More roster shuffling at wet Wrigley
We’re officially under a rain delay. The Cubs announced that about an hour before the 1:20 scheduled start because of the heavy rain and lightning moving through the area. The Cubs made a few roster moves this morning. Let’s get to them:
--Outfielder Reed Johnson went on the DL, retro to May 26, with lower-back spasms.
--The Cubs selected the contract of outfielder Brad Snyder from Class AAA Iowa. To make room for Snyder on the 40-man, they transferred pitcher Andrew Cashner from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.
--Catcher Geovany Soto managed to fly through the fog this morning and make it to Wrigley Field. He’s been activated off the DL, and catcher Welington Castillo was sent to Iowa.
Lineup
Fukudome, RF
Barney, 2B
Castro, SS
Ramirez, 3B
Pena, 1B
Soriano, LF
Campana, CF
Hill, C
Dempster, P
“Cassie needs to go play,” said manager Mike Quade of Castillo. “Snyder gives us some help in center field and helps keep us balanced with left- and right-handed bats. He’s been playing like a son of a gun at Triple-A.”
Well, “Cassie” could have played and probably should have played more than he did while he was here. As for Soto not starting today, Q said: “He just got here. Hilly’s caught Demp a lot lately. He’s hit this guy pretty good. I think we give Sote a day to get acclimated and get back into the swing of things.”
Q alluded to talking to the players but it didn’t sound like the classic “team meeting” type thing. After all, how many of those can you have before they become meaningless?
“This was as much dealing with technical stuff, baseball stuff, and saying, ‘Look, let’s just hang in there and let’s play. And let’s play better. And let’s play with effort,’” Q said. “This was more to make sure we were on the same page on all the other aspects of the game. I don’t feel the need. After several games like that? Yeah, probably. After the game in Cincinnati I was so disappointed in? Yeah. But this was just to get everybody familiar, especially the new guys.”
I asked Q about Soriano in left field and whether it just is what it is.
“I believe so,” he answered. “I feel bad for him from the standpoint of his legs just not being what they were and not allowing him to get to balls. I think sometimes it looks worse than it is. I’d love for him to be able to get to some of those balls. I watch him work with (coach Ivan DeJesus) every day. Being an inexperience guy who didn’t play outfield from the get-go, he has a tougher time around the wall than a lot of guys who have done that for their entire life. This outfield here is not easy. I watched McCutchen, who is pretty damn good, get himself caught in the same situation. Granted, he’s 400 feet but has the speed to get back there.”
If you watched Saturday’s game, and I was lucky enough to be off, you know that Pirates starting pitcher Paul Maholm pitched a complete game, throwing a grand total of 91 pitches. He improved to 2-7 with a 3.18 ERA. I asked Q when that happens, is it a case of the pitcher being good or the hitters having poor approaches.
“Yeah, we didn’t have a couple of our big left-handed killers in the lineup, which is unfortunate,” Q said. “I think anytime somebody’s that efficient…I didn’t see us chasing. If you see a situation where you’re going out of the zone and you’re getting after a guy earlier than you should then you’re more inclined to say we didn’t do a very good job. But I thought he pounded the strike zone, both sides of the plate and changed speeds extremely well. There are a few people that made a pretty damn good living doing that on a regular basis.”
MINOR-LEAGUE ROUNDUP
Cubs pitching prospect Rob Whitenack has a strained elbow, according to a couple of Cubs people. That never sounds good, but the Cubs said they had no plans to bring Whitenack to Chicago to get looked at. That might be a good sign because they’re generally very cautious on these things. It’s something to keep an eye on, though.
Whitenack’s teammate at Class AA Tennessee, Trey McNutt, had a good start yesterday even as the Smokies fell 3-0 to Mississippi. McNutt worked 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, walking tow and striking out two. Marwin Gonzalez extended a hit streak to 11 games.
Class AAA Iowa came back to beat Round Rock 6-4. Starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx worked 6 innings, giving up 4 hits and 4 runs. He got a no-decision. Bobby Scales hit his second homer. Tyler Colvin was 2-for-5.
Class A Daytona won its 11th straight, beating Bradenton 4-3. Aaron Kurcz worked 3 innings, giving up 5 hits and 3 runs. Evan Crawford (.352) was 3-for-4 with a walk. Matt Cerda extended a hitting streak to eight games by going 2-for-5.
Peoria (A) lost it second straight, losing 6-5 to Cedar Rapids. Dallas Beeler worked 4 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs. Center fielder Matt Szczur (.344) had 4 hits, going 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and his 13th stolen base. Greg Rohan extended a hit streak to nine games, going 2-for-4.
