CubsWin

The Red Sox get Jake Peavy from the White Sox and reliever Brayan Villarreal from the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers get SS Jose Iglesias, in preparation of the pending Biogenesis suspension of their current SS Jhonny Peralta. The White Sox get OFer Avisail Garcia from the Tigers and three Red Sox minor leaguers. Infielder Cleulius Rondon and pitchers Francelis Montas and Jeffery Wendelken.

If you excuse Kris Bryant of his Platinum Sombrero (5 Ks in 5 AB) in his very first game in Boise and only his 3rd professional game after a long layoff, his line looks like this: 7 G, 26 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K. .269/.345/.615

What's your point? Don't really have one. Just noticed it as I was perusing the Cougars stat page. I didn't expect that Almora would have such a decent SLG%. I guess my first thought was that some people were questioning whether or not Almora should be included in the group of power hitting prospects the Cubs are putting together. When I saw that, I thought, why not. I know Vogelbach isn't having his great power-hitting season to date (though he's been heating up lately) so it doesn't really mean that Almora has more power than Vogelbach. It just caught my eye.

Interesting stat, Almora's slugging 25 points higher than Vogelbach. (.482/.457).

This is where I am with Baez as well. I don't think it's nitpicking to be extremely concerned with the BB/K ratio at this point, but the power is unbelievable. But the concern is (and should be) very real. We've seen this story before: Player A (age 19 at high A & AA): .297/.341/.540 34/122 BB/K ratio (133 games) Player B (age 20 at high A & AA): .265/.327/.556 27/110 BB/K ratio (96 games) Player A is Joel Guzman. He was ranked the #5 prospect and was out of MLB by 2010 at the age of 25. Player B is Baez. Whereas, I agree that Baez's current K/BB ratio is a concern and something to keep an eye on, this isn't a good comp. Guzman's pedigree is quite different than that of a high 1st round pick. He was signed as an IFA. He's 6'7" and wasn't expect to stick at SS. His power numbers were inferior to Baez. Add in that any single comp doesn't hold much water and I'm not swayed by this comparison. What's important to me when it comes to young prospects (especially those that are a year or two young for his league) is does he show improvement. Baez showed clear improvement in his K/BB ratio before being promoted. I'm willing to wait to see if he shows similar improvement at the AA level. That said, I don't think we should be looking at him as a high-OBP kind of player. He might mature into one, and with the new regime of instructors and developmental plan, he has a greater chance of doing that than in previous FO regimes, but that's not the cloth he's cut from. It's a concern, but the fact that what he's doing is, as Kyle put it, "Ruthian" right now and that he has shown the ability to show patience in his recent past, I'm not overly concerned at the moment.

Does that really matter anymore? The Cubs are going to get the penalty next year, so it'd literally be trading for money. I read a report that if they didn't sign Tseng, the Cubs needed a little under $500,000 to avoid the big penalty. Looking for it now... From Obstructed View...

Soriano's line against Ian Kennedy: .462/.556/1.231. In 16 PAs, 6 H, 1 2B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 3 K. Great time for a day off...

Does that really matter anymore? The Cubs are going to get the penalty next year, so it'd literally be trading for money. I read a report that if they didn't sign Tseng, the Cubs needed a little under $500,000 to avoid the big penalty. Looking for it now...

I forgot his name but the Yankees are linked to a big time Latin IFA who won't turn 16 till August. That money is already spoken for. Not saying they would trade all of it, but even if they did, they'd still be able to spend $735,000 on a player without incurring a penalty per AZPhil.

Totally not going to happen, but its interesting to note that the Cubs can still add $1,315,500 in IFA slot allotments and the Yankees have $1,163,900 available to trade away.

Normal rest for him would have been yesterday, so it could be any day. He was scheduled to pitch the day he was traded. So he's ready to go. The problem is the Cubs promoted him from Low-A Hickory to High-A Daytona, which means we really have no idea when or if he will ever pitch again.

The Daytona game is postponed due to rain? Wait, what?

