The Cubs begin a seven-game trip on the left coast late Monday night with the first of three against the Padres. The last time the Cubs played in San Diego (May 22-May 24) they were swept out of town. The Cubs enter play tonight five games back of the Cardinals in the division and 3 1/2 games back of the Rockies (Giants 1 1/2, Marlins 2, Braves 3 and Brewers 6 1/2) in the NL Wild Card race.
Here's some news you can use, including an update on the sale of the team, for a Monday morning before a week full of late nights out west ...
Cubs Sale
The sale of the Chicago Cubs appears to be nearing an end ... just not this season. The papers should be 'officially' signed this week according to multiple reports, including one from Dave Kaplan.
Once the papers are signed they will then be sent to the MLB ownership committee for approval, then to the bankruptcy court and finally to the MLB owners for final approval. The Ricketts Family is expected to have full control of the team sometime around the World Series.
Other than the play on the field, this is BY FAR the most important step for this organization. Until this sale is finally completed, it began in April of 2007, nothing can be done to improve the organization and move forward.
Carlos Zambrano
Carlos Zambrano will not accompany the Cubs on the seven-game road trip. He will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday then join the Peoria Chiefs for a rehab start on Thursday. If everything goes as planned, Zambrano will rejoin the Cubs on August 25 at Wrigley against the Washington Nationals.
Zambrano "vowed to finally follow a workout regimen" to help his back. Big Z broke his silence with the media on Sunday (nine days) and admitted he's been lazy.
"There are things in life you don't like to do, but you have to do them. I don't like abs [abdominal muscles workouts] but I have to do them. I have to start doing them every day and be serious about it.""I've got to be honest with me and with you [media] guys and the fans. I'm 28 years old, I'm not 16 anymore, I'm a big guy and I work hard every day [but] one of the things I don't like to do is my abs, my core work.If I do abs every day and keep doing my job and be serious about my abs, I'll be OK."
Zambrano does not think his back issues are due to taking batting practice.
The Cubs are looking for Zambrano to throw between 70-75 pitches for the Chiefs.
Ted Lilly
The Cubs will get a boost tonight with the return of Ted Lilly to the rotation. Lilly was Lou Piniella's most reliable and consistent pitcher before going on the DL on July 21 with left shoulder inflammation.
The Cubs need Lilly back in the rotation for the stretch run. With the return of 'The Bulldog', the Cubs will have to make a roster move. Look for Justin Berg or Esmailin Caridad to be sent down. Both pitchers will return once the rosters expand on September 1.
John Gaub
John Gaub was one of the three pitchers acquired from the Indians for Mark DeRosa on December 31, 2008 ... and likely the one that could help them the most this season.
The Cubs 40-man roster currently stands at 38, so there is room to add the southpaw to the Major League roster ... plus they have two more spots they could create by moving Chad Fox to the 60-day DL and recalling Neal Cotts then placing him on the 60-day DL.
Gaub picked up his first save on Sunday for the I-Cubs and has been extremely impressive this season.
John Gaub (turned 24 on April 28) posted a 3-1 record with a 2.83 ERA and four saves in 26 games out of Ryne Sandberg's bullpen. Gaub allowed just 19 hits and 17 walks in 28 2/3 innings to go along with 40 strikeouts.
In 18 games for the I-Cubs, Gaub is 0-1 with a 0.40 ERA ... just seven hits and seven walks in 22 2/3 innings. Lefties are hitting .160 against him while righties are hitting .060.
The Cubs have little to no room for error the remainder of the season. When they have a lead they must be able to nail it down. Angel Guzman has done his job but needs help. John Gaub might be the answer ... because Kevin Gregg is not.
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Today is the deadline to sign draft picks.
With no news to be found re: the Cubs and picks...I checked the Cubs website
under draft results and transactions.
Of the Cubs top 25 picks...8 remain unsigned.
(1 player Sergio Burrell, signed recently
but that was not updated on the draft
results page)
According to the draft results...
18 of the bottom 25 picks remain unsigned.
Out of 50 picks...26 remain unsigned.
Does anyone have any news or insights
into this?
I can't seem to find any additional
info re the Cubs and their unsigned picks.
I take it that Neil has soured on Kevin Gregg.
We should trade for Corodero. I think he cleared waivers, not sure though, and would be a major upgrade over gregg.
MLBTR does not say he cleared waivers but I would think he would but not said yet. The Reds are not going anywhere for a long time and should start unleaging players to restock the farm system.
