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davell

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Everything posted by davell

  1. davell
    I'm actually kind of wondering if the Cubs are wanting him to hit for contact right now and not power, especially in the FSL. I know that they give prospects certain things to work on and all, so maybe he's sacrificing it on purpose and trying to cut down on the K's......If that's the case, my guess is the power shows back up once he's in Tennessee. Of course, it could all just be a coincidence and he hits 5 homers this next week too. :D
  2. davell
    Well they are a borderline Wild Card team. Once you are in and have a good starting staff, anything can happen. I'm not willing to throw everything up against the wall for THIS year at the possible expense of ruining(or at least setting back) a kid who can potentially be a centerpiece for the Cubs for the next 12-15 years. Live to fight another day. The risk is greater than the reward here right now. Especially with Theriot hitting very well currently. Come back to this question at the All Star break, let's see where we are, how Castro looks, and whether or not Theriot is still hitting competently at that point. If things have changed with Theriot, Castro looks like he can handle it, and the Cubs are still in the Wild Card hunt at that point, go for it. But not right now.
  3. davell
    Not much of note on the hitting sides of things. Castro is 1-4, B Jax went 1-4 with a walk, Vitters went 1-3 with an RBI, and Rebel Ridling hit two homers for Daytona. Lee didn't play today in Peoria. Solid day on the mound though for sure.
  4. davell
    Ricketts has said that we will continue to be a top 5 in all of baseball type payroll. He DOES want to emphasize the minors more(as he should, since we aren't the Yankees) but that certainly doesn't mean that we're changing into a middle of the pack payroll team either. He's brought up the Red Sox a few times and if they want to model their team building after them, I'm all for it.
  5. davell
    I would love to get Dirk, but I think there's zero chance he leaves Dallas personally. I don't expect Lebron or Wade to leave either, but I think there's a better chance of them moving than Dirk anyway. With so many teams having cap space and not all that many top flight guys being available, it's really going to be either super-exciting this offseason or VERY scary for the Bulls. Do the Bulls wind up overspending for Lee, Johnson, or Boozer in terms of a max deal, if they can't get one of the big 4? Or can they maybe get one of these guys AND a nice complementary piece as well to go with them?
  6. davell
    Pretty ho-hum day obviously. I am pretty happy to see Raley bounce back like he did though. He's been excellent 3 out of 4 starts, with the one awful game thrown in there. He seems to be pretty polished and it won't surprise me if he actually beats out B Jax and Vitters in getting called up to Tennessee this year. I don't see him as having nearly there upside, but I could see him getting moved quicker anyway.
  7. davell
    I figured it was only a matter of time with Castillo. His big arm doesn't outweigh all the baggage evidently. Definitely surprised with White getting released, thought he would be decent 1B filler for us for a few years anyway. Especially since he just came over in a trade. Oh well. Rosa getting cut is VERY surprising to me. I knew he was having issues learning the C position, but with his bat(previously anyway) I didn't think they would give up on him, by any stretch. Can't remember though, did I read something about him having an attitude issue as well though? Maybe something from AZPhil possibly?
  8. davell
    Great questions from Toonster to AZPhil yesterday. Huseby is a total wreck right now. Xavier Batista seems like a guy who should be on our radar at this point. He evidently has plus power and a RF arm, just isn't making tons of contact yet. But he's only 18, so he's got time anyway. The taller Wang, who I'm intrigued with, seems to only have one pitch at the moment, but he's also just 18, so he's got time on his side as well......
  9. davell
    Everything I've read on Castro has said he works the counts, doesn't chase bad pitches, but puts the ball in play once he sees something he likes. Never heard anything about him being a Patterson-esque type swinger.
  10. davell
    Faneca gave up 7 sacks and 3 hurries last year, which was the most of any left guard in the NFL. I'm glad we missed out on him.
  11. davell
    McNutt walked 4 in 5 innings tonight. He also gave up 5 hits, but only 1 run and he struck out 5 as well. I know it's still extremely early, but I'm starting to worry some about Burke's slow start honestly.
  12. davell
    I kind of liked what they said yesterday on the telecast about Wells. Being a catcher previously, he wants to pitch quickly and pitch to contact. Which is what catchers like to see, since it's easier on them.
  13. davell
    I'm starting to believe in Randy Wells anyway.......I had been of the thinking that he was going to fall on his face this year. Doesn't appear that's happening at least. Not sure what to think of Colvin yet. Way too early to tell. I'm extremely glad he's started off strongly though. If not, my guess is he would be parked in Iowa already and we'd be watching Sam Fuld instead. I think his upside for us is as a 4th OFer, albeit one that hits for some pop and plays all 3 spots. That said, if he DOES become a legit 4th OFer for us, I'll be pleased, since I had pretty much written him off as a prospect that would have any actual impact on our major league team.
  14. davell
    I think I'd give us a C+ OR B- myself. We drafted for need with Wright obviously and got a guy in Wootton who dropped further than what he should have. So those are the pluses. Moore was a need pick as well, but there were higher guys on the board. Lefevour was a stupid pick, if you ask me anyway. Neither Angelo or Lovie is likely to be around to see any of the possible fruit that it could eventually bare.(my guess is it won't bare anything though). I love the Webb pick, but there's only so excited you can get over a 7th rounder until you see him in training camp.
