2008 Opening Day Assignments - Any Guesses?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Iowa:

 

C Chris Robinson/Tony Richie

1B Micah Hoffpauir

2B Nate Spears

SS Carlos Rojas/Joe Simokaitis

3B Matt Craig

LF Jake Fox

CF Eric Patterson

RF Josh Kroeger

 

SP Sean Gallagher

SP Kevin Hart

SP Mark Holliman

SP Juan Mateo

SP Les Walrond

CL Rocky Roquet (if healthy)

RP Billy Petrick

RP Carmen Pignatiello

RP Randy Wells

RP JR Mathes

 

Tennessee:

 

C Steve Clevenger/Jake Muyco

1B Brian Dopirak

2B Robinson Chirinos/Jeffrey Rea

SS Matt Matulia

3B Kyle Reynolds

LF Chris Walker/Matt Camp

CF Tyler Colvin

RF Ryan Harvey

 

SP Donnie Veal

SP Jeff Samardzija

SP Mitch Atkins

SP Joel Santo

SP Adam Harben (or Justin Berg)

CL Matt Avery

RP Jesse Estrada

RP Grant Johnson

 

Daytona:

 

C Welington Castillo (if healthy)/Mark Reed/Canepa

1B Russ Canzler

2B Tony Thomas/Jonathan Mota

SS Darwin Barney/Jonathan Mota

3B Josh Lansford/Marquez Smith

LF Ty Wright

CF Jonathan Wyatt - ??

RF Yusuf Carter

 

SP Robert Hernandez

SP Jose Pina

SP James Russell

SP Chris Siegfried

SP Marco Carrillo

CL Jose Ceda

RP Alessandro Maestri

RP Jeremy Papelbon

RP Casey Lambert

RP Jayson Ruhlman

 

Peoria:

 

C Josh Donaldson/Mario Mercedes

1B Marc Sawyer

2B Nate Samson

SS Dylan Johnston

3B Josh Vitters/Jovan Rosa

LF Brandon Guyer/Clark Hardman

CF Leon Johnson/Cliff Andersen

RF Kyler Burke/Drew Rundle

 

SP Chris Huseby

SP Alberto Cabrera

SP Dustin Sasser

SP Ryan Acosta

SP Arik Hempy/Al Alburquerque

CL Hung-Wen Chen

RP Audy Santana

RP Mark Pawelek

RP Zach Ashwood

 

That gets real hard down in A-ball. I'm hoping someone like Suarez can have a good spring and go into Peoria's rotation.

[Mephistopheles]

I would like to think Donaldson is advanced enough for the FSL. Make or break it year for Ryan Harvey.

[Guest]

I would like to think Donaldson is advanced enough for the FSL. Make or break it year for Ryan Harvey.

 

I think so but w/ Castillo one stop ahead of him, I think the Cubs don't want them both at the same level catching.

 

There are a bunch of guys who could surprise and get a rotation spot at Peoria to start next season (who thought Al Alburquerque or Rafael Dolis would be in the opening day rotation last year?). I think Huseby is the only one who's locked up a spot (if healthy):

 

James Russell if he doesn't go to Daytona

Ryan Acosta

Alberto Cabrera

Arik Hempy

Dustin Sasser

Zach Ashwood

Mark Pawelek

Marcus Hatley

Cedric Redmond

Larry Suarez

Harol Tolentino

Oswaldo Martinez

Dae-Eun Rhee

[NCCubFan]

Make or break it year for Ryan Harvey.

I think it is for Pawalek as well.

[CubinNY]

I hope that is the line-up for Tennessee. I'd love to see that team in person. I see road trips to Nashville, Jackson this summer. Maybe Severville too.

[Athletics36]

Not sure if C Walker has been re-signed by the Cubs.

[biittner77]

Make or break it year for Ryan Harvey.

I think it is for Pawalek as well.

