CubsWin

For the next two years, but yes. That's why if they can't land Martinez, I wouldn't be upset if they stayed within their limits this year, especially considering that it's a decent amount this season and won't be next year. And then blow it out in 2016 when most, if not all of their big money competition will be restricted (the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and others). Kevin Maitan will be eligible to sign in 2016. He's been compared to Miggy and is from the same country. Many say he's a once in a decade talent. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/the-next-elite-july-2nd-prospect/ Go get Martinez, but if you can't, keep your powder dry and get Maitan next year. The one big caveat, of course, is if there's reason to believe an IFA draft will be instituted by then...

Dude, that is, like, sooooo 3 days ago. OMG!

i have not seen anything indicating they are the front runners. source? Yeah, I'd love to see that printed somewhere. My heart skipped a beat when I read that in your post...

In other more pertinent news... Baez got on base three times. Single, walk and HBP. His OBP is over .400. Alcantara also got on base 3 times. Two singles and a walk. His OBP is now .350. Edwards settled down after a rough AAA debut. He gave up a single and a double allowing a run, but didn't walk anyone and struck out 3 in 2 IP. Villanueva continued his hot hitting with a single, HR and 4 RBI. He's now hitting .295/.350/.519 as a 23-year-old in AAA. He does turn 24 in a couple weeks though he's still age appropriate for his level. The two 2014 IFA signing that I'm most interested in are LHP Wander Cabrera and rail-thin SS Yeiler Peguero. Cabrera pitched in his first game this season. He was a little wild giving up 3 walks in 3 innings, but he struck out 5 and allowed just 2 hits. Peguero is off to a hot start. So far he's walked 6 times without a strike out. His utterly meaningless slash line is .429/.600/.643.

Let's say the Cubs are feeling a 40-man roster crunch. Players who are currently on the Chicago Cubs 40 Man Roster - Gonzalez Germen, Dallas Beeler, Eric Jokisch, Brian Schlitter, Jonathan Herrera, Mike Baxter and Chris Denorfia. Would Travis Wood be the guy to cut or trade if there was a roster crunch? Would they want to get rid of Travis Wood over Edwin Jackson? Would any team give up a comp pick for Travis Wood? No, no and no. I think you misunderstood my post. Maybe I wasn't clear. No one is suggesting the Cubs cut Travis Wood over Edwin Jackson. Where'd that come from? The point of the post was discussing the idea of trading for a comp pick because the Cubs system has a lot of depth right now. I found it odd last season when the Marlins traded the 39th overall selection (a 1st round comp pick) to the Pirates for right-handed middle reliever Bryan Morris. He was 27 at the time, had a WHIP of 1.563, an FIP of 5.92, had given up more than a hit per inning and was striking out only 5.3 per 9 while walking 4.6 per 9. I referenced this trade in my comment. Travis Wood is 28, left-handed, has been a starter but is now currently a middle reliever. Even during his struggles this season, he has struck out over a batter per inning (10 per 9) while walking 3.1 per 9, has a lower WHIP and FIP than Morris did at the time of his trade. I still don't get why the Marlins gave up the 39th pick for Morris but since they did, is it really so outlandish to think that another team might do the same for Wood? Or Pineyro? Or someone else who is expendable due to the depth in the system? Whatever. I'd like to see the Cubs trade for a comp pick and I think they have the depth in their system to spare, the question is will another team bite like the Marlins did last season...

That's pretty hilarious.

Here's the link to the article you're referring to. Video of Baez's 2nd HR last night shows the difference in his swing since last year. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150603&content_id=128267264&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

And if you haven't seen the video of Baez's 2nd HR from last night, check it out on the link above. The difference between that swing and the one he brought north last year is stark.

Look, if Baez even comes close to his ceiling, you absolutely make room for him. Writing him off as a pro or rooting for increased trade value seems like the popular thing to do lately, but I still have hope. I don't want to go meatbally (because I still have hope for him, too), but perhaps it will be Castro we don't have room for? Plus he definitely looks to be adjusting. They are tangible adjustments as well where it is clear he has made changes (shorter stride, more closed stance, and crowding the plate). The adjustments are huge but even without the change in the swing.. Baez of wild, erratic violent swing Javy was likely to adjust an impact bat at some point. He always has started slow to horrendous when going up a level & eventually figures stuff out. Not to say the erratic swing mechanics version of Baez was definitely going to become a star but I certainly think he would have improved. Add in the significant work of shortening his string & erasing tons of added movement and I admit I am downright excited to see what he can do. I want to give Baez every shot to perform. He has too much potential for me to write-off. He could legit be a 3rd Superstar bat to add to the lineup. Straight from the Pevey's mouth... http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150603&content_id=128267264&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

Also, with the rule change making 1st round picks tradeable after 5 months instead of 12, and with Aiken and Matuella out of commission for about another 5 months before they'd start throwing for real, the timeline seems set up nicely to trade for one of those guys. I have no idea what it would take or given the asking price if it'd be worth it, but the Cubs have a deep system and the timeline is uniquely fortuitous. If the price is fair, it'd be quite the coup to get a guy at #9 who they like and will underslot allowing them to land one or two of the tough-to-sign arms in the middle rounds plus get Aiken or Matuella in a deal.

To my eye, I don't see much of a Rule 5/40-man roster crunch, but let's say the Cubs front office does. This would be the perfect time to trade one of the guys who they will want to roster or someone currently on the 40-man for a competitive balance pick. I know a middle reliever was traded for one straight up last season, I believe involving the Marlins and Pirates, or maybe it was the year before. Is Travis Wood who's pretty much a LH middle reliever at this point too little to get a comp pick? Too much? Ivan Pineyro? Trading someone with a lower ceiling but more present value for a higher ceiling guy who's much further away seems like a smart thing to do given the depth of the organization right now.

what was last season then? A learning season. It's okay to have more than one when you're 20 and 21.

