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toonsterwu

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Everything posted by toonsterwu

  1. toonsterwu
    Rusin had himself a fairly solid outing, but the I-Cubs were shutout: 5.2 ip, 3 h, 2 bb, 5 K's, 1 R, 8:3 GO/FO. After a bad first start, he's been fairly solid in AAA. BJax with a homer to start game 2.
  2. toonsterwu
    They are in win-now mode with the age of their pitching staff and offensive core. If their window is more than 3 years, it's not much more than that. Add in a thin upper level, but a primed lower level, their usual aggressive drafting philosophy , and it's a gamble worth taking. It's going to be hard to have a pitching staff as good as they have (with Worley stepping in fine for Oswalt). I'm also not nearly as big on Cosart and Singleton as others are. Singleton is also pretty much blocked in Philly, as he's pretty much a first baseman. They have Cosart level arms in, if not better, in May, Biddle, and Colvin. If it's Cosart/Singleton and two lesser pieces, I think it's a gamble worth taking. If it's Cosart and another top arm? Then it becomes a bit more debatable, as I'm not sold that Pence takes them up significantly.
  3. toonsterwu
    I'd like to see the Cubs approach him this off-season to see if they can work out an extension of some sort. Nothing more than 3 years, but if they can bring about some savings next year and keep him around for some clubhouse stability, that would be a plus.
  4. toonsterwu
    Could be, but a couple starts back, he was on like his 80th pitch in the early 4th. With good sinking action, he should be able to get through innings quicker than that. That said, this isn't meant as a major critique, because he is so young and this is a learning process.
  5. toonsterwu
    Wells needs to learn to pitch more efficiently. He's running into high pitch counts by the middle of the game. That said, he's young, and this is a learning process.
  6. toonsterwu
    Stole him? Fautino de los Santos was viewed as highly as Gio, if not higher. de los Santos was coming off a filthy, filthy 2007 and was looking like a future TOR arm. Ryan Sweeney was an upper level CF who was close to ready. Sure, in hindsight, only Gio has panned out, so maybe it feels like a "steal", but giving two high upside arms up, and an upper level CF? That's hardly a steal. Furthermore, de los Santos and Sweeney both were in the bigs for the A's. Edit: The author also takes a shot at the Dempster deal, and Dempster has been worth his contract in the first three years. Whether or not he's worth it in his final year, don't know, but when viewing the contract overall, I'm fine with that deal.
  7. toonsterwu
    Big Ben Wells is putting together a really nice outing. 4 shutout, 1 h, 5 K's, 1 HBP, 4:0 GO/FO.
  8. toonsterwu
    I wonder if it was something as simple as some bad luck, really bad outings, and some loss of confidence. I hate to go to this, particularly because of the level of play, but the BABIP was awful high, and the HR/9 rate was significantly higher than anything he had ever done (and didn't really match with the type of stuff he was supposed to have). I mean, after the 10 earned runs in his first three outings, he only gave up 3 earned runs in his last 9.2 innings in A ball. You can live with those ER numbers.
  9. toonsterwu
    Completely missed the fact that our Daytona boys were going up against a rehabbing Johan Santana. Iowa is postponed.
  10. toonsterwu
    Raisin's probably busy, so here are some probable starters Iowa: LHP Chris Rusin Tennessee: RHP Trey McNutt Daytona: LHP Jeffry Antigua Peoria: LHP Eric Jokisch Boise: RHP Ben Wells AZL Cubs are done, beating AZL D-backs 15-7. Brian Smith got the start. Of note, Marco Hernandez 3/4, 2 R, 1 3B, 4 RBI, and Gioskar Amaya went 3/5, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 E. Starting to wonder if Hernandez should slide into the back end of a Cubs top 20 prospect list. Wouldn't mind seeing one, or both, of them moved up to Boise at some point. DSLCubs 1 and 2 haven't played either.
  11. toonsterwu
    While I don't like Abreu, I tend to think he was the key to the deal and Carlton Smith was the throw-in. I would've preferred the Cubs mine their lower levels for an arm as well. We should have thrown him back. Have you seen the guys career minor league numbers? Blech. Give me the crab juice. Throw-ins to a deal tend not to be that good/critical. All that said, while I think he's more upper level filler (and there is certainly a role for that), he could perhaps be a guy that cycles in and out of middle relief, as a long man type. His velocity has been better since moving to the pen.
  12. toonsterwu
    Ah, sorry, that sounded like a crack. My bad. I think we all would like to see the Cubs emphasize metrics more, although in the process of doing that, they would likely have to revamp their entire scouting staff, as it's more of an "old-school" scouting group. But that's for the post-Hendry era, whenever that comes around.
  13. toonsterwu
    While I don't like Abreu, I tend to think he was the key to the deal and Carlton Smith was the throw-in. I would've preferred the Cubs mine their lower levels for an arm as well.