 

I agree on Harvey but disagree on Pawalek. He's still young enouigh to straighten himself out. Pitchers also get a longer leash than hitters. Doesn't Pawalek have at least one more year before he's rule 5 eligible?

[NCCubFan]

Make or break it year for Ryan Harvey.

I think it is for Pawalek as well.

 

I agree on Harvey but disagree on Pawalek. He's still young enouigh to straighten himself out. Pitchers also get a longer leash than hitters. Doesn't Pawalek have at least one more year before he's rule 5 eligible?

For some reason I was thinking Pawelek was drafted a year earlier than he actually was and that he'd need to be protected from Rule 5. If I recall the details of the new CBA correctly (I'm thinking the period before a player has to be protected was extended by one year) I believe it would actually be after the 2009 season when he'd need to be protected, which would give him two more years to show enough progress.

[badnews]

I think Harvey's make-or-break cutoff is well in the past.

 

I will be surprised if Acosta starts the year in Peoria instead of Boise.

 

Question - where do Darin Downs and Alfred Joseph end up, and what happened to Chris Shaver?

[ChiefsVoice]

I think Harvey's make-or-break cutoff is well in the past.

 

I will be surprised if Acosta starts the year in Peoria instead of Boise.

 

Question - where do Darin Downs and Alfred Joseph end up, and what happened to Chris Shaver?

 

Shaver was hurt at the end of the season and I don't know if he will be ready or not, havent heard anything about him since late August. ITI usually has interviews with him.

 

Id be very surprised if Alburquerque is in our rotation.

 

And I think Ceda and Maestri are AA bound with good springs.

[wvcbxl]

And I think Ceda and Maestri are AA bound with good springs.

 

I'd love to see that happen.

 

I'm also curious where they'll start off Dwayne Kemp (the 19yr old Dutch 2b they signed). He's got two full years of experience in the Dutch league - I wonder how far that helped him along.

[Guest]

I will be surprised if Acosta starts the year in Peoria instead of Boise.

 

Every year there tends to be at least one pitcher who surprises and breaks with Peoria when you would expect he'd be going on a slower track. Last year, Alburquerque and Dolis started in Peoria after spending 2006 in Mesa and Ceda only had a few starts at Boise in 06 before starting last year in Peoria. Acosta easily could break with Peoria if he has a good spring, he fared well in Boise and seems advanced enough even though he didn't pitch regularly in HS.

 

Question - where do Darin Downs and Alfred Joseph end up, and what happened to Chris Shaver?

 

I'd guess Daytona for both.

 

Shaver had his shoulder scoped in June 2007 after having bone spurs removed in October 2006. I would think he should be ready for the start of 2008 but you never know with these surgery rehab guys. Of the guys who had TJS last season, Blackford and Muldowney should be ready by spring too but Dolis looks like he won't be ready til midseason.

[badnews]

Where do you think Antigua and Yohan Gonzalez will start the season?

[Guest]

Where do you think Antigua and Yohan Gonzalez will start the season?

 

I think the safe guess would be Mesa. You don't see the Cubs with too many 17 or 18-year old guys like Alberto Cabrera who make their US debut above Mesa (both will be 17 at the end of spring training and turn 18 before or around when Mesa and Boise start their season). Rhee sounds like he's advanced enough to go to Boise at 18, though.

[Rob]

I think Harvey converts to the mound sometime shortly after a horrific showing during spring training, personally.

[Wrigley Rat]

Here are my guesses at the pitchers' assignments. FYI: I have chosen five starters and put them in the order I think they would pitch based on handedness, experience, ability, etc. The swingman would either go to the bullpen or pitch in the rotation in place of someone who is on the DL. Injury replacements (IR - not be confused with Injured Reserve) would either go to EST, be released, be put on the DL, or (at the lower levels) go back to the Dominican Republic to play on one of our two teams there.