In this case, they did a little updating, but only at the very back end. Lockhart was previously #30 on that list. Null was added ahead of him.

That's my concern...

If Torres was a quick-twitch, bonafide SS, he'd likely be a top 25 prospect with room to move up into the top 10 in the coming years, but the sense I have of him from the scouting reports is that he lacks that kind of athleticism. He's a smooth, natural middle infielder for sure. My concern is that he's more La Stella than Lindor. Am I off?

Coming into today's game, Gleyber Torres had hit safely in 24 of the previous 30 games dating back to April 22nd hitting .368/.438/.465 during that span. In the 6 games he didn't get a hit, he reached base in 4 of them. With a single in his first AB today, he's now 25 out of 31, reaching base in 29 of those games.

The Cubs 40-man roster currently stands at 41 when you include the two players (Olt & Turner) on the 60-day DL. Fowler, Coghlan, Motte, Wada, Russell and Denorfia all have expiring contracts. That lowers it to 35 players, but the Cubs may want to bring some of them back. Others still under team control may be released to make room. Those include (in no particular order): P Dallas Beeler P Gonzalez Germen P Edwin Jackson P Eric Jokisch P Yoervis Medina P Brian Schlitter C Rafael Lopez IF Johnathan Herrera IF Christian Villanueva OF Mike Baxter As it stands now, the Cubs have about 5, maybe 6 players that are at risk of being selected if they're not rostered. Vogelbach, P. Johnson, C. Black, Contreras, Pineyro and my personal UTR fav John Andreoli. Are there 5 or 6 (actually 6 or 7 since the roster's at 41 or even 7 or 8 if the Cubs want to have a roster spot open for an early FA signing) players the Cubs can somewhat painlessly cut to make room for all 6 of those guys? With Alcantara, Baez and La Stella under team control and on the 40-man (but not on the active roster), I can easily see Herrera going and not having to be replaced with another middle infielder. That opens a spot for Vogelbach. If the Cubs are able to get a hand shake deal done with Contreras, they might be able to keep him in the organization without placing him on the 40-man. I really don't know what would motivate Contreras to agree to that. Maybe someone can help me understand. If he doesn't agree, the Cubs may be forced to choose between Lopez and Contreras. Or they could keep 4 catchers which isn't unheard of. The case for or against pitchers Johnson, Black and Pineyro isn't as clear cut. One, they're pitchers. The Cubs need to see where they are in late August to know what they've got going into the off season. Johnson's currently rehabbing a lat strain, but if he and Pineyro finish the season looking better as rotation depth than Dallas Beeler and/or Edwin Jackson do or if Corey Black looks better than Germen or Schlitter for bullpen depth then those moves become easy. Jokisch has a leg up on the others because of his left-handedness. And finally, the soft spot I hold for John Andreoli versus the lack of any feeling I have toward Mike Baxter. The obvious caveat of needing to see Andreoli keep performing the rest of the year aside, the big question for me is does the existence of Matt Szczur, a very similar OFer, play a role in the decision making process? Is the need for a more veteran presence in a back up role come into play? After that analysis, it doesn't seem to be as difficult of a roster crunch as I originally thought. The Cubs will likely want some extra spots open to sign a free agent or two and they will likely want to replace the veterans with expiring contracts with other veterans, perhaps resigning the players themselves. Check me. Am I missing players that might be worthy of adding? Did I miscalculate? Or is this crunch not as crunchy as I first thought.

No nothing from BA, Fangraphs or anywhere else for that matter. The following 4 were left with no team "favoured" to sign between either MLB and Kiley McDaniel. Keeping an eye on these 4. Name Pos Rank Alvaro Seijas P 6 Albert Guaimaro OF 11 Miguel Aparicio OF 22 Simon Muzziotti OF 24 MLB has Seijas likely signing with the Cardinals. :banghead: They also have the Red Sox in the lead for Guaimaro and Muzziotti, but other teams (including the Cubs on Muzziotti) are in the mix.

Um, AZPhil just reported that Dylan Cease threw a 99 mph fastball in extended spring training today. Of course, he's just coming back so he was really wild. He walked 3 and struck out one, but still. 99? Nice. Hopefully his control will return in due time. They say that's the last thing to come back after TJS.

Me too. He may have found a few ticks on his fastball to make his already plus change play up even more.

And McKinney can't play CF.

Left freaking field. No way he is a worse fielder than Coghlan. Gary Sheffield started out as a SS afterall. Could be, but I think Baez is a way better infielder than Bryant and that there wouldn't be that much difference between them in LF. I think the best configuration (so long as Castro is playing SS) would be Bryant in LF, Baez at 2B, Russell to 3B. But it's close between Russell and Baez. They could easily switch.

It was probably nothing more than it was a tie game, scoreless actually, and Hannemann has got better wheels than McKinney and would have a better chance of scoring from 2nd on a single.

In AA, it took Bryant about 140 PAs (33 games) to hit his 9th HR. Schwarber's done it in 129 (32 games). 32 games into his AA career, Schwarber is hitting .340/.446/.670. Thru 33 games, Bryant was hitting .328/.437/.630. The numbers from their first professional season compare favorably as well. One of them hit .336/.390/.688, the other .344/.428/.634. Which one was Bryant's and which one was Schwarber's? The answer is: does it matter? Do the Cubs really have a left-handed hitting Kris Bryant who has a shot at playing catcher? Is Kyle really that good? Whatever the Cubs scouting staff is getting paid, it's not enough.

Javy HBP in his 1st AB. 2nd AB he Ks, but he showed good patience going down looking in a 7-pitch at bat. He's even failing better now... :D