Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Kerry 20K Viewing Party Plus Other Odds and Ends

Submitted by Rob G. on

We've been meaning to do this most of the offseason, but I think we've finally settled on a date. So Sunday, February 22nd at 9PM CST, we're going to gather in Parachat and watch the Kerry Wood 20K game. We know a lot of you own the Chicago Cubs DVD set and that's what most of us will be watching. I believe they showed the game on MLB Network recently, so maybe you Tivo'd it. Considering we normally have people watching from various different feeds during the season, we'll figure out how to sync it up to everyone's satsifaction. If you don't have access to the game and want to partake in the festivities, drop a note in the comments and I think we can work out something.

So come join us and get your Parachat fix on, Transmission will be doing one of his game recaps. I believe it's Oscar night as well, so that should give us some good material as well.

UPDATE: One of our dear readers points out that you can purchase the game from Itunes for about $2.

More fun after the jump...

- In terrifying news, Robbie Alomar Jr. is being sued by his ex-girlfriend for forcing unprotected sex upon her while having AIDS. You have to suspect of a woman deciding trying to cash in for $15M just a few months after they broke up, but the AIDS angle is probaby true since it would be easy enough to prove and I can't imagine a lawyer would take on the case if it wasn't.

Best wishes to Alomar's health, one of the great second basemen of all-time.

- I wrote two articles for the Maple Street 2009 Cubs Annual - previews of the team and NL Central. Even for those that aren't big fans of the editor,  I recommend the publication highly.

- I updated the TCR Free Agent Frenzy contest with the signings of Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn and Ben Sheets being off the table.  It's currently a tie between Real Neal and cincykid. There are 3 possible outcomes assuming no one signs Ben Sheets before March 1st (I'm using that as the cutoff since I really can't imagine a scenario where Sheets would sign before the draft and a team would cough up draft picks). 

If Manny Ramirez signs with the Dodgers, cincykid wins...

If with the Angels, Real Neal wins...

If with the Yankees, Tito wins...

If with anyone else, it's a tie between Neal and cincykid...

In case of a tie, I'll figure out something with the prize(s). 

-  Fangraphs and Mitchel Lichtman try to look at a first basemen's scoop ability. Derrek Lee is curiously nowhere to be found. If I understand the WOWY methodology though (without and with you) , it might be tough to get much of an accurate read since Lee plays just about every game. The only real data would be from 2006.

Tags
Links
Parachat
Cubs Annual

Comments

Submitted by Andrew on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 02:45 pm

Oh sure, don't worry about Neal, myself, and everyone else across the pond. I'm tempted to wake up early and do this. I miss Parachat so much, it's sad. Still, no access to the game. Can you get MLB Gameday to cover it?

[ ]

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 02:47 pm

Ned Colletti must be the stupidest GM alive. How do you get through free agency without Abreu or Dunn? Now if they don't bend over for Scott Boras they have Juan Pierre in CF. Might as well have held onto Andruw Jones in the hope that he rebounds. What's the plan now?

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 02:23 pm

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02112009/gossip/pagesix/darryl_bares_met_se… Although he doesn't name names, Strawberry relates how team members picked out girls from the stands for quickies. He once watched a pitcher march a frisky fan to a private room for oral sex: "I was jealous. When I saw her heading back to her seat, I gave her a sign. She smiled, turned right back around, and met me in that same little room . . . I had to be quick and run back out on the field." Another time, "I was in the clubhouse, having one last quickie with this cute little Florida girl. Charlie Samuels, the equipment manager, came in and caught us. He just stood there shaking his head while I finished up."

Submitted by Kinanik on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 02:33 pm

I would just like to note, for those of you without the game on DVD, iTunes has a copy on their store for two bucks. Just give it some time to download before the watching party, of course.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:38 pm

I see it now...

they have an MLB.com Games of the Year section for 2007 and 2008

be sure to check out "The Chicago Sports Band"...

"...manager Lou Piniella.... he thinks that Carlos is a real good fella..."

[ ]

Submitted by CPH2133 on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:18 pm

Did some guy just get drunk with a synthesizer and sing about Chicago sports? Ted Lilly's song is pretty accurate "Lilly's gonna get you 15 wins, he'll do what he's done since the very beginning. Give his team a chance to win while eating up innings"

[ ]

Submitted by kmokeefe on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:40 pm

I know, I was kidding. I'm only a month or two into posting here and I enjoy it thoroughly. I know a ton about the sport of baseball, but can't touch most people in here regarding their knowledge of the Cubs and MLB. I'm here to learn. Reading this blog is the most productive thing I do at work.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:37 pm

"Furthermore, the only person on this blog who thinks they're smarter than everybody ON EVERY TOPIC EVER is you." I don't think I am smarter than everybody on every topic, I just occasionally get annoyed with people repeating the same stupid shit so much that eventually it becomes taken for granted. I realize now that you weren't intentionally repeating the same stupid shit 'the pitchers figured out Fukudome' but if you read what you wrote, you'll notice a familiar manure-like pong coming off it. As far as being 'smarter on every topic' goes specifically, that makes no sense. You are smarter or your not. You're more knowledgable or you're not. 'smarter on every topic' is the kind of thing that makes me think I am smarter than you, I agree.

