Chicago Cubs Minor League Baseball

Monday, July 31, 2006

Heating it up in Orlando

I'm in Orlando right now, and it seems when I'm out of town I come back and the Cubs have made a flurry of moves. It happened last week when Scott Williamson was traded, and it has happened now when Todd Walker and Greg Maddux were dealt.

While Maddux netted the Cubs Cesar Izturis, the Padres returned the Cubs, Jose Ceda, a 19 year old minor leaguer that has been clocked at 99 in a game. If you appreciate minor league potential, Ceda has huge upside.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Cubs starting rotation now that Maddux departs. It is very possible we will see Jerome Williams, Angel Guzman, or Jae Kuk Ryu once again, or we could see Glendon Rusch again, and we all know we don't want that to happen.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

This Week & Bring Out the Broom


Well, tomorrow marks an unexpected visit down to Orlando for business, and while posting should be fairly regular, don't be surprised if a post happens a little later than normal.

Just a couple notes on today's games:
  • Brian Dopirak hit homer #1 on the season and may be turning the corner.
  • Iowa won a thriller 12-11 in a game that saw the I-Cubs score 11 runs in 5 innings. Felix Pie went 1-6 with an RBI. Michael Restovich went 2-5 with his 18th HR and 5 RBIs, while Casey McGehee went 1-2 with 3 walks (an oddity in this organization).
  • Randy Wells started the I-Cubs game and took a no decision going 4 innings, giving up 10 hits, and 6 ERs raising his ERA to 5.02.
  • As the picture shown above indicates, I have to say something about the 4 game sweep the big club put on the Cards this weekend. The team that played this weekend, is unlikely to be the same after Monday, but the team showed what could've been with 4 days of pitching, hitting, and defense that made them look like the top team in the division.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Ryan Harvey blows up! and some Notes

Well, going 4-5 with 4 homers and 6 RBIs ain't too shabby is it? Here is the MiLB.com recap, with some promising words about Harvey's improved approach.

Saturday Morning Bullets:
  • Tyler Colvin raised his average to .331 going 3-4 (all singles)
  • Felix Pie went 1-3 with a double and a walk, raising his numbers to 272/331/411
  • As I mentioned Ryan Harvey hit 4 HRs last night, but what I failed to mention was that the 4th won the game. The 4 HRs were off 3 different pitchers, and in looking at the numbers for those pitchers, it wasn't exactly like these guys were chumps.
  • Jeff Samardzija made his final start before returning to Notre Dame last night, and pitch nicely, going 6 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 ER, walking 3, and striking out 3.
  • According to this article on InsideTheIvy.com about Ryan Harvey's 4 homer performance, Billy Petrick will make his Daytona debut today. Petrick had gone 5-0 with a 2.23 ERA for Boise. Petrick struggled in his Daytona debut last season going 1-4 with a 5.59 ERA in 9 games.

Minor League Report for 7/28

Iowa 6 Tuscon 4 - Casey McGehee went 1-4 and hit his 7th HR of the year, a 3 run shot, in the 8th to push Iowa ahead. Felix Pie, who missed the previous game, didn't start again, but did make an appearance and went 0-1 and played centerfield. Mike Fontenot went 2-4 with a double, while Buck Coats also went 2-4 and scored 2 runs. Jae Kuk Ryu started for Iowa and went 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, 3 ER, 2 walks, and struck out 4, but earned a no decision.

West Tennessee 5 Chattanooga 0 - The D-Jaxx faced one of the top minor league players in Homer Bailey, and couldn't score a run in the 6 innings Bailey pitched. Fortunately, Bailey exited, and the D-Jaxx took advantage of Chattanooga's bullpen. Chris Walker went 2-3 with a double and a walk, while Eric Patterson went 2-5 with a triple. On the mound, the D-Jaxx sent 4 relievers with no one pitching more than 3.1 innings, with Carlos Vasquez (3-3) earning the win.

Clearwater 12 Daytona 6 - Sam Fuld and Alan Rick eached homered in the first game of a double header, but it wasn't enough as Mark Holliman struggled once again. Holliman fell to 7-7 on the year going just 4 innings, giving up 3 hits, 4 ER, 4 walks, and striking out 3. Position player, Nate Sprowl pitched the final 1.1 innings, giving up 3 ER.

Daytona 3 Clearwater 2 - Alan Rick homered once again, his 7th on the year, as he went 1-1 with the homerun, 3 RBIs, and a walk. Matt Craig and Jonathan Mota each went 2-3 at the plate, while Sam Fuld went 1-2 with a double and 2 walks. Ryan Bicondoa (1-0) made his Daytona debut going 5.1 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, and struck out 7.

West Michigan 6 Peoria 5 - Kyle Reynolds went 1-3 with a double, a walk, and 2 RBIs, while Raul Valdez went 1-4 with a double as well. On the mound, Scott Taylor (6-6) took the loss going 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, 4 ER, 2 walks, and struck out 1. Prospects, Ryan Norwood went 1-3 at the plate, while Robinson Chirinos went 1-2 with a walk.

Boise 13 Spokane 8 - Tyler Colvin went 5-5 with a double and a triple and a walk, raising his numbers to 316/373/544 now on the year, and is due for a promotion, in my eyes. Matt Camp, Russ Canzler, Steven Clevenger, Elvin Puello, and Mario Mercedes eached added 2 hits. Ronald Clipp (2-0) went 3.1 shutout innings, giving up just 1 hit in relief to earn the win.

Notes: Over at InsideTheIvy.com, there is a feature on Bobby Brownlie's horrid struggles this season.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Minor League Report for 7/27

Tuscon 4 Iowa 3 - Felix Pie didn't play (and I'm assuming he was simply taking a day off), and Iowa was held to no hits or walks for 6+ innings by Tuscon's starter before finally breaking through. For Iowa, Ryan O'Malley threw 7 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, and struck out none. Both Clay Rapada and Kerry Ligtenberg threw scoreless innings, Rapada, who could be a LOOGY in his future saw his ERA drop to 2.84. At the plate, Micah Hoffpaiur went 2-4 with a walk and the game tying RBI in the top of the 9th.

