Wrigley Rat

Michael Brenly hit in jaw with pitch: http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1331801630/A-long-and-crazy-night - Chris Robinson is batting .417 in his last 10 games. - John Gaub has not given up an earned run in his last 10 games. - Kyler Burke had 4 singles today and is batting .375 over his last 10 games (he had gone 0-for-12 before today's hits). - Sergio Burruel with 2 hits today and he picked a guy off 1B. (He also had a passed ball.) - Wilson Contreras with 3 errors today at 3B (he's supposed to be a catcher).

I wrote a couple days ago that I thought the Cubs would DL him to save his option, but the player has to agree to go on the DL. Either he didn't agree to it, or more likely, the Cubs decided he could use the at bats in AAA to get him ready for the stretch run. He has been really flat recently, and I think the Cubs want him on their post-season roster.

Awesome notes - thanks!

I refer to it regularly - it's a great resource. Thanks for creating it TT!

Casey Lambert to AAA. Why Lambert over Coleman? I suppose it depends on whether they want a starter or reielver, lefty or righty. Correct. Lefty reliever (Waddell) was released at AAA so a lefty reliever moves up from AA (Lambert) to replace him and a lefty reliever from A+ (Sasser) moves up to replace Lambert. I get that idea - and agree with it, however I am surprised that Alex Maestri wasn't promoted to see what he could do over a longer stretch in AAA. Lambert doesn't need to be protected this offseason, but Maestri does. I wonder if they've already made the decision one way or another on whether to protect him this offseason?

LHP Jason Waddell LHP B.J. Ryan

Jason Waddell has been released from Iowa.

Just a prediction - I think the Cubs will DL Micah Hoffpauir on Friday with another phantom injury when they call up Geovany Soto. He hasn't played in three games (for the first time this season), so they will be able to backdate his time on the DL four days. They won't send him down because he would lose an option in order to spend 3 weeks in Iowa (rosters expand on September 1st) - not worth it. If they need him earlier than September 1st, he will be eligible to come off the DL on August 17th. Otherwise, we would see him on September 1st. I don't think the Cubs would want to send Fuld down since we wouldn't have a backup CF. (Not having a backup SS yesterday hurt when Theriot got hit on the arm. Fontenot isn't much of a SS.) Just FWIW.

Can a major league team be accused of "abusing" the DL list? I don't know for sure, but I think that the team would only get in trouble if the player wasn't really hurt and didn't want to be placed on the DL (and made a stink about it). But I'm not sure. I know MLB doesn't want teams abusing it, but who polices it?

That seems to be "the move" around the league these days. Hell, the Cubs have already done it this year with David Patton. Anyone remember him? And conveniently, he strained his groin on a rehab outing in AA. Who knows if this is real or not!

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/daytoncourts/entries/2009/07/28/dayton_julio_castillo_the.html That sucks. I wonder if the Cubs were obligated to pay his bills since it happened while Castillo was "at work." If not, the Cubs are certainly doing that man a huge favor. Legally speaking, it's a close call. And not very interesting. But it depends on whether what he did was considered "within the scope of his employment," basically. It's a broader definition than you might think, which is probably why they were paying for his defense. Interesting insight - thanks!

Welcome to the board!

Vitters, Wells, Fox, Marshall, and Gaub? That might work, but I would think they might prefer to swap out Marshall for someone who isn't so close to being arbitration eligible.

Holy crap. That's a bit too aggressive for my liking. +1

I get the playful razzing above, but... Without getting to see these players, all we have to go on is what we read. A lot of us don't have access to the pay sites, so I rely on the people here for my information. I haven't heard anything about Maestri pitching 96 mph on his FB or that his slider was causing people to swing and miss so badly that they fall over in the batter's box. Knowing that information, I feel a lot better about using a 40-man roster spot on him. :grin:

My guess at BA's Top 10: 1. Josh Vitters 2. Andrew Cashner 3. Hak-Ju Lee 4. Starlin Castro 5. Brett Jackson 6. Jay Jackson 7. D.J. LeMahieu 8. Chris Carpenter 9. Welington Castillo 10. Kyler Burke Mine is the same, but with these changes: 7. John Gaub 8. Blake Parker 9. D.J. LeMahieu 10. Jeff Stevens These guys are part of my next 20, but I know I'm missing some guys: Carpenter, Castillo, Antigua, Huseby, Burke, Flaherty, Archer, Coleman, Hernandez, Clevenger, Lake, Colvin, Beliveau, deLeon, Rhee, Rusin, Kirk, Raley, Jung.

They don't have Washburn anymore to re-sign. They traded him to the Tigers last week.IIRC, there was a comment in the newspapers that said they intended to re-sign him after he becomes a free agent. I hadn't seen that; it's certainly possible. I wonder if making a public comment like that right after trading him would be tampering, though. It could make one wonder if they had a gentlemen's agreement with him before trading him. http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2009/07/tigers_trade_luke_french_for_s.html There were lots of articles like that one - I'm not sure anything was said by Seattle management directly.

