks(Jackson/Tracy)? Expos/Nationals(Vlad)? Yankees(Johnson)? Red Sox? Mariners? Angels? The Cubs system has worked. They have netted talent through the minors via trades and have developed pitching. That is more than most teams can say. Can it be better? Of course. Could it be a lot worse? Absolutely.

 

And to answer the true question. Corey Patterson would have been an All-Star in 2003 had he not gotten hurt. Excluding him, the last is probably whenever Mark Grace made the all star team last.

 

Wood was prior to Oneri, he gets no credit there. Developing pitching is only half of the job, you've got to develop position players too. As for some of the other teams you listed, are you implying they have had comparable success to what we've done? I hope you're kidding, they've all done vastly better than we have.

 

The last time I checked, Arizona was doing an outstanding job developing young position players, perhaps as well as anyone else in baseball right now (see Conor Jackson, Chad Tracy). We got Murton who grew up in the Red Sox system (they also developed Varitek, Youklis, Hanley Ramirez, Nomar, Mo Vaughn). The Angels have quite a few good young hitters, and a good chunck of their offense is homegrown, they're one of the better teams at developing position players in the game as well (Erstad, Anderson, Figgins, Molina, McPherson, Kotchman were all homegrown players on their roster last year). The Yanks developed Nick Johnson and several others. Most of their core from their championship years (Bernie, Jeter, Posada, etc) were homegrown. They stopped winning when they started trading all of their prospects off and started trying to buy championships. I'm amazed you listed Montreal in that category. Look around the league, and you'll see a ton of successful players that came up in the Expos system, they just never could afford to keep any of them outside of Vidro (just looking at their 2000-2004 teams, they've had Vlad, Barrett, Andres Galarragga, Orlando Cabrera, Milton Bradley, Brad Wilkerson, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore, too many others to list that came up in their system). The Padres haven't been that great, but they've produced far more regular players that stuck for more than a couple of years than we have. Only the Giants have been as bad out of the teams you listed.

 

As far as Patterson is concerned, any success he ever had or will have is in spite of, and not because of, any development he got from our system. The guy has enough pure talent and potential to make Beltran at his best look like a hack. There are no other position players in baseball that were drafted by the Cubs that either look like future all-stars, or are past all-stars. The last ones were Grace, Palmiero, Dunston, Girardi, and Joe Carter. Am I missing any from the last 30 years, or are those 4 it? Granted, Oneri isn't responsible for 30 years of futility, but things have not improved on his watch.

Edited July 5, 2006 by Jehrico

[roadster]

It's a shame. Both Blasko and Hagerty looked like they were going to be something a few years ago. Now neither seems to be able to come back from injury.

 

It seems every top prospect has taken a step backwards in the last year or two. There's sooooo few decent prospects anymore that's worth getting excited about. I'm beginning to come of the opinion that Flieta needs to go when they finally can Dusty and crew as well.

 

Not sure it's fair to blame Oneri for the troubles of Blasko and Haggerty.

 

Where did I do that? I commented on the overall, drastic backwards movement of the system. Injuries to prospects are going to happen, but the system as a whole has digressed incredibly over the last 3 years.

 

Name one power-hitting prospect that is showing any promise right now? We have none in the system that are worth getting excited over. Who was the last position playing all-star that we've drafted and groomed? That's an indictment of our ability to develop position players, and Oneri is the head of player development.

 

I made the stretch when I read the responses from you and NCCubbieFan. Re-reading it again, I may have made a bad stretch.

[Jehrico]

It's a shame. Both Blasko and Hagerty looked like they were going to be something a few years ago. Now neither seems to be able to come back from injury.

 

It seems every top prospect has taken a step backwards in the last year or two. There's sooooo few decent prospects anymore that's worth getting excited about. I'm beginning to come of the opinion that Flieta needs to go when they finally can Dusty and crew as well.

 

Not sure it's fair to blame Oneri for the troubles of Blasko and Haggerty.

 

Where did I do that? I commented on the overall, drastic backwards movement of the system. Injuries to prospects are going to happen, but the system as a whole has digressed incredibly over the last 3 years.

 

Name one power-hitting prospect that is showing any promise right now? We have none in the system that are worth getting excited over. Who was the last position playing all-star that we've drafted and groomed? That's an indictment of our ability to develop position players, and Oneri is the head of player development.

 

I made the stretch when I read the responses from you and NCCubbieFan. Re-reading it again, I may have made a bad stretch.

I did kind of derail the topic a little bit...