Projecting who starts off where in 2010-Hitters

[ChiefsVoice]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2010/03/19/sweet-sixteen-gets-rushed-cubs?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TCRfeed+%28The+Cub+Reporter%29

 

Az Phil, with his comments on

a) Wagner Mateo,

b) yesterday's Fitch action

c) his listing of what the current rosters are. (Again, most guys will drop a level once the extras at the higher levels go down.)

d) His "Limited Activity Only – injury rehab" guys, which include:

Chris Carpenter

Justin Bristow

Dylan Johnston

Marcus Hatley (TJ)

Casey Lambert (TJ)

 

Thoughts:

1. Disappointed that Carpenter and Bristow are hurt, again.

2. Cal, if you have a chance to ask anybody, please ask about Carpenter and Bristow and what's up? Insignificant short-term thing, bumped a toe last week and will be back on Tuesday? Versus something serious, or surgery rehab, or whatever? bristow was a possible emergence candidate, so if his arm is bad again, that's disappointing. Carpenter obviously is also one of our premium pitching prospects; if his arm is bad yet again, that would be really, really, really disappointing. (As has been Cashner's super-wild spring.)

3. Do we ever know what is up with Dylan Johnston? He switched to pitcher ages ago, it seemed. Given that he wasn't a pitcher, was the wildest wildarm from SS in recent memory, and has been hurt for ages now, I wonder how long they can stick with him as a longest-of-long-shots in the first place?

4. I don't remember; had we know that Lambert had TJ? I'd like to hope that he may have been pitching with problems for a while, and that if he were to come back with an actually healthier and stronger arm, perhaps he'll get back into worth-watching again?

5. Phil was really gushing on Cabrera, "dominating". Cal, at this point are these guys just throwing fastballs, and his was very fast? Or was he working some offspeed in, too?

 

95 % sure Dylan had TJ last August...and yes we knew that on Lambert...or at least it was reported.

[karenmac]

my notes from Sat 3/20 at Fitch (I primarily watched the game that Casey Kopitske was managing - the "low A" game) vs Oakland:

sp - larry suarez (#46), pitched 1st and 2nd. Looked very good in 1st, lots of swings and misses (not necessarily at strikes). Struggled more in 2nd once A's got a bit more patient.

#59 - kirk pitched the 3rd and 4th

#43 - schmidt pitched the 5th

#34 - keefe pitched the 6th

about midway through the 6th we started talking with some folks from Boise, so don't really know from there.

 

Lineup:

16 Lee - 1b in 1st, grounded 4-3 in 3rd, very good plate discipline

29 Ramirez - ss, reached in the 1st but forgot how, bunted a single up the 3rd base line in the 4th, but then picked off 2-3-6

4 Cerda - played 3rd base - gidp 3-6 in 1st

16 thomas - played 1st base - called strikeout in 2nd (last 2 strikes questionable & called after being 3-1 - a MWL ump behind the plate. Ugh), struckout swiming in 4th

6 jones -*nice* double down the right field line in the 2nd, grounded out 6-3(?) in 4th

20 fitzgerald - walked (I think) in 5th, then picked off 1-3

20 Kim - struck out swinging in 5th

Burruel - catcher - grounded out 5-3 in 5th

4 Darvill - played 2nd - bloop single to short left in 3rd

13 R Bautista - outfield fly to center in the 3rd

 

The A's catcher was *huge* - I'm guessing 6'4" - 6'5" and 275? He moved like it, though, so hopefully that's good news for the Chiefs vs Kane County in 2010

 

Sorry there were a few holes - my phone "ate" my original 3 innings of notes, so recreated the best I could recall. We're headed to Goodyear today to see the MLB game, but will be back at Fitch again on Monday where we'll get to see some Giants prospects too - that'll be nice, as their low-A team isn't in the MWL. Will try and do something similar again on Monday.

 

For those that may want to catch a game at Fitch (or somewhere else in greater PHX), here's the schedule:

http://cubs.scout.com/2/955234.html

[Guest]

Thanks!

