Since no one has grabbed the bull by the horns tonight I will fill in for Josh...

 

First off congrats to Casey Coleman on his first big league win.  Hopefully it will be one of many for him with the cubs...

Now on to the minors and the gory details

 

Iowa lost to Nashville 8 to 6.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_nasaaa_iowaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Austin Bibens-Dirkxgave up 8 ER in the first two innings and it was uphill all night after that.  He finished with 5 IP 10H, 1BB, and 5Ks.  David Cales and Jake Muyco each threw a pair of scoreless innings.  Muyco is another one of those converted catchers...

As for the hitters- Wright, Smith, Mota, and LeHair each had two hits.  Robinson Chirinos was also 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs. 

 

Tennessee lost to West Tenn 7 to 4.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_tenaax_wtdaax_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Trey McNutt made his debut in AA but it did not go so well as he took the loss.  He gave up one in the first and then 4 in the 5th prior to getting pulled.  His line for the night was 4.2IP, 7H, 5ER, 2BB, and 5Ks. 

Clevenger, Thomas, Campana, and Guyer each had 2 hits each.  Campana had a 2 RBI night.  Guyer and Thomas also swiped a bag their 24th and 14th respectively.  Guyer is a little old but he has had an outstanding season and deserves a lot of credit for how the season has gone for this team. 

 

Daytona lost to Brevard County 7 to 3.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_22_dbcafa_breafa_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Alberto Cabrera started but retired only two batters before being replaced by Nick Struck who made his Hi A debut.  Not sure why Cabrera would have left.  Similar to McNutt, Nick also had a night to mostly forget.  His line was 4.2IP, 7 hits allowed, 4 ER, and equal walks and strikeouts at 3.  Alec Maestri finished it up and gave up 3ER in less than 3 IP.  Unfortunately the young italian seems to be going backward the last year or so...

 A quiet night for the hitters except newly acquired Evan Crawford who went 3 for 4. 

 

Peoria lost to Clinton 3 to 1.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_peoafx_cliafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Marcus Hatleystarted and went 2.2 perfect innings with 3 Ks.  He has been starting every game he pitches in but only goes 2 or 3 innings everytime.  An usual situation that I am not sure I understand the logic on.  Autstin Kirk then replaced him for the next 4 innings.  The good was that he struck out 7 batters but he had some control issues- 4 BBs and 2 WPs.  He also gave up 4 hits and 2 ER.  He did pick off 2 batters though so the lefty must have a decent pickoff move.  Yohan Gonzalez finished up the last 1.1 innings and managed to give up only 1 ER in spite of allowing 5 hits.  He did K one batter. 

With only 5 team hits there is again very little to discuss about the batters.  The only one to note is Logan Watkins as he had 2 of them (one being a triple) and he stole a bag (#19 on the season). 

Boise got shutout 7 to 0.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_boiasx_vanasx_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Are we noticing a trend here?!?!  Not much to note.  Eduardo Figueroa started but gave up 5 in 4.1 innings.  He allowed 6 hits, 4 walks, 4 Ks, and 2 dingers.  Again only 5 team hits with Elliot Soto collecting two of them. 

 

And in the 9th the AZL Royals are leading the AZL Cubs 5 to 4.  You can look it up yourself if you really want to know how it ended...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_royrok_cubrok_1&t=g_box&did=milb

 

So for a change the MLB team won and all of the minors lost.  We have seen the reverse on numerous occasions this season.  Not sure what if anything that means.  I realize it was a bad night but the hitting in the Cubs system seems really weak right now- as pointed out by Cubsfan1 in one of his recent blogs...

Apparently the M's are forking over a lot of money for the 31 year old...

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-mariners-figgins&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

At least the fanposts suggesting the Cubs should sign him will stop.  Now if only we can get the Brian Roberts and Mark DeRosa blow hards to go away. 

Still waiting for the Bradley saga to end.  Put us out of our misery Jimbo.  At this point just do the deal for Burrell and write it off as a loss.

The roster is now set.  No big surprise that the Cubs could find no takers for Gaudin and had to just drop him.  I am okay with that as the upside with Guzman is too high to risk losing him. 

 Sending Jeff down was also the right move- he can always be brought back up later for the bullpen.  If his future is really starting then let him do it in the minors. 

Also means that Patton makes the club.  Can he stick and do well having only played in A ball?  Time will tell.

