Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

From the TCR E-mailbag

Well, it's time once again to dip into the mailbag and answer questions submitted by you, the fine readers and commenters at TCR. Let's see what's on your mind, and what I can do about it.

Dear Transmission,

For the last three and a half years, I was involved in an emotionally intense relationship with another man. You could cut the tension between us with a knife, but we always made it work, thanks to some wild but truly epic games of pitch and catch. In the last few months, however, well, it wasn't so good anymore. He'd go out when I'd want in, or I'd go down when he was expecting up. Things came to blows a few weeks ago, and while I've always had a temper, this was the first time that I ever hit him! I feel horrible about what I've done, but now, I'm afraid that I've driven him away for good. I think I've even driven him to "switch teams." Please help me, Trans, I'd do anything to get him back.

Buddy Is Gone, i'm a Zero.

Dear "BIG Z,"

I am impressed that this rocky relationship lasted as long as it did. The sort of emotionally tumultuous relationship you describe often can lead to electricity between the lines, but they almost never last in the long run. If you truly love your Buddy, you will respect that he needs to leave, and that you need to seek help. He's gone, and you need to use this tragic affair to concentrate on getting your own house in order. Who knows: maybe once things have settled down, and you're both more mature men for it, you'll both be wandering through a big city some day, say, New York, and happen to reunite for some real magic!

Dear Trans,

I started working for a prominent corporation a few years ago. I've always done a solid job for them, in spite of their lack of professional training and resources for entry-level professionals like myself, and I know I could do so much more if they'd trust me with more responsibility. But they never give me the toughest assignments, and are always contracting out work that could go to me, in favor of guys with twice my experience, but half my talent! There was a pretty big shake-up in middle management here, last year, and everyone thought it'd be my big chance to shine. But instead, they transfered my job out from main HQ, and to one of the regional offices! Is there anything I can do to get noticed, or should I look for a better job, elsewhere?

Misery is Minor

Dear MM,

While working for the Big Company always sounds exciting and sexy, the reality is that the Big Company often is so bloated, so busy shuffling the deck chairs, so set in its corporate ways that it can't see what is right under its nose. Given the lack of guidance that you say they are offering, two options come to mind.

First, you could try to seize the innitiative by voluntarily taking on, in your own time, some new project: learn how to cover some additional position in the company besides the one assigned to you, or teach yourself ambidexterity so that you can work with your left hand as well as your right.

Second, you could recognize that it's the company that's dysfunctional, not you. Pack your bags and get a fresh start with one of the smaller companies in your line of work with a reputation for recognizing what they've got. The Bay Area seems to be the hot place to go for innovative corporate structures, these days.

Hey T!

Is it true that all you guys at The Cub Reporter live in a big house together in Chicago and compete for choice writing assignments, sort of like in the reality TV show "Big Brother"?

A Fan

Dear Fan,

Yes, it's true. In fact, most of what goes on at TCR, in fact, likely is tied to the work of our consultants who are trying to create a reality TV pilot out of our work here. For instance, Arizona Phil doesn't refer to where Phil lives, it's a nickname the consultants gave him, to make him more of a swashbuckling Indiana Jones type. The "G" in Rob G was added to give him more street cred. Cubnut, by far, is the easiest to live with, in part because he is the de facto chef.

Trans! Trans!
Your a big fraud who poops your pants! All I know is, a man named Trans can't write about baseball! Research proves that heart is 3.5 times more important than statistics when writing about chemistry. And you, my friend, have no chemistry and no heart. You don't inspire readers to give 110%. That's why I'm calling on Evan Brunell to fire all of the TCR staff and bring in a proven writer to shake some life into this so-called "blog." This will anger many fans of reading, but if you ask me, we should trade Literacy to the Yankees, who are always willing to overpay for spare parts, and bring Johnny Damon in to TCR, instead.

Jejune? Ah, Yes.

Dear JAY,

To respond in language you will understand: "I know you are, but what am I? Takes one to know one! I'm rubber, and you're glue!"

Cubnut,

Ok, ok! You'll get your million, I swear it. I just need a few more days, ok? Please, just no more packages reminding me of my mistake. Have some mercy, please?

Mugsy

Dear Mugsy

I think you meant to send this to someone else. Good Luck.

Dear Transmission,

I work with a younger guy, with more education than me, who likes to show off his vocabulary and his esoteric knowledge of popular culture. Now, I don't think I'm an idiot or a dinosaur, myself, but I can't help feeling that my coworker is trying to bait me into conversations about things where he knows I'm ignorant, just for his own kicks! How can I put this young punk in his place, given that I have to work side by side with him, for another three and a half months?

"Bob" or "BB"

Dear BOB

There are many different ways to deal with this situation, but I'll share one of my personal favorites with you, here. Whenever something like that happens to me, where someone recounts stories or information that I obviously know nothing about, I just respond in kind. I offer random and absurd stories from my own past, completely unrelated to the topic at hand, as a way of politely changing the subject. If I can recount a particularly random and absurd story, the other guy will find either find it funny enough to forget what he was talking about, or get the point. I find that stories about feet, or about co-workers from my previous job, often are a good way to go.

Dearest Transmission

Your the best! You always sound so smart and funny, and you know so much baseball! I print out everything that you write at TCR, and then tape it to my wall so that I can look at it as I fall asleep at night. But you really hurt people when you go weeks or even months without writing. You might make some people think that you don't care any more, that you've found something better to do with your time than to write to the people who love you and understand you the way we do.

Fan, and needing a Transmission I can always love

Dear FANATICAL

You deserve someone better than me. May I suggest that you turn your attention to this man ?

Transmission,

Who do you think should be the regular SS and 2B? There are just so many possible combinations. Fontenot, Theriot, DeRosa, Izturis, this Eric Patterson kid... It's enough to make the head spin!

Lineup Ordering is Ultimately Problematic, Aggrevating

Dear LOUPA

If it were me, I would go reverse-alphabetical by first name to fill out the middle infield.

