CubsWin

I agree. I want Soler up as soon as he is deemed ready. He has to be up to stay by 2016. If the Cubs keep in the minors for all of 2015, I'll be fine with it so long as he can still improve upon something to prepare him for success in the bigs. And I agree with the notion that players are best prepared for success in the majors by struggling in the minors and learning from it. To that end, if he keeps mashing AA pitching like this for another 2-3 weeks, it would best serve his development to get him facing more savvy AAA pitchers. Development can't be rushed, but it can be delayed.

Wow. Opposite field off a nasty breaking ball from Lucas Giolito. I like that. Big Game Javy!

Apparently, Kris' dad, Mike Bryant, taught both Kris and Joey Gallo how to hit. Cubs need to sign Mike as a hitting instructor like now. And how much of it was his coaching and how much was having two incredibly talented players? That was tongue-in-cheek, Raisin. Sorry for any confusion.

Apparently, Kris' dad, Mike Bryant, taught both Kris and Joey Gallo how to hit. Cubs need to sign Mike as a hitting instructor like now.

We might be experiencing a Candelawakening. He was my pick to breakout this year. Boy, was I wrong. But he's had 2 or more hits in 5 of his last 6 games with 5 Candelubles and a Candelahomer in that span. I'm sorry. I can't help myself now...

Wladimir Galindo upped his line to .299/.371/.545 with a 2-for-5 day. He hit his league leading 18th double and also leads the VSL in HRs with 7 as a 17 year old. He is 2nd in OPS, 8 points off the league leader who is 3 years older. He Ks a bit, striking out in 23% of his PAs, but also walks about 8% of the time.

He's had a little more success since leaving Colorado (though he never really had worse numbers at home). He had some success in relief this year, before going back into the rotation in May. Valbuena has pretty much gone back to his previous norms average wise in the last month and a half, but is really not walking as much as he had been either. Ultimately, he'll be a utility guy and I think a 25-yo starter at best or decent reliever at worst is probably slightly more valuable. That being said, I'm pretty much with you. I'd probably do the deal, but I'd hope it would be on the table a little later. I know the ML team doesn't matter, but I really don't want the alternatives playing everyday at 3B (Olt, Watkins, Valaika?) if Valbuena is gone. And that goes for the start of 2015 until one of the young guys establishes himself at the ML level. The A's need a 2B bad and very soon. If Pomeranz is on the table, I'd jump on it. That said, Valbuena has value to the Cubs for his versatility and ability to be a decent stopgap until the kids are up AND have no problem coming off the bench when that time comes. His selectivity at the plate and the moderate pop in his bat profiles as a good pinch hitter. I like him but for the lottery ticket that is Pomeranz (5th pick overall, 25 years old, MOR ceiling, good reliever floor), I'd do it.

That's a Candelhomero. I probably should stop...

Jeimer with two Candelubles tonight. Okay, maybe not...

Two more hits for 17-year-old bonus baby C Yohan Matos today raising his line to .317/.423/.500 with 4 2Bs, 1 3B, 3 HRs, 14 BB/20 K in 82 ABs.

I wonder if the number of people following Russell on twitter doubling since the trade and all the well wishers posting on his feed might have caused him to put a little extra pressure on himself. Stupid twitter.

So with the A's in full on win now mode, they might bite if the Cubs add a sweetener? We know the A's are always in need of money. What if the Cubs took back the remainder of Jim Johnson's 10 million dollar contract. They've basically written him off. Or perhaps the A's would want one of the Cubs expendable relievers...

In the ESPN MLB Rumors section the following was posted... I'm not interested in getting rid of Valbuena without getting something of good value back. Would Pomeranz plus something else be enough? Pomeranz by himself? He's currently on the DL after breaking his glove hand taking out his frustrations on a clubhouse chair. On one hand (no pun intended), it's a meathead thing to do that might call into question his make-up, but on the other (non-throwing) hand, it's almost impressive that, in the heat of the moment, he had the presence of mind to hit the chair with his glove hand. Before getting hurt, he was pitching well, but he has a long history of missing time due to injury (pff, pitchers...). He's still just 25 and has been very effective throughout most of minor league career when healthy. A 5th overall pick in 2010, how much value would you place on Pomeranz this year and going forward (he's entering his prime years and is under control thru 2018) in exchange for a lefty-hitting, versatile IFer with solid defense and OBP skills?

You mean his 2nd Schwarble of the game. Okay, maybe not...

Petition to call all Schwarber doubles "Schwarbles". Okay, maybe not...

Yeah, that's gotta be it.

i think it was very possible olt was going to brett jackson his career even without the possible red herring of the vision/concussion thing That too. Completely agree. Totally possible. I've wanted Lake and Olt to go to AAA since May in Olt's case and wanted Lake to start the season there. My question is why keep them up? They sent Jackson down after he sucked in his cup of coffee. Why doesn't their developmental philosophy apply to them?