 

Iowa:

SP1 Sean Gallagher

SP2 Juan Mateo

SP3 Mark Holliman

SP4 Les Walrond

SP5 Mike Smith

Swing J.R. Mathes

 

CL Jose Ascanio

RHSU Kevin Hart

LHSU Geoff Jones

SU Billy Petrick

SU Rocky Roquet

LR Carmen Pignatiello

LR Neal Cotts

IR Jim Henderson

IR Cory Bailey

 

Tennessee:

SP1 Jeff Samardzija

SP2 Donald Veal (I think they will reconsider his being removed from the rotation)

SP3 Mitch Atkins

SP4 Adam Harben

SP5 Greg Reinhard

Swing Jesse Estrada

 

CL Matt Avery

RHSU Justin Berg

LHSU Darin Downs

SU Joel Santo (if he is moved into the bullpen, watch out! 98 mph FB)

SU Rafael Cova

LR Grant Johnson

LR Tim Layden

IR Yusdel Tuero

IR Tanner Watson

Release Scott Koerber

 

Daytona:

SP1 Chris Shaver

SP2 Marco Carrillo

SP3 James Russell

SP4 Robert Hernandez

SP5 Jose Pina

Swing Dumas Garcia

EST Todd Blackford

EST Bill Muldowney

Restricted List Scott Taylor

 

CL Jose Ceda

RHSU Alex Maestri

LHSU Jayson Ruhlman

SU Marcos Mateo

SU Matt Maradeo

LR Casey Lambert

LR Jeremy Papelbon

IR Jon Mueller

IR Michael Phelps

IR Yuri Higgins

IR Miguel Cuevas

IR John Muller

IR Michael Bartek

Release Andy McCormick

 

Peoria:

SP1 Dustin Sasser

SP2 Chris Huseby

SP3 Arik Hempy

SP4 Ryan Acosta

SP5 Zach Ashwood

Swing Al Albuquerque

DL Rafael Dolis

EST Kitt Kopach

 

CL Hung-Wen Chen (I stole this idea from Raisin)

RHSU Audy Santana

LHSU Chris Siegfried

SU Jordan Latham

SU Mark Pawelek

LR Scott Meyer

LR Blake Parker

IR Steve Vento

IR Simon Lee

IR Chris Rivera

IR Michael Bunton

IR Corey Bachman

IR Craig Muschko

 

Sticking around EST & possibly going to Boise or Mesa:

SP1 Larry Suarez

SP2 Dae-Eun Rhee

SP3 Jeffry Antigua

SP4 Oswaldo Martinez

SP5 Alberto Cabrera

Swing Ryan Searle

 

CL Arturo Florentino

RHSU Marcus Hatley

LHSU Harol Tolentino

SU Cedric Redmond

SU Junniol Lami

LR Ramon Rache

LR Kevin Kreier (I would release him, but we gave him $100,000 signing bonus)

IR Jose Severino

IR Julio Castillo

 

Dominican 1:

SP1 Alan Guerrero

SP2 Francisco Acosta

SP3 Yohan Gonzalez

SP4 Gregorio Rodriguez

SP5 Rogelino Carmona

Swing Jose Montan

 

CL Jose Tineo

RHSU Miguel Sierra

LHSU Marco Tovar

SU Pacheco Mota

SU Lenny Pena

LR Tomas Sanchez

LR Eduardo Figueroa

IR Hernan Ramos

 

Dominican 2:

SP1 Manolin DeLeon

SP2 Marcos Perez

SP3 Julio Pena

SP4 Edilmar Infante

SP5 Ramon Reyes

Swing Reinaldo Navarro

 

CL Alejandro De La Cruz

RHSU Wily Garcia

LHSU Luis Astorga

SU Gorge Pineda

SU Dionis Nunez

LR Carlos Rojas

LR Bienvenido Beltre

And any others we sign before the start of the season!

[craig]

Great work, wrigley. And cal a month before, of course. Wrigley, I like your format very much. Here are just a couple comments.

