Wrigley Rat

Part of me thinks that Jon Mueller (who is at Daytona) is really John Muller - the 5th year senior we signed a month ago. What do you think?

Tony Thomas already has been tabbed as national player of the year twice and the second baseman also was named a first-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. A third-round pick of the Chicago Cubs, the junior will learn today if he can add the Dick Howser Award to his list of honors. The honor that goes to college baseball's top player is named for FSU's first All-American. J.D. Drew is the only Seminole to win the award. He's still negotiating with the Cubs, but is expected to sign soon. http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070614/BREAKINGNEWS/706140383 Left-hander Arik Hempy was drafted in the 17th round by the Chicago Cubs. “It’s looking like I’m going to sign right now,” Hempy said Thursday. http://www.thestate.com/188/story/92151.html

Perfect.

Jose Made - 20th round draft pick After playing a mere two games in a Bomber uniform, the team's biggest star was packing his bags for the Cubs' draft camp in Arizona after signing a contract with Chicago on Saturday. Barfelz said that the Cubs - who intend to try Made out at second base - are getting a phenomenal natural athlete with a near-complete baseball skill set as well. "He's got tremendous speed, great hands and a strong arm," said Barfelz. "He's not a home run hitter, but with that speed he can really make things happen when he makes contact." http://www.benningtonbanner.com/sports/ci_6111433 ------------- Signed Picks: 1st rounder (#3): 3B Josh Vitters, Cypress HS (Anaheim, CA) - $3.2 million 1st rounder (supp): C Josh Donaldson, Auburn - $652,500 3rd rounder: 2B Tony Thomas Jr., Florida State - $360,000 4th rounder: SS Darwin Barney, Oregon State - $222,750 5th rounder: OF Brandon Guyer, Virginia - $148,000 6th rounder: LHP Casey Lambert, Virginia - $53,000 7th rounder: OF Ty Wright, Oklahoma State - $42,000 8th rounder: 3B Marquez Smith, Clemson -$30,000 9th rounder: OF Clark Hardman, Cal State Fullerton - $114,500 10th rounder: OF Leon Johnson, BYU - $109,500 11th rounder: LHP Chris Siegfried, Portland 12th rounder: RHP Ryan Acosta, Clearwater Central Catholic HS (Clearwater, FL) - $250,000 13th rounder: OF Jonathan Wyatt, Georgia 14th rounder: LHP James Russell, Texas - $350,000 15th rounder: 1B Marc Sawyer, Yale 16th rounder: LHP Zach Ashwood, Kansas 17th rounder: LHP Arik Hempy, South Carolina 18th rounder: 2B Jeffrey Rea, Mississippi State 20th rounder: SS Jose Made, Dominican College (NY) 21st rounder: LHP Dustin Sasser, East Carolina 22nd rounder: RHP Craig Muschko, La Salle 23rd rounder: RHP Craig Vento, Palm Beach CC (FL) 24th rounder: RHP Scott Meyer, Lamar 26th rounder: LHP Michael Bunton, College of Charleston 28th rounder: 2B Bill Moss, Memphis 30th rounder: OF Luke Sommer, San Francisco 31st rounder: OF Bill Leclerc, Florida 32nd rounder: C Luis Bautista, Florida International 36th rounder: 2B Billy Mottran, Dowling (NY) 38th rounder: RHP Yuri Higgins, South Florida 39th rounder: C Roberto Sabates, no school 40th rounder: RHP Corey Bachman, Virginia Military Institute 44th rounder: 1B Bryan Jost, Minnesota

937 Brian Leclerc LF 967 Luis Bautista C 997 Preston Clark C 1027 Enrique Garcia RHP 1057 Jonathan Casey RHP

Can't be - Nathan said the player was coming from Daytona and Harvey is in Mesa. Harvey is still listed on Daytona's roster - he's just on their DL and rehabbing in Mesa. (Coming from Daytona's roster.)

Jeff Samardzija?

Mark Reed - switching to the outfield?

http://www.daytonacubs.com/team-roster.php Daytona Roster is nearly complete.