Here are a couple links...

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-cubsmoves&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090405&content_id=4131752&vkey=pr_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

According to another blog the Cubs have signed Aaron Miles to a 2 year deal...

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2008/12/31/cubs-sign-aaron-miles

 

Although this looks official with quotes from Hendry about it there is nothing on any other outlets that I can find.  Can anyone else please confirm?

Kind of an interesting deal if it is indeed true.  I would say it definitely paves the way to trade Cedeno and possibly even DeRosa. 

 

It is now official...

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081231&content_id=3730649&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp

There has been some speculation on this site and others that maybe the Cubs could get Greene from the Padres.  Well it looks like he is about to sign a two year deal to stay put so you can forget about him.  Theriot will be the starting SS for the Cubs in 08 barring something unforeseen.  I personally am fine with that.  He faded down the stretch but was solid otherwise.  There will be plenty of time to make a move during the season if it isn't working out.  

Here is the link to the story...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-padres-greene&prov=ap&type=lgns

Now we can just continue to debate the merits of a B Roberts trade instead.  Just kidding.  I for one refuse to post anything else about it until a deal is actually signed off by Peter Angelos (which will be never).  MacFail was an idiot for going there.  

In case you have not heard the Bonds record breaking HR ball will indeed by branded with an asterisk prior to going to the hall of fame.  I just keep laughing to myself everytime I think of this.  It makes me want to go back and visit the place again just to see how they actually display it.  With all the amazing artifacts they have displayed will they try to hide it or will they actually acknowledge it to the fans who visit.  

I wonder what Barry thinks now of the "idiot" who bought the ball.  

Here is the story...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbn_bonds756_ball_6;_ylt=AsWbOvxz4g7SfbdIGERE8isE 1vAI

I must confess- I actually voted at least 6 or 7 times for the asterisk and it felt good doing so.  

The big news of the day for the Cubs minors was Hart and Gallagher being sent from AAA to AA.  Speculation is that this is just to keep them pitching (starting) on normal rest so if the big club needs them in a couple weeks they will be ready.  BTW- Iowa is done in 3 or 4 days whereas Tenn will likely make the playoffs and go longer.  

On to the scores...

IOWA (AAA):  loses 6-3 to Memphis.  

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2007_08_30_iowaaa_mrbaaa_1&a mp;did=t451&sid=t451

Fox hit a 2R HR and Craig hit a solo shot but that was all the scoring Iowa could manage.  E Patterson went 2-4 with a SB playing CF.   However the starter O'malley put them in a hole early (2.2IP 4ER 6BBs) that they could never pull out of.  Cherry pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with 1K

Tenn (AA):  Wins 5-2 over carolina.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_30_tena ax_cmcaax_1

Colvin and Fuld each go 2-4 and Reynolds had a 2R double.  The aforementioned recently demoted Hart pitched 5 strong innings giving up 0ER with 1H, 2BB, and 3Ks.  "Game over" Roquet got his 7th save with a scoreless 9th (1H and 1BB though).  

Daytona (hi A):  Loses 7-6 to St Lucie.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_30_dbca fa_sluafa_1

Darin Downs gives up 4Rs in the bottom of the 8th to give the D-cubs a tough loss.  4 differnt batters banged out 2 hits (Camp, Dopirak, Clevenger, and Matulia) and Rea even had 3. Unfortunately all Daytona hits were singles except one double by Dopirak.  BTW- take a look at the stats for Clevenger (link below)...for a guy no one really ever talks about he has had a nice year (but little power or speed but at Catcher who cares).  LH too boot.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Clevenger%20%20DH&pos=&sid=milb&am p;t=p_pbp&pid=502182

Peoria (Mid A):  wins 3-1 over Quad Cities.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_30_peoa fx_qcsafx_1

Strong pitching from Russell (lefty just drafted from Texas who now has pitched 9 scoreless innings with only 3H, 4BB, and 11Ks), Ruhlman (3IP no ER), and Maestri (2IP no ER, BB, or H and 4Ks).  RBI singles by Canzler and Wright in the top of the 9th break the 1-1 tie and give Maestri the win.  