I would love everyone's input on a question that's been rolling around in my head for a while now. The Cubs FO has a fairly well known and specific development philosophy. Hit certain benchmarks, get a certain number of plate appearances, etc., before being promoted. They want players with a good approach at the plate that will put together quality at bats each time. We saw their patience with keeping Bryant in AA, not promoting Baez until he showed better discipline and improved his walk rate and K/BB ratios at Daytona and Tennessee, and sending Rizzo back to AAA to work on his swing and get a "full compliment" of PAs. Why does this philosophy not apply to Junior Lake and Mike Olt? Lake was promoted after 170 plate appearances in AAA. He was hitting well, but not exactly dominating. Olt did dominate in AA while he was with Texas, but was terrible in AAA slashing .197/.302/.368 with a 30.6% K rate while dealing with the after effects from a concussion and allergy-driven eye problems. If Baez or Bryant were performing at that level, would we be clamoring for them to be brought up? While with the Padres, Rizzo hit .141/.281/.242, striking out in 30% of his 153 PAs. By comparison, Olt is hitting .147/.225/.365, striking out in 38.7% of his 191 plate appearances so far this season. Rizzo had 412 PAs in AAA when he was sent to Iowa. Olt has 420, so why not send him back? They had identified something in Rizzo's swing they wanted him to work on. He did, played great in Iowa, was brought up and the rest his history. Wouldn't it be obvious to the Cubs FO that Olt would benefit from spending time in AAA working on his swing? So what is so different about Lake and Olt? If Theo is all about creating value, why doesn't he use his tried and somewhat true developmental philosophy on those guys? You think the Cubs have some trade chips now, can you imagine if Lake and Olt were performing well? Right now, they have very little value to the Cubs or any other team. Both Lake and Olt are older now, 24 and 25 respectively, than Rizzo was when he returned to AAA, and certainly older than Bryant, Baez or Alcantara. But in a world where we are in the business of creating value, should that matter? Have they given up on Lake and Olt? Are they passed being helped? I'm at a loss. Can anyone shed some light on what they're thinking?

When Javy takes 3 months adjusting to MLB pitching, I wonder what the Cubs Facebook page will be like then...

If you lean towards upside how do you have Javy 3rd? His upside is a solid or better SS who hits 40 dongs a year... Which is better than Bryant (solid or better 3B who hits 40 dongs a year) and Russell (a good SS who hits 20-25 dongs a year) Edit: I know Bryant has outproduced Javy during his time in AAA, but it's still a SSS and Javy is what, 2 years younger? And still playing pretty darn well... I have Javy 3rd because I only "lean" towards upside. I see Javy, who is 11 months younger than Bryant not 2 years, as having some considerable things to overcome in his development. He overcomes them, and then has to relearn them at the next level. He is a good-hearted, well-meaning teammate who can get easily frustrated which in turn can throw him off his game. And his game is still being developed and refined. Bryant on the other hand is as steady as a rock. He hits for higher average, more power, more on-base percentage and with much, much more consistency. I have his upside and basically the same as Javy's but with a much higher probability of reaching it. Russell is ahead of Javy (though it's very close) because I believe his approach is better and more fully developed. A hitter's approach, demeanor and pitch recognition allows him to use all of his hitting ability and bat speed to it's greatest effect. Thus, Russell chance of reaching his ceiling (which is admittedly lower than Javy's) is much greater than Baez's. Also, I believe Russell to be the better defensive SS. So, despite my love of a player's upside, I don't discard the rest of the factors completely. Likelihood of reaching that potential still plays heavily as well. But it does explain why I have Soler ahead of Alcantara, Underwood ahead of Blackburn, etc.

I lean a little more heavily on upside than some, so: 1. Bryant 2. Russell 3. Baez 4. Soler 5. Alcantara 6. Schwarber 7. Almora 8. Tseng 9. McKinney 10. Torres 11. Jimenez 12. Edwards 13. Johnson 14. Underwood 15. Blackburn After that it gets a little murkier, but the depth is unprecedented in my lifetime. In no particular order - Hendricks, Vogelbach, Torrez, Clifton, Hannemann, Black, Paniagua, Skulina, Zastryzny, Mejia, Vizcaino, Sands, Cease, Stinnett, Bruno, Rivero... WTF do I know. Either way, any way, the Cubs organization is sitting pretty for the foreseeable future.

Four things I see that Almora does better than McKinney right now are make contact/hit tool, play better defense overall, play CF period, and he also has a slightly better arm. I like McKinney's power and approach at the plate better, but Almora's hit tool is likely ranked higher. McKinney certainly has more swing and miss to his game. Almora was consistently ranked much higher than McKinney on all pre-2014 prospect lists, but they're likely a lot closer together now due to Almora's poor first half and the fact that McKinney is holding his own as a 19-year-old in High-A, but we have to keep in mind that McKinney put up his numbers in the hitter-friend California League while Almora's were in the pitcher-friendly FSL. Almora certainly had his struggles to start the season, but he is absolutely raking of late. Clearly, I haven't soured much on Almora yet. I certainly could be proven wrong, but this is what I see now.

Jesse Rogers reports Hendricks will be added to the 40-man and start against the Reds Wednesday or Thursday. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/25575/source-hendricks-to-start-against-reds

lol but yeah @ZombieFerret77 @me @IowaCubs lots of hugs and high fives and pats on the back from the p coach! Jesse Rogers reports Hendricks will be added to the 40-man and start against the Reds Wednesday or Thursday. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/25575/source-hendricks-to-start-against-reds

Oh, for [expletive]'s sake...