I don't disagree with Castillo going back down. But is Q serious when he says that "Cassie" needs to go down because he needs to play? Really? There is one guy who controlled that with the Cubs, Q, and that was you.
It's one thing to be a cheerleading manager, but it's quite another to be flat out dishonest.
Just like journeymen minor leaguers, there's usually a reason why career minor league managers have been passed up by 29 other clubs. It's clear why Quade was passed up as well.
For as much as I detest Quade the fact is that Wellington Castillo, in truth, doesn't have a major league future. He's not good behind the plate according to all reports. He was called up in Soto's absense because calling up Clevenger or Brenly at this point is way premature.
Koyie Hill is major suckage. But at least he semi knows what he is doing. Not sure the same could be said of Castillo catching games in the bigs. In hindsight Hendry needed to pick up a veteran looking for work.
We would have a better idea if Castillo has a big-league future if Quade WOULD JUST PLAY THE KID MORE!!!! Play the kids and let's freaking find out what we have!
also started Soriano in LF the first game in Boston over Baker cause of his experience in the OF.
in today's paper when asked about Soriano's D, he said it's not as good cause of his inexperience in the OF.
5 years is enough time, you don't have to play it all your life as Q suggested.
remember when Colvin was sent down? Q said he needed to play more.
He's combination of the wind-up clapping monkey that was Jim Essian and the brain deadedness that was Tom Treblehorn. He's an embarassment wearing the Cub uniform. I've got to believe he has crediblity issues within his own clubhouse. He's about as bad as bad can be.
yet you were the one that stated the Cubs should hire him....we all knew he was not a big-league manager, because other teams never gave him a thought...the Cubs would (and did), because he is not the type to rock the boat for Hendry, and he is cheap...I have always backed Sandberg for this job, and even though he may have not done better record-wise, I KNOW he would not have put up with Hendry forcing his hand to play vets and would have voiced his opinion....I think Hendry is intimidated by Sandberg and his popularity, not to mention how Ryno took Hendry's dare back in the fall of 2006 and went to the low rung of the minors to get managerial experience.
This is a lost year...even if the Cubs found some way to win ten in a row (I know, they haven't even had a 3-game win streak), there is no way this team is a play-off caliber team...play the freaking kids and let's see what we have growing on the farm...time to harvest, and time to clean house for that harvest!
The same person that said Sandberg would be a Jim Essian clone, standing atop the dugout and clapping his hands. Look it up.
Bruce, I really am a fan of the 1st Amendment. I really am. However, there comes a time when the public interest should take precedent. It should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual reader here that we all become dumber by reading 6L's repetitive posts. Time to block his IP address? I vote yea.
I'm a huge fan of the First Amendment. But I'll look into it. There are certain house rules here that I like to maintain so that we keep the blog focused on baseball discussion. That doesnt' mean anybody has to agree with me or anybody else here. But I want things to remain civil and for people not to get personal.
I've had to delete some posts that have been profane, vulgar or those that have contained racial, sexual or religious slurs.
I also liken this to coming into somebody's house. In this case, it's my house, which the Daily Herald so graciously rents out to me. To that end, I've had to delete posts that have been insulting to the host. Do any of us walk into someone else's house and insult the person who lives there? If so, you're usually asked to leave. That's what happens here at times.
I'll extend the courtesy to people who visit here. If that guy (6L) engages in name-calling or any other insulting behavior toward me or anybody else here, that post will be deleted. The way the blog is set up, responses to offending posts also get deleted.
I don't want to ban anybody outright, but I'll do so if things get out of hand.
--Bruce
Thanks, Bruce. I trust your judgment.
But you sure were beating the Quade drum big time during the off season when the search was on for the next Cubs manager weren't you 6L? I seem to recall dozens of posts about how Quade deserved the job, was a great baseball man who had paid his dues...blah blah blah.
He's combination of the wind-up clapping monkey and brain deadedness. He's an embarassment as a Cubs fan (and thats saying alot). I've got to believe he has crediblity issues within his own mind. He's about as bad as bad can be.
Not to mention, a complete tool.
Colvin was 2 for 4 today with a walk, a double and a triple
Clevenger 3 for 5 with a HR (#3) I have to believe that his guy is moving into true prospect status.
would ANYONE know that Gonoiu was on here?
A. I would know
B. Your elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor
C. Somebody has to counter your nuttier than squirrel excrement trade proposals, assessment of players, etc.
D. I don't give a rat's ass WHAT you think regarding the Pulitzer prize winning quality of my posts.
buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Any word when they are going to get this game started?