 

Iowa:

SP1 Sean Gallagher

SP2 Juan Mateo

SP3 Mark Holliman

SP4 Les Walrond

SP5 Mike Smith

Swing J.R. Mathes

 

CL Jose Ascanio

RHSU Kevin Hart

LHSU Geoff Jones

SU Billy Petrick

SU Rocky Roquet

LR Carmen Pignatiello

LR Neal Cotts

IR Jim Henderson

IR Cory Bailey

That is one potentially very impressive bullpen. Plus I think there is at least an outside shot that they'll arrange a trade in order to keep Lahey ar Iowa.

 

I expect that Hart will start, if at Iowa. Lou has said Hart will open spring training given rotation schedule. So if he doesn't make the Cubs, they'll likely keep him in rotation. Otherwise Gallagher is the only big-league-ready rotation guy on your Iowa roster. (And that only if he hasn't been traded...) I also think Marshall may also be there. If all three of Gallagher, Hart, and Marshall were all in Iowa's rotation, that wold provide a nice pool of big-league ready candidates.

 

Obviously many of the names that make Iowa look promising won't be there. One or more will likely be traded. One or more may be injured. One or perhaps several will be on the big club, pending performance and injuries.

 

Tennessee:

SP1 Jeff Samardzija

SP2 Donald Veal (I think they will reconsider his being removed from the rotation)

SP3 Mitch Atkins

SP4 Adam Harben

SP5 Greg Reinhard

Swing Jesse Estrada

 

CL Matt Avery

RHSU Justin Berg

LHSU Darin Downs

SU Joel Santo (if he is moved into the bullpen, watch out! 98 mph FB)

SU Rafael Cova

LR Grant Johnson

LR Tim Layden

IR Yusdel Tuero

IR Tanner Watson

Release Scott Koerber

 

Grant J is a RHP. And didn't Tuero give up on baseball or something? As you note, what gives with Veal will be a big Q. With you I hope and somewhat think it's more likely than not that he'll start. I'm not a Veal guy (I may have been rare in not including him in my top-10, I think he's way too wild and has shown too little improvement trajectory to think his chances of ever not being way too wild is limited to rank top 10). I'm very confident that if he does make it as an effective major leaguer, it will be in relief. So the cubs may be wise to line him up for that ASAP. Plus sometimes relievers pitching every other day instead of every 5th, and doing so while focussing on two pitches instead of 3-4, pitch more consistently and aren't as wild. So I'm not dogmatic that getting him over to relief is a mistake. But I would like to see the greater innings in rotation, and I still have the unrealistic fantasy that contrary to what I expect in my head, that somehow he will be able to put things together and become a value starter, even though I think I know better. Regardless, the texture of that rotation will substantially hinge on Veal in or out.

 

Harben is a great Q. I think that would be really ideal if he's healthy enough and good enough to merit that. Given that the Cubs bothered to 40-man him, they must have seen him throwing pretty well in Mesa. So that's a great guess that he might be ready to roll. I hope that happens and that he's effective.

 

The guy I don't see starting is Reinhart. He seems to be roster fill to me. I'd expect Berg to be back in there. Llewellyn may be hyperbole, but he's commented that Berg has the 2nd best sinker in baseball behind only AZ's Webb. Granted, it's the only pitch he's got, and he doesn't control it. But he's young, and was a late starter, so I expect the Cubs will stick with him for another year of rotation, rather than a Reinhart. Berg showed some progress during the past season, so I expect the Cubs will hope to see continued progress. So I think they'll hope that enough to commit a rotation spot to him, given the lack of compelling alternatives.

 

For pen, I'd expect one or both of Maestri and/or Ceda to have a good crack. If not, that could be a rather weak pen. But I'm actually rather interested in Johnson, he was doing pretty well prior to his DL. And Avery may not be very jazzy but he's been effective. A pen of Johnson, Maestri and/or Ceda, and Avery could be pretty solid.