Boise (lo A):  No boxscore as of yet.  1GB with 6 to go though. This just in- Boise wins 8-7. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_30_spoasx_boiasx_1 Josh Vitters actually has a good game: 1-3, BB, and a SB. But the story for Boise once again is Catcher J Donaldson- 3RBIs on 2 hits. C Huseby had a nice start: 5IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, and 7Ks. But the bullpen blew the save then snaked a win. Hatley had a perfect 9th for his 1st save.  

AZL Cubs:  win 4-0.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_30_cubr ok_athrok_1

Angel Guzman starts and goes 2 innings (1H, 1BB, and 2Ks).  Julio Castillo comes in and pitches 5 strong for the Win (2H, no BB, and 6Ks).  

One last tidbit- is everyone else enjoying the playing of "Go Cubs Go" after Cubs wins as much as me?  I still get chills thinking about the Aramis shot to win it a few weeks back over the Brew crew and them just letting the music play on TV without interrupting.  How long have they been playing this anyway?  Being an out of town fan I rarely get to see them in Chicago and I don't recall them playing it when I did- although I must admit they didn't win too many of the games I have seen at Wrigley.  Unfortunately I did not get to hear it after the wins at LA and SD I saw earlier this year.  

This is not exactly surprising but the fact Fox was brought up and not Cedeno is odd to me.  Guess they wanted a RH hitting 1B backup with Lee down for the next 4 games.  

Here is the link...
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070719&content_id=209599 3&vkey=pr_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

The cubs get the dreaded PTBNL...

Here is the link...

http://cubs.scout.com/2/653055.html

I know a lot of people on this site have been asking for this move for some time and now they got their wish.  Apparently the Cubs also want to see what the kid can do at AA.  I realize his K rate is of concern and some have compared him to J Jones.  However, I think a better comparison may be Jeff Franceur (sp?) in Atlanta.  His OBP aint great but he hits for power and drives in a fair number of runs.  I am hoping for a little better than that but we shall see...

It will be interesting to see if Kroeger is going to AAA in a corresponding roster move since he is just tearing it up (again another move myself and many others would like to see).  

BTW- Yusef Carter was promoted to replace Colvin at Daytona.  He is the nephew of former Cub Joe Carter.  

Iowa (AAA)
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2007_06_07_nozaaa_iowaaa_1&a mp;did=t451&sid=t451

The Iowa cubs pulled out a 9-6 victory.  Al's favorite AAA player (Les Walrond) got another W tonight with 7 mediocre innings (4ER, 7H, 2BB, and 4Ks).  Rapada got the cheap 3 run 1 out save.  Pignatello pitched another scoreless inning and his ERA is now 0.87.

As for the offense- yet again a team effort.  Patterson (2B), Fontenot, and Soto all had two hits.  One of those for Soto was a HR plus Richie hit another tater.  6 of the first 7 batters for Iowa are at .299 or better.  S Moore being the low BA (.236) but his OBP is still very solid around .350.  

Tenn (AA)
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t553

Got stomped 10-3.  Berg started and was poor again (7ER in 5IP).  Only two hitters worth mentioning:  J Fox (1B) hit 2 dingers to bring his total to 13 for the year and Kroeger (RF) went 3 for 4 with a bomb (#10)(why is he in AA again?).  

Hi A Daytona won 7-5.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_07_clra fa_dbcafa_1

A five run 1st helped propel the club to victory.  Reinhard started and pitched 4 shut out innings.  He was taken down on pitch counts as he just moved back to starting after being a reliever for a while.  Downs got the W with 2 innings of 0 ER (2 unearned runs though).  Layden got his 2nd save with 1.1 innings of no hit ball with 3Ks.

Several hitting stars...Colvin and Amador each go 3 for 5.  Colvin gets 2 RBIs and 1 Run with a double.  Amador gets 2 Runs and 1 RBI with a triple and a SB.  Chrinos goes 3 for 4 with a SB and Valdez goes 2 for 4.  The gloves need some work though as the team had 3 errors on the night.  

Peoria (A) loses 6-4.  
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_07_peoa fx_cliafx_1

They kind of looked like the big league club of years past.  They outhit the opposition 14-6 but still managed to lose.  Pina goes 4 and gives up 4.  Bernard then gave up 2 in 1.2 innings.  Maestri finished up with 2.1 innings of 1 hit ball with 0BBs and 2Ks.  

Lots of hits but little too show for it.  3 GIDP were big for Clinton.  Malone (2b), Norwood (1b), and Castillo (C) each had 3 hits and one of Malones was his 2nd dinger of the year.  Adduci (LF) and Lalli (DH) each had 2 hits as well.  8 LOB was the difference.  

