Down on the Farm Notes

[CuseCubFan69]

Ok, for those who wanted more minutae from my notes...

 

Patterson will play some OF as well as continue to work out at 2b. Eric believes he still has a lot to learn. Someone asked a question about why we signed Derosa when Patterson was able to do the job right now, and Patterson said he still had "lots" to work on.

 

Wilken liked Colvin because he is a good player with lots of projection. He can "run and throw." He also knows what it means to play in "meaningful games." He hit 6 HR in five days. He's also added some weight and projects to add power.

 

Mentioned his excitement over the 3rd and 31st pick. We lost our second round pick but still have picks in the 3rd and 4th rounds.

 

Veal said he throws fastball, change, and curve. He's trying to learn what he does well and go out there and do it. His curve needs the most work.

 

Eric was asked about his relationship with Corey. He said he talks to Corey in some fashion every day and works out with him in the offseason. They are very close. When asked who was better, he or Corey, he said Corey's played in the majors and I'm still trying to get there. I can't say I'm better.

 

Mark Paweleck is slated to go to Peoria.

 

Brownlie's velocity has never come back. They hope it does.

 

When deciding to spend a high round pick and a lot of money on a pitcher, Wilken looks for a "clean delivery." In later picks, he might take more gambles.

 

There was some discussion about the number of injuries. Flieta cited numbers that surgeries in the system have been decreasing.

 

Flieta called Pie a "Wow" player. Said one day you'll see him make a great catch and hit a homer to win a game and you say, "wow." The next time he'll make a gaffe on the bases or make a bad throw trying to do to much and you say, "wow." (differing inflections in the voice on the wow's.)

 

Veal said he's working on fine tuning his strategy. He says that when he's ready, he feels he'll know he's ready. He's trying to work on his control so he can have confidence in throwing any pitch in any count.

 

Players are shown stats on a bi-weekly basis. These stats show pitches per AB. Patterson says that is one area he is working to improve. These stats also include strike percentage which is shown to the pitchers.

 

Dopirak had to have another surgery on his ankle. (This is the second surgery we knew about at the end of the season, not a third surgery.) He wasn't following instructions about taking care of it and wouldn't stay out of the weight room. According to Fleita, he broke the pin that was inserted in the first surgery and required a new pin. He's healthy now and will be in ST and they will see how he does and how he responds.

 

There was some more, but I can't remember and didn't take as much notes as I should have.

 

So maybe Pie's nickname should be wow. Great stuff Vance, thanks. Wasn't Dope having a pretty good year before he got hurt?

[CubsWin]

Wasn't Dope having a pretty good year before he got hurt?

Sort of. He got hurt in the first game of the season, IIRC and his swing struggled for a while when he came back. He did have a really impressive spring training with the big club. Perhaps that's what you are remembering.

[Jon]

Angel did unleash some nasty curves last season, but they seemed to be few and far between. I can't wait to see it consistently.

[NCCubFan]

Dopirak had to have another surgery on his ankle. (This is the second surgery we knew about at the end of the season, not a third surgery.) He wasn't following instructions about taking care of it and wouldn't stay out of the weight room. According to Fleita, he broke the pin that was inserted in the first surgery and required a new pin. He's healthy now and will be in ST and they will see how he does and how he responds.

That's disappointing. He was trying to rebound after a bad season, and then when he gets hurt he doesn't do what he's told he needs to do to get healthy. :(

[Outshined_One]

When deciding to spend a high round pick and a lot of money on a pitcher, Wilken looks for a "clean delivery." In later picks, he might take more gambles.

 

Matt Harvey, COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNN DOWN!

[Mephistopheles]

Well we can cross off David Price and Michael Main. I don't know about Andrew Brackman.

[CubsWin]

Wilken spoke highly of Rundell. He's a "skilled athlete" that is a "true rightfielder" with good projection.

 

He also raved about Lansford's defense. Called him "cat like" around the bag.

 

The biggest note I have from the session is that Flieta says Angel Guzman's curve is back. He says he thinks Angel may go to camp and make it tough on Lou to send him down.

 

Wilken says he has read Moneyball. Also says that he believes players can learn patience.

 

Luke Hagerty has apparently had another surgery, this time on his knee.

 

When asked about international scouting, Fleita mentions he goes to Latin America nearly every other month and holds tryouts. Mentioned the signing of Suarez and said the Zambrano family helped to influence that signing.

 

When asked about Harvey, Flieta says he has a "tool you cannot teach" when mentioning Harvey's power. He still seemed to believe there was hope for Ryan and mentioned his age.