 

Daytona:

SP1 Chris Shaver

SP2 Marco Carrillo

SP3 James Russell

SP4 Robert Hernandez

SP5 Jose Pina

Swing Dumas Garcia

EST Todd Blackford

EST Bill Muldowney

Restricted List Scott Taylor

 

CL Jose Ceda

RHSU Alex Maestri

LHSU Jayson Ruhlman

SU Marcos Mateo

SU Matt Maradeo

LR Casey Lambert

LR Jeremy Papelbon

IR Jon Mueller

IR Michael Phelps

IR Yuri Higgins

IR Miguel Cuevas

IR John Muller

IR Michael Bartek

Release Andy McCormick

Could be a really weak staff. Hernandez and his ability to improve is crucial. If he does, it might not matter what gives with the rest of the staff. Russell is the second major question. Will he make Daytona? And if so, does he have the stuff to emerge as a prospect, or just a guy? Muldowney, maybe if he was healthy. Others, fillers or longshots. If Siegfried makes it and starts, he could be a real interest (or a wild scrub.)

 

Peoria:

SP1 Dustin Sasser

SP2 Chris Huseby

SP3 Arik Hempy

SP4 Ryan Acosta

SP5 Zach Ashwood

Swing Al Albuquerque

DL Rafael Dolis

EST Kitt Kopach

 

CL Hung-Wen Chen (I stole this idea from Raisin)

RHSU Audy Santana

LHSU Chris Siegfried

SU Jordan Latham

SU Mark Pawelek

LR Scott Meyer

LR Blake Parker

IR Steve Vento

IR Simon Lee

IR Chris Rivera

IR Michael Bunton

IR Corey Bachman

IR Craig Muschko

Always lots of Q's for Peoria. But there is a chance that the pitching could be quite interesting. Huseby, Acosta. Possibly Russell or Siegried. Possibly Chen. Hempy is not beyond possible. Ashwood has a chance to be pretty interesting. Maybe Pawelek might emerge. Who knows who else miht emerge.

 

Sticking around EST & possibly going to Boise or Mesa:

SP1 Larry Suarez

SP2 Dae-Eun Rhee

SP3 Jeffry Antigua

SP4 Oswaldo Martinez

SP5 Alberto Cabrera

Swing Ryan Searle

 

CL Marcus Hatley

RHSU Ramon Rache

LHSU Harol Tolentino

SU Cedric Redmond

SU Junniol Lami

LR Jose Severino

LR Kevin Kreier (I would release him, but we gave him $100,000 signing bonus)

IR Alan Guerrero

IR Julio Castillo

Could be some good ones.

[Wrigley Rat]

Craig - thanks for the insightful comments. A few points to make to your comments:

1) I had Marshall making the Chicago bullpen as the second lefty. He always seems to have great springs and if he isn't traded I imagine he might stick as a reliever.

2) FYI - LR stands for Long Reliever not lefty reliever. That should clear up some of my apparent bullpen gaffs! :)

3) I appreciated your perspective on Veal and I think I might agree with you, but I hesitate to remove such a heralded prospect from the rotation after only one bad season. I believe strongly in the "rule of two." No one on my prospect lists can fall badly or rise immensely from one season's work.

4) My solution to Daytona/Peoria's rotation is Hernandez and Pina start at Daytona while Blackford and Muldowney start at EST, but when Blackford and Muldowney are ready to pitch at Daytona, Hernandez and Pina go to Peoria and two Peoria guys go to EST. Of course, I'm not Oneri Fleita so I'm sure it won't work that way. I don't personally feel that Hernandez has the stuff yet to be dominant at Daytona. I think he needs to keep building strength to improve his fastball (which sits around 90-92 mph) and improving his secondary pitches (mostly his curve since his changeup is reported as being a plus pitch).

[Clem Fandango]

quick unrelated question to the topic...

 

What sites do you guys use to keep up on the minor leagues so well. I assume Baseball America and Scout, but are there any other free sites that are good for MiLB (besides milb.com, of course). I hate not being able to throw in my 2 cents on minor league talk

[Outshined_One]

quick unrelated question to the topic...