I'm sure glad we are paying Zambrano $18M per year for the next 4 years to cut corners and be a lazy ass.
It just goes to just show that long-term contracts are poison in so many ways. When a guy is being paid guaranteed millions over mutltiple years, the incentive and hunger to work hard is gone.
Anything more than 3 or 4 years for big money is a HUGE risk not worth taking.
I am so tired of his act. Also, I have always been suspicious of his age. We all know the history of latin players who have lied about their age. If he's 28, I'm Santa Claus. There is no way. I would wager anything he is closer to 31 or 32. And I won't even mention the juice, but I have always suspected him of that as well.
If they could trade him, I would do so in a heartbeat.
Also I know that you guys hate when we lost Derosa but they Cubs got Stevens who does pretty well if he stays up and dose not get sent down and Gaub will be good also. Also all pitcher are young that the Cubs got.
Interesting report on John Gaub by Neil. He has been sensational in 20 + IP at Iowa after being good at AA. He fits the development notion that I observed a month or two ago--and which might have been well known to others for a long time.
The notion is that draftees from cold weather backgrounds are often drafted later because they are less advanced for their age than comparable players from warm climate areas. They have less playing time because they experience shorter seasons in places like Minnesota--where winter starts in October and ends in April. But a lot of cold weather guys develop more rapidly and may have more upside--once drafted.
The Cubs have four guys who come to mind including Gaub, Wells, Fox and Fuld. Gulb is from St. Paul, MN, played at the U. of Minnesota, was drafted in the 21st round at the age of 21 in 2006. When we got him in the DeRo deal, he was not ranked in anybody's top 20 but had had a decent prior year.
Indy's Jake Fox played at the U. of Michigan and was drafted in the 3rd round in 2003. Randy Wells is from Belleville, IL, played at the "memorable" Southwestern IL Community College and was drafted in the 38th round in 2002. Sam Fuld is from Durham, New Hampshire and was drafted in the 10th round out of Stanford. Stanford plays in a conference with mostly temperate or warm climates. But given that he has an economics degree from Stanford, he likely spent most of the first semester every year hitting the books.
All of these guys can be described as late bloomers whose development accelerated over 4 years or so. Some high round draft picks from warm climate areas, like Ryan Harvey, never advance much after signing and may have had minimal upside left when they signed.
I agree Kevin Gregg is not the answer and veteran players should not get the benefit of the doubt any more untill the offseason. If this team has little fight in them, I prefer to see young energetic kids try to impress a manager going at it hard. It is hard to play as bad as Soriano. I think he was on Steroids and his body has none left inside.
That was my problem JimK
Being from Illinois and all.
Only could play baseball for three months out of the year.
"I could of been somebody, I could of been a contender"
So I'm guessing that you became a part of the Chicago and/or Illinois political machinery and have been doing very well ever since. Tip us off if you get to throw the ceremonial, first pitch anytime soon--or if you are making the license plates for your friends. LOL
Hey JimK...how's the grading system coming?...Did you check out the community
post section?...I posted an old interview
with someone you might be familiar with..."Back, Back, Hey Hey !!!
JimK might be onto something if I read correctly....he's inferring that players from Northern states often have higher ceilings than the Southern draftees, because they haven't shown their full promise based on limited games.
I remember back when I was playing ball in college, we had 9 games in a 2 week span cancelled due to snow. Then, to make matters worse, something happened with the pipes in our drainage system, and it backed up, causing a rut in our field, almost like a canal from deep short to deep first base territory, washing part of our field out with it...and we had a pretty nice field. We had maintenance crews in there, tearing things up, and putting a temporary patch on the field just to get some games in (during this time, we missed 3 more games), so total missed due to snowfall was 12 games (only about 7 of which we were able to make up, as we had the second game of one of our double headers snowed out when we were playing Purdue, and I was on the mound in blizzard-like conditions...and the stupid ump waited until my catcher could no longer see the ball to call the game...it was hilarious...actually not...more like frightening, because I wouldn't have been able to see a smash back to the mound if it happened)...We happened to be one of the luckier teams in our conference though, based on scouting territories. We had scouts at our practices and games all the time, whereas other Northern schools in lesser populated areas might see a scout once every month or so. I think the stigma associated with playing at a Northern school is that you face inferior competition, and I can tell you firsthand that assumption couldn't be further from the truth.