West Tennessee 6 Chattanooga 4 - Scott Moore went 2-4 with his 15th HR of the year, and Brian Dopirak went 2-3 with a double to lead the D-Jaxx to the win. Richard Lewis also added a HR, his 2nd of the year, and Chris Walker went 2-5 in the leadoff spot, but did strike out 3 times. Juan Mateo started for West Tenn and pitched 6 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 walks, and struck out 5 but took a no decision. Ed Campusano (1-1) pitched 2 scoreless innings to earn the win.

Peoria 11 West Michigan 4 - Peoria pounded out 16 hits as a team, led by 3 hits by Ryne Malone (3-5 with a double) and Alberto Garcia (3-4 with double, 3rd HR of year, and 5 RBIs) and Olin Wick (3-4, double and 2 RBIs). Robinson Chirinos went 2-5 and added his system leading 24th and 25th doubles of the year, while Ryan Norwood also went 2-5. Joel Santo (7-6), who was just acquired in the the Scott Williamson trade, benefited from the Chiefs powerful offensive attack taking the win. Santo went 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, and struck out 2.

Boise 5 Spokane 4 - Alfred Joseph and Tyler Colvin led Boise once again, which seems to be a nice trend for the Hawks. Joseph went 3-4 with 2 doubles and a RBI raising his numbers to 364/402/521 on the year, while Colvin increased his hitting streak to 9 games going 2-5 with a double and his 5th stolen base of the year. Matt Camp and Steve Clevenger also added 3 hits each, with both players going 3-4 with a walk. Mark Pawalek (1-3) earned his first win of the season, going 5 innings, giving up 5 hits, just 1 ER, 1 walk, and struck out 6 lowering his ERA to 3.00. Jeremy Papelbon got back to his scoreless pitching going 2.2 shutout innings and striking out 5 dropping his ERA to 0.79.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Scout.com Prospect Rankings

Scout.com has released their prospect rankings, although they seem rather outdated, but nonetheless, here they are:

Overall Top 300
Felix Pie #25
Eric Patterson #49
Angel Guzman #56
Rich Hill #65
Mark Pawalek #108
Jae Kuk Ryu #131
Sean Gallagher #158
Scott Moore #200
Brian Dopirak #220
Donald Veal #252
Randy Wells #286

Outfielders
Felix Pie #10

Third Basemen
Scott Moore #14

Second Basemen
Eric Patterson #2

First Basemen
Brian Dopirak #14

Pitchers
Angel Guzman #19
Rich Hill #25
Mark Pawalek #48
Jae Kuk Ryu #58
Sean Gallagher #72
Donald Veal #118
Randy Wells #130

Minor League Report for 7/26

Tuscon 10 Iowa 7 - Randy Wells, who this site recently featured, took the loss to drop to 4-3 at AAA Iowa. Wells threw just 4 innings, and gave up 10 hits, 5 runs, all earned, and of the 10 hits, 4 were homeruns. At the plate, Felix Pie continued his hot hand extending his hitting streak to 10, going 3-5, all singles, and didn't strike out raising his average to .272. Casey McGehee also went 3-5 at the plate, hitting in the 3 hole, with a double and 2 RBIs.

Chattanooga 3 West Tennessee 0 - Chris Shaver (5-7) pitched 5 innings, gave up7 hits, 3 ER, and 6 walks in taking the loss as his ERA went to 2.64 on year. At the plate, the D-Jaxx only managed 4 hits as a team, but 2 were by Chris Walker who went 2-4 at the plate. Brian Dopirak went 0-4 at the plate, striking out twice, and saw his average to drop to .243 on the year.

Dunedin 8 Daytona 4 - Donnie Veal started and pitched brilliantly again, but the bullpen couldn't keep in the game in control for Veal to earn the win. Veal threw 5 innings, and gave up 4 hits, 1 ER, 3 walks and struck out 9. Veal's ERA actually increased in this outing, going from 1.03 to 1.12. At the plate, Sam Fuld went 2-4 with 2 doubles as did Matt Craig. Alan Rick went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs.

West Michigan 10 Peoria 0 - Five Peoria Chiefs had singles, and that was it at the plate in a game that saw Peoria pitchers combine to give up 10 runs and 14 hits. Matt Avery, who had pitched tremendously all year long, pitched 1 inning and gave up 3 hits and 4 ER. Avery's ERA rose to 1.73 now on the season.

Boise 9 Spokane 4 - Tyler Colvin's hitting streak moved to 8 as the Cubs' 2006 1st round pick went 1-5 at the plate. Josh Lansford showed a little pop in his bat going 2-5 at the plate with his 2nd HR of the year as did Matt Matulia whose first professional HR was a grand slam in the 7th inning. On the mound, Alfredo Francisco moved to 4-0 on the year with 4 shutout innings, giving up 3 hits, walking none, and striking out 5.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Boise Suspensions Served and a Blast From the Past

In today's daily dish, there is a note on the Boise Hawks suspensions for this past week's brawl. Here is an excerpt:

For their actions in Everett last week, three Boise players will be serving suspensions this week. The Hawks are away at Spokane for a three game series, and take on Salem-Keizer at home from July 28-31. Infielder Elvin Puello started his three-game suspension Monday for his part in the benches-clearing incident at Everett on July 21. Alfred Joseph, who's batting .354, and righthander Jose Pina also have to serve three-game suspensions for separate incidents. On July 21, Joseph was upset about a tag at first, whipped off his helmet and hit AquaSox first baseman Joe White in the head with the helmet. The benches cleared and Joseph was ejected. Pina was ejected and since suspended after plunking outfielder Greg Halman on July 19.

For what it's worth, there is also another Blast From the Past moment in the Daily Dish for me. Joe Gaetti is a guy I faced in high school at Raleigh Millbrook High School.

One story I remember about Gaetti involved my senior year when my high school, Durham Riverside which was 13-0 at the time, and just moved to #1 in the state went to face Millbrook. If memory serves, my school took a 2 run lead into the 7th and sent our closer to the mound. With 2 men on, one Joe Gaetti came to the plate and homered to left center on a walkoff game winner.

Minor League Report for 7/25

Chattanooga 6 West Tennessee 2 - Eric Patterson doubled in a run and drove in a run on a groundout going 1-4 with 2 RBIs, but that is all that the D-Jaxx could manage in their loss. Sean Gallagher (5-3) took the loss going 5.2 IP, giving up 7 hits, 4 ER, striking out 3, and walking 7, which has become a disturbing trend for Gallagher since being called up to AA. After walking 21 in 78.1 innings for Daytona, Gallagher has walked 33 in 46 innings for West Tennessee, but despite this has an ERA of just 2.93.