Seriously.

Hope this helps!
Got Questions? Of course you do. [email protected]

Comments

My personal suggestion to LOUPA would be for a couple of us here to have a debate about middle infielders and come up with a decision. We always seem to resolve all our differences here, especially about infielders and catchers.

Dear Trans-Dude, I'm currently employed by a multimedia conglomerate that asks me to comment on baseball players and plays. I come with some insightful comments like "nice play there" or " he's hot right now." When they want me to go more into depth I feel like I might be snitching. You know what I mean? Also a job opportunity has opened on the East Coast which would allow me to do what I love best and help an old protege of mine. I will keep him anonymous and call him Corey P. How can I get back to help Corey P. and get my hands on crab cakes flavored tooth picks? Signed, Sooty Cook

Dear Sooty You need to think about the golden pearls of wisdom that you certainly must have given your former protege, and think of how they apply to your own situation. So in pusuing this potential job, I would advise you to relax, just go with the flow, don't try to do too much or go outside of yourself in the interview. Let your natural talent shine through, don't try to adjust yourself too much. At the same time, you want to take care of the small things and the fundamentals. Make sure that you can lay down a good semi-colon, and give up a preposiiton in order to advance the sentence.

Great job, Transmission: Just got home this morning from a weekend in Chicago watching the Cubbies sweep the White Sux. Your post put the icing on a great weekend. I laughed my til my sides hurt. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

Wow - MVN what will you think of next! Trans maybe you should consider your own blog for your fan club.

~grin~ You might not want to read the post directly below this one, then. It'll ruin the mood.... ~sigh~

Rory - the fan club is limited to FANATICAL. Or so I hope. I don't think I could handle any additional fans....

Dear cwtp - As John was writing his last known draft of a post at TCR, he began awakening the latent telekinetic powers inside of him, and all men of the Hill clan. Unaware of his possession of these powers, Hill accidentally caused paralyzing injuries to a former reader of TCR, who shall remain anonymous. Horrified and confused by his newly emerging powers, and now wanted on felony charges, Hill is believed to have gone underground, reportedly with a group of fellow telekinetics. Reports of people bearing some likeness to him have surfaced throughout Europe and North America, but without confirmation. Seven international law enforcement organizations and dozens of local agencies, as well as professional and amateur scholars of the paranormal, have placed a substantial bounty on Hill for his safe return to custody.

TO CWTP, re: John Hill - M.I.A. I offer the following theories on the disappearance of John Hill: 1) After losing to me at shuffleboard and pool @ Dave&Busters, he withdrew himself to a secret training facility in the bowels of Siberia to improve his bar game skill 2) After viewing Field of Dreams in the basement of Dave in Pittsburgh with Dave and I, he murdered his father "for not being an American" and went into hiding as he is wanted by Scotland Yard (hey that was a direct quote from him) 3) He never left Dave's basement...? (fess up Dave)

When I go to the Pirates games, I am actually wearing the skin of John Hill.

I have a feeling someone is getting DFA'd today. This is because the only pitchers on the 40-man who they can call up are: Cherry Cotts Miller The Wide out Cherry and Cotts are sucking it up at AAA, Miller because of his arm issues isn't suited for the pen, and it's unlikely that they will bring up The Wide out from Daytona. I think Kory Bailey or one of the AA guys will get the call up. Maybe Trans next post for humor purposes can be an "apperntice" type boardroom scene With JJ, Izzy, and Miller in Hendry's office.

I'll defer to Phil, or anyone else who knows more about the 40-man situation. But thanks for the heads up....

Not sure if someone else mentioned this, but during the Lead Off Man yesterday, a Sun Times columnist said he thought we'd see a trade made before game time today -- probably Jones. He may have been pulling that out of his butt, though, since he didn't say to whom or for what we'd be trading Jones.

Mike Murphy on WSCR is talking about how Zambrano made some comments after his start Friday alluding to being able to throw his splitter now without having to worry about the catcher's ability to catch it, or block it in the dirt. Anyone notice that he is using that pitch more since he has been caught by Hill?

Bruce Miles speculates that it could be Cotts or Piggy:
iniella reiterated Sunday that the Cubs could bring lefty Neal Cotts back up. He was demoted to Class AAA Iowa last month. It’s also possible the Cubs could turn to nonroster man and Joliet product Carmen Pignatiello. The lefty is 0-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 1 save at Iowa. In 25º innings, he has given up 23 hits and 5 walks. “If two weeks ago, if we needed somebody else, it would have been Pignatiello,” Piniella said.

Trans, The "de facto chef" is damn sick and tired of also being the de facto dishwasher. The next time you three want to stay up late, parsing trade rumors over creamed chipped beef on toast, you can dawn well clean up after yourselves. By the way, I hear the Bleed Cubbie Blue house has an automatic dishwasher. Something for you guys to consider.

I think I speak for most loyal readers of this blog when I say I think I could do without a crap article like this one. Baseball blogs should talk about baseball. Speculate about baseball. Plain and simple. It's not like there was no baseball action over the weekend or we have a dearth of baseball news to ponder. Makes me question the writer's motives, to be frank.

We know he is. The fact that you don't recognize him, yet he claims to be speaking for "most loyal readers" should speak volumes about his credibility.

"Dave in Pittsburgh — June 25, 2007 @ 10:14 am When I go to the Pirates games, I am actually wearing the skin of John Hill." How many times did you have threaten him with the hose again before he rubbed the lotion on his skin?

What are you talking about? I rarely post, but I read this blog every day because I think it is the best Cubs blog on the internet. However, after a weekend of baseball like we have had, doesn't the staggering total of 20 posts all morning tell you that this article was a huge MISS?

Trans - I like your creativity, and thought this was a great post. Mdog can suck on that!

mdog - you are wrong. did you even read this post? it IS about baseball. but then again, maybe you didn't realize that...

