evv98

Maybe it's mental at this point. He's been in the system since 2007 and was the jewel of that system until 2011 or 2012. He had a disastrous cup-of-coffee a couple of years ago that sent his stock plummeting. He followed that up with a decent/good year at Iowa last year, yet was never strongly considered for a roster spot in Chicago this year for a very poor team. Now he has been passed by numerous other prospects who are capable of playing any position on the team that he may hope to fill. Seven years in minor-league baseball is a long time. And now his path is blocked by better players. Perhaps he sees the writing on the wall and is near the end. The best he can hope for now is that he gets traded or released and becomes one of those change-of-scenery guys somewhere else. But at his still young age for the level (I feel as though we've been saying this far too long,) coupled with the fact that the bulk of 2013 was lost to injury, I can't imagine he'd have entered the season with any sense of entitlement. If anything, being blocked would be incentive to be noticed by another team in hopes of being traded. Is he still young? I think he's age appropriate at this point. Disclaimer- take out the career AAAA guys if you're gonna quote the average AAA age. He will be 25 in three weeks, so I wouldn't say he is young for a "prospect".

Maybe it's mental at this point. He's been in the system since 2007 and was the jewel of that system until 2011 or 2012. He had a disastrous cup-of-coffee a couple of years ago that sent his stock plummeting. He followed that up with a decent/good year at Iowa last year, yet was never strongly considered for a roster spot in Chicago this year for a very poor team. Now he has been passed by numerous other prospects who are capable of playing any position on the team that he may hope to fill. Seven years in minor-league baseball is a long time. And now his path is blocked by better players. Perhaps he sees the writing on the wall and is near the end. The best he can hope for now is that he gets traded or released and becomes one of those change-of-scenery guys somewhere else. But at his still young age for the level (I feel as though we've been saying this far too long,) coupled with the fact that the bulk of 2013 was lost to injury, I can't imagine he'd have entered the season with any sense of entitlement. If anything, being blocked would be incentive to be noticed by another team in hopes of being traded. I am not sure if I would call it entitlement, but he had to have a sense of "What is it going to take to get another shot?" after this spring. His numbers at Iowa last year were right in line with his numbers in 2012 that got him called up (albeit in just 28 games). The major league team had four or five AAAA or fifth outfielder types, along with another failed prospect who was given a shot at third whose numbers were significantly worse than Vitters last year. If there were ever a year for him to be on the major league roster and given a chance to show what he could do, it was this year. It had to be discouraging, especially with all of the uber prospects nearly ready to take over. I agree that being blocked could have and should have been an incentive to be noticed by some other team, but everyone reacts differently to adversity. Maybe he is just going through the motions and is ready to throw in the towel on a long minor league career. Maybe something will change in the off-season and we will see him on a major league roster somewhere, sometime next season.

I can only imagine the reaction if he had duplicated Castro's debut. Maybe tonight.

Maybe it's mental at this point. He's been in the system since 2007 and was the jewel of that system until 2011 or 2012. He had a disastrous cup-of-coffee a couple of years ago that sent his stock plummeting. He followed that up with a decent/good year at Iowa last year, yet was never strongly considered for a roster spot in Chicago this year for a very poor team. Now he has been passed by numerous other prospects who are capable of playing any position on the team that he may hope to fill. Seven years in minor-league baseball is a long time. And now his path is blocked by better players. Perhaps he sees the writing on the wall and is near the end. The best he can hope for now is that he gets traded or released and becomes one of those change-of-scenery guys somewhere else.

Is it okay to feel optimistic again?

Finally a reason to watch a game instead of sitting at the computer refreshing the Minor League thread every five minutes. Or I'll do both.

Kingman is a definite favorite of mine. He was with the Cubs during my pre-teen years and I loved when he would come to bat. I actually went to a game at Wrigley the year before the Cubs acquired him and he smacked two homeruns, one of which left the stadium. I think my enthusiasm for Kingman as a Cub came from that game. Later, as an adult, I played slow-pitch softball for several years. I often fantasized about what i would be like to have him on a slow-pitch softball team. With that being said, Sandberg has always been my favorite Cub.

Drop Fielder Add Moss

Drop Harper Add McCutchen

I'm the Cubs of the 2014 HR Derby. All pitching...no offense.

Group A: Cabrera Group B: Fielder, Beltre Group C: Stanton, Votto, Harper Group D: Puig, Pujols, Wright, Heyward, Butler WC pm'd

I'd be interested.

In my lone money league, a five-game losing streak had my team was languishing in 10th place with two weeks to go and needing to make up a game to make the eight team playoffs. They caught fire just in time, leading the league in scoring the final two weeks to finish 6-7 and with the 6th seed. In the playoffs we finished 1st and 2nd in scoring in the league and are now in the Championship Game against the #1 seed. Unfortunately they have every possible good match-up and are favored to win by 30. I need Charles or Gordon (or Brady/Rivers) to blow up again to take down the top prize.

This was my third year participating, and I enjoy it. Keep it going. One suggestion.... Ryan Braun should be banned.....for life.

So many choices for replacement, so few transactions left. Drop Braun, add Cabrera.

Drop Howard Add Chris Carter

I am speaking from an impartial point-of-view here, but who can blame anyone for this? Howard did outplay Crawford early in their series, but Crawford came back and was a huge part of the Hawks comeback and was credited for it. Quick has the reputation of being one of the best goalies in the league but nobody was saying he was better than Crawford in their series. Rask came in as the "hot" goalie, having shut down the best offense in the league. He has also outplayed Crawford so far, facing more scoring opportunities and more shots, while allowing fewer goals. Also two of his five goals allowed were absolute flukes. Crawford has been good, but has hardly stood on his head. Don't worry, if the Hawks come back and win this series he will get plenty of credit. Even if they don't I think you will see Crawford's stature being much higher in the future based on this playoff season.

Drop Kemp Add Goldschmidt

Sappelt might be debatable, Hairston absolutely should be getting the starts. Every time.

Drop Stanton Add Braun

Group A - Stanton Group B - Bruce, Pujols Group C - Kemp, C Gonzalez, Harper Group D - Longoria, J Upton, Votto, Howard, Rizzo WC - PM'd

I'm in...Bleacher Bums.

It'll happen whenever Alford gets a team to the number one seed.

Manny Trillo played in my first game too, but it was 12 years earlier. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197505300.shtml The Cubs were actually in first place to start the day, but this loss sent them back into second place. Andre Thornton was my favorite Cub for some reason. All I really remember from the game was being excited about the Cubs being in first place and asking my father if he thought they could win the World Series. His reply was "Nope. They always find a way to screw it up.". He was right then and in every season since.

Not that it would have gained me much (just one homerun), but I see no confirmation that my transaction was completed when I requested it on the 26th.