 

Say hi to Navin. :)

[Guest]

1. Disappointed that Carpenter and Bristow are hurt, again.

2. Cal, if you have a chance to ask anybody, please ask about Carpenter and Bristow and what's up? Insignificant short-term thing, bumped a toe last week and will be back on Tuesday? Versus something serious, or surgery rehab, or whatever? bristow was a possible emergence candidate, so if his arm is bad again, that's disappointing. Carpenter obviously is also one of our premium pitching prospects; if his arm is bad yet again, that would be really, really, really disappointing. (As has been Cashner's super-wild spring.)

3. Do we ever know what is up with Dylan Johnston? He switched to pitcher ages ago, it seemed. Given that he wasn't a pitcher, was the wildest wildarm from SS in recent memory, and has been hurt for ages now, I wonder how long they can stick with him as a longest-of-long-shots in the first place?

4. I don't remember; had we know that Lambert had TJ? I'd like to hope that he may have been pitching with problems for a while, and that if he were to come back with an actually healthier and stronger arm, perhaps he'll get back into worth-watching again?

5. Phil was really gushing on Cabrera, "dominating". Cal, at this point are these guys just throwing fastballs, and his was very fast? Or was he working some offspeed in, too?

 

Sorry, Craig. If I had known, I'd have asked around about Carpenter and Bristow. I even saw Oneri tried to listen in (didn't want to butt in and didn't get much out of him).

 

I read about Lambert's TJS in ITI and I thought I posted it somewhere.

 

Cabrera was dominating. I couldn't view the gun when he was pitching but he was throwing hard with good movement. From my angle, it looked like he was throwing a slider that was pretty hard and was getting a few swing and misses. Apparently I missed the first 2 innings as Searle started. I'd have to imagine Cabrebra will start at Daytona.

 

By the way, LeMahieu looks like he didn't gain a single pound of weight in the offseason.

 

I was at Hohokam yesterday. It was nice to see Castro, LeMahieu, etc. in the late innings. I'm off to Goodyear today too, then headed back to California. Wish I could have gone to another minor league game.

[karenmac]

hey there all - have been having too much fun in the sun here in AZ - haven't had a chance to send my notes along from the couple of minor league games I had a chance to see at Fitch. I'll make them 2 separate posts

 

22 March - low-A - we didn't get there until the bottom of 4, but here's what happened from there:

 

bottom 4th

16 Thomas (1st base) - struck out looking

2 Cerda - grounded out 6-3

6 Jones - grounded out 6-3

 

top 5th

55 Liria pitching - gave up 2 singles, a triple and another single before striking out the giant catcher #33 Joseph (while the guy on 1st took 2nd then 3rd on consecutive wild pitches), walked #32 Sanchez, hit the next batter before getting an outfield fly to left to end the inning

 

bottom 5th

20 fitzgerald - flied out to right on a broken bat where the barrel flew back hard and hit the screen.

19 wagner (playing 3rd base) - struck out looking

20 davis - struck out looking

 

top 6th

#35 carmina pitching

#6 white flies out to shortstop

lollis - single, stole 2nd

#16 burg - struckout swinging

#15 nordgen - grounded out 5-3

 

bottom 6th

29 ramirez - ball, strike, strike on bunt attempt, ball, groundout 1-3

16 lee (shortstop) - ball, strike, strike, strikout looking

1 watkins - ball, strike, strike (fouled off), struck out swinging

 

top 7th

more carmina pitching

#7 Eshleman - struckout swinging

#16 Izturis reached on a wild pitch 3rd strike swinging - the cub catcher Burruel had him when stealing 2nd but 2nd baseman dropped throw when Joseph struck out

#33 Joseph - struck out swinging

#29 villegas - flied out to center

 

bottom 7th

#20 rosa (catcher thru 7 innings, then replaced by Burruel in top 7) - #6 Burruel - infield hit to shortstop

#16 thomas (1st baseman) - ball, strike, strike, ball, ball, walk with advance to 2nd on wild pitch

