scarey

You can't get that kind of analysis just anywhere, people. I liked the Dolphins one better. Yep, that's how everyone else interpretted that situation too!

I dont understand the rule anymore at all. Cruz made a football move. He landed and re-positioned/redirected his body and the ball to try and get the football across the plane. Johnson's natural momentum took in deeper into the end zone and to the ground. No football move.

Best receiver in the league. Dalton is no slouch either.

Gould has given a LOT of credit to Toub when interviewed in terms of his improvement on kicking distance. It may just be one of those things where the right coach and the right player got together.

Ok then. Actually made me feel like our depth at LB is far better than it has been in many years. DB is another matter. What's wrong with the DB depth? Steltz and Bowman have both started a significant amount of games, Walters has shown he's capable when inserted into the lineup, and Frey has looked good in camp/preseason. I'm not too worried about DB depth personally. It may not be as good as LB, depth, but it's not a bleak situation especially compared to most other NFL teams.

Adams has shown an ability to block and will catch an occasional pass. I have no problem having a solid backup as opposed to the high risk high reward reserve.

Adams has shown an ability to block and will catch an occasional pass. I have no problem having a solid backup as opposed to the high risk high reward reserve.

Wouldn't it make sense to front load the deal given the projected payroll for the next couple of years is relatively low?

'OK' is not the word I would use. It's actually quite amazing the guy is still alive with all he's put himself through.

I don't mind it so much. The Cubs brought in a ton of top talent this last year. At some point there is going to be a roster crunch with risk of some players being exposed to rule 5 who shouldn't be. Next year, just sign a crap ton of low bonus guys and see if any stick. If none of them do, it diminishes the impact of the eventual roster crunch. If they do, it's not a bad problem to have more talent. I'm not going to say it was some brilliant plan that was carried out by the front office. They obviously didn't want it to happen this way and neither did I. However, it's not the worst thing in the world to cast a larger net and see what you come up with.

I know it's meant as a joke, but wouldn't it be worth the investment for the Ricketts to pay for this to be done and gain partial ownership in the process? I know minor league franchises don't exactly rake it in, but a minor league team in Florida that is guaranteed to play every schedule game has to be worth something. Every team that rains out in the immediate vicinity is just more potential consumers.

http://www.gifsforum.com/images/gif/troll%20face/grand/s4xqhk.jpg.gif

Sounds like the VSL and DSL will be ending soon. I haven't been tracking the players on these teams much, but scanning stats really quick I thought a couple guys stuck out. DSL: Varonex Cuevas: Switch hitting shortstop OPSing almost .800, but he just turned 21 years old Adonis Paula: 19 year old with a 6'1 frame. I like the .100 IsoD. Adding weight to his frame could give him more of a power element to his game Shamil Ubiera: .824 OPS RF, but will turn 21 in September Roberto Caro: Switch hitting CF, turns 20 in September. Almost a .120 IsoD Dalfis Ortiz: Switch hitting 2B OPSing .932... will turn 22 in February Hector Perez: Just turned 20 in June, has an astounding 50/10 K/BB with zero HRs allowed Jose Paulino: 6'2 lefty 18 year old with an even more impressive 57/9 K/BB. Only one HR allowed Also of note, Luis Acosta who was a somewhat large bonus IFA has been terrible. That one probably isn't panning out. VSL: Eufran Vargas: 19 year old catcher OPSing .994, but only in around 45 PAs Roney Alcala: 6'1 223 lb switch hitting 3B. .933 OPS, but a meager .034 IsoD Delbis Arcila: 20 year old corner outfielder, bats lefty with a .930 OPS. One of the names I remember from one of last years DSL teams Ricardo Marcano: 18 year old hitting .281/.342/.454 Bryant Flete: Left handed hitting SS with a .115 IsoD. He's tiny though listed at 145 lb and only steals bases at little more than 50% success rate Adbert Alzolay: 18 year old right hander with 61/10 K/BB and a 0.88 WHIP Greyfer Eregua: 19 year old righty, 42/3 K/BB. 0.85 WHIP Enrique De Los Rio: 18 years old. 0.95 WHIP, must enduce weak contact with pedestrian K numbers and 31 hits allowed in 43.1 IP Of note: Chris Pieters, ROFL! Another big bonus guy with 42 BB in 24 IP. His other numbers look just as bad, but I think that tells the story right there. Anything more detailed that people have to add would be appreciated. I wanted to get some insight to see if there was a possible Alcantara-esque among these guys (in terms of potential).