-Cubs swept the diving the Sox -Good pitching -Good Soriano -Bad Sox hitting end 'o subject Now back to your regular scheduled program

or we could talk about the "rumors" that jock is going to be traded. that sounds fun...

Jacos- -Cubs swept the diving the Sox -Good pitching -Good Soriano -Bad Sox hitting I like all of your points here. Now please point out to me where any of these subjects is mentioned in the posted lead article. I'm waiting.

# Dave in Pittsburgh says: When I go to the Pirates games, I am actually wearing the skin of John Hill. How's it holding up? I thought John was a bit thin-skinned.

the concern for the well-being of our blog is heart-warming. I am relieved to know there are so many loyal readers looking out for the best interests of TCR.

mdog - This blog consists mostly of Cubs fans. Cubs fans are not sure how to behave when good things happen. These good things happen so rarely that it's not as if we have this experience to draw on. It sort of catches us with a "deer in the headlights" feeling of paralysis. When someone manages to come up with a creative way to break that paralysis, especially in a way that is entertaining, they should be congratulated, not randomly chastized by someone who doesn't comment when the blog is busy (signs that they themselves suffer from this type of paralysis when things are going well). If you are really that put off by this post, I suggest that you find a team that currently has a lot to bitch about (Sox).

From the above article that I linked to:
ella wouldn't say where he'd put Mark DeRosa when Aramis Ramirez returns to third base on Monday. "It might surprise you," he said. With left-hander Jeff Francis starting for the Rockies, DeRosa could go to right field.
DeRosa at SS anyone? And mdog - why don't you go look in the game thread if you want to see discussion about yesterday's game. or go start your own blog. or did you try that already and not get enough attention?

Vorare, that joke may not go over. It really needs to be told in person but since I know it already, that was pretty funny.

"or go start your own blog. or did you try that already and not get enough attention?" we have a winner.... Dave gets a TCR T-shirt. As soon as we start making them.

Trans- Damn it man, give us some comparisons of ERA of the middle relievers with Bowen vs Hill behind the plate during night games in the middle of the week and how the acquistion of Michael Barrett has effective the tides outside of Tijuana!!!

Dave gets a TCR T-shirt. As soon as we start making them. Woohoo! Can we get names on them? I call either "mamby-pamby" or "door knob removed from reality" or "head up my ass." Or maybe "mamby-pamby door knob removed from reality with his head up his ass."

mdog, you must be pretty godm ignorant not to be aware of humor-in-sports columnists like Norman Chad (couch slouch? "Pay the man, Shirley?" $1.25? Hello?). And Trans is every bit as good as that here.

DeRosa at SS anyone? Soriano, Fontenot, Lee, Ramirez, Floyd, Bowen, DeRosa, Pie not bad, not bad at all got to be worried though about a gimpy Ramirez and an unexperienced DeRosa at SS though on the same field. I know DeRosa has some experience but doubtful he has the range that Izturis or Theriot do....

Jacos - to answer your first question: 4.10 to 4.37 to answer your second quesiton a 3 inch rise, on average. to answer the third question, that you were thinking but didn't want to type: it's a possibility.

yeah Trans, that was a really entertaining piece of satire and all but I'm going to have to take it down and bitch about Barrett, JJ and Izturis for about 3000 words....

I'm sure this was intentional but the "Brokeback Mountain" subtleties in the "Big Z" letter made me laugh out loud. Well-played sir, well-played.

Thank God, Rob. We don't have nearly enough of that. And there are so many fresh new angles from which to bitch! For instance, we haven't bitched about the fact that Barret, Jones, Izturis, and Eyre all have last names that begin with LETTERS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE ALPHABET! Why the hell do we continue to sign guys like that?!?!?

well DeRosa is also 32 now, you tend to start losing a step. That being said, I don't mind DeRosa at SS and it's tough to say one way or another until I see him play out there. He's handled every other defensive position quite well. My bigger worry is with Aramis being obviously limited right now with his leg, that's a huge defensive experiment in the middle of the season. But Lou and Co. get to see these guys in practice and I'm sure have a better handle on what they can do and not do.

Why aren't we jumping up and down after a sweep of the hapless Chicago Wh.... S..x? Our All-Star third baseman is gimpy and says he probably will be the rest of the season. Yesterday was his last chance to DH and he may be relegated to pinch hitting duty. Our All-Star first baseman has lost his power and is facing a five game suspension to boot. Our starting RF/CF, the guy with the three year contract, hit .200 in May and June and killed every worm in the outfield with his throwing arm. He's only had a dozen AB's the last two weeks and is on the block. Our #1 LF last year was demoted to AAA. Our #1 SS last year was demoted to AAA. Our high-profile pitching reclamation projects (prominently Wood, Prior & Miller) all felt fine going into ST and all had their arms fall off. Our Silver Slugger starting catcher was traded mid-season in a salary dump. Our spark-plug Ryan Theriot is in the midst of a rookie slump at the plate. Ditto CF Felix Pie. Marquis and Lilly have come back down to earth, but their ERA's have blasted off. One of our over-paid premier set-up men has been reduced to garbage time assignments.. I could go on, but you get the idea. Cub fans are always waiting for the next shoe to drop.

mdog - I too am a loyal reader who doesn't post much. Please don't speak for me anymore. I like my TCR as it always has been. 75% serious bball talk, 25% fun bball talk, and 100% Cubs.

mdog "and friends" have has occasional "lets start some smack" issues with this blog since 1908 and counting. educated people should know better than to play trolls. tsk tsk. guess its better than talking to the same like-minded group over and over and over and over.

wow, cwtp: remind me not to invite you to any parties, you buzzkill. ~grin~ Seriously though, when you consider all that, it's amazing we're within shouting distance of .500, and actually seem to be improving. cp - thanks for chiming in! I like those ratios, myself...

the only "sweep" i'd be impresssed by is the miluakee series coming up. its so highly unlikely the wildcard is gonna come outta the central at this point. when you gotta hope for the failures of others to get ahead at this point in the year you pretty much gotta cash in on the head-to-head oportunities. when the team gets to .500 i'll care more. hehe.

cp- I agree with your breakdown. But if you read Trans article from today, 0% was serious baseball talk, 10% was fun baseball talk, 10% cubs. And I think Trans is a good writer normally. crunch- How does being a loyal reader and rare poster define someone as a troll? I thought the article was poor and expressed my opinion, only a couple of responses have even tried to address anything I wrote---the hyper sensitivity shown here today is kind of shocking. CWTP you raise a lot of good points in your post and that is why I am waiting to see how the Cubs do vs. Colorado and Milwaukee before I get too excited that they have turned their season around. Not long ago everyone was convinced this was not a playoff team.