#2 cerda - ball (wild pitch), grounded out 6-3

#6 jones - ball, double to left with RBI (thomas scores)

#20 fitzgerald - strike, ball, double to left with RBI (jones scores), took 3rd on passed ball

#19 wagner - ball (passed ball), strike, strike, single (broken bat bloop to center) RBI (Fitzgerald scores), stole 2nd

#20 davis - ball, strike, strike, struck out looking

#29 ramirez - strike, grounded out 5-3

 

top 8th

#37 Ginley pitching - 1,2,3 inning with last out a ground out 5-3

 

bottom 8th

#16 lee - strike, strike (foul), ball, foul, foul, grounded out 6-3

#1 watkins - single, stole 2nd

#6 Burruel - ball, ball, strike, ball, single to left RBI (watkins scored)

#16 thomas - gidp burruel out 6-4, thomas out 4-3

 

top 9th

#61 morla pitching - single (advanced to 2nd on wp), k, k, k

 

bottom 9th

#15 springfield - ball, strike, foul, struck out swinging but reached 1st on passed ball

#6 jones - strike, gidp - springfield out 1-4, jones out 4-3

#3 ha - grounded out 6-3

 

Final score 6-3 cubs win

[karenmac]

Thursday 24 March - Double-A

 

starting pitcher - #52 martinez to catcher #8 mercedes

top 1st - K, infield fly to 3rd, outfield fly to center

top 2nd - K looking, K, single to center, walk, walk

top 3rd - K, single, e6 (starlin castro, throw to 1st), e6 (starlin castro - maybe e1 - low throw to 1st)

pitching change

#37 Josh Lansford

unassisted ground out to 1st (rbi), wild pitch to score run, strike out looking

top 4th - more lansford pitching - hitter was #55 Yusuf Carter (catching for the Athletics) - ball, strike, strike (foul), ball, foul, ball, line drive out to 3rd

ground out 6-3, infield fly to 2nd

top 5th - Ryan Buchter pitching - unassisted groundout to 1st, groundout 4-3, single to deep 3rd base, infield fly to second

top 6th - #48 blackford pitching to #8 mark reed catching - single to right, thrown out by Soto 9-6 trying to stretch into a double, single to left, single to center, infield fly to second, fielders choice 4-6

top 7th - more blackford - walk (advanced to 2nd on passed ball, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch), walk (stole second), strikeout, single to left then 7-2 for out #3

top 8th - #41 Raisin's boy Robert Hernandez, so did a pitch by pitch :D unfortunately, he didn't look good.

batter 1 - strike, double to left

batter 2 - fly out to left

batter 3 - strike, ball, ball, single to center

batter 4 - fielders choice 4-6 (batter 3 out), RBI (batter 1 scores)

batter 5 - strike, ball, ball, strike, ground out 5-3

top 9th - more hernandez

batter 1 - ball, ball, strike foul to left, ball, double to center

batter 2 - ball, ball, strike foul, strike, ball, walk

batter 3 - strike,strike, ball, struck out swinging

batter 4 - double to center

batter 5 - outfield fly to right

pitching change - #53 Chris Siegfried

batter 1 - strike, strike foul, groundout 5-3

batter 2 - ball, ball, ball, walk

batter 3 - strike, single to left

batter 4 - ball, outfield fly to right

batter 5 (#55 - Yusuf Carter, now playing RF) - single to right, RBI (batter 2 scores)

batter 6 - strike, ball, strike, foul, ball, groundout 4-3

 

bottom 1st

#28 Brett Jackson - strike, ball, foul, struck out looking

#4 Tony Campana (center field) - bunt 1-3 almost beat it out!