Started at 3:54 p.m.
sorry, just switched it back
I'm afraid this team hasn't hit bottom yet. The only legitimately tradeable big contracts the Cubs have are Dempster and Zambrano, but in both cases they hold no-trade power. I respect Dempster and his daughter's situation, but it also sickens me that his comfort in a Cub uniform overweighs his willingness to waive his no-trade and be moved to a contender. It feeds into the widely held theory around baseball that Wrigley is a country club environment for veterans simply content on cashing a big paycheck above all else.
So that leaves Zambrano as the guy to most aggressively try to move. I've got toto believe Zambrano would be pumped up to play for a high profile contender like the Yankees.
Soriano? As of today he is owed $68 million through the end of 2014. This for a guess hitting hack who is reduced to trying to cheat on the fastball and whose hustle is continually called into question. Oh, and he is the single worst defensive outfielder in baseball. There is not a team on this planet who is going to take on Soriano. Even if the Cubs threw in $60 million to make him go away. It's getting to the point where you either bury him on the bench for the rest of his contract or banish him to the DL with a trumped up injury.
Is anyone else worried that we might be witnessing the offensive drop-off(from what you might ask) that many of us have long expected from Barney?As solid as his D and instincts are, I think we're still looking at a long-term backup at SS and 2B. Unfortunately, I think that JH and Quade view him as a lynchpin of our next contender. Id still much rather look at DeWitt, Flaherty, or even DJL as a long-term solution there. I know his defense was brutal in the spring but I think he has been prematurely buried by Quade.
We know it's gonna happen, what's the use in worrying about it?
He's a guy that will be around and probably play quite a bit until arbitration takes over.
Please do us a favor Q and bat Barney in the 8 hole, instead of Soto.
I don't really think he will drop down to that level. I think he is a .300 hitter who plays really good defense, but unfortunately doesn't have a lot of power, and doesn't take enough walks to really maximize his abilities. I would like to have a manager who uses his speed more too.
I agree with Boozer. I think he is a better all around player than Theriot, but the cirumstances will be about the same. If the Cubs develop someone better, they will replace him. If they don't, the Cubs will keep him and use him until he starts making real money.
He's hitting 291 in May...but what does that tell you? Not much.
That .291 gives him a .314 OBP and a .313 SLG.
That's BAD and TERRIBLE.
People were fooled by the .350+ BABIP in April.
Barney is fine, but so much focus is on him by you guys because he (and Castro) are the only batters hitting. If Ramirez, Soriano, Pena, and the likes were hitting their average seasons, and the Cubs were in first place, or at least a strong winning record, then not much criticism is leveled at Barney. Back off from him; direct your criticism toward the vets who can't come close to earning their huge paychecks. Nobody said Barney was going to be a superstar, but at least he is busting his ass every day he plays, and pays attention to the game situations when he plays and doesn't play. He's a rookie, so he is going to make mistakes---every player has their first few seasons. I'd appreciate his hustle and thirsting knowledge for the game from him; I wish 24 other guys on the team had that same desire he has...he doesn't take anything for granted.
Can he do that playing regularly over the course of a full season? I guess we will find out. But if he can, then he is still vastly superior to the option of the woeful DeWitt. And Baker's value lies in being a utility man who selectively plays against left-handed pitching.
Would Demp waive his no-trade if he felt "confident"(wink-wink, nod-nod) that the Cubs would re-sign him to a 2-3yr deal in the offseason, assuming he didn't exercise his '12 option with whichever team traded for him. Could this, legally, be negotiated between Demp, Hendry, and whichever team were to acquire him? He'd be helping out the Cubs, pitching in a pennant race , and presumably securing his future in Chicago. Just a random, crazy thought on a rainy day.
Bruce, Is there any possibility of Quade ever referring to a player by just his name? It gets a little old with all the nicknames. It somehow reminds me of George Bush during the Katrina crisis saying "Brownie's got it covered"
It's always going to be Campy, Garz, Demp, Z, Sote, Cassie, Cassie, 'Los, Rami, Fuke, Marm, Marsh, Samardz, Russ, Hilly, Bake, Monty and whomever else I might have forgotten.