But if you read Trans article from today, 0% was serious baseball talk, 10% was fun baseball talk, 10% cubs. Ugh... who are you? No one said that EVERY post was 75/25/100, did they? The vast majority of posts on TCR are serious baseball. This one was funny baseball, and all Cubs. Curious what you think the other 90% was... And don't you have a blog that you need to get attention at?

mdog or maddog would be a pretty common nickname on a Cubs blog, so let's not jump to conclusions.

"crunch- How does being a loyal reader and rare poster define someone as a troll?" i dealt with you guys a few years ago. you're no mystery to me. more than a couple you guys showing up also points toward a playground atmosphere that's being cultivated. im not even involved with this blog in any capacity, but im not dumb. im that guy that got your "friend" to edit his racist comments madly outta "that blog" cuz i threatened to expose him to his superiors at his college for being a rabid muslim-intollerent paid public instructor. hi. go internets. i know you.

Cubnut - I missed your response, above. Thanks, and my apologies, and a real LOL

can mdog go back to his own blog? we were thinking the same thing about you dave, but I guess you already realize that no one reads your blog, or your posts for that matter. And really, is there anything more predictable than a non-regular poster getting pummeled by one of the innocuous tcr regulars? How very TCR of you. You're like a sorry bunch of hats on backwards frat boys sitting in the bleachers getting shitfaced on $6 beers. Well kinda, the rest of you hang in parachat with the other dateless losers. Parachat - "if you 're scoring at home or even if you're by yourself". mdog, don't let them punk you, if you thought the article was lame (Iike I did, no one self-promotes quite like you Transmission) you should have that right. Personally I only come here to read Arizona Phil's pieces, I think a lot of readers fall into that category. Grow up people. mdog come over to BCB, not as many facists there.

Here's the last I'll say about it: Your very first post calls into question my motives for writing the piece. I am curious to hear your guesses as to what my motives were. And with that, I'm off to finish my work, cook, run, and return for the evening game. Go internets!

crunch, You are one messed up individual, and you couldn't be more mistaken. I have no idea what you are referring to, and I don't care for clarification. This is the only blog I read, and I started reading it a couple years ago.

Also, great article Trans! If there's one thing I love about TCR, it's the unique styles of the individual writers. Keep it coming!

okay, fine. i am mistaken and that message above has nothing to do with you. im not trying to intimidate anyone...just identifying who i am in case the parties involved forgot. have a day. hehe.

is there anything more predictable than a non-regular poster getting pummeled by one of the innocuous tcr regulars? Wait... I am confused. Who came in and attacked who? Just curious. Because from what I can tell, mdog came in and attacked Trans and TCR (as did you marc). Not sure why you read if you don't like what you are reading...

chifan3887 — June 25, 2007 @ 10:24 am I have a feeling someone is getting DFA’d today. This is because the only pitchers on the 40-man who they can call up are: Cherry Cotts Miller The Wide out ============================== CHIFAN3887: No need to DFA anyone. If the Cubs don't trade Jacque Jones today and instead bring up a 12th pitcher who isn't already on the 40-man roster (like Carmen Pignatiello, for instance), all they need to do is transfer Wade Miller to the 60-day DL, and that opens up a spot on the 40. Of course if they don't trade Jones, then a position player--either Pagan, Pie, Theriot, or Fontenot (the four that have minor league options left)--will probably be sent to the mnors to make room on the 25 for the 12th pitcher. . As for Wade Miller, if they can't trade him, the Cubs would probably be more inclined to keep Miller on the DL for the entire 2007 season than to release him, because if they release him and he signs with another MLB club, the Cubs are on the hook for Miller's remaining base salary (minus a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum to be paid by his new club, which right now would be about $200K), PLUS the entire $3.75M in potential performance bonuses that are based on Games Started, and have nothing to do with whether Miller pitches effectively or not. That's why you don't give a player a contract with performance bonuses in it if there is a decent chance you might end up releasing the guy during the season (or at least with enough time left in the season for the performance bonuses to be realized). I suspect Hendry probably figured that if Miller was healthy and it was just a matter of there not being room for him on the Cubs pitching staff, that he could just trade him.

"Grow up people. mdog come over to BCB, not as many facists there." Wait, wait... you say "grow up", and then call TCR readers "facists"? Also, blog-evangelism is pretty, well, immature in and of itself.

we were thinking the same thing about you dave, but I guess you already realize that no one reads your blog, or your posts for that matter. Not really worried about you reading my blog. And obviously you read my posts, or you wouldn't be replying to them! :) Good try though. And oh yea... dateless. Don't tell our wives, k?

why does someone need to be called up today, btw? i missed a few steps on the logic ladder for that one and am kinda lost.

I think it's concern over Dempster being hurt. I'm not sure why it's necessary, though, since the bullpen has hardly been overworked lately.

why does someone need to be called up today, btw? Because there are only 11 pitchers on the active roster, one of which is the injured Dempster. Lou doesn't like it when he only has 11 healthy pitchers, but now he really he only has ten. Now that they can't use the DH anymore, the Cubs will call up another reliever.

well reader "marc" goes under a variety of names, mdog "seems" to be sincere that he rarely posts, fwiw.

mdog - not that it matters - I can understand your point. When I read the post above I just thought it was someones attempt to try and be funny.