Daytona 12 Dunedin 9 - Six Daytona Cubs had 2 hits in the Cubs' 13 hit effort. Ryan Harvey went 2-5 with a double, the only extra base hit for the team, and raised his average to .226 while adding 3 RBIs as well. Sam Fuld (2-5), Joe Simokaitis (2-5), Jonathan Mota (2-4), Nathan Price (2-4), and Matthew Ciaramella (2-4) all added 2 singles a piece.

West Michigan 5 Peoria 3 - Robinson Chirinos added his 6th HR of the year, as he went 2-4 at the plate. Davy Gregg went 3-4, scoring 2 runs in the leadoff position and also adding his 22nd SB of the year, while getting caught for the 15th time. Todd Blackford (8-4) took the loss going 6 innings, giving up 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned, 4 walks, and struck out 8.

Yakima 10 Boise 1 - Jose Pina (1-3) gave up 8 ER in just 4 innings to take the loss for Boise, in a game that was never close after a 7 run 2nd inning for Yakima. At the plate, Tyler Colvin now has a 7 game hitting streak as he went 1-4. Alfred Joseph went 1-3 with a triple and the only run of the game for Boise. One of the best names in baseball, Alessandro Maestri, pitched 2 shutout innings and dropped his ERA to 2.14.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Weekend Minor League Report

Here are your Monday Morning Bullets, with all the latest info from the Cubs Minor League System:

  • Jeff Samardzija made his Peoria debut and took the loss yesterday. Samardzija went 5 innings, and gave up 2 hits, 3 ER, 3 walks, and only struck out 1. All three runs were given up in the first, and afterwards Samardzija settled down nicely, and reportedly touched 96.
  • Felix Pie keeps heating it up down at Iowa, going 5-11 with 2 doubles and a HR combined this weekend. Pie has raised his average to .268 now with his numbers at 268/327/408.
  • On Saturday, Rich Hill, who is likely to get the major league call with Carlos Marmol and Sean Marshall both suffering injuries this weekend, moved to 7-1 by going 7.1 IP and only giving up 1 hit, 1 walk, and struck out 14. Finally Hill will have a chance to prove that he has what it takes to make it in the majors. Hopefully, Hill will get more than 1 or 2 starts to prove he has what it takes.
  • Scott Williamson was traded to San Diego for 2 minor leaguers that will be placed on the Peoria roster. Here is an excellent writeup on the two pitchers acquired.
  • With the injuries to the Chicago Cubs pitching staff mentioned above, as well as the Scott Williamson trade, both David Aardsma and Michael Weurtz got called up over the weekend.
  • Down at Boise, Tyler Colvin has shown that he is probably ready for a promotion where his numbers are now 284/349/516 as he went 2-7 this weekend with a couple doubles.
  • One of Colvin's teammates, another 2006 draftee Matt Camp, has also turned the corner at Boise and is now hitting .294 in the leadoff spot but needs to improve his stolen base efficiency where he has 6 stolen bases in 11 attempts.
Notes: Baseball America's weekend dish is worth checking out as it discusses Rich Hill's dominance of AAA and his lack of success one level above. Also noted in the dish is a Boise brawl, sparked by Boise outfielder Alfred Joseph. Keeping with the Baseball America and Rich Hill trend, their most recent Ask BA session includes a similar topic. More Cubs and Baseball America info as Today's Daily Dish features mentions of Jeff Samardzija and Tyler Colvin. Also, over at InsideTheIvy.com, there is an article on Mark Pawalek and the reason for his slow start to the 2006 season.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Quick Note

No in depth coverage of the minors today as I'm off to the lake for the weekend, but here are a couple of notes from last night that should make you feel good:

  • Tyler Colvin hit HR #4 on the year
  • Josh Lansford went 0-2 but had another 2 walks, raising his OBP to above .400, an oddity in the Cubs minor league system
  • Felix Pie combined to go 2-4 with 2 walks and a stolen base (11th)
  • Jae Kuk Ryu returned from his groin injury to start and win to go to 4-6 on the season
  • Ryan Harvey went 2-2 with 2 doubles in the 2nd game of Daytona's double header before the game was suspended due to rain.
More on Monday!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Minor League Report for 7/21

Oklahoma 6 Iowa 2 - The Iowa Cubs were outhit 13-8 and only Mike Fontenot managed more than one hit, going 2-4 with 2 singles. Felix Pie went 1-4 with a double, while Casey McGehee added a double with his only hit as well. On the mound, Ryan O'Malley (5-6) took the loss going 4.2 IP, giving up 10 hits, 3 ER, no walks, and striking out 3. David Aardsma pitched an inning, walking two, but didn't give up a run in his effort to be recalled to the majors.

West Tennessee 5 Montgomery 3 - Juan Mateo (7-4) pitched 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, and struck out 6 to take the win. Brian Dopirak continued his resurgence at the plate going 2-3 with a walk, a run, and a RBI. Dopirak has raised his numbers to 256/308/316, but with Dopirak, the power is the last thing you should be concerned about.

Daytona 3 Clearwater 1 - In what was most likely to be scheduled as part of a double header, the Daytona Cubs won a 7 inning game, and Donnie Veal (3-1) continued his High A dominance. Veal pitched 5 hitless, scoreless innings, walking 4 and striking out 9, dropping his ERA to 1.03. Joe Simokaitis led the way at the plate, going 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs, while Matt Craig and Jemel Spearman each added doubles.

Peoria 3 Lansing 0 - Mitch Atkins (9-3) pitched 7.1 shutout innings, giving up 7 hits, no walks, and striking out 7. Matt Avery pitched the final 1.2 innings striking out 4 to pick up his 11th save. Mark Reed who has struggled quite a bit lately at the plate went 1-4 and drove in a run, while Yusuf Carter went 2-3 at the plate.

Boise 13 Everett 7 - Tyler Colvin went 3-6 with a double and his 3rd HR of the year which raise Colvin's numbers to 282/340/482 after quite a rough start. Alfred Joseph also had 3 hits, going 3-5 with a double and a triple, and scoring 3 runs. Alessandro Maestri (3-1) pitched 3.1 shutout innings striking out 4 to earn the win.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Player Bio: Randy Wells


With the success of Randy Wells last season and this season, I figured it was time for another player bio.