I know this, because we faced teams in the deep South that had been playing year round on our first road trip, and we absolutely smoked them in a few of our games.
Anyhow, back to Cubs related material. If I were Hendry, I'd look into the following players to sign/trade for immediately:
Bill Hall-provides depth in the OF, 3B, SS, 2B
Adam Dunn-supposedly he was put on waivers, and this would be the best time to get him no matter what the cost is in prospects...I really could care less at this point.
John Smoltz-proven veteran, and can close out games in a pinch if we need him to
Billy Wagner-Mets are said to have soured on him, and the fact they don't want to pay him next year, makes him available right now.
Ben Sheets-signing for next year in mind
Wily Mo Pena-signing for September and next year in mind
Josh Fields-with ARAM's shoulder being balky, you can never have enough plan B's, and since Fields is really the only semi-available 3B that can even come close to ARAM's power/RBI threat, then I'd think you have to consider this move. He's also 6 years younger than ARAM, so this would be a back-up plan for ARAM, as well as insurance for Vitters in case he doesn't pan out. Two years ago, he had 23 hr and 67 RBI in just 373 AB's...I'd definitely make the trade for him while his value is probably at it's lowest. It'd be like the reverse of what Hendry normally does (Patterson, Pie, Hill, Cedeno, etc.)
If you get Hall, that allows you to immediately DFA Miles. If you get Fields, that allows you to immediately option down Fontenot and/or trade him in the deal for Fields.
I realize that money might be an issue, but at $400k for Fields, and $400k for Hall (assuming he passes completely through waivers), if he can force the White Sox to take on a guy like Miles and/or Fontenot, there's absolutely no reason he shouldn't be able to do that, and we IMMEDIATELY get better offensively. While I realize many of you might not be enamored with Hall or Fields, both have some sick raw power and RBI potential more so than what we have in Miles and Fontenot, so I think you do those moves right away. FYI, Fields can also play LF, as can Hall, which would soften the blow with Soriano being unproductive.
If Hendry can also find a taker for Heilman, then he'd be able to sign Smoltz. For Wagner, that's probably VERY unlikely given the salary we'd have to take on, so unless they try to pass him through waivers, I don't see it happening. Hendry has about a day to make a decision on Smoltz and Hall, and I hope he does the right thing (which he almost never does) and signs them.
Aaron, do you think the Cubs have a "no moves" order on Hendry until after the sale?...They still have a lot of draft picks unsigned....Might we already have seen Hendry's last move this season?
it's quite possible, but if they had a "no moves" order on Hendry, then there's no way he would've been able to trade for Grabow and Gorzelanny, at least in my opinion. I just think he's not astute or in touch with reality to make necessary moves to improve the club. He really lacks foresight if you think all the way back to 2004, 2005, and 2006. Look how long it took him to realize we needed pitching depth. It took a loooooooooooooooooooooong time.
As for the draft picks. Most high schoolers (we took quite a few in this draft) don't want to sign for less than $250K-300K...Why? Because they figure that if they were good enough to get drafted a first time, they could improve their stock even more in college, and get drafted even earlier. College juniors are also notoriously difficult to deal with. They often hold teams hostage in order to hold out for more money, always threatening to go back to school. The draft this year also was void of a lot of talent. It's why after the first few picks, it was said that "anything goes".
We made some solid early round picks (ie.-first through 4th or 5th, but that's where it got skewed for us, as we didn't pick wisely thereafter, and missed out on a TON of talent)For instance, in the 4th round, they missed out on Lucas Bailey, a fine young catcher who might wind up being a star. They also missed (along with 29 other teams), in baseball's version of Mr. Irrelevant Alibay Barkley, a supposed Ryan Howard-esque first baseman from the Bronx, who at 19 yrs old, is batting .389 with a .421 OBP (very small sample size, but still...).
The 2009 Cubs draft was both exciting (at the start) and confounding later on, where it seemed they were selecting players who didn't even want to sign with them, or who had absolutely no talent whatsoever that would warrant a selection in the MLB draft, and while I realize the Cubs are among several other teams that do that, it was a situation where, with an aging nucleus on our MLB roster, and a system devoid of any top talent, the Cubs had little room for error, and they missed BADLY on most of their selections.