  15. davell
    Liked the Wright and Wooton picks. Thought the Moore pick was a need, so it's OK I guess, just haven't heard or seen enough about him yet. Hated the Lefevour pick with a passion. Especially when Angelo had said earlier in the week, that he wanted to draft 5 guys that could contribute this year. On the other hand, the Webb pick intrigues the hell out of me. He was a 4 star recruit coming out of high school and played every game for Texas at OLT as a true freshman. He got into some academic trouble there, went to JC with the intent on going back to Texas, but didn't get his grades up enough to get back in. He's an absolute freak athletically. His cousin is Richmond Webb, who said he was going to be a beast in the NFL. He never allowed a sack in college and played for a team that AVERAGED 700 yards or so per game. I'm really interested to see what this guy can do. He may be a project, but this guys upside is humongous evidently.
  16. davell
    Yeah, I was just reading MLBTraderumors and there was a blurb on Justin Smoak, who got called up today and one on Carlos Santana as well. They said if Smoak stayed up, he'd qualify and were wondering if the Indians would delay Santana's callup until June to miss out on it...... I can see why it's getting later and later too, because teams are being thrifty and trying to stave off paying these guys as long as possible, keeping down as many guys as they can for as long as they can. I'd figure it's mostly your small market teams contributing to this, but seeing how the Cubs aren't exactly looking like contenders, I definitely see the logic of keeping Castro down as long as possible from that standpoint anyway.
  17. davell
    It's already passed, it was either earlier this week or last week. Was that the super 2? I know that you get the extra season of team control as of a few days ago. But, I think the super 2 deadline is still yet to come......
  18. davell
    As far as Castro goes though, it's awesome to see. I think that the super 2 deadline is mid-May or so. Whenever it is, I think we need to give him the SS job the day it passes. I was not sold on bringing him up, but damn......The major league team sucks and he sure as hell is doing everything in his power to make it up there as quickly as possible...... Great to see Vitters and B Jax doing well in Daytona too. I doubt either of them spend half a season there before getting promoted to Tennessee. Nice to see Jung start off in Peoria solidly too. I'd really love to hear a report on his stuff from Nate, or anyone else who has seen him pitch this year. I know a bunch of us have said it, but damn, it sure is nice to have these guys to follow, considering how bad the major league team appears to be. :D
  19. davell
    My honest guess is Clevenger could wind up as a backup catcher/utility guy. I was pretty excited about Thomas when we drafted him, but we've got so many middle infielders at this point, my thinking is his only shot is we send him out as a throw in, in a trade. Even then, his glove could keep him from ever getting to the majors. Campana seems like a guy that every organization has at least one of. But, if a team values the "grit factor", then he'll get a shot at some point. I'd say his ceiling is a 5th OFer though. Guyer is the one guy you've mentioned that has some potential though. If he can hit for some power and keep his K's down, he could turn into something fairly decent. I had at some point over the offseason that the Cubs were going to try and get him some work at 2B and 3B, to try to turn him into a utility guy. If he can do that, he'd be competing with Flaherty and probably LeMahieu for that potential spot on our major league team, by 2012 or so. With the way his season is going right now, it's got me hopeful anyway for him......
  20. davell
    The only remotely positive thing I can take from this is the following: I can totally see Z coming into a game with one out and the bases loaded after Grabow has done his typical relief work and Z losing it and beating the hell out of Grabow for leaving him inherited runners.
  21. davell
    Holy Garland for Karchner Batman! Many people still vIew Cashner as a RP prospect. It is vey unlikely for him to make it as a starter. He gets gassed and his poor command will hurt him. If you work under the assumption that Cashner at the end of the day is a RP then what are the chances that he ever passes Soria's level? Nilch. What are the chances he reaches it, pretty small. Soria would be his upside. So we would essentially be guaranteeing his upside and we would have it for three years. Soria won't e a free agent until after 2012, I don't think. It is a very good move for us if you don't like Cashners likelihood of becoming a decent SP. Cashner is averaging nearly 6 IP a start so far this year and has a 25/4 K/BB in 17.1 IP. I'd rather not work under the assumption that he is an RP. I'm pretty sure this guy hates our farm system. Isn't this the same guy comparing Castro with Alex Cora and Caesar Izturis?
  22. davell
    I am beyond awed at our stupidity. This has taken us to a totally new level. I'd say we're in Al Davis stupidity land with this one.
  23. davell
    The Cubs will NEVER be in full rebuild mode. They're a major market team and always have the ability to go out and retool to some degree. On the other hand, re-signing guys like Lee and Lilly is NOT necessarily a given, by any stretch of the imagination. We could sell them and Aramis off too, for that matter between now and the end of the year......Is that rebuilding? Not really, if you go out and respend the same money on other players over the offseason. The Cubs are hamstrung financially to some degree, because of bad contracts(although I'm not sure we have anyone untradable other than Soriano), but by having some home grown talent you can throw into the mix and having some of the larger payroll committments dropping off too, there are ways to make this team a perennial contender, even over the next few seasons.
  24. davell
    Silva's contract status is kind of interesting actually. I thought we received more money from the M's THIS year than for next year, but according to Cot's anyway, we are receiving 3.5 this season and 5.5 next season. He's making 11.5 each year and has a 2 mill buyout for 2012. At any rate, if he's pitching remotely decent at the trade deadline, it MAY be possible to deal him based on these figures. A desperate team for pitching could have him for probably around 4 mill for the final 2 months of THIS season and 6 mill for next year, with the buyout to come in 2012. Of course, he's going to have to pitch well for this to even be an option. But, he's looked solid so far at least.......
  25. davell
    Muskat tweeted evidently the Cubs aren't likely to sign Looper.
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