Don't know if this has been posted previously -- Pawelek broke a bone in his right (non-pitching)elbow when he tripped over his PlayStation in his apartment. Sheesh.

I really don't care whether everyone liked Trans' post or not. The point is that this is a free-form blog, and if you don't like the subject of the post, DON'T READ IT!!! Let the rest of us enjoy reading something other than the norm, and wait for something else to get posted. The fact that you read the post, and then are taking time to bitch about it suggests that you are the one with nothing better to do... Bitching about this kind of thing is a suggestion that you only want the same old routine stuff, which a lot of us find boring when not broken up by things like this.

That was an excellent piece Trans. I personally enjoy reading something other then straight baseball sometimes. Especially when the team I root for annoys the crap out of me:-)

congrats on breaking new ground bringing the first humor piece to this blog... ...oh wait, this is nothing new. good job.

Well, I guess if the Cubs still want to make a trade today, whoever it is will not be available for tonight's game. Haven't heard anything about a roster move, either. I'm guessing that would be the likely route at this time in the day. Just call up a pitcher (pick one.. blech) and get him to Wrigley on time.

Am I the only one who doesnt like the thought of a Selig Crony as the cubs owner? Seems like Soriano-esque free agent contracts and over-slot signing bonuses will be a thing of the past. Hopefully I'm not looking too deep into this.

i just hope the new owner(s) views the cubs as an investment, not their toy to make them as much as a "star" as anyone on the team or the team, itself. hope they dont view it as an investment in the way cheap-asses like pohlad, though.

Hey guys, what's going on? How're things at TCR today? I hope all is well. By the way, Trans, I think I speak for everyone when I say excellent post! We all appreciate the time an energy that goes into composing a post for a free blog.

I agree, aaronb. I think the further away from Selig the new Cubs owner is, the better. Not someone who is currently a part owner of the Brewers, who Selig has known for years and years... And another thing: Why in the hell does the NL Central have 6 teams? Try and answer that question without mentioning Selig...

I think we are going to have to pin the blame on Michael Barrett for all the back and forth snipes on TCR today.

I mean, I guess the more I think about it.. If none of the pitchers that are currently on the 40 man excite Slick Jimmy (Cotts, Mateo, , he could DFA Jacque to get him off the 40 man. I suppose that would be the best option. Piggy's pitching better than anybody else in that Iowa pen. I'm not saying that's a "Jim should do...." It's just a Jim might do...."

As for Wade Miller, if they can’t trade him, the Cubs would probably be more inclined to keep Miller on the DL for the entire 2007 season than to release him, because if they release him and he signs with another MLB club, the Cubs are on the hook for Miller’s remaining base salary (minus a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum to be paid by his new club, which right now would be about $200K), PLUS the entire $3.75M in potential performance bonuses that are based on Games Started, and have nothing to do with whether Miller pitches effectively or not. That’s why you don’t give a player a contract with performance bonuses in it if there is a decent chance you might end up releasing the guy during the season (or at least with enough time left in the season for the performance bonuses to be realized). I suspect Hendry probably figured that if Miller was healthy and it was just a matter of there not being room for him on the Cubs pitching staff, that he could just trade him. ................................................................................... AZ Phil, So are you insinuating that Jim Hendry didn't fully think a move out before making it? I find that really hard to believe.

BillyBucks — June 25, 2007 @ 12:54 pm Don’t know if this has been posted previously — Pawelek broke a bone in his right (non-pitching)elbow when he tripped over his PlayStation in his apartment. Sheesh. ============================== BILLY BUCKS: It might not have been mentioned here at TCR, but it was mentioned over at Road to Wrigley last week. I saw Pawelek at Fitch Park a week ago, and it's just a hairline fracture of his right (non-throwing) elbow, and he isn't even wearing a cast. He will probably be back in action within about a month. (BTW, Pawelek suffered the injury the night before the Boise Hawks were set to fly to Idaho from Phoenix... so Pawelek's stuck in 110-degree Mesa for another month!). For those of you who might be wondering about the medical status of some of the injured Cubs players and minor league prospects, this is a fairly up-to-date report from the Fitch Park Infirmary (as of last week, anyway): * bats or throws left # bats both PITCHERS (REHAB) Jose Ceda (shoulder – limited activity only) Rafael Dolis (elbow – limited activity only) Adam Harben (post-’06 TJ elbow surgery – limited activity only) Junniol Lami (sore arm - limited activity only) Billy Muldowney (elbow – is throwing in AZL games) * Taylor Parker (elbow – limited activity only) Leonel Perez (elbow – limited activity only) PITCHERS (INACTIVE) Federico Baez (elbow - details unknown) Todd Blackford (TJ elbow surgery last month) Michael Cooper (shoulder surgery last month - torn rotator cuff) Angel Guzman (elbow - progress unknown) Yuri Higgins (broken left hand) Brett Jackson (shoulder surgery – torn labrum) Kitt Kopach (shoulder surgery) Roberto Novoa (fractured shoulder – off-season car crash) * Mark Pawelek (right elbow fracture) Mark Prior (shoulder surgery) * Chris Shaver (shoulder surgery) Kerry Wood (torn rotator cuff – no surgery) POSITION PLAYERS * Cliff Andersen, OF (lower back strain - is playing in AZL games) # Marwin Gonzalez, INF (broken hand - OUT) Brandon Guyer, OF (shoulder – OUT) * Clark Hardman, OF (calf strain – OUT) Ryan Harvey, OF (hamstring – BP only) Andy Lopez, OF (quad - BP only) # Francisco Tirado, INF (quad – BP only) NOTE: Higgins, Guyer, and Hardman are 2007 Cubs draft picks who suffered their injuries prior to signing with the Cubs.

Arizona Phil, you are the Raymond Babbitt level savant of all things cubbie innerworking related. Please never EVER stop posting. That is all.