Randy Wells is a right-handed pitcher who is 6'4" and around 210 lbs and was drafted out of college (Southwestern Illinois College) initially by the Mets in the 44th round of the 2001 draft. Wells decided to go back to college, and the next year the Cubs drafted Wells in the 38th round of the 2002 draft.

In 2002, Wells who was drafted as a catcher struggled mightily in Rookie ball and in Short Season ball where he combined to hit around .160 with no power.

In 2003, Wells was moved to Low A Lansing, where his struggles continued hitting just .150. At that point, Wells moved to the mound where he made 3 appearances in Rookie ball posting a 3.60 ERA. Wells also went back to Lansing and pitched in relief one inning.

In 2004 as a 21 year old at Lansing, Wells went 6-6 with a 4.43 ERA and split time as a starter making 15 starts and in the bullpen as he had a total of 36 appearances. Wells struck out 121 in 107.2 IP, which was a good sign for his future.

The following season, Wells pitched very well at High A Daytona going 10-2 with a 2.74 ERA where again he split time in the bullpen and the rotation where he made 41 appearances, while making 10 starts. Once again Wells struck out more batters than innings pitched, K'ing 106 in 98.2 IP. At Daytona, Wells improved his ability to throw strikes dropping his BB/9 from 3.34 in 2004 to 2.01 in 2005. Wells was moved to West Tennessee at the end of the 2005 season where he pitched in relief for 6 games and managed a 3.86 ERA.

This season Wells handled West Tennessee going 4-2 with a 1.59 ERA and was promoted to Iowa where he has gone 4-2 with a 3.34 ERA in 5 starts. Combined, Wells has gone 8-4 with an ERA of 2.22, which is quite impressive considering he never pitched a full season at AA, West Tennessee. This season, Wells' K/9 numbers have dipped a little to 7.77, but his BB/9 has dropped even lower to 1.76. Also, Wells has proved to be a ground ball pitcher in looking at his minor league splits, as evident by only allowing 4 HRs in 97.1 IP in 2006.

Randy Wells has burst onto the Cubs' prospect scene in 2006 as he is currently handling Iowa nicely, after dominating at West Tennessee. Wells hasn't yet turned 24, as his birth date is August 28th, so he may have a chance at earning a spot on the Cubs roster as early as next season.

Conclusion: If you like numbers, Wells is your type of prospect as he has good K rates, BB rates, HR rates, and pretty much every other statistical category all at relatively average age compared to the league he has been in.

Minor League Report for 7/20

Oklahoma 7 Iowa 4 - Randy Wells (4-2) took the loss, but continued to pitch well since his callup to AAA. Wells threw 6.1 IP, giving up just 2 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, and struck out 6, and now has an ERA of 2.21 combined between two levels and a WHIP under 1. Offensively, Felix Pie went 1-5, but did get picked off, and Casey McGehee went 2-4 with 2 runs batted in.

Montgomery 7 West Tennessee 0 - The Diamond Jaxx were shutout and managed only 2 hits, 1 by Jacob Fox, who went 1-3, and one by Richard Lewis, who also went 1-3 with a double. Chris Shaver (5-6) took the loss going 5 innings, and giving up 6 hits, 4 ER, 4 walks, and striking out only 1. Eric Patterson led off and went 0-4 and made his 11th error of the year missing a catch.

Everett 14 Boise 10 - Tyler Colvin went 3-6 with a double and a triple and 3 RBIs and Josh Lansford went 5-6 with 2 RBIs. Lansford is now hitting 320/417/398 with a nice K/BB ratio of 14/12. As a team, the Boise Hawks had 20 hits, including 2 each by Russ Canzler, Matt Camp, Alfred Joseph, and Steve Clevenger.

AZL Royals 0 AZL Cubs 1 - Most days I won't report on Rookie Ball, but this was worth noting; The AZL Cubs won 1-0 despite having no hits or walks, it appears the only run of the game came when Valerio Heredia reached on an error or a dropped 3rd strike, and then proceeded to steal 2 bases, and score on Carlos Perez's sacrifice fly.

Notes: It appears the injury to Angel Guzman was minor, with the Cubs reporting the forearm cramping he sustained in his last start was due to dehydration.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

BA Chat

John Manuel has a chat currently going over at Baseball America, here is a Cubs excerpt:

Q: greg from florida asks:
What do you think about Sean Gallagher? I think he is in a great organization to move up fast, how long do you think it will take him to climb the ladder?

A:

John Manuel: I think he's really come on as a prospect this year, not so much his performance (he performed last year), but as Chris Kline has detailed, Gallagher's stuff is better this year. His curveball doesn't stand out so significantly from his other pitches anymore, it's better and it's not his only good pitch. He throws harder and has better control. He is in an organization that has had a horrible year, and he's been a bright light. Putting a timetable on him . . . I'd guess he'll get to the majors in his 40-man roster protection year, and that would be next year if he performs well.


Minor League Report for 7/19

Oklahoma 5 Iowa 4 - After striking out 8 in 3.2 IP and giving up no runs, Angel Guzman left the game with cramps in his forearm. Rocky Cherry, who was just promoted to Iowa, pitched well for most of his outing, before leaving with men on and Kerry Ligtenberg (2-3) took the loss. Offensively, Felix Pie continues his hot bat raising his average to .261, going 3-5 with a run and his 10th SB of the season.

West Tennessee 5 Montgomery 1 - Against my former high school foe, Mike Prochaska, the D-Jaxx were led by Brian Dopirak who went 3-3 with a double and a walk, raising his average to .252 on the year. Scott Moore also added 3 hits, going 3-4, and driving in 2 runs. On the mound, Sean Gallagher (5-2) went 5.2 IP, giving up 5 hits, 1 ER, 3 walks, and striking out 5 to earn the win. Eric Patterson went 0-4, but did steal his 32nd base of the year. Check out the game recap on InsideTheIvy.com.

Peoria 3 South Bend 1 - The Peoria Chiefs only had 4 hits, but all were timely, to lead the Chiefs to a win. Ryan Norwood went 1-2 with a walk and a RBI. On the mound, Jesus Yepez pitched 7 innings, giving up just 4 hits, 1 ER, 3 walks, and striking out 2, but took a no decision. Justin Rayborn (6-1) earned the win in relief going the final 2 innings of the game.

