CaliforniaRaisin

Season starts today. Not all the rosters are out. So far, we have: Leones del Caracas: C Henry Blanco I believe Ronny Cedeño is on the Caribes.

So far, only one Cub has shown up on a Mexican roster - that's second baseman Issmael Salas with the Algodoneros de Guasave and he's eligible to be a free agent on October 15th. Anyways, the Mexican Pacific Winter League starts tonight.

One Cub makes it, and he makes it into the top ten after checking in at 13 in the FSL Top 20: 1. Justin Upton, of, Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) 2. Evan Longoria, 3b, Montgomery Biscuits (Devil Rays) 3. Wade Davis, rhp, Montgomery Biscuits (Devil Rays) 4. Johnny Cueto, rhp, Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds) 5. Brandon Jones, of, Mississippi Braves 6. Reid Brignac, ss, Montgomery Biscuits (Devil Rays) 7. Tyler Colvin, of, Tennessee Smokies (Cubs) 8. Manny Parra, lhp, Huntsville Stars (Brewers) 9. Gio Gonzalez, lhp, Birmingham Barons (White Sox) 10. Carlos Gonzalez, of, Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) 11. Mark Reynolds, 3b, Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) 12. Chin-Lung Hu, ss, Jacksonville Suns (Dodgers) 13. Brent Lillibridge, ss, Mississippi Braves 14. Jonathan Meloan, rhp, Jacksonville Suns (Dodgers) 15. Max Scherzer, rhp, Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) 16. Jo Jo Reyes, lhp, Mississippi Braves 17. Diory Hernandez, ss, Mississippi Braves 18. James McDonald, rhp, Jacksonville Suns (Dodgers) 19. Gaby Hernandez, rhp, Carolina Mudcats (Marlins) 20. Alcides Escobar, ss, Huntsville Stars (Brewers)

Muldowney: TJS Dolis: labrum or TJS (I'd guess TJS since everything said his elbow was hurt) Don't think we'll see either til late 2008.

Two Cubs: 1. Jay Bruce, of, Sarasota Reds 2. Cameron Maybin, of, Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers) 3. Jake McGee, lhp, Vero Beach Devil Rays 4. Wade Davis, rhp, Vero Beach Devil Rays 5. Johnny Cueto, rhp, Sarasota Reds 6. Carlos Carrasco, rhp, Clearwater Threshers (Phillies) 7. Ian Kennedy, rhp, Tampa Yankees 8. Deolis Guerra, rhp, St. Lucie Mets 9. Jose Tabata, of, Tampa Yankees 10. Austin Jackson, of, Tampa Yankees 11. Chris Volstad, rhp, Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins) 12. Alcides Escobar, ss, Brevard County Manatees (Brewers) 13. Tyler Colvin, of, Daytona Cubs 14. Josh Outman, lhp, Clearwater Threshers (Phillies) 15. Adam Ottavino, rhp, Palm Beach Cardinals 16. Brett Sinkbeil, rhp, Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins) 17. Frank Cervelli, c, Tampa Yankees 18. Eduardo Morlan, rhp, Fort Myers Miracle (Twins) 19. Jeff Samardzija, rhp, Daytona Cubs 20. Rhyne Hughes, 1b, Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)

Game 163 - San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies Coors Field in Denver, Colorado Mon., October 1 @ 6:37 p.m. CT TV: TBS Radio: San Diego & LA: XPRS 1090, XEMO (Sp.) | Denver: KOA 850 http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/mlb/408241.jpg @ http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/mlb/150319.jpg RHP Jake Peavy (19-6, 2.36 ERA, 176 ERA+, 234 K/64 BB) @ RHP Josh Fogg (10-9, 4.79 ERA ,99 ERA+, 89 K/57 BB) Weather: 69°F, Cloudy, 10% chance of precip, winds from the SSW at 11 mph (3B to RF)

East W L PCT GB E# Philadelphia 88 73 .547 - - New York 88 73 .547 - - West W L PCT GB E# Arizona 90 71 .559 - - San Diego 89 72 .553 1.0 1 Wild Card W L PCT GB E# San Diego 89 72 .556 - - Colorado 88 73 .547 1.0 1 Philadelphia 88 73 .547 1.0 1 New York 88 73 .547 1.0 1 Florida (Willis) at New York (Glavine), 1:10 pm ET Washington (Bergmann) at Philadelphia (Moyer), 1:35 pm ET San Diego (Tomko) at Milwaukee (Suppan), 1:05 pm CT Arizona (Petit) at Colorado (Jimenez), 1:05 pm MT

1. Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Great Lakes (Dodgers) 2. Travis Snider, of, Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays) 3. Brett Anderson, lhp, South Bend (Diamondbacks) 4. Gorkys Hernandez, of, West Michigan (Tigers) 5. Hank Conger, c, Cedar Rapids (Angels) 6. Carlos Triunfel, ss, Wisconsin (Mariners) 7. Jose Ceda, rhp, Peoria (Cubs) 8. Gerardo Parra, of, South Bend (Diamondbacks) 9. Josh Bell, 3b, Great Lakes (Dodgers) 10. Drew Stubbs, of, Dayton (Reds) 11. Tyler Herron, rhp, Quad Cities (Cardinals) 12. Omar Poveda, rhp, Clinton (Rangers) 13. Jeff Manship, rhp, Beloit (Twins) 14. John Whittleman, 3b, Clinton (Rangers) 15. Juan Francisco, 3b, Dayton (Reds) 16. Drew Miller, rhp, Fort Wayne (Padres) 17. Kasey Kiker, lhp, Clinton (Rangers) 18. Sean O'Sullivan, rhp, Cedar Rapids (Angels) 19. Trevor Cahill, rhp, Kane County (Athletics) 20. Tyler Robertson, lhp, Beloit (Twins) http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/features/264933.html For some reason, when I checked the writeup, the only writeup missing was the one for Ceda. :roll:

Four Cubs make the top 20, no surprises here: 1. Matt Latos, rhp, Eugene (Padres) 2. Josh Donaldson, c, Boise (Cubs) 3. Juan Ramirez, rhp, Everett (Mariners) 4. Tony Thomas, 2b, Boise (Cubs) 5. Fabio Castillo, rhp, Spokane (Rangers) 6. Kellen Kulbacki, of, Eugene (Padres) 7. Tommy Hunter, rhp, Spokane (Rangers) 8. Greg Halman, of, Everett (Mariners) 9. Helder Velazquez, ss, Tri City (Rockies) 10. Matt Mangini, 3b, Everett (Mariners) 11. Corey Brown, of, Everett (Mariners) 12. Bruce Billings, rhp, Tri City (Rockies) 13. Cory Riordan, rhp, Tri City (Rockies) 14. Mitch Canham, c, Eugene (Padres) 15. Robinson Fabian, rhp, Tri City (Rockies) 16. Kyler Burke, of, Boise (Cubs) 17. Edward Paredes, lhp, Everett (Mariners) 18. Chris Huseby, rhp, Boise (Cubs) 19. Brian Rike, of, Tri City (Rockies) 20. Jake Brigham, rhp, Spokane (Rangers) http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/features/264930.html Donaldson: offensive-minded catcher w/ aggressive approach and unproven defense. Geared to pull, feasts on FBs, has above-average bat speed and raw power. One scout said he showed agility behind the plate and his throws were online but he still has work to do behind the plate (threw out 40% of basestealers but had 11 PBs). Thomas: Mature approach w/ solid-average bat speed and a knack for squaring up on the ball. Flat swing isn't conducive for power but uses all fields and can pepper the alleys with doubles. His basestealing (28/30 in SBs) is due to using his instincts to enhance his above avg. speed. Below-average defender w/ below-average arm. Burke: Was shellshocked when he came to the Hawks - a year after being a first rounder, he was sitting in someone else's locker room. But after that, he became one of the most improved players on the Hawks. Pull-oriented and at times overaggressive, has major power thanks in part to his muscular frame. Fringe average runner, plus arm, should be a dependable RF with offensive upside. Huseby: Cubs have used kid gloves and his stuff was underwhelming. His upside lies in athleticism and projection at this point. Was at 88-91 for most of the season, dipping to 86-88. Inconsistent breaking ball...he was sharpening a slider which is better than the curve he used in HS. Shwoed avg. control but below-avg. command, delivery and arm action are sound for a 6-7 guy.

- Cubs.com

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070924&content_id=2227535&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla I'm a fan of his...that said, Uncle Larry isn't going anywhere (and I don't think he should).

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/askba/264916.html

IF the Cubs were to make the playoffs, would you like the game threads started by the most successful game thread starters so far this season (i.e. Southpaw19, UMFan83, davhern) or would you like it to continue with the regular rotation?