Thanks for the report, vance.

 

I'm excited about Guzman. I've been following his success in the winter league playoffs and now with Fleita's news that he has his curve back, there is even more hope.

 

As far as what the Cubs should/will do if Guzman proves he is ready and Marquis or someone else is struggling, this is the problem we all wanted the Cubs to have ever since '04 when Wood and Prior missed so much time. We rightfully faulted Hendry for not having a good enough back-up plan. We can't have it both ways. The Cubs already have a bunch of young arms as options, but we saw how well that served the them last season. Would any of us be happy if Hendry relied solely on those young arms again? So JH got two more veteran options. Veterans who primarily have a history of not getting injured along with varying degrees of success at the major league level. This is a good problem to have. And my guess is that unless Marquis (or anyone else) is stinking it up big time, Hendry will trade one of his bullpen arms or buy time by moving people in and out of the pen until June 15th when he can trade Marquis.

[Mephistopheles]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

[CUBZ99]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

 

The Cubs are talking a good game now in regard to playing time, but after the last two years, I will have to see it to believe it. How many times did Dusty and Hendry repeatedly play sub-par underperforming players (Rusch, Neifi, Macias) despite the fact there were other options available.

 

If Guzman, Prior, and Miller all come to ST in good shape and pitch lights out, I would be amazed if Marquis didn't get to keep his spot in the rotation simply due to the amount of his contract.

 

With that said, I would love Hendry and Piniella to prove me wrong.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

 

We really don't have any room in our pen...

[Quakers]

He also raved about Lansford's defense. Called him "cat like" around the bag.

 

I must not have seen the same Lansford:( I really wasn't impressed with his glove or arm.

[Mephistopheles]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

 

We really don't have any room in our pen...

Fine then he becomes the right-handed platoon with Jacque Jones.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

He also raved about Lansford's defense. Called him "cat like" around the bag.

 

I must not have seen the same Lansford:( I really wasn't impressed with his glove or arm.

 

Must have seen him on some bad nights because the Boise announcer and BA sure gushed about his defense.

[CuseCubFan69]

Wasn't Dope having a pretty good year before he got hurt?

Sort of. He got hurt in the first game of the season, IIRC and his swing struggled for a while when he came back. He did have a really impressive spring training with the big club. Perhaps that's what you are remembering.

 

You're right.

[craig]

Well we can cross off David Price and Michael Main. I don't know about Andrew Brackman.

 

Is the point that Price has a bad delivery? Or at least an "unclean" delivery?

[RichHillIsABeast]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

 

We really don't have any room in our pen...

Fine then he becomes the right-handed platoon with Jacque Jones.

 

:lol:

[Outshined_One]

Well we can cross off David Price and Michael Main. I don't know about Andrew Brackman.

 

Is the point that Price has a bad delivery? Or at least an "unclean" delivery?

 

His mechanics can be cleaned up, but a few parts of his delivery might cause him trouble down the line if they go unfixed. My understanding is that his arm lags behind his body in his delivery and that his arm slot has a tendency to drop.

 

Both help with his deception, but they might cause issues for him in the future.

[craig]

We really don't have any room in our pen...

 

I think there is truth to this. But there are about 13 ways in which we could have room in the bullpen for Marquis.

*1 Guzman isn't so dazzling that he needs to be in the rotation. Then there is space for Marquis in rotation (or relief). I hope/expect Guzman to look impressive. But to look so knockout good that he can't spend some Iowa time showing he can sustain the curveball consistently, less than likely.

 

*2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12: If any of Prior, Wood, Guzman, Z, Lilly, Hill, Dempster, Howry, Eyre, Ohman Wuertz, Cotts, or Marquis is injured, there is room for both Marquis and Guzman. Pitchers are pitchers. The odds that somebody isn't healthy is, well, pretty high!

 

*13: Cotts has options (I think), is 3rd lefty, has career/06 4.57/5.17 ERA's and 1.44/1.63 WHIP's. If everything goes so great that Prior and Guzman push Marquis to pen, it's not great travesty for Marquis to push Cotts either to Iowa or into a trade.

 

Note: I'm assuming that Miller won't be so great that he's a must keep. I think he can make the team, if he looks good and they need a 12th man. But if there is roster crunch, I assume that Miller won't look too good to be disposed of, hopefully in a productive trade, but perhaps just via release or a rehab assignment.

[mg420]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

 

We really don't have any room in our pen...

Fine then he becomes the right-handed platoon with Jacque Jones.

 

jason bats from the left side.

[radarluv1]

who was the catcher we got for neifi? supposed to be pretty decent, considering the price.