#22 Xavier Nady (right field) - strike, strike, strike out swinging

bottom 2nd

#13 Starlin Castro (shortstop) - strike, strike, single to left

#22 Xavier Nady (right field) - ball, ball, gidp 6-4-3

#16 Russ Canzler (first base) - strike, strike, ball, struck out looking

bottom 3rd

#24 Kyler Burke (am guessing he was playing left, but couldn't quite tell from where I was sitting) - strike, ball, ball, ball, walk

#18 DJ LeMahieu (third base) - strike, strike foul, foul, struck out swinging

#22 Xavier Nady (right field) - ball, strike, strike foul, double to left RBI (burke scores)

#2 Ryan Flaherty (second base) - ball, ball, strike, ball, single to left (Nady advances to 3rd)

#21 James - ball, FC6-4 (flaherty out, james beat out throw to 1st, but then picked off 1st 1-3)

bottom 4th

#6 Mario Mercedes (catcher) - ball, strike foul, strike, single to center

#3 Luis Flores - double to center RBI (mercedes scores)

#28 Brett Jackson - ball, ball, outfield fly to center RBI (flores took 3rd on bad pickoff attempt at 2nd)

#4 Tony Campana - single to shortstop, stole second, thought there were 2 down and was out when 2nd baseman stepped on bag after Castro's flyout

#13 Starlin Castro - ball, strike, infield fly to second

bottom 5th

#16 Russ Canzler - strike, strike, single to center, advanced to 2nd on e8, advanced to 3rd on burke groundout

#24 Kyler Burke - groundout 4-3

#22 Xavier Nady - ball, strike, strike foul, hbp (hand) and removed for pinch runner Soto

#18 DJ LeMahieu - single to center, RBI (Canzler scores)

#2 Ryan Flaherty - ball, strike foul, ball, strike, ball, foul out to left

#21 James - ball, ball, ball, walk

#6 Mario Mercedes - fly out to center

bottom 6th

#3 Luis Flores - outfield fly to left

#13 Jonathan Mota (replaced Castro in top 6th) - strike, strike, line drive to shortstop

#4 Tony Campana - ball, outfield fly to center

bottom 7th

#3 Gonzalez - ball, strike, strike foul to right, ball, foul to 3rd base side, strike, foul to left, ball, walk

#16 Russ Canzler - foul out down right field line - caught by 2nd baseman

#24 Kyler Burke - ball, strike, strike, ball, foul to right, single to left (Gonzalez advances to 3rd), stole 2nd

#27 Soto (right field) - ball, ball, ground out 6-3

#19 Josh Vitters (3rd base) - strike, ball, ball, strike, ball, struck out swinging

bottom 8th

#11 Smith - strike foul, ball, strike foul to left, single to left

#21 James - strike, ball, ball, single to center,

#8 Reed - strikeout

#3 Flores - gidp 4-6-3

 

whew - am guessing the cubs won, as we didn't bat in the 9th, but after a while, you lose track :D

[Bear Cub]

Thanks Karenmac.

[craig]

Arizona Phil with updated camp rosters following the big-league roster finalization. This is a lot closer than the earlier versions, because there aren't 15 guys from big-league camp waiting to push everybody else down. It is probably most useful for specifying where guys are who at one point were considered for a higher level, and who aren't likely to get bumped down another level.

 

Still, there are 14 more guys in AA/AAA than will end there, so the trickle-down for Daytona and Peoria is still likely to be substantial.

 

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2010/03/31/updated-minor-league-camp-rosters?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TCRfeed+%28The+Cub+Reporter%29

 

OK, so here are some of the interesting guys, who some projected might start higher:

 

Lee at Peoria

Cashner at AA

Castro at AA (Lou and all the camp buzz had made Iowa a possibility, I think...)

Vitters at Daytona

Rafael Dolis at Daytona

Searle and Leverton at Daytona

 

Heh, we can't complain that any of those seven are being rushed.

 

Some other guys who some projected might start lower than where they are currently listed. Some may still shift down a step when more send-downs happen.

Jackson and Coleman both with Iowa.

Flaherty at AA. I expect he'll stay. There isn't obvious competition for his spot at AA or in the AAA cut-down candidates. With castro at SS, Flaherty won't play there, and I expect Flaherty will be full-time 2B, which is good for me. If he's going to be an asset starter, 2B is his most likely spot. If he can prove he's capable defensively, he might hit well enough to be a strong value at 2b.