LeMahieu and Jackson might be keepers. The rest of the bunch? Well, the rest of the bunch might not even be in organized baseball next year, and that's not even an exaggeration. Guys like Greg Rohan, Matt Williams, Richard Jones, Derrick Fitzgerald, Runey Davis, Jordan Petraitas, Glenn Cook, Daniel Keefe, Charles Thomas, Robert Whitenack, Blair Springfield, Steven Grife, Corey Martin, Tim Clubb, etc. have almost no shot at being contributors in the future based on their performances thus far in what essentially equates to community college baseball (which is short season ball). Aside from Richard Jones (iffy on his call-up to Boise though), we don't have anything to get excited about.
I think Brett Jackson was a decent pick. DJ Lamahieu was a solid selection. Austin Kirk was a decent selection but was probably selected earlier than he should've been. Same for Chris Rusin. Same for just about every selection thereafter for the Cubs. Like all of their recent drafts, they went for "toolsy" sort of "promise" instead of actual results on the field. It seems that under Wilken they've learned absolutely nothing from their continued mistakes in recent drafts by selecting promise over production.
So, all in all, in a draft where we signed about half of the players, we have Chris Rusin, Austin Kirk, Brett Jackson, DJ Lemahieu, and possibly Richard Jones to look forward to. That, my friends, is pathetic in any draft, regardless of the supposed "strength".
Like I mentioned, if you're drafting for the sake of drafting which it seemed the Cubs were doing at the end, taking a linebacker (Cook) from Miami, and the son of Walt Jocketty, who in high school, couldn't even hit .300, and was drafted to the surprise of even his dad. Would it have been that awful to take a chance on a kid like Barkley? There are plenty of kids out there in high schools that hit .500 or more, and don't get drafted. Regardless of where they play, would it have been that bad to at least give them a shot. I mean, 5 guys out of 50 folks (5 out of about 25 that signed) have even the slightest chance of making it. Everyone else is pretty bad. Another name I forgot to add that might have a chance is Justin Bour...so that makes it 6. I just don't have faith in this organization to make the right decisions anymore. I'm a big believer that if you get at least 10 games as a pitcher, and over 30 as a position player in short season, and if you're not separating yourself from league average there, then you'll almost certainly be out of baseball in no less than 2 years (unless you have a big signing bonus like Tyler Colvin....who doesn't even deserve to be as high as AA right now).
In fact, if I were to point out a major drawback to Major League Baseball right now, it'd be the guaranteed contracts. Guys like Samardzija, Colvin, etc. would NEVER be playing if that were the case. Guys like Soriano, Bradley, etc. at the MLB level would be riding the pine/finding a new profession. I realize baseball is a game predicated on failure. Since when do people think you're a "star" when you fail to meet your objective 70% of the time? Well, in baseball, if you're batting over .300 as an everyday player, most people consider you a star....So, I get that...and I get that players have streaks, and what not, and the problems associated with cutting ties immediately with a player when he is slumping....but still....my issue with baseball has more to do with the player development than anything, and NOT MLB salaries (though I also have a problem with that too...but on a lesser scale).
If we employed a strategy like football, where there was true slotted bonuses for draftees, and only a certain portion was guaranteed, then I don't think we'd have as big of a problem with rookie salaries like Stephen Strasburg, Jeff Samardzija, Mark Prior, etc. We'd be able to cut ties with him immediately for, say $3 million when we realized he couldn't hack it, and move onto someone more deserving.
The problem is, guys like Hoffpauir, Fox, etc., because they don't have a significant amount of money invested in them, teams feel like they can shuttle them back and forth, regardless of performance in favor of someone like Samardzija, who they have millions of dollars invested in them. It's why guys get stuck in between, and you're like, "_________(player) is 11-0 with a 0.45 ERA, and he's been in AAA or AA all year...or, __________has 20+bombs, 80+RBI at the mid-way point of the season in AAA, and yet he's still down here when the team needs offense", etc.
What I'd like to see is the creation of a football-esque squad, where you can have 5 extra players that travel with you, and if someone gets hurt, or is underperforming, they're placed on the "practice squad" where they can be claimed by any team that needs a player (but they must remain a starter for no less than _____ amount of games (whatever that might be), or offered back to the team that lost him. If you think about it, no team would be able to "hide" their players in the minors.
I think this would be a tremendously exciting (and unlikely) change to baseball. The competitive balance would surely be there as well. Hell, we could even put Soriano on the practice squad all year hoping someone would claim him.
Here is a website of MLB notes made by Phil.
http://www.mlbcorner.com/
check it out and leave a comment what you like and dislime.