 

What sites do you guys use to keep up on the minor leagues so well. I assume Baseball America and Scout, but are there any other free sites that are good for MiLB (besides milb.com, of course). I hate not being able to throw in my 2 cents on minor league talk

 

Brewerfan is a good place to read up on the MLB Draft. The Hardball Times also has minor league stuff posted on occasion. Minor League Splits is really helpful for nuanced stats. Baseball-Reference has a minor league section.

 

During the course of the season, this forum is hopping. We have a bunch of posters who are involved in baseball in a variety of capacities (announcers, writers, scouts, etc.). Plus, we have daily threads dedicated to minor league box scores and people who are following the game.

[badnews]

Dominican 1:

SP1 Alan Guerrero

SP2 Francisco Acosta

SP3 Yohan Gonzalez

SP4 Gregorio Rodriguez

SP5 Rogelino Carmona

Swing Jose Montan

 

I hope Yohan Gonzalez can advance faster than that!

[wekse]

I hope that is the line-up for Tennessee. I'd love to see that team in person. I see road trips to Nashville, Jackson this summer. Maybe Severville too.

 

oh, you'll just love greer stadium! hah

[craig]

Craig - thanks for the insightful comments. A few points to make to your comments:

1) I had Marshall making the Chicago bullpen as the second lefty. He always seems to have great springs and if he isn't traded I imagine he might stick as a reliever.

I agree that's a good possibility.

 

2) FYI - LR stands for Long Reliever not lefty reliever. That should clear up some of my apparent bullpen gaffs! :)

Oops I remembered that most of the time but forgot for Grant Johnson! One note is I don't think they run pens in the minors the same as they do the majors, so the classification of "long reliever" vs "short reliever" is as meaningful. Much of the time they have relievers going for two innings. The average innings relative to relief appearances is considerably higher than in the majors. And even the "short" relievers often go two innings. I'm not sure, but even in AA the closer sometimes goes two innings.

 

3) I appreciated your perspective on Veal and I think I might agree with you, but I hesitate to remove such a heralded prospect from the rotation after only one bad season. I believe strongly in the "rule of two." No one on my prospect lists can fall badly or rise immensely from one season's work.

That's a good principle. My preference is also that he stay in rotation. I just think that given his high pitch counts, how wild he is, and how fly-ball/HR-oriented he is, that it's really, really unlikely that he'll ever be a good starter, and if he is it's likely far distant. Probably he'll pitch relief if he helps the Cubs. I still think pitching 115 rotation innings (given how little he lasts, he's not likely to be one of the 140-inning starters) is probably more experience for him than pitching 75 relief innings, so I think rotation is probably best for him, even assuming he does end in relief. But it's possible that Cubs will want him ready a little sooner, and will prefer that he have some relief experience so that if he does improve this year he won't be unfamiliar with relieving. As I noted, I also think there's a fair chance that he'll be much more effective in relief. He doesn't have control of any single pitch at present; maybe with time he'll develop reasonable command of two of them. It's less probable that he'll go from command of zero to command of 3-4. Pitching every other day might make it easier to stay locked in mechanism-wise, and to forget the wild disasters when they do happen. And for a guy who lives on the fastball, and perhaps a somewhat deceptive fastball, that may be easier to sustain top velocity and deception for two innings than through 100 pitches and 2-3 times through the order.

 

As to the rule of 2, that's a good principle. At the same time, veal's limitations have actually been pretty much the same for both years. The extremely high pitch counts, the inconsistent control and mechanics, and the extreme fly-ball profile, that's been true both years. Probably he got a bit worse in terms of breaking ball, I assume. But I think it may be more a matter of simply not getting any better, while the competition has. That's partly why my view is that he hasn't shown any trajectory of improvement on his problem areas. Many prospects have problems, but then are able to make adjustments to rectify them. Veal seems to have exactly the same problems in August 07 that he had in April 06. But, it's also true that nobody progresses on any linear trajectory. Often the improvements are abrupt; plateau for a while, then improve, etc.. And, as long as we have Rich Hill to remember, there is the reminder that wildmen can improve rather abruptly and unexpectedly.