Rusin, Patton, Bibbens, Sommer, and Buchter are all listed with AA. They surely won't all stay there. Hopefully that reflects favorably on Buchter and Rusin's performance this spring if they've hung in there this long.

Rusin hasn't gotten much buzz. He went 0-4 in short season, he's old, he allowed more than a hit per inning, and scouted as low velocity. But while 4th round doesn't mean "supertalent", I don't think they spend a 4th round pick on a guy unless they think he has big-league potential, even if it's more 5th than 1st starter potential. Anyway, it would be pretty interesting to double-step him all the way from Boise to AA. He may still get bumped down to Daytona; but my guess he really will start in AA. AA doesn't seem to have many appealing rotation starters competing, I don't expect Iowa to send many rotation guys down, and Daytona has a ton of rotation names already. So I'm guessing Rusin really will start at AA. He's 23, plenty appropriate age-wise. Breaking balls are harder to hit than fastballs. So if he can get his breaking stuff over, and his fastball sinks even if it's slow, I don't see why he might not be fairly successful. I'd guess he might be project like Marshall with even less velocity but more sink and perhaps fewer HR?

 

Daytona currently lists Vitters, Lake, and Lemahieu for infield. Certainly some bench infielder(s) will get bumped down. Will be interesting to see how Lake and Lemahieu divide the SS/2B duties. Lake can move off later. As with Flaherty, I'd be happy if Lemahieu were full-time 2B. If he's ever going to be an asset starter, that's going to need to be his spot and he's going to need to defend it satisfactorily.

 

Daytona has not only Archer, Cabrera, and Dolis for rotation (those three aren't going to bump down lower.) But they also have McNutt, Raley, Rhee, Searle, Shafer, Leverton, and Martinez listed. Which is why I don't expect Rusin to bump down and take one of the spots.

My guess is that some from Shafer, Leverton, and Martinez will go to relief or get released.

I expect one, two, or all three from McNutt, Raley, and Rhee to end up dropping a step to Peoria. But I never know. Last year I certainly didn't expect McDaniel and Searle to open in the rotation.

Hopefully still hanging on with Daytona means that mcNutt, Raley, and Rhee have looked good in camp? Those are three critical swing prospects. Young pitchers who are in the 12-25 group of the top 30, any can become top-10 guys with good seasons, I'd think.

 

Peoria currently lists not only Lee but also Jung and Ha. Nice to see that Jung is back; after he returned to Korea mid-season last year, I wondered if he was quitting for good. His results at Boise were very pedestrian, so I'll be curious to see whether he survives the cuts, whether they use him in rotation, and whether he shows any progress. Ha is also a surprise and may be dropped; OBP'ing at an incredibly low .264 with a sub-.600 OPS and switching positions isn't necessarily the recipe for a promotion. But maybe they'll just stry to keep those Koreans together for social reasons, too. Assuming Rhee drops down to Peoria, that could be four.

Kirk is already down with XST.

Other than Lee and Watkins in the infield, and Antigua in rotation, Peoria is really a mish-mash of who-knows-what. Lots of late-round draft picks and Latins with mixed previous success. I expect an awful lot of the guys Phil lists at Peoria will bump down to XST soon enough, and the pitching staff will be enriched by some Daytona bumpdowns.

[NCCubFan]

Castro at AA (Lou and all the camp buzz had made Iowa a possibility, I think...)

Or as someone was speculating at the time maybe Lou was using "Iowa" in a generic sense meaning the minor leagues without having a specific minor league team in mind. In any event, I like this for selfish reasons since Tennessee will be playing at Carolina (less than an hour from my home).

[videographer]

Looking at Arizona Phil's minor league roster update, I noticed Drew Rundle is now a pitcher (Boise/Mesa). It was only a year ago in spring training that he caught the eye of Cubs' personal with his swing. He was promoted to Daytona to start the year after finishing at Boise the previous year. I think his career K/ratio was close to 40%. The Cubs spent $500,000 to sign him away from attending (I believe) Oregon St.

