Random Cubs Musings: Minor League Edition

[Cubswin11]

That said, three years in professional ball, sure, but he still only has a little under a one year of professional PA's.

 

Which brings up another problem.

Bloody noses and hemorrhoids

[Clem Fandango]

That said, three years in professional ball, sure, but he still only has a little under a one year of professional PA's.

 

Which brings up another problem.

 

Yup. Speaking of, has he been playing through nagging injuries this year?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

whats really upsetting is that kyle's gonna drag his stupid ass into every thread and mention almora regardless of if anyone is even talking about him in the first place

 

Jason Parks @ProfessorParks · 3h

Reports have been solid. He'll be fine. RT @SteveJB54 @ProfessorParks any reports on Almora/has his stock taken a hit?

[Guest]

This time Concepcion was hit in the left foot by a comebacker in a game for low Class A Kane County on May 20. He has a fracture that figures to wipe out a huge chunk of his third season in the U.S.

 

Up to that point, Concepcion—the Cuban defector who signed a three-year, $6 million big league deal in March 2012—finally began to show signs after two lost seasons.

 

“He’s kind of a wild card,” said second-year farm director Jaron Madison. “Because he hasn’t been healthy, we really haven’t seen the best of who he is, who we thought he was going to be when we signed him.”

 

The 22-year-old Concepcion pitched just 14 games combined in 2012-13 because of time lost to a calf strain, viral infection and back strain (twice). He owns a career 6.27 ERA in 80 innings despite not yet advancing beyond the Midwest League.

 

This year, the Cubs were using Concepcion in long relief as they work on simplifying his approach, Madison said, and allowing him to regain strength and confidence.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/hits-keep-coming-for-concepcion/

[UMFan83]

So what do you guys think the Cubs plan is for Bryant? The recent quotes suggest that they want to see him in AA a bit longer, but I think that's silly. He's 22, not 20. Do they bring him up to AAA in say August and let him finish the season there? Do they call him up when rosters expand? I'm assuming he would start the year in AAA next year with a June call up?

[Guest]

So what do you guys think the Cubs plan is for Bryant? The recent quotes suggest that they want to see him in AA a bit longer, but I think that's silly. He's 22, not 20. Do they bring him up to AAA in say August and let him finish the season there? Do they call him up when rosters expand? I'm assuming he would start the year in AAA next year with a June call up?

I think there are two parts to this

 

1) they honestly want him to work on some things before they bring him up. If they want him to be a 3B long term, he still has some work to do to clean up his defense. If they want him to play OF, then they'll need to make that move sooner or later. He still has too much swing and miss in his game. I'm sure they'd like him to make some more strides in closing some of those holes in his swing before exposing him to big league pitching.

 

2) They'd really prefer not to bring him up until at least 4/15/15 to get the extra year of control. If they promote him to AAA now and he mashes there will be huge pressure to promote him during the summer.

[biittner77]

So what do you guys think the Cubs plan is for Bryant? The recent quotes suggest that they want to see him in AA a bit longer, but I think that's silly. He's 22, not 20. Do they bring him up to AAA in say August and let him finish the season there? Do they call him up when rosters expand? I'm assuming he would start the year in AAA next year with a June call up?

I think there are two parts to this

 

1) they honestly want him to work on some things before they bring him up. If they want him to be a 3B long term, he still has some work to do to clean up his defense. If they want him to play OF, then they'll need to make that move sooner or later. He still has too much swing and miss in his game. I'm sure they'd like him to make some more strides in closing some of those holes in his swing before exposing him to big league pitching.

 

2) They'd really prefer not to bring him up until at least 4/15/15 to get the extra year of control. If they promote him to AAA now and he mashes there will be huge pressure to promote him during the summer.

 

I understand the logic of all that but, in Bryant's case, I'm not so sure it's worth the extra year of team control for a couple reasons:

1) Bryant will likely have at least some growing pains. Better for him to get experience now in a season that's already lost

 

2) If Bryant is as good as we hope he'll be, the Cubs will wind up buying out his first few years of FA anyway. Does it really save them enough money vs. the excitement he could potentially bring to the big club at a time when fans are become increasingly bitter about the lack of progress?

 

I'm not saying they rush him to Chicago. I'm saying send him to AAA and if he rakes there then let him try to breathe some life into a pathetic Cubs offense.

[jersey cubs fan]

So what do you guys think the Cubs plan is for Bryant? The recent quotes suggest that they want to see him in AA a bit longer, but I think that's silly. He's 22, not 20. Do they bring him up to AAA in say August and let him finish the season there? Do they call him up when rosters expand? I'm assuming he would start the year in AAA next year with a June call up?

I think there are two parts to this

 

1) they honestly want him to work on some things before they bring him up. If they want him to be a 3B long term, he still has some work to do to clean up his defense. If they want him to play OF, then they'll need to make that move sooner or later. He still has too much swing and miss in his game. I'm sure they'd like him to make some more strides in closing some of those holes in his swing before exposing him to big league pitching.

 

2) They'd really prefer not to bring him up until at least 4/15/15 to get the extra year of control. If they promote him to AAA now and he mashes there will be huge pressure to promote him during the summer.

 

I understand the logic of all that but, in Bryant's case, I'm not so sure it's worth the extra year of team control for a couple reasons:

1) Bryant will likely have at least some growing pains. Better for him to get experience now in a season that's already lost

 

2) If Bryant is as good as we hope he'll be, the Cubs will wind up buying out his first few years of FA anyway. Does it really save them enough money vs. the excitement he could potentially bring to the big club at a time when fans are become increasingly bitter about the lack of progress?

 

I'm not saying they rush him to Chicago. I'm saying send him to AAA and if he rakes there then let him try to breathe some life into a pathetic Cubs offense.

 

Why is Bryant any different from any other player as far as likelihood of experiencing growing pains?

 

Yes it saves them money. If/when they buy him out a full year in either direction will be a huge number. And there is no value to excitement for the fans in a lost season. They will gain nothing from having him play a couple weeks in the majors this year.

[Clem Fandango]

Not to mention the possibility of the Cubs still loading up their chips for a big trade splash and starting the clock on Bryant will hurt that value. I do't think they'll extend him until they realize they absolutely need/want him long term. None of this "Let's give him an extension before he reached the majors" type stuff with Bryant.

 

That said, I want them to do that, but who knows what this FO is thinking

[Guest]

Apparently this guy also writes for BP. Anyways, his reasons why Bryant is still at AA: http://www.mlbprospectwatch.com/mlb_prospect_watch/2014/06/why-is-kris-bryant-still-in-double-a.html

 

I think service time is the biggest reason, but defense and strikeout rate are legitimate things he needs to work on.

[Guest]

I don't really mind keeping him in AA until after the ASB.

[Gilby]

Apparently this guy also writes for BP. Anyways, his reasons why Bryant is still at AA: http://www.mlbprospectwatch.com/mlb_prospect_watch/2014/06/why-is-kris-bryant-still-in-double-a.html

 

I think service time is the biggest reason, but defense and strikeout rate are legitimate things he needs to work on.

 

I don't think Villanueva has anything to do with this; Bryant is arguably the most important player in the entire organization. I'm with you in that I think the FO is concerned (probably not the right word) what would happen if they promote him to Iowa and he's OPSing 1.000 in July (not that it's a guarantee). Tough to keep him down in that situation, and I don't think they want to bring him up until late April 2015. The K's might play a small part in keeping him in Double-A, but he's shown a lot of improvement lately and it hasn't taken long for them to promote Baez when he starts to make more contact at a level.

[Gilby]

So what do you guys think the Cubs plan is for Bryant? The recent quotes suggest that they want to see him in AA a bit longer, but I think that's silly. He's 22, not 20. Do they bring him up to AAA in say August and let him finish the season there? Do they call him up when rosters expand? I'm assuming he would start the year in AAA next year with a June call up?

I think there are two parts to this

 

1) they honestly want him to work on some things before they bring him up. If they want him to be a 3B long term, he still has some work to do to clean up his defense. If they want him to play OF, then they'll need to make that move sooner or later. He still has too much swing and miss in his game. I'm sure they'd like him to make some more strides in closing some of those holes in his swing before exposing him to big league pitching.

 

2) They'd really prefer not to bring him up until at least 4/15/15 to get the extra year of control. If they promote him to AAA now and he mashes there will be huge pressure to promote him during the summer.

 

I understand the logic of all that but, in Bryant's case, I'm not so sure it's worth the extra year of team control for a couple reasons:

1) Bryant will likely have at least some growing pains. Better for him to get experience now in a season that's already lost

 

2) If Bryant is as good as we hope he'll be, the Cubs will wind up buying out his first few years of FA anyway. Does it really save them enough money vs. the excitement he could potentially bring to the big club at a time when fans are become increasingly bitter about the lack of progress?

 

I'm not saying they rush him to Chicago. I'm saying send him to AAA and if he rakes there then let him try to breathe some life into a pathetic Cubs offense.

 

If Bryant is as good as we hope, Boras will be in his ear saying how much he'll earn in free agency.

[Guest]

Brett tweeted this re: Jen-Ho Tseng's injury:

 

@BleacherNation: Re Tseng RT @NSidersReport @me Just being cautious with him. Still with team, didn't get sent to Mesa. Will return soon.

[Cubswin11]

What's going on with/where is Dillon Maples?

[Guest]

Great news on Jen-Ho Tseng:

 

@KevinDruley: #Cougars RHP Jen-Ho Tseng (sore shoulder) threw live BP Wed and likely will be activated later this week, mgr Mark Johnson said ...

 

@KevinDruley: ... "We'll slowly progress him," Johnson said. Tseng will start with outings of 2 innings/45-50 pitches, then get bumped up

[Guest]

What's going on with/where is Dillon Maples?

 

Maples has a broken rib and has been out all season so far. When we first heard about it, they were targeting June for his return but I've seen nothing about him down at extended spring training yet.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Rob Zastryzny's ERA is 7.08 and his FIP is 3.81. Not sure I've seen that much of a gap for a guy that has pitched 40 innings.

[sneakypower]

Sean Manaea has a 5+ ERA despite a 3 FIP

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Rob Zastryzny's ERA is 7.08 and his FIP is 3.81. Not sure I've seen that much of a gap for a guy that has pitched 40 innings.

 

It's huge, but it's also worth noting that the league-average FIP down there is like 3.3 or something.

[A New Era]

Someone on PSD said Shadev Sharma thinks Alcantara might be called up by the end of the month. I don't know if the dude tweeted it or maybe he read it on BN. Anyone seen where Sharma might have said that.

[Guest]

Someone on PSD said Shadev Sharma thinks Alcantara might be called up by the end of the month. I don't know if the dude tweeted it or maybe he read it on BN. Anyone seen where Sharma might have said that.

 

A week or so ago on Twitter he said he thought they would be more aggressive with Alcantara than Bryant/Baez, but it definitely didn't come across as Alcantara coming up before the All-Star break, if anything the optimistic interpretation would be post trade deadline.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Barney and/or Bonafacio need to be gone before they call him up so he can get consistent playing time.

[Guest]

Barney and/or Bonafacio need to be gone before they call him up so he can get consistent playing time.

 

Pretty sure they are grooming him for OF anyways.

[imb]

Man, Alcantara as a Zobrist type is pretty enticing