Sorry for the links but I don't know the fancy way to do it.  Hope you like the update.  
 

A simple one liner at the bottom of the Prior article states that Pagan and Cherry were optioned to Iowa yesterday.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070328&content_id=1864295&vkey=spt2007new s&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

This is interesting for several reasons...it looks like Weurtz wins a bullpen spot, Guzman will be the long relief pen guy, and Pagan won't make the club or be traded.  I was under the assumption that Pagan would have to clear waivers to be sent down but this does not appear to be the case since there was no mention of that.  Maybe he already cleared?!?!  Not sure what is up here.  I am glad we are keeping him though b/c he does have value.  

BTW- AAA should have a very solid rotation:

Prior, Mateo, Marmol, Marshall, and Wells

Just got my copy of the prospect handbook from Baseball America in the mail.  Since no one else has posted anything on this I figured I would list the top 10 plus a few other nuggets I thought were intersting from it.  Here goes...

#1 Felix Pie.  Big surprise here- NOT!  See the other ten thousand posts about CF if you want to know more about him.

#2  D Veal.  States he is a possible #2 but amazingly they don't seem 100% convinced despite the fantastic stats he put up last year- which BTW were even better after he moved up a level at midseason.  

#3  T Colvin.  Says he has a nice all around game with room to grow since he was "young" for being a college draftee.  Compares to Steve Finley and Shawn Green- would be nice if could reach that level!!!

#4  J Samardzija.  Amazingly BA went out on a limb on this one and they look really smart now considering the news that he will play baseball full time (announced just yesterday).  They say he may end up in the pen if his secondary pitches don't improve- this was more likely if he split his time between 2 sports.  They think he could really shoot thru the system.

#5.  S Gallagher.  Say his fastball improved last year to 90-94 thus his ceiling went from a #4/5 to possible a #3.  There biggest concern was after his AA promotion he overthrew and got away from what had made him so successful.  His walk rate went up noticibly but he still managed to put up a sub 3 era.  My personal opinion is they still seem to be selling him short.  BA typically falls in love with players with "tools" and often overlooks the results the players actually obtain.  

#6.  E Patterson.  See all the other posts about 2nd base for more on EP.  Basically they say he is still the 2nd basemen of the future for the cubs but is probably a half season or so away.  Did mention they played him some in instructional league in CF- wow that would be weird if he made it to the Cubs as a CF!

#7  S Moore.  "ultimately will serve Chicago as a versatile reserve or as trade bait".  Obviously Ramirez is the 3rd basemen for the Cubs so Moore will have to learn to play elsewhere or go somewhere else.

#8.  R Harvey.  Still undecided on if this guy is a bust or is just waiting to bust out.  My guess is the former.  He will be in AA this season and his sub 300 OBP will likely plummet even further IMHO.

#9.  C Huseby.  Perfect example of BA prefering tools as Huseby pitched only 17 innings in the rookie league with only mediocre results (5+ era, less than a K/IP, and only a 2 to 1 K:BB).  Say he was throwing 90-95 mph just 15 months after TJ surgery.  Should find out if he was worth all the money the cubs threw at him this season (1.3 million as an 11th rd pick- basically they bought him since he would have been an early rd pick prior to getting hurt and the cubs had no 2nd-4th pick).  Thus, it was a gamble to replace the picks they lost.

#10.  M Pawelek.  BA really seems to have soured on this guys potential.  Saying he now pitches at 88-92 (before it was 95) and thus has only a chance for 3 solid "average" pitches (therefore his ceiling isn't nearly as high).  Somewhat surprising to me considering his stats are still quite good and supposedly he showed up last spring in really poor shape.  Not surprisingly, his season numbers were unimpressive at the start but from the midpoint on he was consistently good to great (including a 7 IP playoff win).  Supposedly he learned a lesson and this next season will give us a better feel for what his true ceiling is.  

OTHER NOTES...

Cubs system was rated #18 out of 30 now.  This is the 5 yr in a row it has gone down since it was #1 in 2002 (1, 3, 7, 10, 15, and now 18)

Grade of C for impact players in system and grade of C for Depth.  I disagree with the depth part- IMO I think the Cubs depth is really its true strength and is certainly in the top tier in all of baseball.  OF is the only position that really lacks a lot of depth.  Clearly pitching has been a focus of the organization and it shows with how many guys they have listed- both RH and LH.