 

Also, Richard Jones, a 9th round pick a year ago, has been moved from catcher to outfield. I guess all those passed balls were to much to over-come. Then again, the thump in his left-handed bat is his biggest tool and fastest way to Wrigley.

[craig]

Or as someone was speculating at the time maybe Lou was using "Iowa" in a generic sense meaning the minor leagues without having a specific minor league team in mind. In any event, I like this for selfish reasons since Tennessee will be playing at Carolina (less than an hour from my home).

 

Agree, Iowa is generic for minors for Lou. I also like it. I think expecting too much too soon from Castro is dangerous. And he did seem to continue to make errors this spring. Keeping him one level further away might make it easier to keep people, himself included, from thinking about callups to the majors.

[craig]

Looks like the opening rosters won't have as many surprises as last year. (I recall being surprised with McDaniel and Searle at Daytona rotation, with Shafer and Flaherty starting at Peoria, and the Guyer to AA bit...)

 

Rotation-wise, I think things look pretty deep. Most of the teams will have interesting pitching rotation prospects, good depth. Tenn probably the least jazzy. Cashner and Rusin are the most high profile, but when your next three are taken from the pool of Muschko, Bibbens-Dirx, Chen, Patton, Pabelbon, Carillo, and Blackford, that could be a relatively low-ceiling pool of so-so guys. Muschko was really good at Daytona last half, so I'm hopeful that he'll emerge in the rotation and somehow sustain that success, however it was he did it.

 

Peoria rotation is always a surprise, and of course they often do some piggy-back stuff. It's also the rotation most likely to be supplemented by drop-downs. It doesn't seem that often that rotation starters drop from Tenn to Daytona during the last few days. But it's pretty common that Daytona guys do. If all three of McNutt, Rhee, and Raley were to drop to Peoria, then with Antigua they'd have plenty of name starters. But if all three of those arms did stay with Daytona, and I expect at last Raley to do so, then there will be quite a few rotation openings. Jung, Ronny Morla, Nick struck, Whitenack, Suarez, Yohan Gonzalez, Jon Nagel, it's hard to guess. Especially in A-ball where even if I know a guy is relief-guy long-term, they may still want to start him for innings early.

 

But it looks like we could get a lot of interesting pitching. Hopefully a fair number of the guys I'm interested in now will still be interesting in June.

[Guest]

After doing relatively well at Daytona and getting all that buzz at instructs, I'd be disappointed if Dolis starts at Daytona.

[toonsterwu]

Seems a bit unlikely for him to move up now, though. I sort of agree - was looking forward to Dolis in AA. I wonder if it's sort of like the Ceda plan from a couple of years ago - get him working as a starter in Daytona to get his pitches in shape.

 

Overall, doesn't look like there will be as many surprise/aggressive placements like last year (Guyer/Jackson/Coleman in AA, McDaniel/Searle/Castro in A+). If Rusin sticks at AA, that would be a bit of a surprise, but some more downshifting will occur, and I could see Rusin end up down in Daytona. Hmm ... doesn't look like there's any surprises. Certainly, it reflects a bit upon a stronger overall system than entering 2009.

[craig]

...Hmm ... doesn't look like there's any surprises. Certainly, it reflects a bit upon a stronger overall system than entering 2009.

 

Agree, it does reflect stronger pitching I think.

 

Agree also that Dolis doing a Daytona repeat, that doesn't reflect well on him having actually shown any improved command. May reflect a wildman that had one or two good outing in instrux, but more fluke than actual sign of the future. Especially since Tenn isn't crawling with what I perceive as serious big-league rotation guys. Yes, disappointing. Still, his was one of the surprising high-placements last year too. Given his age, his very limited experience, and his lack of command, Daytona is probably more fitting. I think he maybe got Daytona last year because Peoria seemed deep and Daytona thin last spring, or one or two good camp days?

