The countdown to Lake Buena Vista has begun ... and the rumors and activity throughout baseball picked up after the long holiday weekend. The Cubs continue to be linked to the same players, with a few exceptions. Jesse Crain joined the list of relievers the Cubs are looking at this winter. Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis, Aaron Harang and Erik Bedard are on the Cubs radar Bruce Miles put an end to all of the Vicente Padilla rumors. Miles reported on Monday that "the Cubs weren't keen on him in the … [Read more...]
Speculation, the Sale and the Employee
With the Cubs Convention around the corner, the sale of the team should be completed in the near future. A report on Sports Central Monday night indicated the announcement could be made within 48 hours. Most feel the leading candidate to purchase the Chicago Cubs is Tom Ricketts. There were several former Cubs in the news on Tuesday including Josh Kroeger and Mark Prior plus speculation from the mainstream media involving Alfonso Soriano, Michael Young, Rich Hill, Josh Vitters and the Texas … [Read more...]
Baseball America’s Top Cubs Prospects for 2009
Baseball America unveiled their list of the Cubs top prospects for the 2009 season along with which players possess the best tools in the organization on Monday. Only three players remain in the top ten from a year ago. Names such as Ryan Flaherty, Hak-Ju Lee and Jay Jackson have replaced the likes of Sean Gallagher, Josh Donaldson, Jose Ceda and Donald Veal. The CCO will post Baseball America's complete top 30 list of the best prospects in the coming days but for now the best of the best is … [Read more...]
Another Look at the Cubs’ Top Prospects of 2009
Scout.com released their annual list of the Cubs' top prospects on Monday. The first of a two-part feature focused on the players they feel are the top 10 in the Cubs system. Scout.com is the third publication to release a list of the Cubs top prospects for 2009....Baseball America is scheduled to release their look at the Cubs' Farm System on January 12th. To no surprise Josh Vitters is the Cubs' Top Prospect according to Scout.com with Jeff Samardzija second and Jay Jackson listed as the … [Read more...]
Minor League Ball’s Top Cubs Prospects
A couple of weeks following the release Baseball Prospectus' top Cubs prospects list, John Sickels from MinorLeagueBall.com has unveiled his top 20 list of the Cubs' prospects, along with a few honorable mentions. Baseball America' top prospects in the Cubs system is due to be released on January 12th. Josh Vitters once again is tops in the system with Jeff Samardzija coming in at number two while Tyler Colvin has dropped to number seven and Donald Veal has fallen out of the top 10.... … [Read more...]
Minor League Report – 04/25/08
The Cubs' farm system received a boost this past week when Josh Vitters made his debut for the Peoria Chiefs. The rest of his week was not as good as his first game but at least the Cubs' top prospect is now in A ball. Sean Gallagher turned in a great start with 12 strikeouts and Randy Wells was returned to the Cubs' system after being taken by the Blue Jays in the Rule 5 Draft this past winter. Jose Ascanio picked up first win in Iowa Cubs' 3-2 win over the Memphis Redbirds on Thursday after … [Read more...]
Ball Four….Ball Eight….Ball Twelve
Spring Training Game Twenty-Three - Cubs 8 Rockies 6 WP - Neal Cotts (1-2) LP - Manny Corpas (0-1) Save - Michael Wuertz (1) The Cubs offense picked the right day to break out of their rut and score their third highest run total of the spring. Somehow, someway, Lou Piniella's crew managed to win a ballgame in which the pitching staff walked a total of 12 batters on the afternoon. Rich Hill had a horrible outing. He walked the bases loaded twice in the 1st inning and of the 22 pitches he threw, … [Read more...]
Storylines of the Spring….The Rest of the Roster
The first full squad workout is scheduled for later today as the last few position players reported to Fitch Park on Monday. The biggest surprise from Day 5 of Camp Lou was the Cubs signing Alex Cintron to a minor league deal. Rumors began to circulate the signing of Cintron was a precursor to a bigger deal involving a certain middle infielder but Jim Hendry shot down all of the speculation. According to a report in the Tribune, with Ronny Cedeno splitting time between the infield and outfield … [Read more...]
Spring Training NRI’s….The Infield and The Outfield
The biggest news from day one at Fitch Park was the announcement Carlos Zambrano will take the ball on Opening Day for the fourth straight year. Big Z stated during the Cubs Convention that Ted Lilly could have the honor against the Brewers on March 31st but 'Big Z' apparently changed his stance over the last month. Several reports indicated Zambrano has shown up to camp in better shape than last year ready to start the season on a positive note. In other news, Felix Pie reported to camp early … [Read more...]