Minor League Discussion & Boxes 8-19-2008

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Do the Cubs have to call up Hoffpauir for at least one day in August for him to be eligible for the playoff roster?

 

Yes, but not really. There's loopholes abound to get Hoffpauir on the playoff roster if we want him there.

[Guest]

McDaniel is struggling here in the bottom of the 8th but he did just hit 94 mph on the radar gun.

[Guest]

Sixth time through:

 

Drew Rundle pops up. 1 for 4, 2B (15), 2 BB, K.

 

Josh Vitters with another double in the top of the 9th. 3 for 5, 2 2B (20), K, HBP.

Ryan Flaherty grounds out. 1 for 6, 2B (13), 2 K.

 

Vitters now leads the NWL in doubles.

[craig]

Do the Cubs have to call up Hoffpauir for at least one day in August for him to be eligible for the playoff roster?

 

Yes, but not really. There's loopholes abound to get Hoffpauir on the playoff roster if we want him there.

 

No. Anybody on the roster at end of August is straightforward eligible. That includes not only guys on the active 25-man roster, but also guys on one of the DL's. (Chad Fox, Jon Lieber, and Angel Guzman are three who come to mind. Is there anybody else who is on DL?) So basically the 25-man guys and the DL guys provide a pool who can be directly activated. That's 28 guys.

 

But the DL'd guys provided an indirect way for basically anybody else they want to be selected. If one of the above 28 guys is on the DL when a playoff series starts, anybody can replace him, not just one of those 28.

 

So if Chad Fox is on the DL, it doesn't have to be one of those 28. It could be Hoffpauir or anybody else you like. If they wanted to replace Fox with Vitters or Cashner or Matt Cerda or anybody less ridiculous that you can imagine, they could. So Fox's spot provides one totally free spot.

 

I assume that if they actually have two guys they wanted to activate, they'd have little trouble DL'ing Lieber and his perpetually sore foot and replacing him too.

[Guest]

Arizona Phil | The Cub Reporter[/url]"]To be eligible to play in the MLB post-season, a player must be on the club’s 25-man roster or 15-day or 60-day DL as of 8/31. However, any player (regardless of position) who is a member of the organization on 8/31 is eligible to replace an injured player on the post-season roster as long as the injured player is placed on the DL prior to the start of the post-season series. (If the “replacement player” is not already on his club’s 40-man roster, he must be added to the 40 before he can be added to the post-season roster). NOTE: If a player suffers a disabling injury DURING a post-season series, the club can (with approval of the MLB Commissioner) replace the player with any player who was a member of the organization on August 31st, although in this case (replacing an injured player DURING a post-season series), the replacement player must play the same position as the injured player, and the injured player is ineligible to return to the active list at any later point in the post-season.

 

Essentially, the more players a club can stash on its 15-day or 60-day DL on August 31st, the more post-season roster exemptions for the club. And more post-season roster exemptions gives a club greater flexibility to tweak its post-season roster from series-to-series.

 

At present, the Cubs have three players on the DL, with pitchers Chad Fox (sore elbow) and Jon Lieber (sore foot) on the 15-day DL, and pitcher Angel Guzman (TJS surgery rehab) on the 60. Guzman and Lieber will likely be activated from the DL in September, so probably only Chad Fox will provide the Cubs with a ready-made roster exemption for the post-season. (Fox could be transferred to the 60-day DL if an additional spot on the 40-man roster is needed in September).

 

Of course Lieber has the type of chronic foot problem that probably would allow the Cubs to place him on the DL any old time, so if the Cubs wish to replace a struggling and ineffective Bob Howry with Michael Wuertz and 5th starter Jason Marquis with Micah Hoffpauir, they should be able to do it just by leaving Chad Fox on the DL for the rest of the season and by placing Jon Lieber back on the DL before the start of the NLDS (since Lieber is unlikely to be on the Cubs post-season roster).