 

4) My solution to Daytona/Peoria's rotation is Hernandez and Pina start at Daytona while Blackford and Muldowney start at EST, but when Blackford and Muldowney are ready to pitch at Daytona, Hernandez and Pina go to Peoria and two Peoria guys go to EST. Of course, I'm not Oneri Fleita so I'm sure it won't work that way. I don't personally feel that Hernandez has the stuff yet to be dominant at Daytona. I think he needs to keep building strength to improve his fastball (which sits around 90-92 mph) and improving his secondary pitches (mostly his curve since his changeup is reported as being a plus pitch).

 

Yeah, it's really tough to predict what will or should happen in A-ball rotations. I'd be surprised if Hernandez moves up and then gets sent down, unless he's stinking. One of my principles is that there aren't that many prospects who are going to become significant big-leaguers. In terms of farm, always prioritize the feature prospects and work the lesser guys around them. Application: if Hernandez is best served at Peoria, keep him there, even if that keeps some longer shot in relief (if Hempy or Ashwood gets knocked out of rotation, so be it), and even if that necessitates some total roster filler in daytona's rotation. Do what's best for Hernandez, because if he develops the way Fleita thinks he might, you could have a legit big-league starter. Conversely, if Hernandez is best served at Daytona, put him at Daytona. Don't mess with his assignment because of dudes like Blackford or Pina, or Muldowney either.

 

Fun to think about, though.

 

It's always more fun to think about pitchers. Pitchers can improve dramatically. A winter of conditioning combined with a mechanics tinker and suddenly a guy who was nobody has a serious arm and a chance to be really good. Some Rich Hill wildman suddenly makes an adjustment and all of a sudden he's seriously good. Some guy whose shoulder was interfering shows up healthy and suddenly pitches much better. Hitters rarely improve abruptly. But who knows if/when some pitcher might surprise us and be good.

[Guest]

Dominican 1:

SP1 Alan Guerrero

SP2 Francisco Acosta

SP3 Yohan Gonzalez

SP4 Gregorio Rodriguez

SP5 Rogelino Carmona

Swing Jose Montan

 

I hope Yohan Gonzalez can advance faster than that!

 

I gotta agree there. I also think a guy like Alan Guerrero starts in the U.S.

 

Craig, I agree with you re Hernandez starting at Daytona and being bumped down to Peoria based on health of other guys. It's not an ideal situation for a young pitcher, especially if he's not bombing at Daytona. I don't like the idea of starting a guy at a higher level and bringing him down just because lesser prospects are healthy. I don't think the Cubs would do that either.

 

Re Veal and 115 IP. He threw 130 last year despite struggling a lot with control. A repeat at AA would hopefully lead to some improvement and he can at least maintain 130 IP next season if not hit 140.

[craig]

Dominican 1:

SP1 Alan Guerrero

 

I hope Yohan Gonzalez can advance faster than that!

 

I gotta agree there. I also think a guy like Alan Guerrero starts in the U.S.

 

Remind me what we know about Alan Guerrero. I know he's the short chunky/stocky/portly Mexican kid (220/6'0"), who's list age will be 20 this upcoming season, and who apparently was interesting enough to be given 21 starts in Mexican League. ("The" Mexican League, like the top league? Or is that a lower league?) His numbers were generally blah (high HR rate, high flyball rate, ERA >5, relatively modest K's). Cal, have you come accross some scouting info on him, from Wilkin or ITI or some personal contact or Arizona Phil or something? Have we heard something good about his stuff? Or do you know nothing other than that we signed him, he has those stats, and he must have had an intersting enough arm for a Mexican League to entrust starts to him?

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Alan%20Guerrero&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=503601