Rob G. — June 25, 2007 @ 1:23 pm Tank Johnson got cut….. ‘Doh!!! ..................................................................... I blame John Daly's wife

ok, back briefly. Glad to see we've all (myself included) settled down a bit. I promise, in the future, to post something that is objectively crappy. Something that is universally agreed to be aesthetically unpleasing, vulgar, cliche, and factually inaccurate. That way, there will be no controversy about the matter. ~grin~ Writing is tough. I don't think Rob ever gets enough credit for keeping the site moving day in and day out. Cubnut too. Three game recaps in a row, and my brain is fried and I want to go do something else for awhile. It's easy to be creative (or stupid, immature and off-topic, depending on your perspective) when other people do most of the grunt work. I'd say something nice about AZ Phil too, but he's the Blogger that Everyone Can Agree On! (TM) ~grin~ And yes, aaron - I Blame Barrett!

Tank Johnson got cut….. Rob... not allowed. 100% Cubs, remember? I’d say something nice about AZ Phil too, but he’s the Blogger that Everyone Can Agree On! ™ ~grin~ AZ Phil sucks. His posts are like long-winded novels and his comments are like over-written factual journal articles. ** ducks ** (someone had to disagree - we couldn't possibly have something that we agreed on)

His posts are like long-winded novels and his comments are like over-written factual journal articles. And by that, what I really mean is that AZ Phil is the best Cub writer around, with encyclopedic knowledge about both Cubs history and current Cubs prospects. And sometimes I wish his posts were even longer!

mdog: Makes me question the writer’s motives, to be frank. I often find myself questioning Transmission's motives as well.

Rob G.: Tank Johnson got cut….. I say the Cub's pick him up. I bet there would be no more bench-clearing brawls. He'd fit right in with the DRay's, too.

Overrated - Blog writers with car parts as their pseudonyms and who think they are funny. Underrated - arguments with Chad, arguments about middle infielders and Billy Beane, and to quote (CA) Phil - "quiet laundry."

I say the Cub’s pick him up. I bet there would be no more bench-clearing brawls. I was thinking the Bulls needed a big man. But can Tank play SS? Or hit lhp? Or hit with the bases loaded?

AZ Phil sucks. I agree. I think he cuts and pastes articles written by a guy with the same screen name over at Road to Wrigley.

AZ Phil, Any word on whether Wood is throwing or doing anything?

aaron b- I agree no Selig cronies, especially after Selig gave the Cubs a tongue lashing over all the spending they did in the offseason. F'U used car salesman with conflicting interests!

Trans, One more regular TCR reader who thought your post was funny, and wouldn't have minded if it wasn't. TCR, it's about the Cubs, it's informative, it's entertaining and oh, it's free. What's not to like? I blame Michael Barrett for MDog, unless of course Michael Barrett is MDog.

The Joe - the dateless frat-boy wonders of parachat noticed that, yesterday, and wondered the same thing. If nothing else, it's suspicious that they come up with this, within one week of the Kellie Pickler Incident. I think that we should get everyone and their brother at TCR to apply, see if we can get one of us can get through to the semi-finalist round where they do the voting online, then stuff the ballot box.... I bet Crunch has a great singing voice..... Of course, the Cubs don't want to give up any real control on the matter. They're handpicking everything up to the semi-finalists.... .

Hopefully Lee Elia wins... "Take me out to the f*ing ball game... take me out to the c**********... buy me some f*ing peanuts and f*ing crackerjacks I don't care if I f*ing ever get back... root root root for the godd*** Cubbies..."

Can we have a group entry? How good would the 7th inning stretch be if it was led by a horde of TCR readers? At the end, instead of "lets get some runs," we could all yell - "visit the cub reporter!!!"

Kudos to Trans for a great post. One of the best I've read at the site. Very funny! Posts like that are what make TCR what it is.

The changes in the cubs organization are Multifold. 85% of the world is working, the other 15% percent come out to F'N day baseball. Tell the cocksu'kers to go get jobs. AND PRINT IT

How good would the 7th inning stretch be if it was led by a horde of TCR readers? Hmmm... I was thinking a little more about this, and what the tv/radio interviews would look like. You know in the middle of the interview arguments would break out after Theriot pinch hit for Izzy. Pat and Ron wouldn't know what to do with a TCR argument over middle infielders. But I do know that if I was part of the CTR contingent, I would definitely have a "Free Murton" shirt on.

There's nothing stopping all of us from each entering, and mentioning in that 100 word essay, that we want to do it in as large of a group with each other as the booth will allow......

I just read the end of my sentence, ("that we want to do it in as large of a group wtih each other....") and got a very, very disturbing image..... ~shudder~

Damn! I miss all the important stuff when I skip parachat. I've got a wife and new baby, so I guess I'm not qualified for dateless, huh? I like the idea of having everyone apply, though I'm too far away.