How about managing the team like it should be managed instead of spewing cutesy nicknames like he is in elementary school. Sit Soriano and Ramirez. Neither one can hit with men on unless the game has already been decided and both are below average defensively. The team stinks and anyone else would be refreshing to see other than these two. I'm sick of seeing these two come up with men on and consistenly fall behind in the count and then go out weakly. Ramirez has 1 freakin' home run. You kidding me? And believe me, if he was hurt, unlike Derrek Lee from last year and Pena earlier this year (thumb) he would be sitting. And if he is really hurt from some nagging injury, then why is our manager still batting him fourth? Sit these two for a week, let someone else play and then see if these two really want to play. If not, like I suspect, then it tells you something about these two and their makeup. These two don't care about the team, only themselves. Soriano smiling as he is headed to the dugout after his 2 run homer on Friday in the ninth with his team down 4 and a lefty on the mound saying here, hit this, we're up 4 and your run means nothing. If that situation was tighter, he would have been facing Hanrahan (sp?), not Beimel. Just sit 'em for a time and see how they respond as teammates and when they get back in the lineup. Nothing to lose, except more games.......
Quade is insanely in over his head. That said, this is still a bad baseball club regardless the man calling the shots in the dugout.
....agree on the two dogs but....t'ain't gonna happen....sadly, we must face we are stuck with a horrible mess and it's ain't gonna be pretty for a l-o-n-g while.
I don't see that at all. I don't see how you see that either.
First, you have 50 million or so coming off the books this year on a team with a 134 million dollar payroll.
Ramirez - 14.5 million
Fukudome - 14.5 million
Silva - 6.5 million
Grabow - 4.8 million
Pena - 10 million
Samardzija - 3 million
and possibly Byrd - 6.5 million.
Who knows what happens with Hill, Johnson, DeWitt, but any or all could be gone.
If they trade Dempster or trade/ release Soriano (while eating some of the contract), that is more off the books. Either way, I don't see Soriano manning LF for the Cubs next year.
So next year, the team is without Ramirez, without Soriano, without Fukudome, without Grabow, without Pena, without Silva. Who else do you want to see gone.
I have no problem keeping Dempster, but I would trade him for value.
So lets say we keep Byrd for now. Next year, the team could lineup something like this.
CF - Brett Jackson
2b - Darwin Barney
SS - Starlin Castro
1b - Prince Fielder
LF - Marlon Byrd/Colvin/Spencer or other prospect
RF - JD Drew
C - Soto
3b - Flaherty/DeWitt/Baker or other prospect
Garza
Zambrano
Dempster
Wells
___________ - Cashner, McNutt, Whitenack, other prospect or FA
And then the 2012 offseason, Dempster's contract expires, Byrd's contract expires, Zambrano's contract expires. That is another 39 million to spend on pitching or something else. And hopefully even more prospects will be on the way.
I don't see this as a long term problem (unless we don't get better management).
A. What is your wondrous fascination with going right back out and spending big in free agency for a team that is years away?
B. What is your wondrous fascination with the severely overrated and broken down JD Friggin Drew?
C. What indication do you have that Prince Fielder can't wait to play for the Cubs next season?
D. Show me ONE shred of evidence that the debt riddled Ricketts are going to have a payroll of a $130 million next season?
You live in a fantasy world. At least you are starting to subliminally acknowledge that Josh Vitters has zero future in the big leagues.
but, at 62, even a couple years is a long time and with the turnover you describe they still will take a while to compete I would guess let alone win.......plus Hendry is still in charge....but, I appreciate your optimism and am trying to inject it into my veins. Have a great holiday!!
to turn it around. Even with lots of money, you have to make good signings and good choices. Also need some luck with health and some contributions from prospects.
it'll be a long summer. If they call up McNutt in Sept will he be" McNutty"? It's pretty hard to find a nickname for Trey.
He will prolly call him"three"
going to get promoted soon I suspect. He is playing really well. If Ha is indeed staying at AA, there is an opening in CF at Daytona.
Cubs OF minor leaguers are playing very well this year. Even guys like Evan Crawford and Rubi Silva are playing well.
This post is in response to a post on the previous blog...
The fact is, whether or not the Cubs are able/willing to trade these guys comes down to the amount of money that Ricketts is prepared to eat.
What I think you would have to eat on each player to move him
Soriano - Right now, owed somewhere around 10 - 12 million for this year (pro-rated), and owed 54 million after this year, probably have to eat 30 - 36 million to move him. This means the team taking him would be on the hook for 6 - 8 million a year. If you want anything back, you are going to have to eat 36 - 40 million, plus this years salary. Probably 42 - 50 million total just to make him go away. And you have to find an AL team in need of a DH.
Fukudome - owed probably 10 million of his 14.5 million contract this year. Not going to get much in return, but a team which is RH dominant might take him, especially one who values on base percentage. Might have to find a team with an injury problem.