  14. toonsterwu
    Cubswin - That last crack about the Cubs crack scouting staff ... well, they actually, under Hendry, have done a decent job of mining minor leaguers in trades. They got Ceda/Archer/Rosscup/Mateo and others. There's been some misses, as with all teams (Fabian Jimenez-Angulo and Joel Santo deal comes to mind), but they do a fairly good job of scouting other orgs minor leagues. All that said, as noted, I'm not enthused about either guy, particularly since I've seen Abreu a lot. That being said, what did the Cubs give up? Again, Kosuke from May 1st and on had a rough line of .245/.330-.340/.361. That's not that good of an OF. His defense isn't plus, and it's questionable if it's above average. Who's really going to give up anyone of intrigue, even a far-away 18 year old, for a guy like that? It's more likely that he performs the way he has the last three months, than the way he performed in April. How much better is Kosuke than the guy they cut to create room for him, Travis Buck? Again, I'm not sure we were working with that much value here. I don't like Abreu, but he's a decent lottery ticket who was working on swing adjustments.
  15. toonsterwu
    From May 1st and on, Kosuke's OBP has been, what, .330-.340. He's a guy who has been slumping, isn't getting on base at a significantly high clip, isn't driving the ball that much, is in the last year of his deal, and is an average to above average RF. I mean, I'm just not sure what he offers that would've warranted something more intriguing than this.
  16. toonsterwu
    I'm not enthused about either guy (particularly Abreu), but it was for Fukudome, in the last year of the deal, in a year where he had tailed off dramatically after his April start. It's a decent return. You get a lottery ticket in 22 year old Abreu, a toolsy, big armed, solid defensive player OF. I'm not too enthused, as I don't like his approach (particularly having seen him play so much), but it's a decent lottery ticket. In Smith, you get a dime-a-dozen upper level arm that could perhaps cycle in and out of major league middle relief duty at some point. For Fukudome ... even accounting for the money we ate, that's a decent return.
  17. toonsterwu
    Not too enthused with either prospect in return. Seen enough of Abner Abreu at Kinston to doubt his ability to translate his potential into production, but who knows. Smith is a dime a dozen upper level guy who might fit into middle relief if things go well, otherwise will be an upper level arm. All that said, considering how badly Kosuke had spiraled after April, it's a decent return. One potential useful arm in the next year or two, and a possible lottery ticket.
  18. toonsterwu
    My hunch is, provided he's healthy, that he'll be in the mix. The only issue would be if they felt he was too worn out from the season, but he'll have missed two big stretches of time this year (the previous injury, which was sandwiched around graduation). Furthermore, the Cubs are probably planning on having him in AA sooner than later in 2012, so getting him some competition against tougher pitching would be nice.
  19. toonsterwu
    Whatever Hayden's situation was, AzPhil's reporting makes it seem like it may be more of a mental issue now. I just don't understand why the Cubs simply didn't shut Hayden down at some point, let him take some time off, and regroup for AFL. Not every kid can work through their issues without a break, and he was coming in, off medical concerns, as a surprising pick who had first round pressure. If they thought the issues were more mental than physical at some point, I just don't see why they didn't shut him down for a period.
  20. toonsterwu
    I don't think anyone is suggesting that there hasn't been some minor disappointments in the system, but it needs to be noted that that list isn't really a reflection on the system right now. That said, some of the top 10 disappointments could be anticipated, so in that respect, I guess I'm less troubled reading that than maybe some other folks. I mean, Hayden's recovery was a known issue (although if there are arm problems, that's a different concern). Cabrera improved his control in AA before the odd call-up, and folks had been thinking that he was destined for a pen move eventually. Jay Jackson isn't that different from the arm he was last year, but the ERA looks ugly (components look somewhat similar to last year). Lopez was, IMO, over-hyped, and his struggles shouldn't be a surprise. The one big disappointment has been Carpenter and his control.
  21. toonsterwu
    If by productive, you mean some sort of key late inning role, then probably no. His stuff just isn't that good. He's an organizational arm at this point in his career, filling in where needed. I have high doubts he'd even see the bigs.
  22. toonsterwu
    Excellent deal for the Mets if it happens. As for the D-backs, I doubt they'll pull of an impact name deal, but could see them swing some small arm/depth deals.
  23. toonsterwu
    Has there been any news on Justin Marra of late? With Rosario/Lopez signed, I imagine Marra is probably more of a backburner type, but he piqued my curiosity.
  24. toonsterwu
    . Excellent news. I'm especially enthused about Jensen. Good numbers and 2.0 in the high-level California JUCO ranks is excellent, and that's as a highly-regarded guy entering the season (he was a pre-season JUCO all-American.) USC doesn't need to offer scholarships to guys who don't have reasonably good arms. I don't know anything, but I actually had both Jensen and Zimmer well ahead of Jacquez on my hope-we-sign wish list. I am pretty excited about Jensen as well. He's just growing into his stuff (been awhile since I looked at it, but I'm pretty sure he was the kid that only started hitting mid-90's this past season).
  25. toonsterwu
    I agree with Tim. This is probably a tad wishful thinking. I hope you are right, but I don't see it. Top 5 systems tend to have several elite prospects, and at least one or two elite guys in the upper levels. Who are the elite prospects that are going to rise by the end of 2012? Szczur? Perhaps, but the power has to develop for him to be elite. For us to be top 5, I think all the young arms basically have to excel and develop, guys like Szczur, Golden, Baez have to really take big steps forward, McNutt/Whitenack and maybe one more arm probably needs a strong season (and Whitenack probably won't be back until late in the year), and all the 2nd tier guys have to do well. Just tend to think that's a tad on the hopeful side. Just not sure there's enough pieces top be top 5. Top 10? I could see if things go well. Top 15 (as most have us in that 16-25 range right now, in all likelihood)? Perhaps.
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