CUBZ99

Please let one of the pitchers fall to the Cubs.

I find it hard to believe that the front office that has been mostly silent and difficult for any reporter to get information from, would all of the sudden be telegraphing what their first draft pick is going to be. I'm guessing this Almora talk is simply posturing hoping that someone they like better falls to them. The baseball scouting community is pretty small. McLeod, Wilken, Hoyer can't go to an Almora game without being seen and recognized. And I'm sure other 15 other Cub scouts whose names mean nothing to us would be recognized by other scouts, too. So I think the "telegraphing" is simply showing up at Almora games to watch. Hard to hide that. I suspect the "might draft him even if they had the first pick" is not coming from Wilken or McLeod, but is coming from some scout from a different org who sees Cubs at all of Almora's games. At the top of the draft, where no teams will pick again until the 30's and trades aren't allowed, there isn't much purpose in "smokescreens" and subterfuge and all that. Each organization has a large pool of scouts and comes to it's own internal decision. I may be wrong, but I doubt that Twins are coming in with Buxton-Correa-Almora 1-2-3 on their HS list, but then some Twin scout calls in, "Hey, I just read a twitter where somebody said the Cubs might actually like Almora better than Buxton! Lets jump Almora up to the top, and pass on Buxton and Correa!" If the Cubs like Buxton and Correa better than Almora, I hardly think they've playing some grant conspiracy program thinking that they're going to somehow trick the five teams above them into taking Almore first. I think it's part of the recognition of other scouts that may have factored in the Simpson pick. Wilken saw him at the late tournament weekend, and thought he looked like one of the 14 best prospects. And he recognized other scouts at the same tournament, so he knew he wasn't the only guy who saw how good Simpson was at that point in time. I think it's maybe different in the sandwich round area. Cardinals 36, Cubs 43, Cardinals 52, Cubs 56, Cardinals 59, Cubs 67, Cardinals 86, Cubs 101. If there's an under-the-radar kid we love, and just can't let slip away, best not make that obvious or St. Louis will have a chance to grab him first, if they also love him but are also assuming he'll last longer. Valid points, but the reports regarding the Cubs pick are not saying that the Cubs scouted him more, or that they attended more games than other teams. The reports are pretty specific, with one going as far as calling him as near of "a lock" as there is in the top ten. Based upon the new front office's self proclaimed urgency of this draft, it doesn't make any sense for them to talk with any reporter/scout about who they are considering or thinking about picking in the first round. It may not be a huge advantage, but it does nothing but benefit the Cubs if no other team knows what they are thinking going into the draft.

I think it's possible. If he falls to 9 or 10, as quite a few projections have him at, slot is 2.8 and 2.7 mill. And then, you may be stuck trying your damndest to get them to come UP an extra 200K or so. I'd offer him 3 mill, save 250K off of slot and my guess is he'd bite, because it's more than he'd get if goes a little lower. I wouldn't mind at all if that was the direction that they take. It would give them more money to take some risks during the supp. round.

Does anyone believe that Fried would sign for less than slot?

I find it hard to believe that the front office that has been mostly silent and difficult for any reporter to get information from, would all of the sudden be telegraphing what their first draft pick is going to be. I'm guessing this Almora talk is simply posturing hoping that someone they like better falls to them.

He must be getting traded then. haha You would have to think that he would have pretty good trade value at this point.

If trading Castro brought 2-3 top prospects I would do it. I love Castro, but if someone was willing to overpay for him you would definitely have to listen.

There's really nothing left for him to work on at Iowa. I think he's shown that. And what if he comes up for a few weeks and excels? Can you really tell him with a straight face he needs to go down and work on a few things? The Cubs have already waited this long to bring him up. It makes absolutely no sense to bring him up until it's assured we get the extra year. And once he's up, he should be up for good. Right, everybody knew that the Cubs were not going to be competitive this year, so the fact that they are 10 games under .500 is no surprise and no reason to freak out and bring him up prematurely.

\ Why bother? This season is a lost cause anyways. Let him stay down in Iowa until they can be sure he will be under control for another year and call him up. Sure, but if the manager wants DH flexibility and people want to see the guy, you can call him up the day they go to MIN, let him stay around for the DET/BOS home series and then send him back down after the WS series. It's 13 days of service, a little taste of Wrigley in the summer, and when interleague is done you still have the excuse of no room for the guy. I just don't see the point of yo-yo ing him around for the benefit of a few games that don't matter. Plus, what are they going to do if he gets extremely hot during that stretch? Sveum, the fans, and media will be livid if he is sent back down in that case. There is very little upside.

\ Why bother? This season is a lost cause anyways. Let him stay down in Iowa until they can be sure he will be under control for another year and call him up.

Koyie Hill was everything I remembered him to be. It was fitting that he was able to end the rally. Good times!

Talk about terrible timing.

Well that was an idiotic call.

Volstad is frustrating because without runners on he dominates (.491 OPS), but for some reason, when he pitches from the stretch or with runners on he completely falls apart. I knew nothing about him prior to the Cubs acquiring him. Are there makeup issues with him? Hard to believe that someone that has pitched as long as he has, would freak out with runners on.

Hoping that Dempster can keep up his momentum and build up some trade value.

Did Soto get injured? If Soto is hurt or is traded, which catcher starts out of Castillo and Clevenger? A month or so ago, I think the answer would have been Castillo, but Clevenger has been pretty good so far.

Yeah that was a dumb call.

Obviously not you, if you have to ask. :D

Apparently Coleman left the game due to an injury. :( Not that he was my favorite pitcher, but he isn't terrible as a 6th or 7th option.

Seems odd after only 2 games. Hope that it is not another injury.

Maybe he was talking about Marion Barber? Forte is hardly the "good guy" in all of this and it is hard to see how he could see himself as finishing last?

Levine is reporting that Lake was sent to AA with Szczur and Vitters was sent to AAA. Sounds about where they were expected to be.

Looks like Beliveau and Gaub will be in AAA to start the season.

Yeah I didn't see any pitcher hit higher than 89 today. I was surprised to see McKirahan get an inning of work today. The gun for him was similar to Garza and he seemed to have a real solid breaking ball, but I hadn't heard much about him. Saw that he was a 21st round pick out of Texas that was expected to be a loogy. His limited numbers last year during were pretty impressive. Anyone have some more info on the guy?

Good to hear. I'm interested to know the numbers though.