BA calls Grant Johnson a bust already.

No mention at all about Brownlie thus we can classify him with Johnson.  

Dopiriak #12.  Will be in AA with Harvey.  Maybe 1 of the 2 of them will figure it out since they are both boom or bust type prospects.  

R Cherry #16.  Say he would have been lost if not added to 40 man roster.  Likely bullpen guy at some point next year.  

Great book if you are a dork like me and like reading about prospects.  Really great for fantasy baseball since they show all minor league stats for each player.  Can easily look up a player who was just called up and get a feel for if he can really help your team or is just putting together a hot streak until the league figures him out.  Anyhow- i hope you like the info...

I am surprised to see Moore promoted and not Pie as well.  The last Iowa game is today so maybe he will be up tomorrow.  

For those of you who don't know S. Moore- he is a lefty hitting thirdbasemen.  He has been at AA all season exept for a one game audition at AAA yesterday.  He came to the Cubs from the Tigers in the deal for Farnsworth.  He was a first rd pick a few years back.  He supposedly plays a fine 3rd base defensively.  His biggest weakness is a propensity to strikeout but this has improved somewhat over the course of the year.  His stats are here:

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Scott%20Moore&pos=&sid=milb&am p;t=p_pbp&pid=445599

He may be the Cubs starter next year at 3rd if Aramis leaves...

Rowand broke his ankle so they are in need of a CF since he will now miss the rest of the season.  They are only 2.5 games behind the Reds so they are still in the hunt.  Rollins could drop to the 2 slot and they would have a strong lineup at the top:  

Pierre
Rollins
Utley
Burrell
Howard

Not sure what they could offer as far as prospects.  
Maybe we dump Rusch on them in the deal.  I can dream...

There has been a lot of debate lately about what to do with Pierre so I thought I would do a comparison of him vs Felix Pie.  To keep this somewhat simple I will only use this years stats (Pie's from AAA obviously)-

          AB   H   TB   R  RBI   BB    K   SB  CS
Pie     464  128 194  65   51   38   107  14   10
Pierre 489  138 184  58   25   26   30   41   15

           OBP    SLG
Pie       .330   .418
Pierre   .318   .376

Pierre has zero power and that shows up very clearly here with his SLG% (nearly matching his .375 career #).  Pie's SLG% is down slightly this season compared to his career #s (was .462 combined coming into this season).  Their OBPs are slightly off from that found online (.328 Pierre and .335 Pie).  This is probably b/c I don't have HBP which counts in OBP but it is a minimal difference anyway.  The one number that probably jumps out to everyone from above is the 107 Ks that Pie has.  This is disturbing but it still hasn't hurt his production that much.  He has still scored more runs than Pierre in less ABs and he has over twice as many RBIs.  The two most important numbers in a game - the # of runs you score and the # you drive in.  True- the runs scored is very dependent on who hits behind you in the lineup but both teams are not exactly loaded with great hitters.  Career numbers for runs has Pierre scoring a run in 60% of the games he has played and Pie at 65%.  Neither player takes a lot of pitches since their # of walks are both fairly low.  Pierre is the player he is and is not going to change.  Hopefully Pie can improve this as he matures without losing any offensive output.  

The interesting thing to me is what happens when you do a correction factor for the SB and CS and how this affects the OBP and slg numbers.  Everyone talks about Pierre and his stolen bases and how it affects the game but I wanted to try to account for it in some manner.  The way I did this was I subtracted the number of CS from their hit total (rationale being that if you get a hit then get caught stealing it was like not getting on to begin with).  I also did a similar thing with total bases- I added the difference in SB minu CS to their TB count (for Pie it was +4 and Pierre +26).  This changed their #s to:

              OBP      SLG
Pie          .310     .426
Pierre      .289     .429

Both OBPs are pretty bad with this correction but Pierre's is downright NEIFI like.  Seeing this sort of drives home the point that he is not really a great leadoff man.  This does help make Pierre's SLG% more acceptable (given he is a leadoff man).  Yet it is a hollow # though b/c he is not driving runs in with this boost in SLG%.  