On January 8, 2011, Cubs got Matt Garza (26 years old with 3 years of team control), LHP Zach Rosscup (22) and OF Fernando Perez (27). The Cubs gave SS Hak-Ju Lee (20) (Ranked #92 by BA pre-2011), RHP Chris Archer (22) (Ranked #27 by BA pre-2011), C Robinson Chirinos (26), OF Sam Fuld (29) and OF Brandon Guyer (24). On July 22, 2013, Cubs gave Garza (29 years old with 3 months of team control). Cubs got RHP C.J. Edwards (21) (Ranked #73 by Sickels mid-2013, #70 by BullpenBanter mid-2013), 3B Mike Olt (24) (Ranked #44 by BA mid-2013, also #50-55 by Fangraphs, Prospect 361 mid-2013), RHP Justin Grimm (24), and 1 or 2 PTBNL. If the Cubs opt to go with only one PTBNL, it can be 2007 1st rounder RHP Neil Ramirez (24). Who got the better deal, the 2011 Hendry led Cubs or the 2013 Epstein/Hoyer led Cubs?

For all the crappy performances today (and there were a lot, a total of 16 errors so far), the Cubs top guys did some nice things and that's all I really care about. Cabrera finally pitched for Iowa and did really well. The big 4 in KC all had great nights. Baez and Alcantara both went for extra bases. Vitters continues to hit and draw walks. Tyler Skulina had a great night and has yet to allow an earned run in 10 innings. Dunston went 4/5 furthering the argument that he's for real as a prospect. Hannemann is back and got a double. And Kris Bryant played. I don't care how terribly he played. I just like the fact that he did. It's strange to feel good about a night like tonight, but I do. This was a good night for Cubs prospects.

It's still too early to say for sure that he's developed his approach, but the early reports look really good. I've been wanting to make the same comment, I guess you're more courageous than I am. Vitters will get a call up at some point, and if he keeps doing what he has been, I'm excited to see what he can do in his second taste of major league pitching.

I disagree. The Giants have a couple of worthy pitching prospects besides their best in Crick. None of the teams the Cubs have been talking to have been willing to give up their best arm for him nor would I expect them to. Clayton Blackburn would be the one I'm most interested in after Crick. But there's also Adalberto Mejia, Edwin Escobar and Ty Blach. I like Susac. A college catcher taken in the 2nd round in 2011, he's 23 and OPSing .844 with a .370 OBP in AA. He's thrown out 40% of baserunners this season. He's blocked by Posey so the Giants might be more willing to trade away a good catching prospect than some other teams and the Cubs could use one. If the Cubs could get Blackburn, Susac and one of those other pitchers (preferably Escobar) that would be a really good trade. They may have to give up more than Garza to get that, it all depends on how desperate the Giants are. But it goes to show that SF has some decent depth behind Crick. That said, I'd much rather trade with the Pirates or Red Sox...

The Red Sox and Pirates were the two teams I thought had the best prospects to offer, so these latest turns of fortune are awesome. The Pirates likely only see Garza as a rental so I doubt they'd give up both Kingham and Glasnow. Add Schierholtz and it becomes a lot more possible because of his added year of control. The Red Sox are likely thinking extension so I'm hoping the Cubs could get two of the following: Owens, Workman, Barnes, Ranaudo, De La Rosa and Webster. If the Cubs can get a bidding war going, who knows...

