Wrigley Rat

I don't know - my sources were saying he was 64.3% better.

Any chance you could summarize what he said for us? Thanks in advance!

who is marcos mateo? any sort of prospect? i see he had pretty solid numbers last year as part of the reds organization, but he's 24 already. sounds like he should probably be in daytona or west tennessee right now. oh, and dae-eun rhee. if he keeps this up, he will not have a long stay in peoria. Well, he's old and he's repeating. All I know is the Cubs got him for Buck Coats and he's Juan Mateo's cousin. thanks. if he's ever going to become anything, it's probably time to start moving him along. I have a feeling the Cubs are stretching Mateo out in order to see what he has as a starter. Three innings pitched his last time out. He has a hard-driving sinker, a 4-seamer that has been clocked up to 95 mph (last year), a developing changeup, and a slider. He throws with a 3/4 arm slot and Tim Wilkin thinks he might be a late-developer like Kevin Hart. All of that tells me that he will be a starter for us before too long. After that experiment, the Cubs will know if they have anything to develop, or if he was an inexpensive bust. I expect to see him starting (or at least the long reliever) in Daytona in place of someone like Adam Harben (who should be promoted as well) by the minor league All-Star Break. Just my two cents. :)

I'm just glad they let Berg have another chance at the rotation. His numbers haven't been great in past years, but he has a real shot.

Well said Craig. Truthfully - I'm just happy baseball is back. It was a long off-season.

That ain't right - Hernandez???

Usually that's a clue that his stuff is bad, but I really think he pitches to contact as he is an extreme groundball pitcher. I'd rather he have low strikeout totals than Samardzija. Thanks for the updates today everyone. Couldn't take time to listen tonight.

Nice.

Hyperbole noted... Actually, I strongly disagree with BadNews and am also happy regarding the placements for this year. They matched up pretty well with what I was hoping/predicting. I just don't have much time to support my position at the moment (Blackhawks vs. Wings). The best point I think I can make without much work is to look at the Cubs' ages at each level compared to most organizations. We are one of the few teams that are still close to 24 at AAA, 23 at AA, 22 at High-A, and 21 at Low-A. The last two years have been a little higher than usual due to the large number of college players drafted vs. high schoolers, but we are still doing well age-wise. I made a post earlier this off season wondering why the Cubs would want to promote players so quickly, and happily they didn't and it didn't matter. I prefer to see them go one step at a time, but perhaps do two levels per year when possible with mid-season promotions. Finally, I noticed that the Cubs are more aggressive with players that they feel are longshots to make it to the majors (low draft picks, undrafted free agents, etc.). The Donny Walters' of the world. They will also do that for advanced college kids who are top notch talent, but that makes sense since they have played against Low-A talent for 2-4 years already anyway (Tony Thomas).

Smokies win 9-1 with 8 hits and no errors over the Community College team (which had 5 errors). The announcers seemed most impressed with Ryan Harvey, Kyle Reynolds, and Greg Reinhard. Harvey hit a 3-run HR. Reynolds went 3-for-3 (I think) with a 3-run HR. Greg Reinhard shut down Walter's State in order in his one IP. Veal pitched 2 scoreless innings. Veal retired the side in order in the first. Veal got the win. Samardzija gave up the one run after three consecutive hits. Camp and Spears got an assist on a throw home to save another run from scoring. The Smokies only gave up 4 hits all game.

All rosters have been posted on Scout.com - no membership required. Where is Billy Petrick? I heard he was hurt earlier this spring, but thought he was better by now. I'm guessing he's just staying at EST, but doesn't he have to be placed on the Iowa DL?

Harvey hit a 395 foot 3-run HR to CF to put the Smokies up 9-1. "He was hitting them out all batting practice," according to the announcers. His HR was a line drive shot that "barely made it over the fence, but could have still gone 30 more feet." They think he's healthy now, and pitchers will have to pitch to him since he has a strong lineup around him.

Glad to see Kroeger in CF. I hope that's not just because Fuld is hurt - I'd like to see him get time there more often! Tennessee Smokies are up 4-1 on a 3-run HR from Reynolds.

That would be nice to see, but he would still have to clear waivers again. Then maybe he could be sent from the Twins to the Cubs as the PTBNL for Craig Monroe. That could help out our AAA team a bit which is hurting from injuries at the moment.

According to the Tennessee Smokies website, Matt Avery should replace Grant Johnson. Johnson has a partially torn elbow ligament and is resting it - may need TJ surgery. http://www.smokiesbaseball.com/team/roster.asp

Always interesting to read people's perspectives on GM decisions. If Henry didn't have depth on the roster, he would be criticized for not being prepared. But when he has depth on the major league roster and at AAA, he gets criticized for not giving guys a chance. If Marshall was blowing people away at Iowa, he would take the place of a Dempster or a Marquis. Until then, I prefer having the best players on the team and a few other guys waiting for an injury, trade, or a breakout season.

