Wrigley Rat

Mesa: - RHP Jonathan Nagel assigned to AZL Cubs.

- Marcus Hatley pitched at Mesa today - nice outing (he's only had 2 other outings at Boise since 2009 TJS): 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K. - 41st round pick and 2009 TJS recoverererer Dallas Beeler made his Cubs debut with Mesa today: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K.

what was it about his 11.45 ERA at peoria that made him ready to jump past two levels to iowa? And Yohan Gonzalez gets sent down first even though Gonzalez struck out the only batter he faced while Corey Martin gave up 2 runs in 1.2 IP!!! I don't get it. Iowa: - Chicago Cubs optioned Jeff Stevens to Iowa Cubs. Peoria: - RHP Yohan Gonzalez assigned to Peoria Chiefs from Iowa Cubs.

Chicago: - Chicago Cubs recalled Jeff Stevens from Iowa Cubs. Iowa: - Iowa Cubs activated OF Jason Dubois from the 7-Day disabled list. - Iowa Cubs placed OF James Adduci on the 7-Day disabled list. - RHP Yohan Gonzalez assigned to Iowa Cubs from Peoria Chiefs. - RHP Carlos Zambrano assigned to Iowa Cubs from AZL Cubs. - RHP Corey Martin assigned to Iowa Cubs from Peoria Chiefs. - Chicago Cubs optioned Mitch Atkins to Iowa Cubs. Tennessee: - Marco Carrillo assigned to Tennessee Smokies from Iowa Cubs. Mesa: - Ryan Hartman assigned to AZL Cubs from Chicago Cubs.

Tennessee: - Marco Carrillo assigned to Tennessee Smokies from Iowa Cubs. Mesa: - RHP Jeff Gray assigned to AZL Cubs.

Iowa: - RHP Brian Schlitter assigned to Iowa Cubs.

Boise: - Cameron Greathouse assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs.

Daytona: - Casey Lambert assigned to Daytona Cubs from AZL Cubs.

A bit of a fluff piece on Chris Rusin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100713&content_id=12232664&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Mesa: - Colin Richardson assigned to AZL Cubs from Chicago Cubs. - Dustin Geiger assigned to AZL Cubs from Chicago Cubs. - Released LHP Drew Rundle http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=9485

If Soto can be our starter at the position for the next several years, I think that Wellington Castillo or Robinson Chirinos would be perfectly fine as backups. Looking at Josh Thole's stats, he seems like he lacks the power to play 1B, but has played there a lot in the past. I think he looks like a great catcher prospect if his defense is solid. He would immediately jump to the top of our catching prospect lists as he has had some success at most levels, playing against older players at each stop. He profiles as a MLB regular better than Castillo, Chirinos, or Clevenger at this point in their development. Thole just can't compare with regard to power. He is just a very different type of player. He is a singles and doubles hitter who has great plate discipline. He seems to profile similarly to Jason Kendall. I also don't see him as a future piece of the puzzle in Chicago, but could be flipped for something else, as he would seem to have good value. If he's solid behind the plate, I could see a lot of teams wanting him to be a #2 hitter in their lineup. He could also sit in the minors another year, develop more power, serve as the #2 catcher for a year or two, and ultimately take over when Soto is too pricey (2nd or 3rd arbitration year). Of course, like you said, Soto could just move to 1B! Just my thoughts.

Iowa: - Iowa Cubs placed LHP John Gaub on the temporarily inactive list. Peoria: - RHP Corey Martin assigned to Peoria Chiefs from Boise Hawks. - Peoria Chiefs activated CF Francisco Guzman from the 7-Day disabled list. Mesa: - Dustin Fitzgerald assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs. - Boise Hawks placed IF Brandon May on the 7-Day disabled list. - Boise Hawks placed RHP Tarlandas Mitchell on the 7-Day disabled list.

Chicago: - Chicago Cubs recalled RHP Mitch Atkins from Iowa Cubs. - Placed Brian Schlitter on the 15-day DL. Iowa: - David Cales assigned to Iowa Cubs from Tennessee Smokies. - Austin Bibens-Dirkx assigned to Iowa Cubs from Tennessee Smokies. Boise: - Elliot Soto assigned to Boise Hawks from Peoria Chiefs. - Eduardo Figueroa assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs. - Matthew Loosen assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs. - Matthew Szczur assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs. - Brent Ebinger assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs. - Boise Hawks placed RHP Tarlandas Mitchell on the 7-Day disabled list. - Boise Hawks placed IF Brandon May on the 7-Day disabled list. - Boise Hawks released OF Runey Davis. Mesa: - Joseph Zeller assigned to AZL Cubs from Boise Hawks. - Yao-Lin Wang assigned to AZL Cubs from Boise Hawks.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=2582

Are you talking about Marmol or Soto? I tried to come up with something to say for that line, but couldn't - nicely done. :good:

I just noticed that Brad Snyder has exactly the same number of AB's as he had all of last year at Iowa (due to injury). I thought I would see how he compared. He's shown some improvement: '09: 255 AB, 278/333/553/886, 17 2B, 4 3B, 15 HR, 40 R, 47 RBI, 21 BB, 75 SO, 10 SB, 4 CS '10: 255 AB, 298/374/541/915, 19 2B, 5 3B, 11 HR, 51 R, 47 RBI, 30 BB, 64 SO, 14 SB, 1 CS It seems that he has improved in base stealing, plate discipline, and quality at bats, but lost a little power in the process. But who knows how to interpret the data? Home runs seem down in the PCL this year - is it just me?