A few guys have been added to the Daytona website: Mitch Atkins Matt Avery Todd Blackford Jerry Blevins Michael Cooper Jesse Estrada Grant Johnson Scott Koerber Jeff Samardzija

With the arrival of Koyie Hill at AAA,catcher Tony Richie has been demoted from AAA to AA, C-1B Alan Rick has been demoted from AA to Daytona, catcher Blake Lalli has been demoted from Daytona to Peoria, and Steve Clevenger (who is being converted from 2B to catcher) has been sent to the EXST group (Boise/Mesa cadre) from Peoria. http://mvn.com/mlb-cubs/2007/03/29/hoff-power-strikes-again/

Fun to guess. 2005 guy = Albert Joseph, OF 2006 returners: Probably: Dylan Johnston (SS) Heredia (CF) The other four are probably from the following: a) one of the catchers (Lalli?) and or b) pitchers. Joel Santo, Angulo Jiminez, Jon Mueller, Roger Evenson, and Marco Carillo all pitched at Peoria last year. I'm guessing several of them will be on the roster this week, . Given that you mentioned the staff is heavily foreign born, probably at least a couple from Santo, Jiminez, and Carillo. Heh, given that you said "foreign born" but didn't say "Latin", I'll also guess that Maestri made it. I read that differently, but probably incorrectly. I assumed ChiefsVoice was completely referring to the pitching staff by saying "one inning". Here is the pitching staff I came up with: Jose Ceda, Jose Pina, Joel Santo, Marco Carrillo, Todd Blackford, Rocky Roquet, Fabian Jimenez-Angulo, Edgar Omana, Alessandro Maestri, Mike Billek, Mark Pawelek, Jon Mueller.

Has anyone brought up that his contract is partially being paid for by the Rangers? He waived his NTC in 2/04, allowing trade to NY with 7 years/$183M remaining. Texas agreed to pay remaining $4M in signing bonus & $67M of remaining $179M in salary. New York agreed to pay $112 of the remaining $179M in salary. That means, on average, the Cubs would only be trading for $112 million dollars over 7 seasons from 2004-2010. He has already played 2004-2006 (and most likely will play one more season in NY). That would be 2007-2010 at about $18 million per season if you assume $9 million has been subtracted each year. If I were ARod, I wouldn't opt out of that when you can request a trade to the Cubs getting the Yankees some players, the Cubs get a discounted salary, and ARod gets his whole salary. Only Texas continues to suffer.

Murton was a product of the Red Sox, not the Cubs. I hope Wilken turns things around, but the Cubs farm system is currently below average. I don't understand. 10 yrs from now hopefully no one will remember where Murton was drafted. They'll remember where he made his name. Is Ryne Sandberg a Phillie? I agree with your posts most of the time but Hendry picked Murton out of a million. He does deserve a little credit on that trade. I wish someone would come out and say he seen a little something in Murton. Where's Bruce Miles when you need him? If I remember correctly, Murton was originally taken from the Red Sox in order to be sent to the Expos, but at the last minute they changed their mind on Murton and asked for Brendan Harris. Matt Murton fell into the Cubs lap. I'm a big Hendry supporter, but I don't believe he deserves all the credit! You don't remember correctly. Baseball America's 2005 Prospect Handbook says "The Expos weren't interested in getting Murton from the Red Sox in the trade, so Hendry offered to give up Harris and take Murton at the last moment." Perhaps the Expos didn't explicitly ask for Harris instead of Murton, but the situation did still kind of fall into Hendry's lap. I will grant him the credit for capitalizing on it, but it's still partially due to sheer dumb luck. Thanks for finding that Rob - it would have driven me crazy! I also agree with your comments.

Murton was a product of the Red Sox, not the Cubs. I hope Wilken turns things around, but the Cubs farm system is currently below average. I don't understand. 10 yrs from now hopefully no one will remember where Murton was drafted. They'll remember where he made his name. Is Ryne Sandberg a Phillie? I agree with your posts most of the time but Hendry picked Murton out of a million. He does deserve a little credit on that trade. I wish someone would come out and say he seen a little something in Murton. Where's Bruce Miles when you need him? If I remember correctly, Murton was originally taken from the Red Sox in order to be sent to the Expos, but at the last minute they changed their mind on Murton and asked for Brendan Harris. Matt Murton fell into the Cubs lap. I'm a big Hendry supporter, but I don't believe he deserves all the credit!