 

Rusin at AA is both more and less surprising than Coleman and Jackson last year. They had both gotten in some effective games in A and A+, so while I was really surprised it wasn't a double jump. But he's older and more experienced from big-conference college.

 

But that would be an interesting small-sample semi-pattern of a fairly accelerated promotion rate for college-experienced pitchers who have some control. To have three guys starting right out in AA during their first full season, that's pretty amazing. If Raley really does stick at Daytona (which is not at all certain), that would be another example of a pretty accelerated schedule for college strike-throwers. Raley's an interesting case, since much of the spin was that he's only got two years and his focus was mixed by outfielding; but at the same time control was his foremost scouting virtue even so.

 

I assume Leverton will be relief. I think relief has always been his likely long-term role, a lefty reliever. Possibly something along the lines of a berg, not very sophisticated but just throw the sinker and hope they ground it to an infielder.

 

Searle will be interesting; I thought he might move up a level, but given his age and his mediocre results (relative to the league), I think Daytona return is good. I assume he will start, but I suppose in his case too he could be moved to relief or used in some piggy-back kind of deal. If he does start, it will be a good chance to see whether he is improved. Ditto with Dolis. When a guy promotes, you can always assume improvement and that the numbers are unimproved simply because competition is harder, and you can always say "good relative to his age". But often guys don't improve. It will be easy to tell with Searle, Dolis, and McDaniel.

 

My recall is that they have done the piggy-back thing more at Peoria than Daytona, but perhaps that was because a lot of Peoria pitchers, you don't know who's step up and who'll weed themselves out. So a volume thing. Perhaps with more volume of rotation-possible guys at Daytona, they'll do more piggy-backing there too?

 

When looking at the rosters, it looks like Daytona is the most jazzy one. Lemahieu, Vitters, Lake, Jackson, Burke, that's the deepest crop of position prospects. And while Archer/Dolis could be the front of a wildman good-future-potential-but-not-that-great-now rotation, Archer-Dolis-Cabrera-Searle-Raley-Rhee-McNutt could be a really interesting every-day-interesting rotation. (Obviously depending on which if any of the Raley-Rhee-McNutt trio stick. If Shafer or Martinez somehow get into the rotation, it will not quite be so every-day-interesting.) Five of those seven were already listed in top 22, Cabrera was 31, and Searle probably not that far off behind. Each and every one of those 7 has the potential be a top-20 guy at least by next year, if things go well.

 

I'm really surprised that McNutt still lists with Daytona. I strongly assume he'll end up at Peoria. But if he's at Daytona, that might reflect that his stuff really is pretty good and is not all hype; and that his control is not quite as desparately wild as with Archer or Dolis last year.

[scarey]

Does anyone have any idea of what's going on with Wilson Contreras? How does the the 50 game suspension work if he's just going to stay in South America this year? What qualifies as a game played at all in terms of the suspension? I would think the Cubs could just assign him to a team and let him attend an acedemy while he gets "suspended" for 50 games.

[toonsterwu]

Some interesting moves reported by AzPhil today:

 

To AAA - Marquez Smith, Jonathan Mota

 

To AA: Steve Clevenger, Nate Samson, Tony Thomas, Alessandro Maestri, Blake Lalli

 

Looks like Iowa is close to what it's roster will look like to start 2010. That puts them at 28, so a few more cuts to go. He notes Marquez going up to man 3rd, with Mota as the emergency catcher.

 

I'm a bit surprised that Clevenger's being asked to go to Tennessee again, but considering it's Chirinos/Flores/Reed there right now, Clevenger will probably get more AB's than in Iowa, competing with Castillo and Robinson. And getting the playing time is probably more important than level. Samson/Thomas/Maestri down to AA isn't surprising, although the side effect of the two MI's coming down, and Smith going up is that Flaherty will likely see a lot of time at 3rd.

 

AA's bloated right now, sitting at 34. I could see a few more decent upper level guys getting cut rather than getting moved down a level.