Outshined_One

When Andy and Jim went about overhauling the organization in the mid 90's, they explicitly talked about focusing most of their developmental attention on pitchers, while trading for bats later. They thought that was the best way to emulate the Braves, ignoring how many quality position players that franchise developed. Quite frankly, I don't think any of us can really complain about the number of pitching prospects the Cubs have produced who have had some amount of success in the major leagues over the past ten years. Their plan worked. Off the top of my head, the following guys have pitched with varying degrees of success and exposure in the majors after spending some time in the Cubs' minor league system in the past ten years... Mark Prior Kerry Wood Carlos Zambrano Rich Hill Sean Marshall Jon Garland Carlos Marmol Dontrelle Willis Sergio Mitre Ricky Nolasco Renyel Pinto Carmen Pignatiello Michael Wuertz Ryan O'Malley John Koronka Todd Wellemeyer Will Ohman Andy Sisco Francis Beltran Sean Gallagher Juan Mateo That's just off the top of my head, to boot.

This shouldn't be much of an issue in terms of developing position players for an organization like the Cubs. As we have seen in numerous previous drafts, there will always be players who fall either because of contract demands or because teams did not do their due diligence in determining whether or not a player could truly be pried away from a college commitment. Moreover, by focusing solely on the draft, you ignore the international market for players. A team with sufficient resources should be able to not only afford some of the big name talent in other countries, but also should have the scouting department that can unearth the relatively unknown players who have a world of talent, but can be signed for a relatively inexpensive cost. Finally, something needs to be said for coaching and development. While the Cubs have guys in this organization who have proven themselves to be competent and capable of effectively developing position players, I don't think they have had much of that in their past. I also think this is an area which the organization could stand to improve itself. I have some faith that the current crop of position prospects in the low minors will turn out some very good major league players, but there is still plenty of work ahead. Pitchers, on the other hand, we've done a bang-up job of scouting and developing over the past 10 years. Go figure.

Are you talking about sports fans in cheering any given player or a player who plays for the team said sports fans root for?

Think of it like the Spanish Inquisition. It happens when you least expect it.

I'm always confusing him with someone I thought was going to be good, and it irritates me to see his name because I can never remember who that guy was... That would be his uncle.

Box Scores Iowa lost 2-1 Box Score LF M. Murton 0/4, CS (1) RF J. Kroeger 1/3, R, 2B (4), 2 K 1B/RF J. Fox 1/4, RBI, 2B (3), 2 K, E (2, missed catch) 3B/1B C. McGehee 1/3, BB, K 2B E. Patterson 0/1 SP M. Burns 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 6/1 K/BB, 5-4 GO-FO Tennessee won 3-2 Box Score RF M. Camp 1/4, K, Assist (2B) CF T. Colvin 1/4, 2 K 1B D. Deeds 1/3, BB, 2 R DH K. Reynolds 1/4, K 2B N. Spears 0/1, BB, R, K, HBP SP J. Samardzija 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2/2 K/BB, HR, WP, 1-11 GO-FO RP C. Shaver 2 scoreless, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, 1-3 GO-FO RP M. Cooper 1.2 scoreless, 4 H, 1/0 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO RP E. Campusano .1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB Daytona lost 4-3 Box Score SS D. Barney 1/5, RBI LF T. Wright 3/5, R, K DH S. Clevenger 0/3, BB PR/DH T. Thomas 0/0, PO (1B) C W. Castillo 2/4, RBI, K, E (1, throw), PB (1) 3B J. Lansford 1/4, R, K 1B R. Canzler 0/4, K SP J. Ceda 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB, HR, 5-7 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HR, WP, 0-6 GO-FO Peoria lost 5-1 Box Score LF C. Andersen 1/4, BB, R, 2B (4), 2 K, SB (2) 2B N. Samson 0/3, BB, K SS M. Gonzalez 1/3, BB DH J. Donaldson 1/3, BB 1B J. Rosa 0/4, K RF K. Burke 1/4, K, SB (1) CF D. Rundle 0/4, 2 K 3B J. Mota 2/4, 2B (2), K SP C. Siegfried 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1/2 K/BB, HR, 10-4 GO-FO OVERALL: 1-3

He did register the account the same day Kosuke1 was banned. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

Iowa's facing off against a rehabbing Yovani Gallardo. Should be a fun game.

I'm willing to give him a pass due to having a piss-poor coach and a mediocre supporting cast. I don't think he has the kind of "All Time Great" potential you'd hope for out of a #1 overall pick, but I think his floor is that of a solid, yet unspectacular, PF.

