thefranchise

Zeke Devoss has 19 walks in his last 10 games.

We need to get David Bowie to tell Z he's disqualified.

Jackson leads off the game with a homer again.

Word is that Cubs 2011 7th round pick 1B-OF Trevor Gretzky's contract was either voided by the Cubs or was rejected by MLB. The signing was officially reported by the Cubs via the MLB eBis system on July 22, but then the Cubs did not place him on a minor league Reserve List within 15 days, as would be required if everything was OK. Whether the contract was voided because of a pre-existing medical condition (like his torn labrum) or rejected by MLB because of the way it was structured, I don't know, but he is back in California and is now considered "unsigned." The Cubs apparently have now turned their attention toward signing 1B Rock Shoulders (25th round draft pick out of Florida State JC/Manatee CC, who supposedly wants 4th or 5th round money to sign), with the signing of 2nd round pick 1B Dan Vogelbach (with an over-slot bonus) expected to be delayed until the deadline (8/15).

Abner Abreu is off to a good start with the Cubs organization. Had a homer and a walk today.

Any info on Roderik Pichardo? His numbers at DSL the previous 3 years have been impressive and he was brought stateside this year and has been pitching great so far (although he gave up a run tonight).

#Cubs sign Garrett Schecht for $235k, highest bonus in 9th rd so far. Illinois HS OF, good lefty bat. Middle Tenn State recruit. #mlbdraft

Koji's WHIP is outta this world, .70.

Oliver Zapata has been really impressive in Mesa.

Ahh, makes sense.

Matt "Juan Pierre" Szczur is doing work. I always think about that quote when Szczur hits a HR. Just idiotic. Who is that quote attributed to? Keith Law, I assume. I obviously disagree with his assessment due to my biases. This was Szczur's first home run that left the park. So he has 6 inside the park homers this year? If so wow.

Campana helping Barney's OBP

Speaking of walks, Dong Yub Kim with his first career walk.

As Joe Buck would say, tie game.

My guess is some of these have been done for maybe a week or so. Bud is just waiting as long as he can since they're probably overslot. I don't think they've announced DeVoss signing yet and I think he's been signed for at least a week.

I would've promoted Crawford to AA. He's a marginal prospect but he's playing real well this year and is old for the FSL. But maybe they wanted to promote a CF?

Taiwan Easterling made his pro debut playing CF for Mesa and went 0-3.

Could he be comparable to Sean Marshall? I know Marshall is a lot taller but apparently both have a good curve.

I hope so. From Tspain's comment, plus a picture I saw, he looks like he could have some strength and could hit for some power, although of course he didn't actually do so in college. Nor did he steal much. Of course, Szczur was 2 years younger (Easterling is 22, Szczur was 20), and Szczur was picked 20+ rounds sooner. And Szczur we know has basestealing speed/acumen. Most importantly, Szczur has a knack for hitting the ball. Easterling didn't hit much in college. Maybe he'll just show up and be a hitter as a pro. But at FSU his numbers suggest a high-K guy. There are lots of football players who are fast, strong, and coordinated, so they always seem like promising baseball prospects where those same attributes would seem to work. But it's very rare that they can hit. Szczur seems to be unusual in that he can. Hopefully Easterling will be another, in due time. Well Easterling didn't play baseball for two years and then barely played last year. This year he played more and did much better than the year before. So I'm hoping the more he plays, the more he'll get comfortable. Not expecting too much out of a 27th round pick, but he's definitely someone to keep an eye on next year.

Apparently he was someone who could have received NFL draft consideration. He was a return man for FSU and has good speed; somewhere in the 4.5 range in the 40, if I remember. He probably would have been a guy selected in the 4th-7th range, depending on his season, combine, etc. Not a return man, but a solid receiver who would have received some consideration next year in the NFL draft. Had a catch in 27 straight games for us. Won't be playing football next year for us. Interesting. He did some kick and punt returns in 2008 and 2009, but looks like he moved out of that role last season. Do you know much about how he profiles baseball-wise? I haven't been able to find much on him. Looking at his stats out of high school they were pretty impressive. I believe he hit close to .450 and had 13 homers and won Mississippi High School player of the year I believe, so the potential was there. He didn't play baseball again until last year and it showed. This year he's been a lot better but only hit 1 homer in 100 plus at-bats and stole 6 bases. He also doesn't have the best strikeout to walk ratio. I'll be interested to see if he goes to Boise or Mesa. Since he didn't play much in college I think he'll probably end up in Mesa. Sounds like he's got good speed so maybe he can be a leadoff hitter if he can make contact and get on base.

Watkins continues to rake. Also, Boise's offense is deadly.

The only way who is batting matters is if the road team takes the lead in the top of the inning and the home team hasn't had a chance to bat yet. Since the Sox took the lead a long time ago, the game would be called in favor of the Sox if it is in fact called. Allright thanks, that's what I kinda thought, but I always get confused when the situation arises.

They have to continue this game right? Since the road team is batting and trailing. Or is it after the 5th the game can be over even the home team is winning?

Hoye sounds familiar. Was he involved in a controversy in something? Cuz his name sticks in my mind for some reason

Was that Alex Brown?