 

edit, its chris robinson, according to neifi thread in baseball discussion thread.

[CubsWin]

Unfortunately when Marquis does start to suck I don't think there would be a significant trade market for him given the contract and I am pretty certain JH would be too stubborn to eat the contract and release him. I guess he could be a decent MR albeit an expensive one.

When Marquis starts to suck? Is there any possibility in your mind that Marquis doesn't suck really, really badly such that he is untradeable between opening day and June 15th? I mean the way you wrote it, it was an absolute certainty. I grant you there is a decent possibility that he performs poorly, but his '04 and '05 seasons were pretty good. Does that count for nothing?

 

Question: how certain were you that Hendry would never spend 300 million plus on free agents this off season?

[CubsWin]

We really don't have any room in our pen...

 

I think there is truth to this. But there are about 13 ways in which we could have room in the bullpen for Marquis.

*1 Guzman isn't so dazzling that he needs to be in the rotation. Then there is space for Marquis in rotation (or relief). I hope/expect Guzman to look impressive. But to look so knockout good that he can't spend some Iowa time showing he can sustain the curveball consistently, less than likely.

 

*2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12: If any of Prior, Wood, Guzman, Z, Lilly, Hill, Dempster, Howry, Eyre, Ohman Wuertz, Cotts, or Marquis is injured, there is room for both Marquis and Guzman. Pitchers are pitchers. The odds that somebody isn't healthy is, well, pretty high!

 

*13: Cotts has options (I think), is 3rd lefty, has career/06 4.57/5.17 ERA's and 1.44/1.63 WHIP's. If everything goes so great that Prior and Guzman push Marquis to pen, it's not great travesty for Marquis to push Cotts either to Iowa or into a trade.

 

Note: I'm assuming that Miller won't be so great that he's a must keep. I think he can make the team, if he looks good and they need a 12th man. But if there is roster crunch, I assume that Miller won't look too good to be disposed of, hopefully in a productive trade, but perhaps just via release or a rehab assignment.

This is what I'm talking about. I'm happy that Hendry went out and got this number of options for the pitching staff. This is what Cubs fans have been calling for him to do ever since '04 when Wood and Prior combined for just 43 starts. After '04 and '05, fans were ripping Hendry, and rightfully so, for not planning for the worst case scenario. The moment he does, fans start asking well what if something other than the worst case happens and one of the young guys surprises? Or more than one?

 

The Cubs have plenty of options. They can trade bullpen arms before June 15th if they need to. Some relievers have options as well as Hill, if he reverts, which I doubt. If good surprises happen, it won't be a problem. The point is, if the worst case happens again this season, it won't be as big a problem as it was in '04, '05 and '06. It took Hendry long enough, but he finally spent the money necessary to plan for the worst case when it comes to the pitching staff. Providing this many options is what we asked him to do, is it not?

[MPrior]

This is what I'm talking about. I'm happy that Hendry went out and got this number of options for the pitching staff. This is what Cubs fans have been calling for him to do ever since '04 when Wood and Prior combined for just 43 starts. After '04 and '05, fans were ripping Hendry, and rightfully so, for not planning for the worst case scenario. The moment he does, fans start asking well what if something other than the worst case happens and one of the young guys surprises? Or more than one?

 

The Cubs have plenty of options. They can trade bullpen arms before June 15th if they need to. Some relievers have options as well as Hill, if he reverts, which I doubt. If good surprises happen, it won't be a problem. The point is, if the worst case happens again this season, it won't be as big a problem as it was in '04, '05 and '06. It took Hendry long enough, but he finally spent the money necessary to plan for the worst case when it comes to the pitching staff. Providing this many options is what we asked him to do, is it not?

 

I'm not sure that anyone was actually criticizing Hendry for providing this many options - I think it really was just a question: what if Guzman, Prior, and Miller all pitch well out of the gate? Not that your points aren't valid - I'm glad we've got insurance as well. Although, like virtually all contracts this offseason, the Marquis and Lilly contracts are pretty bloated, and Marquis' signing is questionable at best.

[Wheelimus]

Of course, this is a market where Gil Meche is worth $55 million dollars.

 

I'd wager that all Marquis would have to do is perform average, ERA in the low 4's, to be tradeable later in the season.

[BigbadB]

Of course, this is a market where Gil Meche is worth $55 million dollars.

 

I'd wager that all Marquis would have to do is perform average, ERA in the low 4's, to be tradeable later in the season.

 

But, there is a problem with this theory. If Marquis is doing well enough, he probably won't be traded. If he's doing bad, he's untradeable.