Yep. I think part of the problem we're seeing with some of the Cubs' position prospects down in Peoria is that they likely don't have much experience in cold weather. When you look at some of the notable position prospects down in Peoria, a lot of them likely haven't had a whole lot of exposure to playing in these kinds of conditions. If we're at Mid-July and no one out of the Donaldson/Burke/Rundle/Andersen/Rosa/Gonzalez/Smith group has emerged as at least an intriguing prospect, then I'll be concerned. For now, I'm happy to be patient and see how things develop as the weather improves.

I was wondering the same thing myself. the only race thing I remember was him saying that black people play better in the heat. You don't remember his claims of incessant racial taunts against LaTroy Hawkins and Jacque Jones? Or his comments about San Francisco's racist tendencies when they ran him out of town?

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Box Scores Iowa won 5-4 in 12 innings Box Score 2B E. Patterson 1/6, 2 K LF M. Murton 0/5, BB RF J. Kroeger 2/4, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI, 2B (3), CS (1), PO (3B) 1B J. Fox 2/6, R, 3 RBI, HR (3), K 3B C. McGehee 2/5, RBI, 2B (2), K CF S. Fuld 0/5, 3 K SP M. Holliman 6 scoreless, 3 H, 6/0 K/BB, 4-8 GO-FO RP C. Pignatiello .1 perfect, 0-1 GO-FO RP J. Ascanio 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, HR, 2-2 GO-FO RP N. Cotts 2 scoreless, 2 H, 2/1 K/BB, 3-1 GO-FO Tennessee lost 10-3 Box Score SS/P J. Simokaitis 0/2, BB, K, E (2, fielding) CF T. Colvin 0/4, RBI, 2 K DH R. Harvey 0/3, K 2B N. Spears 0/1 1B D. Deeds 0/4, 3 K RF M. Camp 0/3, BB, 2 R, Assist (Home) SP J. Berg 5 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 0/1 K/BB, HBP, 12-3 GO-FO RP R. Roquet 2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP S. Avery .2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO RP J. Simokaitis 1.1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO Daytona lost 10-6 Box Score 2B T. Thomas 3/5, 2 R, 2B (2), 3B (1), 2 K (Ejected in 8th) RF T. Wright 0/4, BB, R, 3 K 1B S. Clevenger 2/5, 2 K C W. Castillo 1/5, R, RBI, 2B (1), K 3B J. Lansford 2/5, R, RBI, 2B (2) SS D. Barney 1/4, R, 2B (4), K SP E. Caridad .2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0/1 K/BB, WP, 2-0 GO-FO RP J. Papelbon 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB, 3-1 GO-FO Peoria won 4-0 Box Score CF D. Rundle 0/3, BB, K 2B N. Samson 1/3, 2 RBI, 2B (1) SS M. Gonzalez 1/4, K DH J. Donaldson 1/4, K 3B M. Smith 0/4, 2 K 1B J. Rosa 0/3, R, 2 K RF K. Burke 3/3, 2 R, RBI, HR (1) SP D. Rhee 6 scoreless, 3 H, 3/3 K/BB, 8-7 GO-FO OVERALL: 2-2

Eric Patterson!

Not to mention it's been freaking cold out all day and night.

Honestly, I don't know how much I agree with the idea that a player with a high K rate has a lower chance of getting on base than a player with a low K rate. When you think of guys who K at monstrous rates like Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn, then compare them to the Juan Pierres of the world, that sort of data tends to run counter to the idea that strikeouts hinder your ability to get on base more than some other factor.

Welcome! Are you a FSU student/grad or did you have the opportunity to catch the D-Cubs recently?

Since we all know this one is coming a mile away for the upcoming series, I figured I might as well start the thread on it.

Corey Patterson and Dusty Baker returning to Chicago? Let me warm up my vocal cords. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I enjoy the new changes.

Does anyone else get the feeling the bullpen is going to fade down the stretch at the rate things are going? All of these extra inning games can't be good for them.

4-2 on the Pennsylvania road trip? I'll take it. Despite it being massively painful at times and each game feeling like it lasted for a week.

Edit: nm

Alex Cora vs Matt Clement? The Franco matchup stung a lot more, imo. Besides, Z ended up plunking Cora quite effectively when he tried doing the same crap to him the next day. I think I laughed for a week after that.

This is slowly turning into Julio Franco vs. Kyle Farnsworth Redux.