Venezuela Winter League

[CaliforniaRaisin]

They get started on Thursday. I've tracked down the following Cubs on two different team's roster (I'm sure there are more that I have missed - Jonathan Mota was supposed to be in Maracay according to Oneri, but he's not listed on the team's roster):

 

Maracay - Los Tigres de Aragua:

 

IF Ronny Cedeño

OF Buck Coats

 

Caribes de Anzoategui:

 

P Thomas Atlee

P Isaac Pavlik

P Jose Martinez

IF Carlos Rojas

OF Chris Walker

P Carlos Zambrano

[Brian]

WHY CARLOS WHY????????

[mhuber92211]

Good to See Atlee and Pavilk going. Is Coats Venezualan? I know that it isn't a preq but it might explain why he wasn't in the AFL. I was expecting him to be in Arizona this offseason.

[Laura]

I guess the WBC + regular season wasn't enough for Z.

 

Maybe he wants to work on his OF glovework? DH?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'll be surprised if Carlos gets more than one appearance. I'm sure it's just something to get the locals excited, he's bound to be a superstar there. Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, etc are on the rosters (yeah, they're not pitchers) but I doubt they'll play more than a game or two. I mean, the Cubs are controlling how much time he goes on a computer, you know they're controlling how much he throws in the offseason.

 

Buck Coats is America - obviously being Venezuelan isn't a prerequisite since Atlee and Pavlik (and other American non-Cubs) are in the VWL.

[goonys evil twin]

Buck Coats is America -

 

That's an interesting claim.

[wade]

Buck Coats is America -

 

That's an interesting claim.

 

Hey, he's as much America as apple pie.

[UBlink]

Hey, don't forget Hank White and his ex-Cub buddy Jose on the Leones

[craig]

...P Jose Martinez

....

 

Are you sure that's "our" Jose Martinez? (There are at least 3 Jose Martinez pitchers in pro ball...) If so, that's rather surprising.

 

Jose Martinez was supposedly a big-time signing... back in 2001, a few months before we signed Felix Pie! Supposedly this big, 6'5" Venezuelan lefty who had just turned 17 was already throwing in the low 90's. But 6 innings into his Mesa campaign in 2002, his arm was hurting. He's gone through surgery and years of rehabbing, seemingly without good effect. In 2005, he tried to come to camp, wasn't looking good enough to stay rookie league and got sent down to DSL, got hammered, and after a couple of games didn't pitch again.

 

Then this year he was back again Stateside, opened with Boise, pitched 3 bad innings, got demoted, pitched a bad inning with Mesa, and disappeared again. (10 hits and 3 walks in 3+ innings between the two levels). He turned 22 this week.

 

Seems surprising that a guy who's pitched a total of 11 innings in the US over his 5-year career would make a Venezuelan team, since those are pretty competitive.

 

Is it possible that his arm is finally getting back in shape, and a VSL team thinks that perhaps he can give them a couple of innings this year, but down the road might be a real value in future years? That would be cool, almost miraculous, if after five years of arm problems he was able to throw hard again.

 

Heh, not likely.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Did anyone see how horrible Z's mechanics in the WBC were? He was trying to throw everything 97+.

 

Him playing in the VWL scares me.

[Laura]

I'll be surprised if Carlos gets more than one appearance. I'm sure it's just something to get the locals excited, he's bound to be a superstar there. Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, etc are on the rosters (yeah, they're not pitchers) but I doubt they'll play more than a game or two. I mean, the Cubs are controlling how much time he goes on a computer, you know they're controlling how much he throws in the offseason.

 

I would hope so. I've read in the past that teams really don't exercise much control over players in the caribbean winter leagues and that teams have objected to pitchers playing winter ball before to no avail.

 

Hopefully Z and the Cubs are on the same page.

[CubinNY]

Did anyone see how horrible Z's mechanics in the WBC were? He was trying to throw everything 97+.

 

Him playing in the VWL scares me.

 

He's on the roster but he might pitch one or two games toward the end of the season as ST approaches.

 

No need to worry. Big stars come and go as they please in these leagues.

[goonys evil twin]

Did anyone see how horrible Z's mechanics in the WBC were? He was trying to throw everything 97+.

 

Him playing in the VWL scares me.

 

He's on the roster but he might pitch one or two games toward the end of the season as ST approaches.

 

No need to worry. Big stars come and go as they please in these leagues.

 

The need to worry is based on the idea that Zambrano would probably want to pitch/participate more than most stars.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Buck Coats is America -

 

That's an interesting claim.

 

Sheesh, miss an 'n' in a word at 6:30 am and everyone gets on my case.

 

I take it you don't equate Buck Coats with America?

 

...P Jose Martinez

....

 

Are you sure that's "our" Jose Martinez? (There are at least 3 Jose Martinez pitchers in pro ball...) If so, that's rather surprising.