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Submitted by Wes on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:24 am

i agree that I hate when people say "pitchers figured him out" and leave it at that, because I'm not sure many of them know exactly what that means. They look at his declining OPS and just run with that conclusion. The issue is that he's got two very clear weaknesses in his approach, and unless he changes those, he won't improve. You've got to throw him breaking balls in the strike zone early (no fastballs please), and then you can expand the heck out of the strike zone with your breaking stuff when you get him down 0-2 and 1-2. Once you get him there, you can either go to the backfoot slider or go fastball up and away if you've set him up for it. If he's thinking slider in, he's going to try and turn on it. He'd need a boat oar to hit the outside fastball at that point. His front foot is halfway down to first! Whatever you do, don't throw him a fastball down and don't hang anything. However, I think part of fixing that is an adjustment issue. There's so few guys in Japan that can really throw that nasty power slider in the high 80's. That, for me, is probably the biggest problem with him from last year. Guys over there just don't throw them like that. Not that I'd know, but I reckon it's kinda tough to lay off (or adjust to) a 89 mph exploding slider when that pitch has been a fastball for your entire baseball career. They don't travel 45 feet and take a nose dive in Japan. The guys with the plus sliders over here make that pitch look an awful lot like a 4 seamer for the first 3/4ths of its trip home. Then it just dies and takes a left hand turn. There just aren't any Ben Sheets or Roy Oswalt type talents over there. Hell, of all the guys to come over in the last 10 years or so (Nomo, DiceK, Ishii, Irabu, etc), there really haven't been any that I can recall with that really, really filthy slider in the 87-91 range. I'm probably forgetting somebody. Nomo's was pretty good, but not that kind of velocity, and he threw his fork as his out more often, anyway. F-bomb can get around on the fastball, and he can wait on the curve, but it was like he just couldn't read the slider right out of the hand. He's got to see that pitch better and hit that pitch better in 2009. 104 strike outs isn't a horrible number. Pretty remarkable OBP considering that K number, but still. He's no Mark Reynolds, that's for sure. I'm not trying to say he's a K machine, but, for me, he didn't make enough good contact with the slider. My original point was that the story is pretty stupid. Taking 50 extra swings a day with batting practice fastballs doesn't solve his second half 639 OPS. He's got to adjust. I believe he's just not a good enough contact hitter for the type of swing he has and the type of pitching he's facing. But, that's just me. It's probably way too late to get him to change that now, anyway. Maybe he'll make no change and have a great 2009. I'd be very happy if he made me look stupid.

[ ]

Submitted by The Real Neal on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 02:19 am

I agree that he has to adjust. I don't agree that extra batting practice won't necesarily help, though. Hitting is mental and physical. At the end of the season he was fucked in both departments. You've also got to keep in mind that he has the misfortune to be on Piniella's team, so even if shit like taking extra batting practice won't actually help him hit better - he has to do it anyway to show LouPa how hard a worker he is. Otherwise he may bet sent to the bench, then traded to the eventual WS champions. "You've got to throw him breaking balls in the strike zone early (no fastballs please), and then you can expand the heck out of the strike zone with your breaking stuff when you get him down 0-2 and 1-2." That works on 90% of MLB hitters anyway, doesn't it? Yes there's pitchers in MLB who have power sliders probably better than what he sees in Japan, but that's like 8 PA's a week at the most.

[ ]

Submitted by Wes on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 02:37 am