 

Also, LHP Rich Hill (on the Iowa DL with a back problem) and RHP Adam Harben (on the Daytona DL while on extended rehab from 2006 TJS) are both on the Cubs 40-man roster, so either (or both) could be recalled from his optional assignment on August 31st and then be immediately placed on the 60-day DL, giving the Cubs another post-season roster exemption (or two), as well as opening up one (or two) more slots on the 40 in September. (While Harben could get outrighted to the minors at any time, he would have greater value spending the rest of the season on the 60-day DL as a post-season roster exemption than he would by getting outrighted right away).

 

There's more stuff in the link, including exactly how the Cubs were able to add Ronny Cedeno, Kevin Hart and Geovany Soto to last year's NLDS playoff roster.

[Rob]

I wonder where Vitters ranks on a top 100 prospects list?

 

And I guess Samardzija, Cashner, and Ceda might show up on those lists too.

[Guest]

I wonder where Vitters ranks on a top 100 prospects list?

 

And I guess Samardzija, Cashner, and Ceda might show up on those lists too.

 

I'd guess top 40, possibly sneaking in around 25.

 

Castillo might have an outside shot given his position. I think Samardzija and Vitters are locks and Ceda is too for Baseball America.

[sneakypower]

Vitters has 23 doubles in 218 ABs :shock:

 

he's top 25 prospect, probably

[Cynosure]

Hoffpauir 2-4 2 RBI and a double... OPS goin up!

[Guest]

Colvin went 1 for 4 with a triple.

[Elrhino]

If all those Vitters' doubles start turning into homers as he gets older and stronger, we could have something special. There's no question he has great ability to put the barrel of the bat on the ball.

[badnews]

As I've said before I've seen too many hitters look good at Boise and suck elsewhere to get excited about Boise hitters. Look what happened with Russell Canzler, he had awesome power at Boise.

[JeffH]

If they wanted to replace Fox with Vitters or Cashner or Matt Cerda or anybody less ridiculous that you can imagine, they could.

 

"Postseason roster, here I come!" - Mark Pawelek

[Transmogrified Tiger]

As I've said before I've seen too many hitters look good at Boise and suck elsewhere to get excited about Boise hitters. Look what happened with Russell Canzler, he had awesome power at Boise.

 

Canzler was also 2 years older at Boise, hit .264, and struck out 22% of the time. Vitters is 18, hitting .335, and K'ing 16% of the time.

[CubinNY]

As I've said before I've seen too many hitters look good at Boise and suck elsewhere to get excited about Boise hitters. Look what happened with Russell Canzler, he had awesome power at Boise.

 

Canzler was also 2 years older at Boise, hit .264, and struck out 22% of the time. Vitters is 18, hitting .335, and K'ing 16% of the time.

I have no idea who Canzler is/was but I don't know how anyone could compare the two with those numbers. I thinks it's ok to get excited about Vitters given his draft status, his horrible start, and his his current play. After the start of many of the Cubs minor leaguers it's nice to have a little hope. I don't think anyone is suggesting that he be inserted into the Cubs lineup (e.g., Huffpaiur).

[craig]

Obviously badnews is trying to balance potentially excess enthusiasm. But I think his point does have considerable merit: there are lots of guys who put up impressive numbers in the Northwest League, who don't produce in full-season. The leagues get a lot harder, and if you don't improve you can drop your numbers pretty severely.

 

Vitters looks really good now. The combination of his age, and his contact rate, and his projectible power, and the enthusiastic scouting reports, those all look very very favorable. But he'll need to get better.

 

I assume that young guys will improve, and probably do so more than older guys. Vitters seems to have the scouting and the contact skill and the power potential that he could improve a bunch. But he'll need to, it doesn't always happen. Corey never really improved from age 19 on. harvey, he was young enough that improvement seemed reasonable to expect, but it never happened. Donnie Veal, he seemed young enough to improve further after his big A season, but he didn't. When Pie was excelling in AA, and was so young, I assumed he'd improve. But he hasn't, really.

 

If Vitters just stays the same, his numbers in full-season will probably depress big-time, and etc. with each successive promotion. He'll need to keep improving. That seems very possible, but time will tell.

[UBlink]

If they wanted to replace Fox with Vitters or Cashner or Matt Cerda or anybody less ridiculous that you can imagine, they could.

 

"Postseason roster, here I come!" - Mark Pawelek

 

No passport required.