CubsWin

And in his 1st AB in five days, Baez gets a hit.

It is not raining in Brevard County. I repeat. It is NOT raining in Brevard County.

Why would you think the motivation would be to acquire a crappy reliever rather than a cheap owner saving more money? How about a "tapped out owner" trying to save money. There's way too much evidence that the Ricketts family hasn't been cheap at all...

Of those five, clearly the most acceptable.

After a horrific 1st inning in which Loux walked the bases loaded on the first three batters he faced but got out of it allowing only one run on a groundball out and striking out the next two. Loux has righted the ship going allowing just two hits, no walks while K'ing 4 in the next 4 frames. 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 3 BB, 6 K on the night so far...

davell, do teams have to wait until July 2nd to acquire IFA money?

Yep - doubleheader postponed. Unbelievable. What's the point?

Precisely my point. The Rockies say they don't want to trade prospects for a rental, not that they have any of interest. So that means they prefer to trade from their 25-man roster. If it's accurate that they're interested in Feldman, who could they possibly be thinking of trading away...? I don't see a match anywhere. Chatwood? Chacin? Pomeranz is the least proven of those mentioned. Do you see someone I'm missing? I think that means the Rockies are not going to give up more than non-prospects for a rental if they trade for one at all, not that they would be dealing from the MLB roster for rentals. Why would a team trade them a starting pitcher who will help them get to the playoffs for a non-prospect who isn't on the 25-man roster? Isn't that the definition of organizational filler?

Just as I'm having trouble seeing the Orioles come up with two good prospects for Garza, the only matches I could find on the Rockies roster (seeing as they don't want to give up prospects, not that they have any...) that the Cubs would be interested in for Feldman are Pomeranz and Chatwood. Does it make sense for the Rockies to trade either of these guys to improve their roster this year? Who else could they be thinking of dealing? Chacin? That said, would you take Pomeranz in exchange for Feldman? At first glance, I would. Am I missing something? I would too. Well, sure. There's no way in hell the Rockies do that, though, and I wouldn't either. Precisely my point. The Rockies say they don't want to trade prospects for a rental, not that they have any of interest. So that means they prefer to trade from their 25-man roster. If it's accurate that they're interested in Feldman, who could they possibly be thinking of trading away...? I don't see a match anywhere. Chatwood? Chacin? Pomeranz is the least proven of those mentioned. Do you see someone I'm missing?

How is Orioles a very good fit considering what Garza should bring back? It would means that one of Bundy/Gausman is def coming back (since it says including 2 top prospects) unless this guy meaning of "top prospect" is a lot different than mine. I thought the same thing. I'm guessing he is saying that the O's are a good fit based on need rather than ability to provide the pieces the Cubs would want. Unless with Bundy's TJS they're willing to move him for Garza. If that's true and the 2nd prospect is LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, then maybe, but the only way that is worth it for the O's is if they can extend Garza. For the third prospect, throw-in somebody like Michael Belfiore as a future lefty out of the pen and I'm definitely interested in that for Garza. Add something going back the other way if necessary. Are the O's desperate enough to win this year (they're 3 up in the wild card race) to give up on Bundy assuming they can work out a pre-trade deal to extend Garza? How do you guys feel about Bundy post-TJS? I'd jump at it personally.

Another head-scratching rumor is the one coming out of Colorado. Just as I'm having trouble seeing the Orioles come up with two good prospects for Garza, the only matches I could find on the Rockies roster (seeing as they don't want to give up prospects, not that they have any...) that the Cubs would be interested in for Feldman are Pomeranz and Chatwood. Does it make sense for the Rockies to trade either of these guys to improve their roster this year? Who else could they be thinking of dealing? Chacin? That said, would you take Pomeranz in exchange for Feldman? At first glance, I would. Am I missing something?