And here is the latest (as far as is known) 2007 Cubs RULE 4 DRAFT update. The Cubs have signed 27 of their 50 picks, plus five Non-Drafted Free-Agents (NDFA) : Also, last month (prior to the 2007 Rule 4 Draft) the Cubs signed six "Draft + Follow" (DNF) players from the 2006 Rule 4 Draft and two 2006 NDFA 5th year college seniors: SIGNED: 2007 RULE 4 DRAFT: 1-S Josh Donaldson, C (Auburn) - FITCH PARK (NOT YET ASSIGNED) 5. Brandon Guyer, OF (Virginia) - FITCH PARK DL 6. Casey Lambert, LHP-CL (Virginia) - BOISE 7. Ty Wright, OF (Oklahoma State) - BOISE 8. Marquez Smith, 3B (Clemson) - BOISE 9. Clark Hardman, OF (Cal State- Fullerton) - FITCH PARK DL 10. Leon Johnson, OF (BYU) - AZL MESA 11. Chris Siegfried, LHP (U. of Portland) - BOISE 13. Jonathan Wyatt, OF (Georgia) - BOISE 15. Marc Sawyer, 1B (Yale) - BOISE 16. Zach Ashwood, LHP (Kansas) - BOISE 17. Arik Hempy, LHP (South Carolina) - AZL MESA 18. Jeffrey Rea, 2B (Mississippi State) - FITCH PARK (NOT YET ASSIGNED) 20. Jose Made, INF (Dominican College) - BOISE 21. Dustin Sasser, LHP (East Carolina) - BOISE 22. Craig Muschko, RHP (LaSalle) - AZL MESA 23. Stephen Vento, RHP (Palm Beach CC) - AZL MESA 24. Scott Meyer, RHP (Lamar) - AZL MESA 26. Michael Bunton, LHP (College of Charleston) - AZL MESA 28. Bill Moss, 2B (U. of Memphis) - BOISE 30. Luke Sommer, OF (U. of San Francisco) - AZL MESA 31. Brian Leclerc, OF (Florida) - PEORIA 32. Luis Bautista, C (Florida International) - AZL MESA 36. Billy Mottram, 3B (Dowling College) - BOISE 38. Yuri Higgins, RHP (South Florida) - FITCH PARK DL 39. Roberto Sabates, C (Cuban defector - Miami, FL) - AZL MESA 40. Corey Bachman, RHP (VMI) - AZL MESA NDFA - SIGNED AFTER 2007 RULE 4 DRAFT: Patrick Brooks, INF (UT - Pan American) - AZL MESA Michael Christl, RHP (Bradley) - AZL MESA Matt Hudgins, C (Virginia Wesleyan) - AZL MESA Derek Schermerhorn, 1B (Wichita State) - BOISE Yusdel Tuero, RHP (Cuban defector) - AZL MESA 2006 RULE 4 DRAFT PICKS SIGNED IN MAY 2007 AS "DRAFT + FOLLOW" (DNF): 22. Jovan Rosa, 3B (Lake City CC) - AZL MESA 27. Cedric Redmond, RHP (Oakton CC) - AZL MESA 28. Brett Summers, RHP (South Suburban JC) - AZL MESA 29. Jordan Latham, RHP (College of Southern Idaho) - BOISE 39. Marcus Hatley, RHP {Palomar JC) - AZL MESA 43. Anthony Morel, SS (Riverside CC) - AZL MESA 2006 NDFA 5th YEAR SENIORS SIGNED IN MAY 2007 PRIOR TO 2007 RULE 4 DRAFT: Michael Bartek, RHP (Nicholls State) - AZL MESA John Muller, RHP (St. Thomas Aquinas College) - BOISE ========================== UNSIGNED FROM 2007 RULE 4 DRAFT NOTE: If not signed by August 15th, Cubs lose draft rights to player: 1. Josh Vitters, 3B (Cypress HS – Cypress, CA) 3. Tony Thomas, 2B (Florida State) 4. Darwin Barney, SS (Oregon State) 12. Ryan Acosta, SS/P (Clearwater Central Catholic HS - Clearwater, FL) 14. James Russell, LHP (Texas) 19. Kyle Day, C (Michigan State) 25. Victor Sanchez, 3B (Gahr HS – Norwalk, CA) 27. Clayton Suss, RHP (Cooper City HS - Cooper City, FL) 29. Andrew Cashner, RHP (Angelina JC) 33. Preston Clark, C (Texas) 34. Enrique Garcia, RHP (U. of Miami) 35. J. C. Casey, RHP (Kickapoo HS – Kickapoo, MO) 37. Mike McGee, 3B/P (Port St. Lucie HS – Port St. Lucie, FL) 41. Jordan Herr, OF (Pitt) 42. Colt Sedbrook, INF (Arizona) 43. Garrett Clyde, RHP (San Jacinto JC – North) 44. Bryan Jost, 1B (Minnesota) 45. Ryan Lewis, OF (Yakima Valley CC) 46. Tyler Clark, RHP (Springfield Catholic HS – Springfield, MO) 47. Josh Walter, RHP (Texas State) 48. Carlos Rivera, OF (East Aurora HS - East Aurora, IL) 49. Jordan Rogers, RHP (San Jacinto JC - North) 50. Blake Murphy, C (Western Carolina) NOTE: The Cubs will receive a 2008 Rule 4 Draft compensation pick (4th overall in the 1st round) if they fail to sign Josh Vitters by August 15th, and a 2008 Rule 4 Draft compensation pick (a "sandwich pick" between the 3rd and 4th rounds) if the fail to sign Tony Thomas by August 15th. Ther is no compensation for failing to sign picks from Rounds 4 and below. Also, several of the HS players drafted by the Cubs in later rounds were highly regarded, but have signed National Letters of Intent (LOI) to attend college and will probably be very tough to sign. These would include RHP Sean Acosta (Georgia), former Team USA Junior National team member 3B Victor Sanchez (U. of San Diego), RHP J. C. Casey (Missouri State), and RHP Tyler Clark (Missouri). Acosta is the son of former Cubs pitching coach Oscar Acosta, who was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic last year. And 33rd round pick Preston Clark (Texas) was rated by BA as the 5th best college catcher (3rd round talent) going into the draft, but he stated before the draft that he would not sign and would return to Texas for his senior year unless he got "1st round money."

Also let the record show that AZ Phil is an excellent driver. Counting cards, wapner, wapner at 5:30. Underware at K Mart, Cincinnatti Ohio, Excellent driver, yeah

I'm starting to think that Phil is actually a supercomputer. What was the last anyone has ever heard from HAL? or Mycroft Holmes, or Max Headroom? Anyone?

Aaron B and Jacos. I would not worry about a Selig, Bud buying the team. Frank McCourt was his handpicked owner for the Dodgers, and they have spent a ton on guys like Furcal and Schmidt. He was very supportive of the Henry group who bought the Red Sox and they have spent a ton. Hell Reinsdorf spent a ton on Belle after the strike when him and Selig were crying poor. This guy is a former MLB player and a stock market guy. They both like to win. This guy seems fine.