Finally defense.  I don't have many numbers here to back this up only outfield assists.  Pierre only has 1 this season and has averaged about 4 per season.  We have seen him play this season and he has no arm.  Guys consistently take extra bases on him (as well as our whole outfield).  I think he does an average job of getting to balls but should be better given his speed.  As for Pie I don't know how many assists he has but he has at least 1 b/c he got it in the game yesterday.  As for his defensive it is clearly above average.  He has been voted the best defensive OF at a couple of the levels he has played in and best OF arm in the Cub system by BA in 2005.  He has split some of his time between CF and RF this season.  From what I have seen from spring games his arm would be above league avg in CF and merely avg in RF.  

Given all of this I think the Cubs should not sign Pierre to an extension.  Let him walk.  Some team will sign him and the Cubs will get probably a B level compensation pick for him (2nd rd).  The loss of Nolasco hurts but keeping Pierre around does nothing to ease that pain.  The Cubs should plan to have Pie as their starting CF for next season.  Right now he would be an upgrade defensively and likely a little less productive hitter.  Thus, about the same player- which frees up money for a stud hitter and pitcher.  They will definitely need to sign a veteran CF (preferably a RH) who could be an insurance policy in case Pie really struggles.  

Pie played less than half the season at AA last year due to injury so it is not really a surprise that he struggled initially in AAA.  Truthfully given his age he should have started the season back at AA but that is irrelevant now.  His play has really picked up the last month and a half at AAA and maybe he is starting to read pitchers b/c he is something like 7 for his last 8 SB attempts (supposedly Bobby Dernier is working with him).  

Bottom line is he is a winner.  He has played on 5 teams in the minors and each one has played in the postseason with 4 taking championships (and Iowa is only a game or two out of first currently).  That is the type of result that needs to translate to the big club and Pie is the one to do it- not Pierre.  

Nearly 3 months too late but it looks like Miller might be getting close...here are his stats from his start at AA West Tenn last night:

6 IP
3 H
1 ER
1 BB
4 K

Of the outs made 5 were ground outs and 9 were fly outs.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2006_08_11_ wtdaax_jaxaax_1

So what do the Cubs do with this guy going forward?  Do you try to sign him to another 1 year deal?  Shoulder injuries are not like TJs in that you never know if a guy will come back as before.  They also tend to take a lot longer to recover from them.  Hopefully he can come up soon and make 6 or 7 starts so the team can decide if he is worth another 1 year deal.  I would like to think that he would be willing to do that since the Cubs essentially paid him for a year to recover.  

To me this shows that the cubs are at least thinking of moving Murton to 1B and Jones to left and bringing up Pie to play RF?  I bet they are trying to give him a few games there and see how he does.  Has anyone who gets to the ballpark early seen Murton taking grounders/throws at first?  This would give us more of a clue about their intentions.  Personally I think it is the best option.  

Restovich who nearly made the team in ST despite hitting fairly poorly will be called up.  I don't know this for sure but he was not in the lineup for Iowa last night whereas he had played in nearly every game there so far this season.  

Hopefully he has found his stroke b/c we will need someone to pick it up.  BTW he was hitting .333 with a .409 OBP and a couple dingers down there.  Maybe he can be the RH platoon with Walker at 1st.    

Why is it that all we hear from Baker about Cedeno this spring is how he is struggling and doesn't seem comfortable.  Yet, there is not anything said by good old Dusty about one Neifi Perez and his sub 200 batting average.  Must be b/c of his experience that Dusty KNOWS he will pick it up and be the 250 hitter we all KNOW he can be.  I just hate the double standard.  

Why can't baker shake things up- maybe put Cedeno in the 2 spot for a game or two (the spot he batted most of last season in the minors and is probably more comfortable with; even hit 3rd all winter!).  Or maybe let him play an entire game or two or three and thus get in a grove having 4 ABs a game.  That is what a good manager does- tries to actually help his guys when they need it.  

I am usually an optimist but some times DUSTY just makes me so negative about things.

I got my copy of the propect handbook about a week ago and have been surprised that no one else had posted anything about it yet (since it just shipped out) so I will go ahead and do so.  It is a really great reference especially for fantasy geeks who want to see some stats for any "hot" rookie who has just been called up or is fighting for a starting spot.