 

Jose Martinez was supposedly a big-time signing... back in 2001, a few months before we signed Felix Pie! Supposedly this big, 6'5" Venezuelan lefty who had just turned 17 was already throwing in the low 90's. But 6 innings into his Mesa campaign in 2002, his arm was hurting. He's gone through surgery and years of rehabbing, seemingly without good effect. In 2005, he tried to come to camp, wasn't looking good enough to stay rookie league and got sent down to DSL, got hammered, and after a couple of games didn't pitch again.

 

Then this year he was back again Stateside, opened with Boise, pitched 3 bad innings, got demoted, pitched a bad inning with Mesa, and disappeared again. (10 hits and 3 walks in 3+ innings between the two levels). He turned 22 this week.

 

Seems surprising that a guy who's pitched a total of 11 innings in the US over his 5-year career would make a Venezuelan team, since those are pretty competitive.

 

Is it possible that his arm is finally getting back in shape, and a VSL team thinks that perhaps he can give them a couple of innings this year, but down the road might be a real value in future years? That would be cool, almost miraculous, if after five years of arm problems he was able to throw hard again.

 

Heh, not likely.

 

According to the web site, it's the same Jose Martinez. I know I was shocked. The web site lists his parent team as the Cubs and his most recent pro team in the system as the Boise Hawks.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Hey, don't forget Hank White and his ex-Cub buddy Jose on the Leones

 

I didn't list that because I'm pretty sure that was last year's roster (given they have a recap of what each player did in 2004-2005).

[UBlink]

Hey, don't forget Hank White and his ex-Cub buddy Jose on the Leones

 

I didn't list that because I'm pretty sure that was last year's roster (given they have a recap of what each player did in 2004-2005).

 

I also saw this, which indicates the news about Blanco, at least, is current.

[CubinNY]

Did anyone see how horrible Z's mechanics in the WBC were? He was trying to throw everything 97+.

 

Him playing in the VWL scares me.

 

He's on the roster but he might pitch one or two games toward the end of the season as ST approaches.

 

No need to worry. Big stars come and go as they please in these leagues.

 

The need to worry is based on the idea that Zambrano would probably want to pitch/participate more than most stars.

 

I think that is an irrational fear. But that's just me.

[UK1679666180]

I'm more surprised that Coats would go to Venezuela, he better be careful.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Season got started today.

 

Caribes lost to the Tiburones, 7-3: box

 

CF C. Walker 2/4, R, BB, K, CS (1)

3B C. Rojas 0/2

 

Tigres lost to the Aguilas, 8-7:box score

 

RF B. Coats 0/2, K

 

And a pic of Ronny Cedeño with teammate Martin Prado from the Tigres web site. He says he'll take it slow to start the season.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/Navinda/MartinPradoyCedeno.jpg

Edited October 14, 2006 by CaliforniaRaisin

[Balsa]

Man, I did a triple take when I saw Carlos' name on that list.

 

But it's good that Cedeno is getting some work. He needs it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Caribes win 8-7, box:

 

CF C. Walker 2/4, 3 R, HR (1), RBI, BB (2), K (2), 2 SB (2) - overall: 4/8, .500/.556/.875/1.431

SS C. Rojas 0/1, K (1) - overall: 0/3

SP I. Pavlik 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 R, 5 H, 3 K/2 BB, HR, 2 E (2) - win (1-0)

RP T. Atlee 1.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 K/0 BB - save (1)

 

Tigres win 7-5 in 12 innings, box:

 

RF Buck Coats 1/5, BB (1) 2 K (3) - overall: 1/7, .143/.250/.143/.393

 

Magallanes win 8-1, box

 

2B R. Chirinos 2/4, R, BB (1), SB (1) - first appearance of the season

Edited October 23, 2006 by CaliforniaRaisin

[Mephistopheles]

Breaking News: Carlos Zambrano throws 194 pitches in a 14 inning thriller!

[CaliforniaRaisin]

A few more Cubs playing or scheduled to play in Venezuela:

 

Magallanes:

 

P Angel Guzman

P Carlos Vasquez

IF Robinson Chirinos

 

Cardenales:

 

IF Cesar Izturis

 

Leones:

 

C Henry Blanco - as UBlink pointed out

P Jesus Yepez

 

No sign of Jonathan Mota on any of the rosters.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Caribes Beat the Magallanes 8-1, box:

 

Caribes:

CF C. Walker 2/4, 2 R, 2B (1), BB (3), SB (3)

Magallanes:

2B R. Chirinos 0/4, K (1)

RP C. Vasquez 2.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K/3 BB

 

Tigres Win 6-2, box:

 

RF B. Coats: 1/4, K (4)

 

Overall:

 

Chris Walker (Caribes): 6/12, .500/.600/.833/1.433

Robinson Chirinos (Magallanes); 2/8, .250/.333/.375/.708, 1/1 SB

Buck Coats (Tigres): 2/11, .182/.250/.182/.432

Carlos Vasquez (Magallanes): 2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 H, 2 K/3 BB

Edited October 23, 2006 by CaliforniaRaisin

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Chris Walker...2007 Cubs CF! :lol: