Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-30-16

[CubInOK]

When is Contreras expected to be up again? Are they waiting for Super Two?

 

I know Contreras played in the heightened elevation of Alburquerque today, but that is one impressive day, and either he's garbage at pitch framing or... Something that makes him a worse option that Fed.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

But why would we call him up right now to be our 3rd catcher? Montero/Ross are doing fine for now, if not great. Let WC dominate AAA all year if we can then call him up in Sept. Until something changes, we don't need him up here.

 

But we do need to get rid of Fed. I'd rather call Alcantara up and I have no idea if he's even still in the organization.

[CubInOK]

But why would we call him up right now to be our 3rd catcher? Montero/Ross are doing fine for now, if not great. Let WC dominate AAA all year if we can then call him up in Sept. Until something changes, we don't need him up here.

 

But we do need to get rid of Fed. I'd rather call Alcantara up and I have no idea if he's even still in the organization.

Alcantara was also awesome today. Then again the I-Cubs had a 10 run inning, so everyone there was awesome today.

[TruffleShuffle]

i don't see contreras taking much part in this year's team, unless there are injuries. maybe as a pinch hitter after rosters expand.

 

a more interesting discussion is what happens next year, since contreras will almost certainly be ready but montero still has one year on his contract at $14m. do they try to trade montero and eat a little of his contract? keep him as a high-priced backup and insurance policy?

[raw]

i don't see contreras taking much part in this year's team, unless there are injuries. maybe as a pinch hitter after rosters expand.

 

a more interesting discussion is what happens next year, since contreras will almost certainly be ready but montero still has one year on his contract at $14m. do they try to trade montero and eat a little of his contract? keep him as a high-priced backup and insurance policy?

 

Montero would probably still be considered the starter for all intents and purposes. I'm going to assume he'd be Lester's personal C plus a lot more. I think they'll bring Contreras along slowly and there will be close to a 50-50 split behind the plate until either A) Contreras' bat proves too good to keep out of the lineup 1/2 the time or B) Conteras' defensive abilities catch up to his bat.

[davell]

I fully expect him to get 20-30 big league starts in August/September this year, when we've got little to play for. Give him plenty of time to learn from Montero/Ross, while playing.

[raw]

i don't see contreras taking much part in this year's team, unless there are injuries. maybe as a pinch hitter after rosters expand.

 

a more interesting discussion is what happens next year, since contreras will almost certainly be ready but montero still has one year on his contract at $14m. do they try to trade montero and eat a little of his contract? keep him as a high-priced backup and insurance policy?

 

Montero would probably still be considered the starter for all intents and purposes. I'm going to assume he'd be Lester's personal C plus a lot more. I think they'll bring Contreras along slowly and there will be close to a 50-50 split behind the plate until either A) Contreras' bat proves too good to keep out of the lineup 1/2 the time or B) Conteras' defensive abilities catch up to his bat.

 

Exactly this....It's not unprecedented for a young C to take over the starting role at 26 after mentoring under a vet. I still would like/prefer Contreras to get some playing time this year as next year should not be his first extended look in the majors if he's getting the [expletive] #2 catching job behind a 34 YO Montero (unless the FO is supremely confident in him, maybe they are). It should not be impossible to pull off considering he's 4th on the depth chart I assume behind a 33 YO with a bad back, a retiring 39 year old, and Tim Fedsomething.

 

Again guessing, but I think the Montero injury came too early for Contreras to be called up. With June coming up, I'd imagine as soon as the team is willing to cut ties with Federowicz....if there is another DL stint for either catcher, then Contreras would be called up. Cubs are carrying 3 catchers for 2 1/2 weeks now. If Contreras has to come up due to injury, carrying a 3rd catcher when everyone is healthy wouldn't be a big deal considering the 3rd guy can actually hit. Or even better, if they want Conteras to get reps every day, they can send him back down for a month to month and a half at most (say injury happens mid June, he's up til the break, and back up in Sept).

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Montero would probably still be considered the starter for all intents and purposes. I'm going to assume he'd be Lester's personal C plus a lot more. I think they'll bring Contreras along slowly and there will be close to a 50-50 split behind the plate until either A) Contreras' bat proves too good to keep out of the lineup 1/2 the time or B) Conteras' defensive abilities catch up to his bat.

 

I fully expect him to get 20-30 big league starts in August/September this year, when we've got little to play for. Give him plenty of time to learn from Montero/Ross, while playing.

 

 

Both of these. I'm not sure how much I think he'll catch for us this year. But, he's just gonna be a guy that's kinda hanging out with our Super Team. They won't rely on him. There will be few expectations. Maybe he just completely wows everyone and takes off. But if not, we don't need it. And at least he'll get some experience. We might be able to get a better read on things. And plan on going into next year with a 50/50 split. Give Montero the tutelage of Contreras. Willson will dictate how things go from there. Montero is still there as an insurance option, albeit expensive if Contreras blows by him. But if that's the case, well, I don't see how that would be a bad thing.

 

It's really the perfect opportunity for us. Willson gets on-the-job training. We still have a strong contingency plan if things go sour. And we get a year to evaluate our future at the position.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Duke Silver

[snoodmonger]

I fully expect him to get 20-30 big league starts in August/September this year, when we've got little to play for. Give him plenty of time to learn from Montero/Ross, while playing.

 

You expect him to start as many as half the games in the last two months?

[davell]

I fully expect him to get 20-30 big league starts in August/September this year, when we've got little to play for. Give him plenty of time to learn from Montero/Ross, while playing.

 

You expect him to start as many as half the games in the last two months?

 

Yeah, as long as we're not truly playing for division/home field. Doesn't even mean he plays the whole games either. But Montero/Ross don't need the reps, and they'd still be able to get enough time to stay sharp. And healthy. Its a luxury for us, but we'll likely be able to afford it, in my opinion.

[snoodmonger]

That seems like a lot of starts, especially when you have to keep Ross and Montero sharp.

[davell]

I don't necessarily think it'll take a ton for them to stay sharp. But half does admittedly seem like a lot. I'd probably err on the lower end of my 20-30 starts thing. Because that'd put it closer to 1/3 of the starts, than half. The fact he'll have a few months of working with those 2 will help tremendously, even if he does NOT play as much as I'm thinking.

 

On a side note, I truly hope we keep Ross in some capacity next year.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Dylan Cease: 4.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R (2 ER), 4 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 2 PO, 4/2 GO/AO, 71 pitches (37 strikes)

 

The following position-players have been sent from Extended Spring Training to the Cubs Dominican Academy and will be assigned to either DSL Cubs #1 or DSL Cubs #2: SS Aramis Ademan, C Miguel Amaya, SS Christopher Morel, INF Rafael Narea, 2B Yonathan Perlaza, OF Abraham Rodriguez, and OF Jonathan Sierra. Three or four pitchers who have been at EXST will also be assigned to the DSL, presumably including some combination of RHP (ex-INF) Francisco Garay, RHP (ex-OF) Wander Feliz, and LHP Eugenio Palma. It is possible that there will be some additional roster adjustments made prior to the start of the DSL season on Saturday, so all assignments are subject to change depending on the needs of the organization. I can't even absolutely, positively confirm that the players named above have actually physically left Arizona yet, but I would say there is a good chance that they have.

 

[Bear Cub]

Edwards is doing great and Felix Pena aint chopped liver either.

[CubsWin]

Edwards is doing great and Felix Pena aint chopped liver either.

And with guys like Cahill and Warren in the pen, if Hammel (or any other pitcher) goes on the DL, the shitty AAA starting depth won't matter. They can just bring up their best reliever.

 

Theo and Jed absolutely killed this off season. Have your starter depth be major leaguers (Cahill, Warren, Wood), amass quality relief depth in AAA (Edwards, Patton, Pena). Oh, and sign Heyward, Zobrist, Lackey and Fowler. If Warren gets some starts this year and does well, the Castro trade looks even better. Free up the money to get Zo and bring in Warren with 2 more years of control after this one.

 

Not bad...

[UMFan83]

Regarding Contreras, the Cubs have a 3 game series in an AL park in both August (Oakland) and September (Houston..still feels weird to say that), so those might be good opportunities to bring him up and get him some big league ABs, especially the series in September after rosters expand.