Nice (short) outing for Samardzija today: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

Chicago: - Chicago Cubs recalled RHP Justin Berg from Iowa Cubs. Iowa: - RHP Hung-Wen Chen assigned to Iowa Cubs from Tennessee Smokies. - Chicago Cubs optioned Jeff Stevens to Iowa Cubs.

Here are a few thoughts on Colvin: (1) He's shown power, intelligence & speed on the basepaths, and decent average. (2) He's played CF and RF without being a defensive liability. (3) He's in his first year in the major leagues after skipping AAA. (4) He was a first round draft pick. (5) He was hurt (wrist I think) last year which explains some lower numbers in the minors. (6) He's a left-handed, power bat which our team has needed. (7) He makes the major league minimum salary and has six years before free agency. (8) He seems to be liked in the clubhouse and by the fans (can't say that for all the Cubs). (9) The entire team has recently sucked, so his recent struggles are in line with what most of his teammates are doing as well. (10) Low walk rates in the minors don't always translate to the majors - his teams often counted on him to drive in runs, not get on base. I think those reasons are good enough to say, "I'd like to see what he can do. Maybe he can be a starter in this league." I like Brett Jackson too, and the Cubs will find a way to fit him into the lineup when he's ready to play in the big leagues. Marlon Byrd is very tradeable.

So you feel we should build around Colvin, but Soto isn't quite up to par eh? Unless Colvin maintains one of the league's highest hr/fb ratios and an extrodinarily high babip we need to expect some major regression. They can build around Soto too. I'd prefer that we hold on to all of the "young and cheap" players that we can.

My opinion of the Cubs 40-man roster breakdown of tradeability: Pitchers - Mitch Atkins (Not much value due to performance) - Justin Berg (Not much value due to performance) - Esmailin Caridad (Injured) - Andrew Cashner (Build around him) - Ryan Dempster TRADEABLE (But he is valuable to our team) - Rafael Dolis TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - John Gaub TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - Tom Gorzelanny TRADEABLE (But he is valuable & relatively cheap) - John Grabow (Injured) - Jeff Gray (Not much value due to performance) - Angel Guzman (Injured) - Bob Howry (No trade value, but can be waived) - Ted Lilly TRADEABLE (for 2-3 mid-level prospects) - Carlos Marmol TRADEABLE (for a high-level prospect or two) - Sean Marshall TRADEABLE (for 2-3 mid-level prospects - people will argue this) - Marcos Mateo (Not much value) - Blake Parker TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - James Russell TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - Jeff Samardzija (Not much value due to contract & performance) - Brian Schlitter TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - Carlos Silva (Makes too much money to trade without eating a lot of money - might be a sell-high opportunity though) - Jeff Stevens TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - Randy Wells TRADEABLE (But he is valuable) - Carlos Zambrano (No trade value - we would have to eat nearly the whole contract - don't sell low) Catchers - Welington Castillo TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap - decide who we are keeping of him, Chirinos, Clevenger, Robinson & trade 1-2 others) - Koyie Hill (No trade value) - Geovany Soto TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) Infielders - Jeff Baker (No trade value) - Starlin Castro (Build around him) - Mike Fontenot TRADEABLE (for a mid-level prospect or two) (2 arbitration years left) - Micah Hoffpauir (No trade value) - Derrek Lee (No trade clause - he could waived it though - not much trade value) - Aramis Ramirez (Full no trade clause until next year - no trade value) - Ryan Theriot TRADEABLE (for a mid-level prospect or two) Outfielders - James Adduci TRADEABLE (But he is young and cheap) - Marlon Byrd TRADEABLE (But he is valuable) - Tyler Colvin (Build around him) - Kosuke Fukudome (Makes too much money to trade without eating a lot of money - tradeable next year this time) - Sam Fuld (Not much value - could be DFA this off-season) - Xavier Nady (Not much value - FA) - Alfonso Soriano (Makes too much money to trade without eating a lot of money - should be tradeable in 2-3 years)

Iowa: - RHP Marco Carrillo assigned to Iowa Cubs from Daytona Cubs. Tennessee: - Tennessee Smokies activated RHP Marcos Mateo from the 7-Day disabled list. - Tennessee Smokies placed RHP David Cales on the 7-Day disabled list. Daytona: - 2B Matt Matulia assigned to Daytona Cubs. Boise: - Boise Hawks placed RHP Marcus Hatley on the 7-Day disabled list. - C Micah Gibbs assigned to Boise Hawks from AZL Cubs. Mesa: - RHP Marcus Hatley assigned to AZL Cubs.

Yeah - the source isn't all that credible, but it's fun to think about. I would prefer to get Heisey, Brad Boxberger AND Donnie Joseph, but I'm probably living in a dream. Does anyone think it would be possible if we added another piece on our end?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/415138-mlb-trade-rumors-carlos-marmol-to-cincinnati-reds-for-chris-heisey

http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/070110aaa.htmlThis inspired me to register as a bone marrow/stem cell donor. I encourage everyone else who is able to do the same: Information: http://www.marrow.org/ To register: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html There is no cost involved at any point in the process. They will ask for a donation on the website though, but it is optional.