I don't think that breaking balls early in the count works on 90% of major league baseball. Not everybody takes (or swings through) MULTIPLE breaking balls inside the strike zone early in the count like Kosuke. Yes, you're right that a lot of pitchers can get away with sliders or curves in the zone on the first pitch. That's the 90% you mention. You can lock some guys up with a first pitch slider or curveball, but they aren't going to fall for it 0-1. They're probably sitting first pitch fastball, but after you fool them with the breaking stuff to get them 0-1, they're protecting against an 0-1 fastball, but sitting on another breaking ball. Why would you throw a first pitch breaking ball if you play on coming back with a fastball inside the strike zone? I think it's silly to do that unless you can throw 100. After you throw the first pitch breaking ball, it figures you aren't going to throw another fastball in the strike zone. You're setting yourself up to get pounded if you do. Hitter knows the first pitch breaking ball leads to the 0-1 fastball. Better throw him another breaking ball. The average MLB pitcher isn't going to get three breaking balls by the average MLB hitter, but Kosuke wasn't that way, imo, which is what my original problem was. You could throw him infinite sliders in a row. Unless he found the hole on the right side between the 1B and the 2B, you aren't going to get beat by him. I felt that you could work three straight sliders by Kosuke. Yeah, an ace could force his slider against Kosuke and work him over, but even still, he's not used to the guy with the average MLB repertoire throwing three of those in a row. I believe he can work the Japan slider because it's a mechanical thing. Those guys are trying to disguise their pitches with mechanics, while our guys are trying to disguise their pitches with how they break after release. It's a philosophical difference, which is typically something that can be adjusted to. Godzilla has done it. Even Kaz Matsui did it to some extent. It's not an automatic failure for Kosuke, but it's problem that he has to address. See the slider out of the hand, and you can hit it. That's it. Just my thought, though.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 02:47 am

Yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I know what you mean when you say he was swinging through breaking balls that were strikes, but I think that was a mechanical issue, which lead him to try to slow his bat through the zone which wound up with what he was doing at the end of the season, which looked like bailing out on every pitch. I think he was doing the japanese hitting style which is 'if you're missing the baseball leave your bat in the zone longer' and just fucking it up because he had a manger and hitting coach who don't understand the style. A later, sharper break on pitches certainly would make that issue worse, but I think you're over generalizing by implying that the vast majority of MLB pitcher's breaking stuff is that much sharper or harder than in the NL.

[ ]

Submitted by Wes on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 02:48 am

but I think you're over generalizing by implying that the vast majority of MLB pitcher's breaking stuff is that much sharper or harder than in the NL. We're arguing about details at this point, but we agree that he could hit them over there, and after one season in his MLB career, he currently can't hit them over here. If he can hit them, he's going to be a very successful big league hitter. If not, well, not so much.

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Submitted by WISCGRAD on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:16 am

You being "occasionally" annoyed on here is like saying fish "occasionally" swim in water... I mean on this post alone you posted the following: 1) I hate taped games 2) Chad gets a D for reading comprehension 3) Sarcastic insult of Chad, calling him L. Ron Hubbard 4) Sarcastic insult of Wes telling him he is smarter than all pitchers in Japan 5) Rude reply to Wes calling his post manure and saying that you are in fact smarter than him 6) ??? Rude reply to this post ???

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 02:12 am

The funniest thing of all, of course, is that you appoint yourself some kind of TCR defender to save the innoncents from the big bad meany Neal. Does it give you goosebumps to make posts like this? And once again to correct your revisionist history. 1) I didn't say I hate taped games, I said they don't do anything for me. You like fat ugly chicks, they don't do anything for me. It's just personal preference. 2) True, because Chad and you, aparently are unable to distinguish comments which are obviously personal opinion from fact. 3) After Chad yelled at me and told me what my personal preferences should be, I made fun of him for being a moron. If people don't treat you like that every day, they should. 4) Yeah, I was a little drunk when I wrote that, and it's already been explained why I said it. You're in Chad's class for reading comprehension. We'll call it the Short Bus for the Big 10 grads. I am sure you two scored well in math or something. 5) I didn't call his post manure. You and Chad need to sign up for some remedial courses. I would guess your level is around 3rd grade. 6) Isn't that what you want? You're one of those idiots who drives up to the end of the merge lane and forces people to let you in, then complains about traffic, aren't you? One of the definitions of insanity is continuously repeating the same action and expecting different results.

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Submitted by Ahone Ahtwo Ahthree on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:04 pm

This is a tough one for me, because there is no clear-cut set of standards you can apply about cheating that works for all eras when determining who gets into the HOF... If it's based purely on stats, which might be the only objective way to do it, then Pete Rose and Bonds and ARod should get in. But that just doesn't sit well in my gut... I actually have less of an issue with Pete Rose, because his gambling problem and betting on games was after he quit playing, where steroids directly affected performance. Very sticky poop here!!

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Submitted by OakLawnGuy on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:39 pm

There are already different standards for different people aside from the whole character thing: the classic benchmark numbers, longevity (like Phil Niekro or Jim Kaat), several outstanding seasons (Sandy Koufax), consistency, domination of a decade (Kirby Puckett). I say if the player did not break the rules of baseball that were in place during his career, then he gets in. This would preclude Pete Rose but not Mark McGwire, and it wouldn't keep A Rod out, at this point anyway.