Triple B, Short of the Cubs acquiring a right-handed platoon partner for Jones, I still think that when the Cubs are facing a lefty, Lou Piniella will consider using DeRosa in RF and starting Theriot at 2B. Hoops Essentially, offensively you are platooning Theriot and Jones. While Theriot is definitely an improvement over Jones vs lefties, we could do much better without costing much. I assume we are going with 12 pitchers, which means that our bench will be done with Floyd, Ward, Pagan, Theriot, and Cedeno. I could see Cedeno starting off in Iowa, but that leaves us a middle infielder short, not an OF. I don't think there's much of a chance that Cedeno will start the year in the majors. Theriot can play 2B, SS, OF - DeRosa can play 2B, SS, 3B, OF - Ward can play 1B, LF, RF - Soriano can play 2B in a pinch. Floyd and Ward will be counted on off the bench and in Floyd's case against many righties. Pagan is not a lock to make the team, but probably will as our backup CF. You're forgetting Blanco - which puts the Cubs at 13 position players (8 starters + Blanco, Theriot, Ward, Pagan, Floyd). I see Pagan not making the team and a surprise player to make it instead - this surprise player can play anywhere since Theriot and Jones can back up in CF. (Scott Moore?) Just came back to say I forgot Blanco...beat me to it. I would be fine with Cedeno starting in AAA and Pagan not making the team, but Moore is a lefty too, we need a righty. Disclaimer - This only applies if the philosophy of "best players play" holds true: After giving it some thought, I think the Cubs need a LH 2B to be our 25th man. The way I see it is this: - Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, and Barrett are the only players guaranteed to get a huge portion of their positions' at bats. - Since they are all right-handed, you would like lefty complementary hitters to be available to play the other positions to create the most balance in your lineup. - That pretty much guarantees switch-hitting Izturis a daily job. - It also provides an opportunity for J. Jones and C. Floyd to get at bats against righties. - That gives us a lefty hitter at #5, #6, and #8 in the lineup, but it could use one more at #2 for better balance. - The only position left is 2B and no lefty/switch-hitter on our current roster has had experience at 2B. - Maybe Scott Moore can get his chance there? Maybe Eric Patterson makes the team? Maybe a trade/waiver claim can bring in someone? Against lefties we have it set easily. Soriano, Theriot (2B), Lee, Ramirez, Murton, DeRosa (RF), Barrett, Izturis. We have no lefties who consistently hit lefties well enough to start against them. Forget the concept of balance in the lineup here!

A couple interesting Cliff Floyd stats I ran across today: In the past three years: - Floyd is 0 for 12 in pinch hitting appearances. - Floyd is 16 for 16 in stolen base attempts when batting cleanup. - Floyd is a worse hitter in the day (.246) and on grass (.259) than he is at night (.268) and on turf (.379) (great for Wrigley games - sic). - Floyd's stats at Shea Stadium (.279) were better than on the road (.244). - Close and Late (.205) It's not sabermetrics, but I found it interesting. Let's hope playing in the city he grew up in is enough to boost his stats!

Triple B, Short of the Cubs acquiring a right-handed platoon partner for Jones, I still think that when the Cubs are facing a lefty, Lou Piniella will consider using DeRosa in RF and starting Theriot at 2B. Hoops Essentially, offensively you are platooning Theriot and Jones. While Theriot is definitely an improvement over Jones vs lefties, we could do much better without costing much. I assume we are going with 12 pitchers, which means that our bench will be done with Floyd, Ward, Pagan, Theriot, and Cedeno. I could see Cedeno starting off in Iowa, but that leaves us a middle infielder short, not an OF. I don't think there's much of a chance that Cedeno will start the year in the majors. Theriot can play 2B, SS, OF - DeRosa can play 2B, SS, 3B, OF - Ward can play 1B, LF, RF - Soriano can play 2B in a pinch. Floyd and Ward will be counted on off the bench and in Floyd's case against many righties. Pagan is not a lock to make the team, but probably will as our backup CF. You're forgetting Blanco - which puts the Cubs at 13 position players (8 starters + Blanco, Theriot, Ward, Pagan, Floyd). I see Pagan not making the team and a surprise player to make it instead - this surprise player can play anywhere since Theriot and Jones can back up in CF. (Scott Moore?)

I completely understand and I'm excited to see what you've got planned!

Tim - I very much enjoyed ranking my players with the Drag and Drop page you created - thanks! I feel that the following players were better choices (for me) to finish off the Top 100. Here is where I would have ranked them: 39 - J.R. Mathes 54 - Kevin Hart 57 - Kyle Reynolds 58 - Jesse Estrada 64 - Paul Schappert 68 - Alan Rick 73 - Joe Simokaitis 74 - Cody Gilbert 75 - Justin Berg 82 - Wilson Inoa 84 - Valerio Heredia 87 - Jemel Spearman 88 - Alberto Garcia 89 - Issmael Salas 90 - Matt Weber 95 - Roberto Sotolongo 97 - Jon Mueller I'm not sure how others feel about these. Let me know!

I imagine Murton hitting 6th and DeRosa hitting 2nd, but it could go either way.