A couple of random comments before I add my comments about the Cubs prospects.  First, I think it is a bunch of crap that the Braves system is CURRENTLY rated the 8th best overall.  There is no denying they were AWESOME last year and supplied the big league club with a ton of talent BUT if you look at their current top 30 and the majority of the guys are in low A or rookie ball.  As we all know that is a LONG way to being a real mlb propect.  They are living off their reputation and not their current ability.  My second comment is I think the cubs system is rated about where it should but has the potential to be much higher.  4 of their top 6 guys missed significant chunks of time last season.  If your top talent can't show off what it can do then it drags the team down.  The good news is that it seems like everyone is healthy heading into this year.  My final random comment sort of supports my second thought and that is that the Marlins system ranks 2nd in overall talent yet Nolasco (#8) and Pinto (#13) rank at about the same locations they would if still in the cubs system.  BA really likes raw tools when making predictions which I am not sure is always the best way to go- for example John Kruk would probably have never been rated very high by them but we all know he was a good to great mlb player.  

Anyhow on to the cubs...

1.  Pie-  no surprise here.  Would have had a 20/20  season if he didn't get hurt.  BB/K ratio is not good but he is exceptionally young for the level he is at.  
   
2.  Pawelek- a little hi IMO- should have been 3 or 4 on the list.  Started every game but never pitched more than 3 innings.  Batters never really got a 2nd or 3rd chance to see his stuff but the early results are impressive.  
   
3.  Cedeno- likely the most discussed rookie on the list.  I tend to think he is going to be very good both offensively and definitely defensively (best glove in system and best infield arm the last 2 yrs).  
   
4.  Guzman- make or break year.  Must build off AFL.  Too high IMO based on his injury history.
   
5.  Hill- #2 prospect IMO.  Had a nearly 6:1 K/BB rate last season in over 130 IP.  That is NASTY!  I realize he didn't show the command at the MLB level but many a rookie has jitters at first and it didn't help the way the cubs/dusty yanked him around.  Personally I hope he starts the year in AAA so he can start regularly for the first month and get on a roll (much like he did last year) and then come up and fill a rotation spot.  The first month of the season has a bunch of open dates and you know Dusty would yank him around as the rookie.  
   
6.  Marshall.  I expect a breakout season from this guy.  He has dominated at every level (with solid all around #s) but has been biten by unusual injuries.  
   
7.  Harvey.  Too high IMO.  300 OBP- enough said.  
   
8.  Dopirak.  Again too high.  Two year ago he was all world.  Last year he was all KKKKorey.  289 OBP is UGLY.  Supposedly will start in AA which is a mistake- he should repeat the level.
   
9.  Eric Patterson- Should be at #5 or 6.  He had an excellent year.  Only concern is that he probably should have been playing one level higher based on his age.  But a 400 obp with 535 slugging and 71 RBIs (batting 1st or 2nd) is outstanding nonetheless.
   
10.  Marmol- solid #s for guy who moved up two levels last year.  Converted to pitching two years ago so still learning craft but that bodes well since his arm was not overused as a kid.  
    
11.  Veal-  Great stats in 8 or so starts.  Hopefully it continues.  Some past injury history.
    
12.  Gallagher-  Should have been a top 10 player.  This is a perfect example of how BA picks tools over performance.  This guy was one of the best in all of baseball last season and is still young for the level he played.  He tired a little as the season went on but 2.7 era and a 1.1 whip in over 150 IP is excellent.  He may be starting in AA to start the season.  Cubs are obviously hi on him.
    
13.  Moore-  acquired with Novoa and Flowers in trade of Farnsworth.  Was a hugely disappointing 1st rd pick of the tigers (#8 overall) but was the surprise of the system last year.  Turned in a 20/20 season and an OBP of 360.  Was repeating the level but improved nearly every aspect of his game.  Will move up to AA this season and it will be interesting to see if he can "keep it continue" as someone we used to know would say.  
    
14.  Ryu- the bird man finally put in a healthy/uneventful season and did very well.  Solid numbers across the board in AA and should be one of the starters at AAA to start the year.  
    
15.  Sing-  I am still amazed we didn't lose this guy to some AL club in the draft.  I don't quite get why this guy is so discounted.  Two great years of 25+ hrs and 400 OBPs.  Sure his D is average to below average but I expect him to be starting somewherein the majors by the season after next.  
    
16.  Soto- Great D but weak O.  He is likely the replacement for Blanco after this season.  OBP last 2 yrs is over 350 so he might be ok he just has NO power.
    