Boise 8 Everett 5 - Tyler Colvin went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs, while fellow 2006 draftee, Steven Clevenger went 3-3 with a walk and his first HR of the year. Ben Petrick (4-0) took the win going 5 IP, giving up 6 hits, 2 ER, 4 walks, and striking out 4. Jeremy Papelbon finally gave up a run going 1 inning, giving up 2 hits, 2 ER, and walking 3. Papelbon's ERA jumped to a still impressive 1.00.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Injury News

Angel Guzman has left Iowa's game tonight with a wrist/hand injury. Nothing new in a long line of injury issues for Guzman, although hopefully this is nothing serious, possibly just a blister.

Recent callup to Iowa, Rocky Cherry, replaced Guzman in the game.

D-Jaxx Notes

Over at InsideTheIvy.com, there are 3 great articles on the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx. One article goes through several players with manager Pat Listach, including Sean Gallagher, Jake Fox, Chris Shaver, Scott Moore, among many others. Another article features Miguel Negron, who the Cubs claimed off of waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays and who is excelling for the D-Jaxx. A third article has some notes on Chris Walker and a recent injury as well as some general notes on the team.

Minor League Report for 7/18

Oklahoma 3 Iowa 1 - Jerome Williams (2-4) got the start and took the loss going 5 innings and giving up 7 hits and 2 ER. Felix Pie went 1-5 at the plate with a single and struck out twice lowering his average to .258. Only Jeff Deardorff managed more than 1 hit, going 3-4.

Daytona 5 Palm Beach 4 - Ryan Harvey continued his resurgence going 2-4 to raise his average to .227 while Alan Rick went 3-3 with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs to lead Daytona to the win. Carlos Perez (3-5) took the win going 6 innings and giving up only 2 ERs, while striking out 6.

Peoria 8 South Bend 6 - Ryan Norwood went 3-4 with his 12th HR of the year and Ryne Malone went 2-4 and continues hit. Norwood is now hitting 320/355/477 for Peoria, but needs to advance a level and continue to hit to earn prospect status. Matt Avery pitched a perfect 9th inning striking out 2 to earn his 10th save of the year and lowering his ERA to 1.09, while Jeff Teasley (2-2) earned the win in relief.

Boise 4 Everett 0 - Jeff Samardzija (1-1) pitched 5 shutout innings to earn his first professional win giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 4. Samardzija lowered his ERA to 2.37 and will now move on to Peoria to make 2 starts before going to Notre Dame for his senior season. Offensively, Russ Canzler went 2-4 and added his 7th HR of the year while Deryck Lewis also went 2-4 with his 1st HR of the year. Cubs first rounder, Tyler Colvin, went 0-4 lowering his batting average to .232.

Notes: Cubs' 9th round and 14th round picks are struggling mightily for the AZL Cubs so far. Ninth round pick, Cliff Anderson is hitting .167 with 22 strikeouts in 54 at-bats, while 14th round pick, Drew Rundle now hitting .143 has struck out 14 times in 21 at-bats; With Ryan Harvey tearing the cover off the ball, Harvey made an appearance on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet.

Monday, July 17, 2006

The Brothers' Papelbon

Have you noticed what the Papelbon kids have been doing?

Of course you know, Jonathan Papelbon, of the Red Sox who recently performed in his first all-star game in his rookie season. Jon has posted 26 saves and an ERA of 0.57 giving up 3 ERs in 47 IPs.

If you're familiar with this site, you know Jeremy Papelbon, who currently has a 17 inning scorless streak for the Boise Hawks.

You may not know Josh Papelbon though, who has a 9.1 inning scoreless streak for the Lowell Spinners.

That's right, one family, with 73.1 IP, 3 ERs and a 0.37 ERA in 2006. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

What has happened since Wednesday?

I tried to think of a clever title for this post, but in the end I decided to keep it simple. The fact is I haven't posted anything in depth since Wednesday when I left for my mountain vacation. There is quite a lot to be excited about in the Cubs' minor league system, so without further ado, here are your Monday morning bullets:
  • Ryan Harvey may finally be turning his season around. Yesterday, in a Daytona double-header Harvey went 4-7 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs, and he is now hitting .223 on the year with 12 HRs and 57 RBIs. Look at the last number there, despite Harvey only hitting .223 and K'ing at an alarming rate, he still has 57 RBIs in only 78 games.
  • Keeping along the lines of players turning their seasons around, Felix Pie has started to hit the ball since the all-star break. Pie had his average up to .263 before yesterday's 0-8 performance in Iowa's 17 inning win.
  • After Rich Hill's PCL MVP in the AAA All-Star game, Hill made his first start yesterday, getting the no decision in Iowa's extra inning win. Hill went 8 IP, giving up 7 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB, and striking out 14. After I initially suspected Hill would be recalled after Zambrano's all-star injury and Prior's DL assignment, it now appears that both will be OK for the start of the 2nd half of the season. Look for Hill to get the call when and if Maddux is traded. Otherwise, Hill may rot in the minors until rosters are expanded in September.
  • It has been annouced, Jeff Samardzija will make only 3 more starts before returning to Notre Dame for practice. Look for Samardzija to make his final start for Boise today, and then two more starts in Peoria.
  • Tyler Colvin is now turning it on for Boise, and seems to finally be adjusting to the wood bats. Colvin has now raised his numbers to 246/329/369 and has 2 HRs and 11 RBIs in 17 games. He is also 3-3 in stolen bases and a 8/15 BB/K ratio, which is OK.
  • Just as he or she did for the Iowa Cubs, poster Romero at BleedCubbieBlue has posted an analysis on the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx pitchers and position players, which is worth checking out.
Notes: Sean Gallagher gets a mention in Baseball America's Ask BA this week, here is the question, check out BA for the answer:

Sean Gallagher is 8-2, 2.39 combined between high Class A Daytona and Double-A West Tenn, and he isn't getting much hype. Do you see him developing into a front-of-the-rotation starter, or more of a No. 4 or 5?

Justin Montminy
Aurora, Ill.
Also, in the same article, BA notes who would have made the Futures Game Rosters if the format was AL vs NL as opposed to the World vs the US, and Sean Gallagher is noted as a pitcher for the NL if the format would have been changed.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Back from Vacation

Back from a mountain vacation where my grandparents were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, a very rare accomplishment these days.

