Clem Fandango

OMG DID YOU NOT SEE THE PLAYOFFS

People needed to discard their excess vegetables

Brett's article speculating on the reasons for Junior Lake's surprisingly good walk rate (17%) in the DWL http://www.bleachernation.com/2015/01/15/junior-lake-apparently-made-some-changes-in-the-dwl-and-hes-been-a-walk-machine/ Apparently he's grown 3-4 inches since 2011?

I do.

Rasmus still fits.

Olberman: "Close the damn Hall of Fame and start over" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPgKk8xLfQ

Straily too. Wada. As far as starting pitchers go, not so much options... though I'd think he has options given he's only ever been called up to the majors once.

I still think about this exchange Sullivan talked about after the Lester deal Led me to believe that the Cubs FO was still targeting a pitcher, and I keep waiting for that to happen again but the only names left on the market that the Cubs would probably hold any interest in are Shields and Scherzer. Granted it could've just been that executive's personal feelings, and it likely was, but it still stuck with me and made me think the tires were still spinning ion the FO for another pitcher.

Boy that offense would look really good right now if they didn't trade everyone away.

I haven't read anything to suggest that Carlos Martinez's scouting report has changed, and coming up the ladder, there were a few reports I recall seeing a few years ago saying he had two 80 pitches. Given his results in the minors and his age, if that's true I would've expected him to be ranked higher than where BA placed him throughout his minor league career (the 27th-38th range). Two elite pitches in a repertoire while dominating AAA hitters at the age of 21 seems like it'd be more valuable than the 31st best prospect in baseball.

It's a lower amount because a) he has greater risk as a teenage prospect and b) the market might be lower because teams will have to pay double his contract amount when you include the penalty. Gotcha. Thanks!

Read a blurb on Rotoworld about how he was expected to sign a $30-$40 mil deal and I thought that seemed wildly off because of the recent signings of Tomas and Abreu and the like. Are they projecting that low of a figure thought because he's young and is subject to the spending guidelines and rules? Like if he signed a contract that big would it have to be a signing bonus that gives him all that money? Not clear on the international spending regulations all that much. Isn't there a rule that says if an IFA is past a certain age they are unrestricted free agents, but if they are not they are subject to the spending rules?

Not speaking from a lot of knowledge here, I'm a little rusty on the subject, but I read somewhere where it was talking about Vlad Jr. that many teams will come to verbal agreements long before they're declared eligible which MLB frowns upon but it's commonplace and there's nothing they can do to stop it. If the Cubs approached Moncada's representation and convinced them enough that if they waited until they were able to spend on him that they'd blow the competition out of the water, do you think they'd do so considering the Red Sox and Yankees would be out of that competition (if I interpreted some of the articles correctly)? Obviously the Red Sox and Yankees are huge teams that any young player would want to play for, but the Cubs are too and having Soler has to have some sort of positive advantage for the Cubs to sell him on. Any chance they could wait it out, even if he's declared before the Cubs could spend on him? OR do they not miss on the chance to get the Red Sox and Yankees into a bidding war, even if the Cubs convince them that they'd spend more than they would?

If that's what it takes for Price the Cubs should pull that trigger themselves.

Who cares? Eh, didn't think that it's also because there's no other FA on the roster that have really been signed long enough to make it to 2018. That said, that lineup and rotation is still pretty solid.

It's awesome that only two of those names were signed as a free agent and/or never spent any time in the Cubs system

Thanks!

Do they not still do that? I know it's not in the free story but I thought it was included in the book and the subscription. The paid version has that stuff. Well [expletive] that. Don't offer it for free for a decade and decide to change it, BA!

I wonder where BA would've ranked Baez if he didn't graduate to rookie status. Would he still be a Top 3 prospect to evaluators?

I miss the old days when BA would also list the players in the system with the best tools and which players received the highest bonuses, and the projected future lineups, etc. BA has gotten so lazy. And their layout and design for the pages huff dong. I know I've mentioned that a year or two ago, but it's still true, sadly.

I'm still baffled that Piazza isn't already in the hall of fame. I know people say its because of steroid allegations, but maybe my memory is cloudy because i don't ever recall people accusing him of it along with guys like Bonds and McGwire. Actually he only thing I ever recall the media accusing him of was being gay.

Forgot about him. Cubs.com hasn't updated for it yet obviously. And yeah we'll get another bat I'm sure.

Fair enough assessment. And FWIW, the Dodgers now have Grandal so they don't need a catcher.

This doesn't exactly help or hurt my case since it kind of shows you can't really know what to expect with Castillo, but for what it's worth he would've been the strong side of a platoon this time last year... 2014 vs RHP: .216/.279/.352/.631 .266 BABIP vs. LHP: .301/.350/.505/.855 .359 BABIP 2013 vs. RHP: .282/.353/.405/.758 .362 BABIP vs. LHP: .247/.337/.371/.707 .299 BABIP His BABIP's did a complete reversal. And not for nothing, and I know this will be met with negative comments because having 3 catchers is traditionally ludicrous, but what harm is there in leaving Castillo on the roster as a platoon with Montero and a situational pinch hitter? Our bench currently is constructed of the following players according to the depth chart: Castillo Ross Olt Lake LaStella Sczsur Sweeney Lopez (Rafael) Castillo might be one of the better bats of that bunch. What value do any of them hold other than a late inning defensive replacement and an occasional spot starter to spell those ahead of them on the depth chart? It was always rumored Ross would come on as Lester's personal catcher. Why would Ross not be more than just that and a late inning defensive replacement and occasional spot starter to spell the other two while Montero and Castillo platoon on non Lester starts and provide a useful bat off the bench when they're not starting?

Pitch framing is still a relatively new concept that is not yet a universally accepted market inefficiency and doesn't even have a publicly accepted statistical measure. Not all teams employ it, nor do they necessarily believe in it. If they did Montero probably would've cost a lot more than what we gave up. Castillo's value is relative to who's buying into him.