Bad News/Good News - Peter's Been Robbed/Paul's Been Paid
Paul Sullivan had a piece in the Tribune on the Fourth of July that noted the heavy lifting being done in Chicago by players who started the season in Iowa. It got me to thinking...
Pending any roster impact that Geovany Soto's obliqueness might have, over half of the Cubs' current 25 man roster came to the NL Central via the PCL American North. Granted, not all of the baker's dozen were original signees of the organization, but each of the 13 have logged significant time in Des Moines on their ways up.
Collectively, you'd have to say that they've contributed more than their fair share to this point of a teeter-totter season. Put another way, the Cubs are getting more than their money's worth from this bunch. If the same could be said for the rest of the bloated payroll, well...
Please stand when I call your name. Hold your applause until the whole group has been recognized:
1. Jake Fox - A poor man's Jim Thome?
2. Micah Hoffpauir - A poorer man's Jake Fox?
3. Ryan Theriot - Left Des Moines a few years ago and never looked back.
4. Andres Blanco - A small-baller who might be more appreciated and less of a luxury on a team where the big guns were firing properly.
5. Mike Fontenot - Are his best days in the big leagues already behind him?
6. Carlos Marmol - Wish he'd stop racking up starter's pitch counts in short relief.
7. Angel Guzman - Seems finally to be carving a niche. Could it be the Greggles he sports?
8. Jeff Samardzija - Stretch and shrink, stretch and shrink - if it's not good for fabrics...
9. Kevin Hart - Every good team's gotta have one, right?
10. Sean Marshall - Actually has only logged brief time here & that as a rehabber, but he did come through the system.
11. Randy Wells - As many wins as the $18 million dollar man-child without the seizures.
12.Koyie Hill - Stats compare favorably with MB's, unfortunately.
13.Geovany Soto - Not exactly a contender for sophomore of the year, but starting to come around. Fingers crossed on the "mild strain".
HONORABLE MENTION: Bobby Scales, Jose Ascanio and Sam Fuld.
In the last couple of years the Cubs have gotten damn good mileage out of their Triple A callups. Last year the "made guys" in the majors also did their jobs, at least in the regularly scheduled portion of the season. There's half a year remaining for them to kick in their share in '09. If they don't, well, Piniella won't have to worry about snapping [or extending] his October winlessness...MW
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