In the minors, Rich Hill earned PCL MVP in the AAA All-Star game by pitching 2 innings. Also, I see Ryan Theriot got a callup and the start on Saturday for the big club. That move switched Felix Pie back to the starting lineup for Iowa.

That's all for now, I'm exhausted, but I'll have more on Monday.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

The All-Star game

Nope, not the one you're thinking of, where the NL blew it, thanks in large part to Trevor Hoffman, but the one where I-Cub Rich Hill starts tonight. The PCL all-stars take on the IL all-stars tonight and it will be quite interesting to see how Hill fares, as he starts for the Pacific Coast League. The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 7:05 ET.

Inevitably, Hill will be recalled soon with Prior being injured and now Zambrano getting hit by a fungo last night. Look for Hill to make a start by the weekend for the major league club. Also, if I were Sean Marshall or Greg Maddux, I would find a bubble to stay in to avoid freak injuries. Even then, they couldn't avoid a sneeze to tweak a back or side.

Notes: Over at BleedCubbieBlue.com, a poster named Romero gave a nice writeup of the Iowa Cubs pitchers and position players.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Two Lefties

Good stuff in Baseball America's Daily Dish today. The dish includes talk about Donald Veal's 1st earned run in last night's start and a mention of Jeremy Papelbon's scoreless streak in the Northwest League.

Minor League Report for 7/11

Daytona 9 Vero Beach 4 - In breaking news, Donnie Veal actually gave up a run in the FSL for the first time. Despite this, Veal (2-0) earned the win going 5.2 IP, giving up 4 hits, 1 ER, 3 walks, and striking out 4. Veal's ERA jumped to a miniscule 0.37. Ryan Harvey led the way for the D-Cubs going 3-5 with 2 runs, a double, and a RBI, while Jemel Spearman added 3 hits as well going 3-5.

Peoria 3 Beloit 1 - Scott Taylor (5-4) went 8 IP, giving up 7 hits, 1 ER, no walks, and striking out 5 to earn the win, while Matt Avery pitched the 9th to earn his 8th save of the year and dropped his ERA to 1.16. Yusuf Carter added his 7th HR of the year going 2-4, while Robinson Chirinos went 2-4 with a double.

Boise 2 Yakima 1 - Mike Billek started the game going 6 effective innings, but the run support wasn't there until Jeremy Papelbon (2-0) entered the game in the 7th. Papelbon went 2.2 IP, giving up 1 hit, no runs, 1 walk, and struck out 5. On the year, Papelbon has now pitched 14 scoreless innings. At the plate, Josh Lansford seems to be finding a comfort zone going 2-4 with a double raising his average to .271, while Tyler Colvin went 0-3 dropping his average to .174.

Notes: Juan Mateo started in the Southern League All-Star game and took the win going 1 inning and striking out 1. Chris Shaver made an appearance, also for an inning, but did give up an earned run. Rocky Cherry pitched an inning, while Eric Patterson continued his all-star game tour, making an appearance and once again going 0-1. Chris Walker started and went 1-3, but Scott Moore was the star of the game going 3-4 with 2 homeruns. Also appearing for the D-Jaxx was Nic Jackson (0-3) and Miguel Negron (0-2); Ryan Harvey made it two consecutive weeks a Cubs' minor leaguer showed up for their struggles on the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.

Monday, July 10, 2006

The Patterson Boys

With Eric Patterson playing in the Futures game, and the Cubs recent departure of Corey Patterson, many Cubs fans aren't quite sure what to expect from the future Patterson of the Cub organization.

The good news is that Eric Patterson possesses some of the attributes of his brother, while being a different player altogether. Let's take a look at the similarities and differences between the two.



Similarities

  1. The first and most obvious similarity is they are both left-handed, and really have similar batting stances and swings, with one exception.
  2. They are both extremely fast with plus plus speed, which makes hitting left-handed particularly helpful as they gain a step out of the box.
  3. Defensively, both can excel at their position.
Differences
  1. While both have similar stances, Eric has a better approach at the plate which can be seen by each player's K/BB ratios. Over Eric's college and minor league career Eric has maintained better than a 2/1 K ratio, while Corey tended to be closer to 4/1 or worse.
  2. As noted in point #1, Eric did attend college at Georgia Tech, while Corey was drafted and signed out of high school. While this may seem insignificant, Corey Patterson went from hitting 3rd for high school team, undoubtedly, to a transition to leading off. For Eric, Georgia Tech forced him to become a team player and find his role to earn playing time. Whether directly related or not, Eric has the attributes needed, speed, patience, etc to be a successful major league leadoff batter.
  3. Position wise, Eric obviously does not play outfield, although I'm certain he could make the transition one day if needed, while Corey played outfield in high school and now professionally where he could win a gold glove one day. Eric does have nice range, but has made 10 errors in 88 games for the D-Jaxx this season, so still has some room to improve.
  4. While the two player share similar speed, Eric will never hit for the power that Corey has shown at the major league level. Corey could certainly 25-30 a year, while Eric most likely will never hit more than 10-15 with his approach at the plate.
Conclusion

To those Cubs fans out there, when Eric Patterson makes his debut (most likely in 2007), remember this isn't Corey. As you see above the similarities between the two are purely aesthetic. Eric is a different player altogether who excels with his speed, patience, and gap power, while Corey is more of an all or nothing type of player.

Minor League Report for 7/10

Iowa 4 Omaha 2 - Randy Wells had a poor start his first outing for Iowa, but has been exceptional the rest of the year, and moved to 3-1 on the season. Wells went 7 IP, giving up 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, and striking out 5 while lowering his ERA to 4.15. Felix Pie continued his hitting streak going 1-4, while Michael Restovich went 2-4 with his 14th HR of the year.

Vero Beach 8 Daytona 7 - Matt Holliman (6-5) had perhaps his worst start of the season, going just 2.2 IP, giving up 9 hits, 6 ER, 2 walks, and striking out 2. Matt Ciaramella hit is 1st HR of the game in an effort to bring the D-Cubs back, while Jemel Spearman and Joe Simokaitis both added 2 hits. Ryan Harvey went 0-3 with a walk, while striking out 3 times, lowering his average to .202 on the year.

Beloit 5 Peoria 2 - One of the highlights of the 2006 draft, 49th round pick Ryne Malone, was moved up to 3rd in the order for Peoria but went 0-3 dropping his average to .333. Mitch (7-3) Atkins started for the Chiefs, but took the loss going 4.2 IP, giving up 4 hits, 4 ER, 4 walks, and striking out 4. At the plate, Ryan Norwood went 1-4 and is now hitting 319/353/471 on the year.