I think Seattle would be smart to trade him if they could get two top notch starting pitchers and another two potential major leaguers who are under team control for 3+ years each. Felix Hernandez has more value to the Cubs than Jake Peavy would have had since he is still cheap and can probably be signed long-term like Peavy, but at a lower rate (since it will be more incremental through his "arbitration years"). I think Seattle would ask the Cubs for something like this: (1) Josh Vitters (2) Andrew Cashner (3) Jay Jackson (4) Hak-Ju Lee or Starlin Castro (5) A minor league relief pitcher I would hope the Cubs would consider this: (1) Josh Vitters or Andrew Cashner (but not both) (2) Jay Jackson (3) Starlin Castro (4) two of our highly regarded relief pitchers (e.g. Gaub, Parker, Maestri, Stevens)

They don't have Washburn anymore to re-sign. They traded him to the Tigers last week.IIRC, there was a comment in the newspapers that said they intended to re-sign him after he becomes a free agent.

I would have done the deal because I feel that when you can trade spare parts for proven, needed starters (at $5 million per year for 3 more years), you do those trades. - Hak-Ju Lee has the most potential, but he is unproven. - Jake Fox does not have a position where he excels defensively, so he will not be a starter on this team. Full-time DH & backup CIF/COF is a perfect gig for him. - Mike Fontenot is a nice 2B, but Brian Roberts makes him unnecessary. - Jeff Samardzija might turn out to be a good pitcher, but he is not one today and he is being paid like he is proven. - Alex Maestri is a minor league relief pitcher who had some arm issues last year. We are deep in this area. - Brian Roberts gives us a solid defensive 2B, one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball, a history of success, gets along well with his teammates, and a left-handed bat. - The minor leaguer coming back is probably someone in the mold of a John Gaub-type pitcher (someone under the radar that the Cubs have scouted and see potential in). - Roberts makes this Cubs team significantly better this year and for the next three years. IMHO, I make that trade.

Possible, but I think they would have already rostered him since they've been without a backup catcher for a month if they planned on doing that in September anyway. I think the McGehee situation was a mistake that Hendry regrets (not a huge deal, but we have needed a RH 3B all year). I imagine that the Cubs are going to let this year play out, not roster Robinson, hope he gets ignored in the Rule V Draft (which is very probable), and then use him as a fall-back option if they don't sign a veteran backup catcher for cheap or if that catcher goes down with an injury during the season. Our system will be losing Mark Johnson (AAA - DL), Robinson Chirinos (minor league free agent unless he gets protected/invited to spring training), and Mark Reed is running out of time (he's hitting below .200 at AA). It'll be tough to re-stock it with catchers better than Robinson, Clevenger, and Castillo. 2010: Iowa: Clevenger & Robinson (or Free Agent) Tennessee: Castillo & Reed (or Free Agent) Daytona: Flores & Brenly Peoria: Matt Williams & Richard Jones (& Mario Mercedes if not released) Boise: Matt Cerda, Sergio Burruel, & either Jose Guevara or Alvaro Sosa

I'm not really sure Chris can net that much in return. That said, hey, a low A kid with some upside might be better, with Castillo/Clevenger likely slated for AAA duty if both guys are around. I just hate losing Robinson for nothing. He'd be a great Rule 5 pick since he's probably already ready to be a backup C in the big leagues but you already have Clevenger whose bat I trust more. I'm definitely not as high on Papelbon as you guys are. I dont know much about Robinsons defense, but if its good, Id say give him a shot at the backup role next year. His numbers would probably be around your average backup catcher with an avg. in the low .200s and maybe a home run or 2 mixed in. But it's not really a good idea to have 4 catchers on the 40 man roster (Soto, Clevenger, Castillo and Robinson; Clevenger and Castillo should be saved over Robinson and by next season, you'd assume Clevenger could provide exactly what Robinson). I actually think 4 catchers on the roster is ideal if two are on on the 25-man roster, one is waiting in AAA for an injury, and one is a prospect who is not ready yet. For me, that is Soto and a backup (either Hill or Robinson or a free agent), Clevenger (ready for an injury), and Castillo (not ready yet). I would not protect five - I would try to trade one of the minor league catchers at that point.

Really? He's been that high this year? Last I checked, I thought he was in his usual low 90's area. I still prefer keeping Parker over Maestri. I've seen two independent reports that he's now routinely hitting 94-95 mph in his relief outings when in years past, he'd top out at 95 and work consistently 88-92. I didn't know that - haven't read that anywhere. That's very good news and makes me think a lot harder about protecting him then. I'm very surprised he wasn't given a longer look at AAA. The thing is, there are spots available for all of these guys, but adding 6-10 players to the 40-man is traditionally considered excessive. Most would not be chosen in the Rule V Draft and it starts their option clocks ticking. Watching the Cubs carry a Rule V pick this year makes me think that more teams should be doing the same. It was very easy to stash him in the back of the bullpen, have him pitch mop-up innings, and then DL him until September 1st or longer. Next year, he will get some time in AA or AAA and can be treated as any other minor leaguer (who happens to be on the 40-man roster). Every team should do that every year unless there are no players deserving of a roster spot. I say look for the kid with the best stuff who is still down in low A ball and draft him. You might screw him up, but he might turn out to be a gem. Low risk ($50,000) - high reward (Johan Santana).

A nice fluff piece on Hak-Ju Lee and Jose Valdez. It tells what kind of players they are. Valdez is compared to Juan Pierre - uh oh. Here are a few bits: http://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/story/853970.html

Whenever Ascanio threw with his left arm, the ball wouldn't make it all the way to the plate. ;)