Chifan3887, I sure hope that is the case. One thing is for certain. Nothing good will come out of the cubs spending too much time in owner limbo. The quicker a sale happens the better for all of us as fans. Unless Bill Bidwell is involved.

"Damn! I miss all the important stuff when I skip parachat. I’ve got a wife and new baby, so I guess I’m not qualified for dateless, huh?" The Joe - Not qualified? With a wife and new kid, you are the very definitiion of dateless!

Score radio update had JJ in the clubhouse and in uniform for today's game. Also said Mariners have heavy interest in Buehrle.

Any word on if a pitcher is getting called up? And a thought I haven't heard... if no one goes on the DL, Theriot could be the guy going down. While I really like Theriot, he has had the greatest struggles over the last couple of weeks.

As much as Ryan Theriot is overrated, I doubt he gets sent down for the simple reason that he is the only backup at shortstop.

The White Sox should receive the motherlode for Mark Buerhle. The bigger problem is the likelihood of him pitching for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals next year. I travel to St. Louis for work each week (I'm in SL right now), and I can tell you Cardinal fans drool over the prospect of signing Buerhle this winter. Buerhle makes no bones of the fact that he is a diehard Cardinal too. He's a tremendous pitcher. A move to the weaker National League should help him out even further.

could be theriot, but I'd think you'd want to keep as many infielders around with Ramirez being gimpy. You're going to need to replace him late in games. I'd say Pagan gets demoted.

I'm thinkin' its Pagan too, unless of course Jim Hendry inherits a brain and eats some of Jock Strap's salary to facilitate a move.

sorry if this is a repeat but if it is Cotts who gets called up, he's been brutal in Iowa 7.33 ERA, 23.1 IP, 27 H, 15 BB, 20 K, .293 BAA of course Guzman was pretty bad too in Iowa and seemed fine for the most part when he got called back up.

Well... the PCL is a hitter's league, but it doesn't quite justify a 7.33 era.

Then Z can find a Barrett jersey in his closet and hold it tenderly up to his face.

Trans, Every time I leave my house, a ~thunder~ rolls across the sky, the mating call of the quickening clouds -- do I need to quit Parachat for a while? Sincerely, Carlos.

Brick- I hate to think he does with the bobble head. ~cut to scene~ Candle lit dinner table Z at one end of the table Barrett bobble head at the other. Z- "Would you like some more wine?' Barrett bobblehead- ~silence head bobbing~ Z- "I think you've had too much."

Has it been noted yet that SAMARDZIJA is back in Daytona's starting rotation and not much has changed. 5 runs, 4 earned in the first three innings pitched yesterday. 5.0 IP . No decision.

Soriano named NL player of the week? Too bad, too cause many here can't root for the guy cause he admires him home runs. Me, personally, I love the guy.

goodness gracious, Steve Stone is almost as bad as Colin Cowherd. He's been going on for 2+ hours that Soriano should be moved down in the order. Great, not a terrible idea, but say it once, not 10,000 times.

goodness gracious, Steve Stone is almost as bad as... ---- Rob: it gets worse, if you keep listening you'll run into Farmio and Singleton.

I think Soriano should be hitting 2nd. He still sees the benefit of hitting in front of Lee and Ramirez, but there is also a possiblity that someone will be on base when he hits his homers...

Steve Stone says in 2,000 words what the ordinary person can adequately sum up in 20. Alfonso Soriano has hit his stride. Talk of moving him out his cherished lead-off spot will ony serve to piss him off. I'd be very surprised if Sweet Lou thinks about moving him down. A happy Soriano is a productive Soriano.

The Stone Pony says in 2,000 words what the normal human being can adequately sum up in 20. I like Stone, but he can be a windbag.

I missed the metadiscussion? Rats! Trans, it was a funny piece today. I'm sick as a dog with the flu and it really picked me up. The metaposts on the other hand were about as thrilling as the clear fluid diet I'm on today. I know it's been said but there are other websites available if you don't like this one. As far as questioning Transey's motives, I think that's fair. He is after all trying to build a resume as a PhD in history and writing these articles clearly will help him get the U of C job down with the corner office down the road. For shame! For shame!

Whip - I agree with everything you said. Carlos, you ALSO have trade offers from ME waiting for replies! ~thunder~

God, no one is as bad as Cowherd. He of the 10 minutes of content in 3 hours of show and calling everyone who calls in idiots. Cowherd "I'm going to take an unpopular opinion here and say that Michael Vick is a lowlife. Now all you mouth breathers will support him because you have no intelligence, but Vick is a pathetic person. Vick is an idiot." SPORTS CENTER UPDATE "Ok, back to calling Vick an idiot and insulting callers". And that goes on for 3 hours. Thank god for Dan Patrick:-)

Soriano 7 Fontenot 4 Lee 3 Ramirez 5 DeRosa 9 Pagan 8 Bowen 2 Izturis 6 Marquis 1 Taveras 8 Matsui 2 Holliday 7 Helton 4 Atkins 5 Hawpe 9 Tulowtizki 6 Torrealba 2 Francis 1

Yeah, I've been a bit clogged with the internship and the writing assignments but I'll reply to your trade scenarios sooner or later.

I disagree with everything Mister Whipple said. "I think I speak for most loyal readers of this blog when I say I think I could do without a crap [post] like this one. Baseball blogs should talk about baseball. Speculate about baseball. Plain and simple. It’s not like there was no baseball action over the weekend or we have a dearth of baseball news to ponder. Makes me question the [poster's] motives, to be frank."

Transmission, I'm a huge fan of wordplay and, while I thought today's post got a little long-winded, it was still Cubs-relevant and most of all extremely punny. Solid writing! (Did you ever hear the nacho cheese joke...?)

Recent comments

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!