Yakima 9 Boise 2 - Josh Lansford hit his 1st professional HR going 1-4, while Tyler Colvin had a tough day going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Bill Muldowney (0-2) took the loss for the Hawks going 5 IP, giving up 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, and striking out 4.

Notes: In the Futures Game, Eric Patterson made an appearance in the late stages of the game going 0-1 with a weak grounder back to the pitcher.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Fantastic Analysis on Pie and Gallagher

Over at NorthsideBaseball.com, there are two brilliant articles on Felix Pie and Sean Gallagher. If you're a math geek like myself or enjoy pretty graphs, you'll particularly enjoy it. Both of the articles are a few weeks old, but they are definitely worth checking out.

Hat tip, to ShawnDGoldman who posted the links over at BleedCubbieBlue.com.

Quick Post today

This post won't discuss the Cubs minor league system yesterday, with the exception that Felix Pie once again added a 2 hit night yesterday. More than anything this is just a heads up to watch the Futures Game at 4 ET on ESPN2 where Eric Patterson will perform. Jae Kuk Ryu is on the World Roster but will not play due to an injured groin, I believe.

On that note, look for a feature this week if I have time on a comparison of Eric Patterson to his brother, Corey. Specifically, I'd like to discuss the effects of Eric going to college, while Corey was drafted out of high school.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

A few Saturday notes

I tend to not post on the weekends, but I'm up early on a Saturday morning, and I figured why not, so here are some bullet points on the action last night:

  • Felix Pie went 2-4 with a walk and a RBI, while Ryan O'Malley pitched 8 shutout innings in Iowa's 8-0 win
  • Tyler Colvin hit his first professional HR for Boise in their 7-1 win
  • Juan Mateo moved to 6-4 on the season by going 7 innings and giving up just 1 ER in the Diamond Jaxx 3-1 win
  • Ryan Norwood went 2-5 and hit is 10th HR of the year in Peoria's 8-3 loss

Friday, July 07, 2006

Minor League Report for 7/7

Iowa 2 New Orleans 1 - Rich Hill (6-1) continues his dominance of the Pacific Coast League by going another 7 innings, giving up just 2 hits, 3 walks, 1 earned run, and striking out 6. David Aardsma and Kerry Ligtenberg pitched a scoreless inning each to solidify the win. At the plate, Felix Pie went 1-4 with a double while 5 other players added a hit.

West Tennessee 13 Chattanooga 2 - Chris Shaver (5-5) got plenty of run support from his teammates to earn the win. Shaver pitched 7 innings, giving up 7 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, and struck out 8. At the plate, Chris Walker went 3-4 with a triple, a walk, and 2 runs raising his average to .308 on the year. Tony Richie also added 3 hits, going 3-5 with a double, while Brian Dopirak may finally be finding his groove adding his 3rd straight 2 hit game, going 2-5 with 2 RBIs.

Daytona 4 St. Lucie 3 - Ryan Harvey went 1-4 with his 8th HR of the year, and Matt Craig went 2-4 and hit is 9th HR of the year for the D-Cubs. On the mound, Justin Berg (6-6) earned the win by going 5 IP, scattering 7 hits, and striking out 7.

Peoria 6 Clinton 1 - Yusuf Carter went 2-4 with his 6th HR of the year and 2006 draftee, Ryne Malone went 2-4, with a double, raising his average to .387 at Peoria. Malone, a second baseman/third baseman, was drafted in the 49th round out of FSU. On the mound, Todd Blackford pitched 7 innings giving up no earned runs to move to 8-2 on the season. Matt Avery pitched a perfect 1.1 IP, while striking out 4 to pick up his 7th save of the year and lowering his ERA to 1.18.

Boise 5 Tri-City 1 - Jeff Samardzija pitched 4 innings, and gave up 5 hits, 1 ER, 1 walk, and struck out 1, while Jeremy Papelbon continued his scoreless streak going 2 innings to earn his 2nd save. Papelbon has now pitched 11.1 scoreless innings to begin his professional career. Offensively, Russ Canzler went 2-3 with a double and Alfred Joseph went 2-3 and drove in 2 runs. Tyler Colvin went 0-4, dropping his average to .182 at Boise.

Notes: The Cubs have annouced some signings. First, the Cubs have signed a 16 year old Venezuelan, Larry Suarez, and Cubs.com is officially reporting the signing of Chris Huseby and Andrew Rundle the 11th and 14th picks in the 2006 draft, respectively. The Cubs believe Suarez was the top pitching prospect out of Latin America, while Baseball America rated him one of the top 10 Latin American prospects available to be signed.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

BA Chat regarding Prospects

Late notice, but take a peak at Baseball America's prospect chat starting at 2:30 ET.

Minor League Report for 7/6

New Orleans 6 Iowa 4 - Jae Kuk Ryu got only 1 out before being injured fielding a grounder in the first inning, while Felix Pie added his 2nd consecutive multi-hit game going 2-4 and adding a stolen base and a caught stealing and he now has 7 stolen bases in 16 attempts. Michael Restovich provided some pop, going 1-4 and adding his 13th HR of the year with a 3 run HR in the 1st.

Chattanooga 8 West Tennessee 6 - The D-Jaxx scored 6 runs in the 3rd but couldn't manage another run, despite the game going 13 innings. Brandon Sing hit a grandslam in the 3rd and went 1-6 with the HR and a walk and 3 strikeouts. Brian Dopirak appears to be working out of his funk, going 2-7 with a run and a RBI. Eric Patterson added a 3 hit effort, going 3-7 although he did get picked off, while leadoff man Chris Walker went 2-4 with 3 walks and 2 doubles and a steal of 3rd base, his 33rd on the year.

St. Lucie 8 Daytona 4 - Jemel Spearman had another nice game, going 3-4 with a double raising his numbers on the year to 280/375/385. Spearman is a tall, lanky, left-handed outfielder and is quite athletic, but is probably out of the range as a prospect. Ryan Harvey is still battling to come out of his struggles, going 1-4 with a run scored and a RBI but did throw out a runner at the plate. Harvey's numbers are currently 204/243/323.