They've got AJ Cole, who's a top 100 guy and Giolito, who's coming back from TJS. Outside of that, I'm not a fan. Any package the Nats would put together would be light on major league ready talent, but there is one guy who fits that description. Taylor Jordan seems to have figured things out. He lost time to TJS in 2011-12 but is back healthy now. He fits the profile that the front office looks for in a pitcher. Throws strikes, good downward plane, a mid-90s sinker that gets up to 96 and produces a lot of groundballs. His GO/AO is consistently 1.6 or better. He's 24 and will be for the rest of the season and has a good pitcher's frame (6'3", 190 lbs). He was dominating AA before being called up to the bigs as an injury fill in. He strikes me as a back of the rotation guy with a chance of becoming more, kinda like Travis Wood. The headliner, of course, would be either Lucas Giolito or A.J. Cole. Giolito is pitching in games finally, but the only way I see the Nats giving him up is if they're interested in signing Garza to an extension, and the Cubs are sending other players along with him. I can see them having a need for a veteran lefty like James Russell, but after that it would have to be prospects because they don't really have any holes at the major league level. Obviously, the much more realistic option is A.J. Cole. After that, there are some interesting (not exciting) lefties like Purke, Ray and Solis. Of that group, I think Solis (another TJS comeback candidate) has the highest ceiling but is already 24. Ray, 21, sounds a lot like Kyle Hendricks with a little less control but better at missing bats. They do have two OFers with a chance in 2011 late 1st rounder Brian Goodwin and Michael Taylor. If the Cubs could get Cole, Jordan and one/two lesser prospects, that might be a worthwhile package. Shooting for the moon and putting together a package for Giolito, Jordan and Solis/Ray would cost the Cubs more in talent, but would also have the excitement factor and upside I'm a sucker for. I agree after their top two prospects, the Nats system is kind of meh, but with the emergence of Taylor and the inclusion of one of their top two, something could get done with them.

Yeah, that would give him 43 Ks and 7 BB in 31 innings. That's 12.48 K/9 and 2.03 BB/9. The 6'2" lefty struck out 60 and walked 20 in 60.1 innings as a 17-year-old and doesn't turn 19 until next April. Of the two 17-year-old lefties in the DSL last season, I thought he would be the one to go north, but it was Carlos Rodriguez (he of the better numbers but slighter build) who went instead. Perhaps, Paulino used that as motivation... Incidently, Rodriguez turned 18 today. He hasn't been all that impressive in the AZL so far posting a 3.38 ERA but giving up 9 BB against 9 K and just over a hit per inning. Still, not terrible given his age.

Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman from the Red Sox please.

In 2011, he went on the DL on May 24th with a elbow stiffness, pitched again on June 6th and didn't miss a start the rest of the season. He was healthy until July 21st the next season when he suffered the first major injury of his career. He then suffered a setback while rehabbing from that injury. Dude pitched 75.2 minor league innings the year he was drafted. Followed by years of 185.2, 175, 188.1. At age 25, he pitched his first of three consecutive seasons of 198 innings or more. Finally, last year, he had his first major injury and missed significant time. If that's injury prone to you, it's okay with me. I wouldn't use that word.

Fixed. Curious what you mean by fixed. Are you saying it is not fair to call him injury prone? Or that recently injured is a more damning description. This is the first and only time he's missed significant time in his career. That doesn't make a player injury prone.

Fixed.

I don't know how strong the Nationals interest is but they sure seem to have quite a few arms that might interest the Cubs. Robbie Ray Taylor Jordan Nate Karns Ian Krol Matt Purke It doesn't sound like the Pirates are in on Garza, but I think they could put together a very competitive offer without moving Cole or Taillion. One of these guys would be a good start. If the Pirates are desperate enough, maybe more than one! Nick Kingham Tyler Glasnow Luis Heredia The Pirates also have some interesting catching prospects. If they do want Schierholtz and aren't willing to part with one of the three above arms for him, getting one of these catching prospects would be nice. Wyatt Mathisen Tony Sanchez Jin-De Jhang

So long as Olt wouldn't be the center piece of the deal, I'd have no problem taking him on. He wouldn't be my choice, but he isn't devoid of value. Case in point, last year, he hit .288/.398/.579/.977 as an age appropriate (college draftee) 23-year-old in AA. Olt skipped Low-A entirely, and has progressed at a level per season since. He entered 2013 ranked as the #22 prospect by both BA and MLB. This is his scheduled AAA season. He started this season horribly. Apparently had eye issues. Took basically the month of May to get that taken care of, came back and hit .264/.364/.527/.892 in June with 18 BB against 36 Ks in 129 PAs for a 28% K rate. In the last 7 days, he's hit .316/.364/.474/.837. Clearly, he strikes out more than anyone would want him to. And whereas, the Cubs would want to work with him on that aspect of his game, he's not as much of a reclamation project as Arrieta. If the Cubs could get the Rangers to sell low on him and get a better prospect along the lines of Luke Jackson or Jorge Alfaro (would go crazy over CJ Edwards but I can't see that happening), that's a good return for Garza in my book.