Good news: Fellow draftee Jonathan Wyatt, out of Georgia, has been on a tear this spring. The Cubs think he could probably handle a jump straight to Double-A, but he'll likely begin the season in Daytona and move from there, a la Tyler Colvin a year ago. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/gen/articles/printer_friendly/milb/y2008/m03/d24/c373430.jsp

Dae-Eun Rhee will pitch in Peoria to start the year. "Our scouts are making our coaches look really good," Fleita said. "At the beginning of the spring, I would've guessed he would have stayed here in extended and then gone to Boise. But he's making the Peoria club and it's not even close." http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/gen/articles/printer_friendly/milb/y2008/m03/d24/c373430.jsp

Yeah - Jonathan Wyatt and Tony Thomas seem to be the only ones to have been double promoted (from Boise to Daytona) if they stick, which I think they will. James Russell and Arik Hempy also went to Daytona with very little Peoria experience. (I think Hempy could still see Peoria this year, but Russell seems to be a lock for Daytona.) I'm glad to see players at their appropriate levels to start the year. I'd rather see promotions throughout the year rather than having them start above their level. Some people disagree, but whatever!

Not that rosters have been set yet, but I'm always trying to figure out why the Cubs do things the way they do so that I have an easier time making predictions in the future. That being said, as I look over the Cubs 40-man roster and try to think down the line if we acquire players in trades, I see very few people who can be taken off without them being claimed. Adam Harben looks like an excellent candidate to be de-rostered. Unfortunately, if he is a starter at AA, then more teams are likely to take a chance on him. If we have him pitching relief in Daytona, people might assume he's not very advanced and not risk a roster spot on him. This could be a reason for him starting in High A instead of AA. Just thinking.

I would prefer the following pitchers to be starters at Tennessee (in order of preference): 1. Jeff Samardzija (We invested so much in him, we need to see what he can do in the rotation.) 2. Donald Veal (I'm glad that he is getting another chance to start - one bad year command-wise and stuff-wise, but he still has time.) 3. Justin Berg (I love his stuff. I've been waiting for him to put it all together for over 2 years now. I think his peripherals are bad because he is a groundball pitcher. In the lower minors defense rarely saves the pitcher. He has a low strikeout total because he knows he's not going to give up many homeruns or line drives, so he pitches to contact. He also needs to improve his location/command. His stuff moves like Zambrano's and it took him a while to command it too.) 4. Chris Shaver (I'm not sure where he is at in his rehab yet, but before his surgery he dominated AA. Once I hear a scouting report on him as of today, I'll know better where I would prefer he pitches. I would think he'd be ready though from AA's rotation.) 5. Adam Harben (Almost forgot him. Similar to Shaver. Had success at AA but how he recovers from surgery determines where he should go. He seemed to be OK at the end of last season when he started three games for Mesa.) 6. Mitch Atkins (Not great stuff, but has had success starting and deserves to stay there until he proves he can't handle it! AA is a real test though.) 7. Greg Reinhard (Despite average numbers over the years, Reinhard has 4 pitches, was a 6th rounder only 3 years ago, and has experience starting.) 8. Jesse Estrada (Bad strikeout to IP ratio; bad H/IP ratio, 31st round draft pick, has had more success relieving than starting.) 9. Tanner Watson (Struggled with control in the Seattle organization; peripherals didn't improve much when repeating levels; Frontier League is a really poor independent league & still he had bad peripherals; Repertiore of pitches not impressive - 88-92 FB, ok breaking and off-speed stuff.) 10. Darin Downs (Similar stuff to Watson, but better curveball and slower fastball. Lefty. I'd keep him in the pen since he showed some success last year - projects as a nice LOOGY.) 11. Joel Santo (Apparently, he's been released, but I'd prefer him in the pen because of his ability to get his FB up to 98 mph in short spurts. He might have better control and more command of his slider and changeup if he only pitched an inning or so every other night.)

I read that also, but thought they were possibly temporarily starting him in the hopes of seeing what he has as quickly as possible in order to decide whether to cut him or keep him for the bullpen. I can't imagine him starting over several of the other candidates during the regular season. I hope I'm right!

Not sure, but the next article from the Knoxville News Sentinel said that Colvin was already back playing the outfield already. Now that Dopirak has been released, I'm not sure if that means more starts for Colvin at 1B or if someone else will take that spot on a regular basis. Never mind:

With Tim Lahey being claimed off waivers and Ascanio and Henderson likely headed to the DL, the Iowa Cubs are looking a little battered. I assumed Lahey and Ascanio would have ended up there (with Lahey officially being traded to us). Henderson would have been an injury-replacement, but he himself is injured. I wonder if the Cubs will be scouring the waiver wire for older 4-A pitchers who have been cut at the end of spring training to fill in those spots temporarily? The other option is to move some AA guys up more quickly than planned, but I hate that option, especially since AA is usually considered the better league for real prospects. I also wonder about last-minute trades. Like what might we get if we tried to move Murton or Marquis or...? I look at our minor league system, and I am generally pleased with the potential and the depth, but we lack superstar quality guys. I see our system producing bullpen guys for many years to come, and maybe a few starting pitchers, but I worry about position players (especially since one of the bigger names - Dopirak - was just cut with no interest from other teams). I'd hate to see guys like Cory Bailey, Ryan O'Malley, and J.R. Mathes making the team at Iowa, but I guess they are almost locks to make it temporarily due to all the injuries!

I have Dustin Sasser in that mix as well. I see the rotation at Peoria looking like: Hempy, Hernandez, Sasser, Huseby, and either Ashwood or Pawelek (the other going to the bullpen). That's three lefties, but oh well. I don't think Acosta, Cabrera, or Rhee are ready for full-season yet and why rush them at their age? Lots of solid names though for Boise and Mesa even before the draft!