Ramirez - Owed about 10 million for this year, and the option for next. Some on this board think that makes him immovable, but there are a bunch of teams out there needing help at 3b, A's, Rockies, maybe Angels, Marlins, etc. If the Cubs were willing to kick in about 6 million cash (in effect dropping his option for 16 million to 10 million), several teams might be interested.
Dempster - Still owed about 10 million this year. If the Sox were playing better, that might be the easiest best option for a trade. Many teams would want him, but Hendry has to find a way too talk Dempster into accepting the trade, and it might be completely out of the question due to his family situation.
Zambrano - still owed 12 - 13 million this year, and 19 next year. I don't see the Cubs trading him, but I guess it is possible. They would have to eat 8 - 10 million to get much return, unless it was the Yankees or similar.
Byrd - owed 3.5 million this year, 6.5 next year. No salary concerns here. One of Hendry's better signs. Should be easy to move IF he gets healthy and is able to get back in the box.
Grabow - owed 3 million or so still, might have to eat a million or so, and find a team like the Yankees in need of a lefty. Might be tough unless he pitches very well.
Levine had a good comment on the Cubs yesterday, pretty much saying that if you're a big market club then you have to act like one. The Bosox when confronted with a bad signing( ala Julio Lugo) go ahead and eat it and they move on. The Cubs on the other hand, always expect to catch some lightning in a bottle with a bad contract and hope the player turns it around.
Soriano's agent must understand that he has no future in the National League. They'll need to eat $40mil to move him but they need to do that soon. Fukudome must be moved also and they'll have to eat all but $1-2mil.
We are learning about our young pitchers, we need to learn more about our young position players and get everything set for 2012. Byrd will hopefully bounce back, but I think you must assume that he is done for his career and proceed with that in mind for next year.
I think you need to keep Dempster and Zambrano because the supposed depth in starting pitching in our system isn't there.
Agree its time to start cleaning up the roster, but there's one major difference between the Cubs current situation and the Bosox cutting Lugo -- the Cubs have many, many bad contracts. We can all agree that it starts with Soriano, but goes much further -- Milton Bradley turned into Silva, Zambrano turned into a No. 3 starter, Dempster into a No. 5, Aramis and Kosuke into expensive singles hitters, and Pena is battling to stay above .200.
I don't see Ricketts dumping these salaries -- he won't even cut Hendry free. But if I could pick one it would be Soriano. I don't know if he's hurt, out of shape or uninterested, but I'm sick of his act.
Every big market team has several bad contracts. Don't believe it, just check out Cot's
Boston has John Lackey (he of the 8.01 ERA) signed through 2014 for 16 million a year ( with a player option). They have Bobby Jenks and his 9.35 ERA signed for 6 million for this year and next. They have DiceK signed for over 10 million each of the next 2 years. They are paying Mike Cameron almost 8 million this year and he is horrendous. Same with Scutaro.
You can look at EVERY big market team and play the same game.
If you think the Cubs are alone in this, you are gravely mistaken.
But the Red Sox have Ellsbury, Lowrie, Pedrosia---all quality home-grown products. Not to mention Youkalis, who was traded for when he was still minor-league property with the A's. When you have that, you can compliment it with contracts like Adrian Gonzalez. And the winning attitude this organization has carried since their dream 2004 campaign.
The Cubs can't compare at all.
Results wipe away bad contracts. When one begins to compare the Cubs and Red Sox, one sees an incompetent GM flailing his arms at the sky in Chicago, anda guy who's had his team in the thick of things almost every year. There's no comparison.
Ahem, the Boston Red Sox also WON the 2004 and 2007 World Series and are as nicely poised as any team in baseball to do the same in 2011. How on earth does your peabrain compare their contract management to the Cubs?!? You really are a rationlizing schmuck to the nth degree.
They have a loaded roster and a loaded minor league system. And have had so for a long time.
I didn't know d-----bags could talk.
... until I read your latest suggestion on what the Cubs should do. Say, hows your pal Josh Vitters doing ?!?!
CM, unfortunately , the only guy who might yield something, in terms of prospects, is Dempster and that is assuming we kicked in some money. Any deals made near the deadline are likely to be similar to those of last season where we save a little bit of money and receive some B-C prospects in return. I guess its conceivable that, if either Z or Demp were to get really hot and were willing to waive their no-trades, we might be able to receive a useful piece back. As you can see, that's a lot of ifs. CM, did you see my Marshall post in the other thread? If so, thoughts?