Who do you have starting at Iowa? Cedeno? Yep.

My personal opinion: Tomas Perez was signed to backup SS at Iowa if Jason Smith is not returned to us (Rule V Pick). Otherwise, Gary Cates Jr. would have been the backup SS at AAA and most believe he is roster filler at AA and not a natural SS. If Smith is returned, Perez will be released. Take it or leave it.

tkenm356: Tau Kappa Epsilon - Nu Mu Chapter? I was Tau Kappa Epsilon - Nu Kappa Chapter I think Newhan is a pretty pointless idea. We have the following guys competing for outfield spots at Iowa: Angel Pagan (shouldn't start in the majors), Eric Patterson (probably CF), Felix Pie (could start in the majors), Chris Walker (might be back at AA), Buck Coats, Jorge Cortes (maybe AA or release), maybe Scott Moore (as a corner outfielder - he's blocked by DLee and ARam). We only need 4 outfielders in AAA. I can't think he's a better option than Theriot getting some outfield at-bats or Jacque playing full-time in center.

Here's my best effort: 1 - Pie 2 - Veal 3 - Pawelek 4 - Colvin 5 - Gallagher 6 - Patterson 7 - Moore 8 - Samardzija 9 - Marmol 10 - Guzman 11 - Renshaw 12 - Huseby 13 - Harvey 14 - Cliff Andersen 15 - Rundle 16 - Canzler 17 - Fox 18 - Dopirak 19 - Fuld 20 - Mateo 21 - Phelps 22 - Avery 23 - Norwood 24 - Rapada 25 - Shaver 26 - Ryu 27 - Harben 28 - Atkins 29 - Chris Robinson 30 - Reed 31 - Camp 32 - Layden 33 - Ruhlman 34 - Holliman 35 - Petrick 36 - Geovany Soto 37 - Mendez 38 - Muldowney 39 - Mathes 40 - Craig 41 - Pignatiello 42 - Rayborn 43 - Papelbon 44 - Cherry 45 - Blasko 46 - Jesus Valdez 47 - Dylan Johnston 48 - McGehee 49 - Randy Wells 50 - Yusuf Carter 51 - Alfred Joseph 52 - Billek 53 - Maestri 54 - Kevin Hart 55 - Jose Ceda 56 - Lansford 57 - Reynolds 58 - Estrada 59 - Federico Baez 60 - Roquet 61 - Scott Taylor 62 - Fontenot 63 - Cuevas-Novas 64 - Schappert 65 - Buck Coats 66 - Nate Spears 67 - Clevenger 68 - Alan Rick 69 - Chris Walker 70 - Joel Santo 71 - Sammy Baez 72 - Jonathan Mota 73 - Simokaitis 74 - Cody Gilbert 75 - Justin Berg 76 - Jake Muyco 77 - Mario Mercedes 78 - Blackford 79 - Alfredo Francisco 80 - Matt Harrington 81 - Larry Suarez 82 - Wilson Inoa 83 - Deryck Lewis 84 - Valerio Heredia 85 - Fabian Jimenez-Angulo 86 - Micah Hoffpauir 87 - Jemel Spearman 88 - Alberto Garcia 89 - Issmael Salas 90 - Matt Weber 91 - Kevin Kreier 92 - Luther Murphy 93 - Richard Parker 94 - Grant Johnson 95 - Sotolongo 96 - Taylor Parker 97 - Jon Mueller 98 - Oscar Bernard 99 - Carlos Rojas 100 - Thomas Atlee Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order) (I believe that many of these guys will be released this spring or earlier or already have been): - Al Albuquerque - Bobby Brownlie - Matt Canepa - Marco Carrillo - Robinson Chirinos - Ronald Clipp - Michael Cooper - Davy Gregg - Adam Hackstedt - Jon Hunton - Brett Jackson - Scott Koerber - Kitt Kopach - Ryan Malone - Matt Matulia - Ryan O'Malley - Jose Pina - Elvin Puello - Tony Richie - Lisandro Rosario - Nate Samson - Trey Taylor - Francisco Tirado - Cesar Valentin - Cory Vanderhook This is definitely a first draft, but I am ready for any criticism. I feel that people generally overrate many of our prospects (i.e. Eric Patterson, Jake Fox, Jae-kuk Ryu, Mark Reed, Rocky Cherry, Grant Johnson, Bobby Brownlie), while others aren't given enough credit (i.e. Scott Moore, Cliff Andersen, Drew Rundle, Russ Canzler, Chris Robinson).