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:47 pm

(or however I'm suppose to spell it) close to a deal with the Mariners via MLBTR

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Submitted by Charlie on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:14 am

I didn't mean for this to be taken so seriously. But Chad was the one who made the "he's a star player professional athlete" point. I was actually thinking of a description a female relative of mine once made of both A-Rod and Derek Jeter. She said that they seemed like the type of guys who would go get full body waxes together before every game. I thought it was accurate. You may disagree. Since your whole post was relatively trivial, I didn't think you'd mind my noting a disagreement with a trivial detail. The leap to anger seems unnecessary to me. I didn't say that you were stupid for thinking of Jeter as a regular guy or anything like that. I just asked whether other people had a different perspective on him. Why do we get so on edge around here?

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 02:43 pm

http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/2009/02/feb-12-gillick-speaks.html --On whether the Phillies may have overpaid for Ibanez (three years, $31.5 million), given the one-year, $6 million deal that Bobby Abreu just signed with the Angels: "The Cubs were after [Ibanez] pretty thick. Lou [Piniella] and he had a good relationship, so I think Lou was plugging pretty hard for him. I don't think [the Phillies could've waited]. The Cubs were searching for left-hand hitting. My opinion is I would prefer Ibanez to Milton Bradley, just from an injury standpoint. Milton Bradley to me is an American League player, a DH/part-time outfielder. He's not a day-in, day-out player in the National League."

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Submitted by Mister Whipple on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:47 am

Sarah Silverman: There are only two Asian people that I know that I have any problem with at all. One is, uh, Guy Aioki. The other is my friend Steve who actually went pee-pee in my Coke. He's all, "Me Chinese, me play joke!" Uh, if you have to explain it, Steve, it's not funny!

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Submitted by crunch on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:38 pm

sarah silverman...1 joke, just different words every time. 1-*act like a spoiled blonde cheerleader* 2-*make a statement with the tact of ann coulter* 3-*smile and look pretty* 4-*audience notices an innocent acting girl just said something "un-PC"* 5-*repeat* there, i just saved everyone 45-90 minutes on her act.

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Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:48 am

One more thing that keeps getting overlooked when articles say Soto will miss Blanco Matt Sinatro spent plenty of time working with Soto too. Sinatro was a backup catcher with Atlanta, Oakland, Detroit and Seattle. Never amounted to much playing time although it spanned a decade. Still he's probably the most valuable resource Soto or any other catcher on the team has. Sinatro's last yr as a player was with the Mariners in 1992. Piniella's first year as M's manager was 1993. So I assume Lou's arrival was concurrent with Sinatro's retirement. I don't know the real story of their contact point though. Just don't let Sinatro do the driving for Soto, then we're really lost.

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Submitted by OakLawnGuy on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:16 am

Perhaps the staff feels Soto is ready to take the reins all by himself, and that Blanco served his purpose. Not saying that Soto won't miss him, but he strikes me as intelligent and a quick learner and we shouldn't see a drop off in his ability to call a game or throw the ball, however that can be quantified. I know that during Soto's last year at Iowa, his offensive resurgence wasn't all that marveled the minor league staff. His manager said his catching/leadership qualities also surged, and he'd always been regarded as a fine defensive backstop. So while Blanco may have had a lot to do with his baptism into everyday play, this isn't a guy who's going to be lost without Hank.

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 02:55 am

Wes, post #95...kudo's for you're pitchers view insight. Sounds like Kosuke needs 95 swings at power sliders in the cage daily (just kidding, I think?). But it would be worthwhile having a pitcher working with him on film regarding the thought process about how he's being set up with certain pitch sequences. I wonder if that's a lost in translation issue. New translator this year, probably can't hurt.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    The issue is the Cubs are 11-7 and have been on the road for 12 of those 18.  We should be at least 13-5, maybe 14-4. Jed isn't feeling any pressure to play anyone he doesn't see fit.
    But Canario on the bench, Morel not at 3B for Madrigal and Wisdom in RF wasn't what I thought would happen in this series.
    I was hoping for Morel at 3B, Canario in RF, Wisdom at DH and Madrigal as a pinch hitter or late replacement.
    Maybe Madrigal starts 1 game against the three LHSP for Miami.
    I'm thinking Canario goes back to Iowa on Sunday night for Mastrobuoni after the Miami LHers are gone.
    Canario needs ABs in Iowa and not bench time in MLB.
    With Seiya out for a while Wisdom is safe unless his SOs are just overwhelmingly bad.

    My real issue with the lineup isn't Madrigal. I'm not a fan, but I've given up on that one.
    It's Tauchman getting a large number of ABs as the de factor DH and everyday player.
    I didn't realize that was going to be the case.
    We need a better LH DH. PCA or ONKC need to force the issue in about a month.
    But, even if they do so, Jed doesn't have to change anything if the Cubs stay a few over .500!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

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