Sadly, only one Cub made the top 20. :( 1. Angel Villalona, 3b, Giants 2. Engel Beltre, of, Rangers 3. Nick Noonan, 2b, Giants 4. Danny Duffy, lhp, Royals 5. Wilmer Font, rhp, Giants 6. Wilber Bucardo, rhp, Giants 7. Drew Cumberland, ss, Padres 8. Danny Carroll, of, Mariners 9. Cristian Santana, c, Rangers 10. Mario Martinez, ss/3b, Mariners 11. Mason Tobin, rhp, Angels 12. Michael Anton, lhp, Angels 13. Matt Mitchell, rhp, Royals 14. Yefri Carvajal, of, Padres 15. Charlie Culberson, 2b/ss, Giants 16. Larry Suarez, rhp, Cubs 17. Clay Fuller, of, Angels 18. Sam Runion, rhp, Royals 19. Ivan Contreras, 2b, Angels 20. Jacob Wild, rhp, Mariners I'm really disappointed no one else, like Carlos Perez or Oswaldo Martinez, made it.

After dominating for Sacramento in the PCL championship, Jerry Blevins is up with the A's now. Threw a scoreless and hitless first inning with 1 K. :(

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=586 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/Navinda/averages.jpg BA looked at catchers in the top prospect handbook (i.e. no Carlos Perez, Josh Donaldson, Wellington Castillo or Jake Muyco): Mark Reed - 36.8% Chris Robinson - 34.9% Geovanny Soto - 31.1% Jake Muyco was 2nd in all of the minors in CS (prospects, non-prospects, etc. were all considered here) at 52%.

For SSR. Lou was awful today.

Not shocking...I'm guessing their Two Steps Back won't be shocking either.

Pitchers Name Pos Ryan Acosta RHP Michael Bunton LHP Jose Ceda RHP R/R Rafael Cova RHP R/R 6'2 175 03/05/82 Did Not Play in 07 Marcus Hatley RHP Yuri Higgins RHP Chris Huseby RHP Casey Lambert LHP Jordan Latham RHP Matt Maradeo RHP Mark Pawelek LHP Herman Ramos RHP R/R 6'3 170 07/01/85 Did Not Play in 07 James Russell LHP Chris Siegfried LHP Donald Veal LHP Steve Vento RHP Catchers Name Pos Wellington Castillo C Steve Clevenger C Josh Donaldson C Carlos Perez C Mark Reed C Infielders Name Pos Darwin Barney SS Kyler Burke 1B Marwin Gonzalez 2B Gian Guzman SS Bryan Jost 1B Jovan Rosa 3B Drew Rundle 1B Marquez Smith 3B Tony Thomas 2B Josh Vitters 3B Outfielders Name Pos Cliff Andersen OF Tyler Colvin OF Brandon Guyer OF Leon Johnson OF Ty Wright OF Jonathan Wyatt OF Some stuff that stands out: Drew Rundle is going to be at first base at instructs, Marwin Gonzalez (a natural 3B who played everywhere in the IF for Mesa) is listed at second base. I was hoping Rafael Dolis would show up by now, hopefully he just has the fall off to rest. http://braves.scout.com/a.z?s=248&p=2&c=676620

Thu., September 6 @ 1:20 p.m. CT Chicago - TV: CSN | Radio: WGN 720 Los Angeles - TV: Prime Ticket/FSW 2 | Radio: KFWB 980 XM 183 Dodgers: RHP Derek Lowe (11-12, 3.78 ERA, 119 ERA+, 125 K/48 BB, 176.1 IP) http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/mlb/117955.jpg @ http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/mlb/150302.jpg Cubs: RHP Jason Marquis (11-8, 4.20 ERA, 108 ERA+, 93 K/68 BB, 165 IP) Game Time Weather: Forecast : 79°F (Feels like: 83°F), Showers, 50% Chance of Precip Winds from the south (blowing to left field) at 13 mph. Radar (should update): http://image.weather.com/web/radar/us_ord_ultraradar_plus_usen.jpg

Wed., September 5 @ 7:05 p.m. CT Chicago - TV: WGN, ESPN | Radio: WGN 720 Los Angeles - TV: KCAL, KCAL-HD, ESPN | Radio: KFWB 980 XM 186 Dodgers: LHP Eric Stults (1-2, 4.23 ERA, 106 ERA+, 24 K/11 BB, 27.2 IP) http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/mlb/445590.jpg @ http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/mlb/150404.jpg Cubs: LHP Ted Lilly (13-7, 3.89 ERA, 116 ERA+, 146 K/50 BB, 173.1 IP) Game Time Weather: Forecast : 85°F (Feels like: 87°F), Sunny, 10% chance of precip. Winds from the S at 9 mph (blowing to left center field).