Peoria 3 Clinton 1 - Scott Taylor (4-4) took the win going 6 innings, giving up 1 ER, 6 hits, 3 walks and struck out 1 lowering his ERA to 3.26, while Matt Avery came in to pitch the 9th, earning his 6th save of the year with a perfect inning. At the plate, Ryan Norwood went 2-4 with a SB, while Jesus Valdez went 2-4 with a solo HR, his 4th of the year.

Boise 6 Tri-City 3 - Mike Billek (1-0) who has already struggled at Peoria and Daytona this season earned a win for Boise by going 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. At the plate, Tyler Colvin went 1-3 with 2 walks and Josh Lansford went 2-3 with a walk and 2 runs.

Notes: Baseball America has posted their weekly Prospect Hot Sheet, and this week 2 Cubs show, one for his success and one for his struggles.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

July: Cubs Top 10 Prospects

Its the 1st of July, so that means its time for the latest and most up to date Cubs Top 10 Prospects, keeping in mind, guys that have made an appearance in the majors are no longer available for this list:

1. Donald Veal LHP
2. Sean Gallagher RHP
3. Felix Pie OF
4. Mark Pawalek LHP
5. Eric Patterson 2B
6. Brian Dopirak 1B
7. Mitch Atkins RHP
8. Jake Fox C
9. Mark Reed C
10. Chris Shaver LHP

Honorable Mention: Jeff Samardzija, Tyler Colvin, Randy Wells

Notes: Veal has shot up this list by dominating High A Daytona after a call up, while Pie and Pawalek have fallen after shaky starts. But since, this list is a combination of stats and potential, they still remain faily high. Jake Fox and Chris Shaver are introduced to the list this month, while Sean Gallagher rises after continuing to pitch well after the callup to AA, West Tennessee.

Your Turn: Where did I go wrong? Post your list, or tell me how wrong I am in the Comments!

Minor League Report for 7/4

Ah, back to the regular schedule, here are your recaps for last night:

Iowa 6 New Orleans 1 - Felix Pie, Ryan Theriot, and Casey McGehee all went 2-4, which is the first 2 hit effort for Pie in quite some time. McGehee added 2 doubles and 3 RBIs, while Pie added a double, and Theriot added a double and triple. On the mound, Angel Guzman got the start, his first action in quite some time since he was released from Dusty Baker's jail. Guzman went only 3 innings, since he is working his stamina back up again, but didn't give up a run. Randy Wells (2-1) relieved Guzman and took the win going 5 innings, giving up 1 ER, and 3 hits.

Chattanooga 10 West Tennessee 4 - Bobby Brownlie (2-7) continued his horrid pitching this season, and is likely to be released or sent back to Mesa if he can't turn things around. Brownlie pitched 3 innings giving up 8 ER and 11 hits to take the loss. The heart of the order for the D-Jaxx did provide some punch though, as Nic Jackson went 3-5 with a double, a run, and a RBI, while Brian Dopirak went 2-5 with a double and Miguel Negron went 2-5.

Daytona 3 Brevard County 0 - Donald Veal (1-0) continued his shutout streak with the Daytona Cubs, increasing it to 18.2 IP since being called up to High A. Veal pitched 7 innings giving up just, 3 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 6. Grant Johnson went the final two innings for his 1st save. At the plate Jemel Spearman continued his hot hitting of late going 2-4 with a RBI.

Peoria 6 Clinton 2 - Mitch Atkins (7-2) pitched 6 shutout innings, giving up 5 hits, walking 3, and striking out 2. Kyle Reynolds continues to raise his average, up to .256 now, by going 2-4 with a triple, while prospect Mark Reed went 1-4 with a RBI.

Yakima 7 Boise 5 - Boise's seven errors led to 5 unearned runs and ultimately a loss for Bill Muldowney (0-1). Muldowney pitched 5 innings, giving up 7 hits, 1 ER, no walks, and striking out 6. Mark Pawalek relieved Muldowney and pitched 2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 walk, and struck out 2. At the plate Sammy Baez went 2-5 with a double and a RBI, although 2 errors. Josh Lansford had perhaps his best game of the year going 2-4 with a walk and a RBI.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Happy Birthday America

No post today everyone, I'll resume the normal schedule tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will have the updated prospect list for the Cubs.

Take a look at June's Top 10, and post a comment on your prediction for July's list.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Another Draft Update

The Cub Reporter has a great recap of the 2006 draft and also a listing of where each player currently resides in the Cubs system, definitely worth a read. The Cubs currently have 26 of their 47 draft picks signed, including their first 13 picks in the draft and 9 non-drafted free agents.

Cubs give out another big bonus

This excerpt comes from the Daily Herald:

Big money: Look for the Cubs to announce Wednesday that they’ve signed 11th-round draft pick Chris Huseby, a high school pitcher out of Florida.

Huseby, who underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2005, will get an eye-popping bonus of $1.3 million. Huseby apparently made it clear he was headed to college at Auburn unless he got a suitable bonus.

The Cubs liked what they saw of Huseby during throwing sessions at Wrigley Field and at their spring-training facility at Mesa, Ariz.

Weekend Minor League Report

There were some interesting things happening in the Cubs system, probably most interesting is a rumor that was started over at Bleed Cubbie Blue that has Alex Rodriguez ending up with the Cubs. As far as the minor league system, here are some Monday more bullets to catch everyone up:

  • Rich Hill was selected to be the starting pitcher for the PCL in the AAA all-star game on July 12th. Hill is now 5-1 with a 1.85 ERA for Iowa.
  • While Felix Pie's average has dropped below .250, he did steal 2 bases over the weekend without being caught once.
  • Eric Patterson stole 3 bases this weekend raising his total to 27 on the year.
  • Jeff Samardzija made his second outing, and pitched 3 shutout innings lowering his ERA to 3.60 in 5 innings total for Boise.
  • Tyler Colvin is 5-18 on the year, hitting .278 without an extra base hit yet.
  • Another 2006 draftee, Jeremy Papelbon, has been dynamite so far in the Northwest League. The brother of Red Sox' closer, Jonathan, Jeremy has pitched 9 shutout innings giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 8 in 3 relief appearances.
  • Russ Canzler also continues to impress at Boise now with an OPS approaching 1200
  • Former high school competitor, Josh Hamilton, has been reinstated by Major League Baseball.
Notes: Since we're at the beginning of a new month, it's time to post an updated prospect list for the Cubs, so be looking for this on Wednesday.