Watkins season has been thoroughly disapointing after the hot start he had. The thing that has really stood out to me the last three or four weeks is that he hasn't been drawing many walks. I have to wonder if his lack of power is catching up to him and pitchers are just challenging him to beat them. I still have hope the guy can be a cheap back up for the Cubs for a number of years though. He seems like a player that can sub in at multiple defensive positions and thrive in a pinch hitter role by forcing wild relief pitchers to throw strikes. Along with Lake, and maybe Szczur, the Cubs could have a good, young, cheap bench to go with their potential-stud starting lineup.

In that scenerio, he still gets credit for learning not to swing at crap pitches. I'm taking no credit away from him. My only point is that if the guy continues to hit for monster power, his IsoD should improve whether or not he improves his plate discipline or not. That applies for the majors too.

You have to assume that pitchers at each level are also eventually learning that if you put the ball in the zone, there's a chance Baez will crush it. I do believe he's been improving on pitch recognition/selection, but putting the fear of god into the opposing pitchers has to at least be a contributor to his improved discipline at each level..

You need to post more often for your handle/avatar awesomeness.

When I see "mid level prospect", I have to wonder if it's really such a good thing to be making deals such as these. While it may be better than not getting anything for him, we're probably going to see major roster crunches in the coming seasons. There's going to be tough decisions to make for protecting prospects and adding guys that are going to end up being exposed to the rule 5 draft just isn't an efficient strategy. I would much prefer to "upgrade" our prospects. If Hoyer can't pry the prospect they want from the Yankees, why sweeten the deal with an Alberto Cabrera or a Jae Hoon Ha? I hardly think I'm being innovative with this idea, just a thought.

I would be interested to know if Buckel is on Hoyer's radar. I know he has had inexplicable control problems this year, but last year he was far and away my most coveted prospect when Dempster was getting dealt. It would make a whole lot of sense that he would be a PTBNL candidate so that the Cubs can check him out. That being said, I cannot find any news on the guy after he was sent to instructs early in the year. Anyone else have any updates on him?

I'm fine with him staying at Iowa all year. What I hope for him is that he gets more outfield reps. He's played a total of 4 game in the outfield, only 2 this year.

Valbuena is young, and Valbuena is an everyday major leaguer. Yeah, the love for Valbuena is [expletive] weird, too. He's had a good half of a season, but he's been garbage up until this point. He's over 600 PA as a Cub and has 3.4 fWAR in that time. It's not a hot month or two buoying him, he's a good player. I'm just unclear on why having a good young player at the major league level has anything to do with holding onto hope that Vitters turns out.

You say that like it's a mark against him. If it's not what he wants, I don't want him to just settle because it's "close".

I admit to be a critic of the trade. I was not thrilled with the 2010 production from Matt Garza. Also, I thought Hak Ju Lee was going to be producing the way Arismendy Alcantara has been producing since that trade. Finally, I thought we'd be seeing a couple "down" years in Wrigley and felt investing in this type of starting pitching at this ime wouldn't pay off for when the Cubs were competitive again. I'm happy to have been two-thirds wrong.

I hope they really play up the DON'T CARE Jay Cutler persona.

Good to see Gioskar Amaya has bounced back decently. Average up to .270. I would love to see him come close to matching his IsoD from last year by the end of the season.