Scheduled Games: Iowa at Memphis, 7:10 pm CDT Tennessee at Carolina, 7:15 pm EDT Daytona at St. Lucie, 7 pm EDT Peoria at Quad Cities, 7 pm CDT Boise vs. Spokane, 7:15 pm MDT Mesa at AZL Athletics, 4 pm MST - season finale

http://boisehawks.com/news/index.html?article_id=526 OF Cliff Andersen is a 2006 9th round pick who received above slot money. RHP Hung-Wen Chen was signed earlier this year out of Taiwan and received a sizable bonus. RHP Marcus Hatley is a 2006 DFE. RHP Simon Lee is a 23-year old Korean native who was Asian scout Steve Wilson's first Asian signing. 3B Josh Vitters is of course the 3rd overall pick in June's draft. RHP Oscar Bernard was released to get the Hawks at the 30 player roster max.

Apparently my pitching knows it's must-win time. Jeff Francis (42.75 pts) just followed up John Lackey's (43 pts) complete game with one of his own.

Box Scores: Iowa won 3-1, box: CF E. Patterson 3/4, R, 2 2B (27), BB, SB (22) SS R. Cedeño 0/4, BB, 2 K, E (15, fielding) LF J. Kroeger 0/3, RBI, BB, 2 K C K. Hill 2/4, R, 2B (15), K 3B S. Moore 1/2, R, 2 BB 1B M. Craig 1/4, 2B (6), 2 RBI, 2 K SP L. Walrond 6 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 4 K/1 BB, HBP, 8 GO-6 FO, 101 pitches (60 strikes); hitting: 0/1 RP C. Pignatiello 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/1 BB, 2 GO-1 FO, 28 pitches (15 strikes) RP W. Ohman 1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 K/1 BB, 33 pitches (22 strikes) Tennessee loses 5-4, box: 2B N. Spears 1/4, R, 2B (2) 3B C. McGehee 0/3, R, BB, 3 K RF T. Colvin 1/4, R, HR (8), 2 RBI, K LF J. Spearman 2/3, BB, CS (2), PO 1B K. Reynolds 0/4, RBI, 3 K, 2 E (6, pickoff, fielding) SP J. Samardzija 7 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 K/0 BB, HBP, HR, 11 GO-8 FO, E (1, throw); hitting: 2/2 RP M. Avery 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 K/2 BB, 3 GO-2 FO Daytona lost 11-0, box: 2B M. Camp 2/4, K 1B S. Clevenger 1/3, 2B (8), BB DH B. Dopirak 0/4, 2 K RF R. Harvey 1/4, 2B (10), K SS J. Mota 1/3, CS (3) SP J. Santo 4+ IP, 8 ER, 7 H, 2 K/5 BB, HBP, 2 HR, 4 GO-6 FO RP C. Platt 3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 K/1 BB, WP, 5 GO-3 FO Peoria won 5-0, box: CF T. Wright 1/3, R, BB SS D. Barney 1/4, R, K RF J. Adduci 2/4, 2B (18), RBI, 2 K, CS (6), OF assist at first base LF R. Canzler 0/2, R, 2 BB DH B. Leclerc 2/4, RBI, K SP R. Hernandez 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 K/3 BB, 6 GO-11 FO - last 4 starts: 23 IP, 5 ER, 14 H, 1.96 ERA, 17 K/5 BB RP C. Lambert 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/0 BB, 3 GO-2 FO Boise wins 9-0, link: 2B T. Thomas 2/3, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB (22), PO CF J. Wyatt 1/4, R, 2B (16), 2 RBI, 2 K LF-CF B. Guyer 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI DH J. Donaldson 1/4, R RF K. Burke 2/4, R, HR (9), 3 RBI, K 3B J. Rosa 0/3 PH-3B J. Vitters 0/1 - Boise debut SP Z. Ashwood 6.2 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 6 K/1 BB, 7 GO-7 FO RP S. Lee 2.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/0 BB, 4 GO-2 FO - Boise debut Mesa has the day off. Overall: 3-2