Apparently, Pugliese completely retooled his delivery after last season. Seems to be working so far, he's off to a great start. Here's a video clip from KIVI-Boise interviewing Pugliese about it... http://www.kivitv.com/sports/211310361.html

Dillon Maples putting another interestingly bad line. 2IP, 0 H, 2 R (earned), 4 BB, 0 K. Code Blue. Calling Derek Johnson? Dr. Derek Johnson? Please come to the bullpen. Stat!

Balaguert Bomb! Oh wait, nobody cares...

Alcantara.

Paniagua last pitched on the 25th so his day will likely be Monday as the DSL doesn't play on Sundays, but I suppose he could pitch on 3 days rest.

For me, the top target is clear, C Jorge Alfaro. After that, Luke Jackson would be nice. Cody Buckel seems to have completely forgotten how to pitch, so buying low on him would be nice. Those three for Garza wouldn't be bad at all. Don't know if the Rangers are desperate enough to give up Alfaro though.

After an extensive internet search, that report is the latest I could find. However, nowhere did I find that Leal may now be throwing in the low 90s. Not in that link or in any other. Where did you get that?

Yeah, I said as much in the previous post. I agree, he doesn't seem like a Theo & Co. guy at all. However, the comparison to Castro is way off. Historically, their peripherals aren't even in the same ballpark.

Dirks OPS? .673 Schierholtz OPS? .926 There's no need to give up on or "replace" Dirks. But bringing in a guy like Schierholtz whose OPS is currently 250 higher wouldn't be a bad idea if you wanted to win a World Series.

Detriot is rumored to be looking for a closer, and according mlbtraderumors, "Other teams say the Tigers are willing to surrender top prospects Nick Castellanos or Avisail Garcia if necessary. The team is focused on finding a closer." I highly doubt they would give up either of those two for Gregg, but what if Schierholtz were included? He would provide a much needed left-handed bat in their line-up and is greatly outproducing Andy Dirks. Garcia is not the type of hitter the Cubs are looking for, but is still young having just turned 22 about a week ago and was ranked the #74 prospect heading into this season by BA. Castellanos would be a coup, but I just can't see the Tigers giving him up for these two players. Is Garcia worth trying to acquire?

Since all is lost this season, I really hope the Cubs are able to move Schierholtz for something decent. He's having a heck of a year and has one more year of team control after 2013 despite his one year contract with the Cubs. Who needs OFers? Here's a nice read from Fangraph's Dave Cameron on Schierholtz posted a few days ago.

CF Bobby Hill Ah, you took the bait. Thank you, Kyle. Your service to the development of Cubs prospect knows no bounds. I guess we can pencil him in as the starting CFer in 2015 now...

Weird stat of the night: 20-year-old, Dominican CFer, Jenner Emeterio has stolen 15 bases in 16 attempts in just 19 games. He has just 16 hits on the year. If he didn't have 13 walks to go with them, that stat would be even more impressive...

I would consider it a vindication of the investment the Cubs put into him if he gave them a Reed Johnson type player off the bench. But can he be more than that? Average age of a legit college prospect when they join pro ball is around 21. The good ones usually spend some time in short season ball and then progress to Low-A. I haven't been considering Szczur as anything special lately. But when you factor out the adjustment time to a new level most players experience when promoted late in the year, these are his slashes as an age appropriate prospect so far: 2011 Low-A (21): .314/.366/.431 in 274 AB, 17 out of 22 stolen base attempts, 28/21 K/BB. 2012 High-A (22): .295/.394/.407 in 295 AB, 38 out of 50 stolen base attempts, 50/47 K/BB. 2013 AA (23): .301/.371/.395 in 286 AB, 17 out of 24 stolen base attempts, 46/29 K/BB. The jump from High-A to AA is often described as the toughest in the minors. I would think it is nothing like the jump from AAA to the majors. Assuming Szczur's pattern continues into AAA and he puts up similar numbers next year, he would have a shot to win the CF job in 2015 and be a legit old school lead-off man for the Cubs. Athleticism, late commitment to baseball, blah blah blah. I don't hear any scouts thinking he can be a good OBP, base stealing, defensively above average, starting CFer in the bigs. Should I be? I fear the answer is no. Any good comps for him?