What a first week of the season!!! On Opening Day came the news the Cubs are for sale and will be sold at the end of the season. Of course the rumors started to fly on who would be purchasing the team on the North Side of Chicago. From Jerry Colengelo to Mark Cuban to a name mentioned by Phil Rogers on XM Radio on Tuesday….Steve Stone, it should be an interesting story to follow over the next few months. The announcement actually overshadowed Opening Day and many speculated the performance of Carlos Zambrano with his contract extension rumored to be on hold.
After the Cubs announced Mark Prior would stay in Arizona for extended spring training, later in the week the announcement was made Prior would start the season on the Iowa Cubs DL, his 4th straight season started on the DL. The Cubs minor league teams announced their rosters as well and began playing meaningful games. Here is the rest…. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood….
The announcement came on Monday that Mark Prior would be starting the season on the DL. The rumors had indicated the Cubs could possibly start Prior on the DL instead of optioning him to Iowa….but the Cubs actually did both. Kerry Wood remained in Arizona and has not resumed pitching off of the mound.
Minor League News….
The Cubs released their minor league rosters earlier in the week and while there has been an official announcement concerning Mark Prior and Juan Mateo’s status to start the season (Mateo was placed on the DL), two other names are missing from the Iowa Cubs roster….Sean Marshall and Roberto Novoa, both were optioned to Iowa toward the end of spring training. There has not been an official word from the Cubs on the status of either Marshall or Novoa.
- Iowa lost their opener to Round Rock, 6-2 on Thursday. J.R. Mathes took the loss.
- The Smokies won their opener, 3-1 over the Jacksonville Suns. Sean Gallagher recorded the win and pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and gave up just 4 hits.
- Ryne Sandberg won his managerial debut. The Peoria Chiefs beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 9-5.
2007 Iowa Cubs Opening Day Roster
Pitchers
- Hector Almonte
- Federico Baez
- Cory Bailey
- Rocky Cherry
- Ben Howard
- Carlos Marmol
- J.R. Mathes
- Ryan O’Malley
- Clay Rapada
- Les Walrond
- John Webb
- Randy Wells
Catchers
- Koyie Hill
- Geovany Soto
Infielders
- Mike Fontenot
- Micah Hoffpauir
- Albenis Machado
- Casey McGehee
- Scott Moore
- Eric Patterson
- Carlos Rojas
Outfielders
- Buck Coats
- Angel Pagan
- Felix Pie
2007 Tennessee Smokies Roster
Pitchers
- Justin Berg
- Sean Gallagher
- Kevin Hart
- Jim Henderson
- Mark Holliman
- Tim Layden
- Adalberto Mendez
- Jon Mueller
- Carmen Pignatiello
- Greg Reinhard
- Paul Schappert
- Donald Veal
Catchers
- Jake Fox
- Tony Richie
- Chris Robinson
Infielders
- Gary Cates
- Matt Craig
- Brian Dopirak
- Francisco Salas
- Joe Simokaitis
- Jemel Spearman
Outfielders
- Jorge Cortes
- Josh Kroeger
- Chris Walker
2007 Daytona Cubs Roster
Pitchers
- Mitch Atkins
- Matt Avery
- Todd Blackford
- Jerry Blevins
- Michael Cooper
- Jesse Estrada
- Grant Johnson
- Scott Koerber
- Billy Petrick
- Jeff Samardzija
- Joel Santo
- Scott Taylor
Catchers
- Jake Muyco
- Mark Reed
- Alan Rick
Infielders
- Robinson Chirinos
- Alberto Garcia
- Matt Matulia
- Ryan Norwood
- Kyle Reynolds
- Nate Spears
Outfielders
- James Adduci
- Chris Amador
- Tyler Colvin
- Jesus Valdez
2007 Peoria Chiefs Roster
Pitchers
- Al Alburquerque
- Marco Carrillo
- Julio Castillo
- Jose Ceda
- Rafael Dolis
- Alex Maestri
- Billy Muldowney
- Jeremy Papelbon
- Mark Pawelek
- Jose Pina
- Rocky Roquet
- Jayson Ruhlman
Catchers
- Matt Canepa
- Wellington Castillo
- Blake Lalli
Infielders
- Matt Camp
- Russ Canzler
- Dylan Johnston
- Josh Lansford
- Jonathan Mota
Outfielders
- Yusuf Carter
- Valerio Heredia
- Alfred Joseph
- Deryck Lewis
- Andrew Lopez