17.  G Johnson.  Solid if unspectacular 1st year.  Started year late due to leg injury which supposedly affected him most of the season so he may jump up next year.  
    
18.  Petrick.  Pitched largely ineffectively for 9 starts then went under the knife for a frayed labrum.  Is still young and had put up really good numbers until last year so we will see what happens with him.  My guess is he won't pitch much this season as they bring him back slowly.
    
19.  Reed.  Guy who has shown very little thus far for a fairly high draft pick (3rd rd).  Older bro is former whitesox player with solid talent.  He needs to start producing.
    
20.  M Phelps- Solid #s in limited relief innings.  Full season results will tell us what he is truly capable of.
    
21.  J Berg- Guy acquired from the yanks for Lawton.  Solid #s in A ball.  
    
22.  Brownlie- moved up to AAA and had a fair year.  Supposedly his fastball has decreased substantially since his college days.  Worked as a reliever for part of the season with more success.  Will likely be in AAA again unless something drastically changes.  Unfortunatly he has become part of the once promising draft of 02 which has done essentially nothing for all the high picks we had.  
    
23.  Billek- A toolsy guy who throws hard.  Decent stats in 13 starts in A ball.  
    
24.  Theriot- He is a baseball player.  He has no power but he doesn't hurt himself by trying to overswing.  350+ OBP last 3 yrs with good speed.  Will start in AAA but could be a solid backup 2b/ss in bigs.  
    
25.  Coats-  Similar to Theriot but with a little more pop.  Has played SS the last few years with a LOT of errors.  Moved to CF (where he played early in his career) after Pie got hurt and did so well the cubs are considering leaving him out there.  Should be at AAA this season.  
    
26.  Holliman (SP).  Late sign out of ole miss who did not make debut in minors.  Who knows but supposedly played well in instructional work.
    
27.  Johnston (SS).  Poor #s in Rookie but is very young.
    
28.  Layden.  LHP- pitched well out of the bullpen.  ERA should have been better based on his hits/BB per IP.  
    
29.  Fontenot.  Acquired from O's for Sosa.  Is another solid if unspectacular middle infielder.  Likely AAA bound
    
30.  Montanez-  Hi draft pick of 2000 draft who could not handle SS.  Moved to OF last year and went from nothing to a fringe prospect.  Needs a big year to be considered anything.  

Sorry this is so long but I would love to hear comments.  

Let me start by saying I like Ronny Cedeno.  I even think he should be starting next year just at 2nd base and Furcal at shortstop.  Furcal would help this team in so many ways that we need to go after him as priority #1 this offseason.  First off, he would be the leadoff man we have sorely needed for years.  This sets up the rest of the lineup (Cedeno bats #2 then lee and ramirez).  He has speed to burn and swipes about 30 a year but does so with great efficiency (last 3 years 92 steals and only caught 15 times).  This means he makes pitchers throw more fastballs which we know Lee and Ramirez will eat up (would love to see a stat of how the Jones boys do with him in lineup versus without him).  His OBP of .345 is not great but it is liveable and certainly an upgrade over what we have had.  Finally, his defense is outstanding.  He has great range and a cannon for an arm.  He will be 28 next year so he still is on the right side of 30 and thus should at least keep performing at his current level the next several years.  Our up the middle defense would be great with him at short and Cedeno at 2nd.  I am hoping to see Walker traded today or tomorrow to increase the likelyhood of the above happening.  If a guy can play SS then he can definitely do 2nd.  

As for Ryan...he should be priority #2 IMO.  He would solidify the backend of our bullpen.  He has been dominant the last 3 years.  He is 30 yrs old (5 years younger than the other big name lefty- Wagner) so there is still gas in the tank.  He also has not been overused (take a look at his innings pitched in the bigs).  He is lefthanded which we need since Ohman is our only other option.  His signing would also provide the pitching staff with flexibility-  If Wood has to go to the pen next year he and Ryan would make a dynamite righty lefty combo.  If Wood starts then BJ is the closer.  Signing Ryan also gives flexibility with Dempster.  He could still be in the pen with Ryan or maybe he shifts back to starting (esp if Wood is hurt or in the pen).  

They will both be overpriced b/c of the thin FA market but the Cubs have money to spend and this would help this team more than going after the other big FA out there AJ "hold your breath about health" Burnett.

Just my 2 cents.  Any thoughts?