JOT: Cubes Minor League Recap 8-19-13

In Commentary And Analysis by myles57 Comments

Iowa Cubs 2 @ New Orleans Zephyrs 3

Mike Olt went 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. 

Casey Coleman went 6 very strong inning, allowing a single run on 5 hits/1 walk. He also fanned 3. Alberto Cabrera has been poor in Iowa, allowing a solo shot in the 7th. Zach Rosscup loaded up the bases in the 8th, and Marcos Mateo allowed one of them to score to lose the game. 

Tennessee Smokies 9 @ Birmingham Barons 2

Javier Baez has hit 31 HR this season, but with his 2 doubles today, he's hit 33 of those as well (and 4 triples). He went 3-4 with a walk (and a caught stealing). Arismendy Alcantara went 2-5 with a double and a bomb (and 2 K), and Rubi Silva was a HR shy of the cycle. Matt Szczur went 2-6 with a double and was, like, the 5th most impressive performance. Justin Bour doubled, singled, and walked. Every member of the Smokies hit at least once, even little Brett Jackson.

Dae-Eun Rhee started and was stellar. He allowed 2 in 7, but only allowed 3 hits and a walk. He fanned 3 and allowed a HR to Trayce Thompson, who is at least a semi-prospect. A.J. Morris pitched 2 hitless to seal the deal.

Washington Nationals 1 @ Chicago Cubs 11

There's an outside chance that I'll never watch the Cubs again this year. They don't even start Logan Watkins and they've traded one of the very few average baseball players in David DeJesus. They suck. Regardless, they curbed the Nats yesterday. Junior Lake went 2-4, and Darwin Barney went 1-2 with a walk. Dioner Navarro homered and walked twice. None of those came close to Donnie Murphy (2-4, 2 HR) and Nate Schierholtz (3-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI).

Hey, Jeff Samardzija actually wasn't terrible! He pitched a 6-hitter. He allowed a single solo-shot to Wilson Ramos and didn't walk anyone. He threw one mistake inside, and Ramos has a .721 slugging percentage in that section of plate coverage, so there you go. 

Clinton LumberKings 9 @ Kane County Cougars 2

Jeimer Candelario went 2-4 with a double. He and Amaya (0-4) are the real 2 prospects left on this team. Rock Shoulders is kinda one, and he went 1-4 with 2 RBI (and 3 K). 

Starling Peralta went 4.1 innings and allowed 9 innings. Ugh. Justin Amlung and Al Yevoli allowed no runs in 4.2 innings. 

Boise Hawks 3 @ Tri-City Dust Devils 6

They sucked. 6 errors in this game between the two, 4 of which were Boise. Carlos Penalver had 2, Encarnacion had 1, and Lockhart had 1 also. Only good offensive game was Jacob Rogers, who was 1-2 with a walk.

Duane Underwood went 4.1 innings and allowed 3 runs, 0 earned. 2 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, no chance. 2.2 innings of hitless ball from Zack Godley. Scott Frazier allowed 3 runs and recorded one out. Jasvir Rakkar went 2 outs and allowed no baserunners.

DSL Pirates2 @ DSL Cubs 1
A
ZL Cubs 4 @ AZL Athletics 5

Share this Post

Comments

  1. sitrick

    Myles wrote:

    Suburban kid wrote:
    So who stands to get a September call-up?
    Scott Baker, Alberto Cabrera, J.C. Boscan, Josh Vitters, Dave Sappelt.

    Wouldn’t mind taking a look at Schlitter in the pen.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  2. Mish

    From the last thread:

    I dunno; between not knowing the PTBNL (not that I think it will be a worthwhile player) and how this $2.5M will affect savings/budget in the aggregate with all other moves, I can’t really feel terrible about this deal or the CUbs hopes for the future (beyond how bad the Cubs hopes are for the near term). Even for a large business, like the Cubs or my employer, $2.5M is not immaterial savings.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  3. Suburban kid

    My friend told me he was going to a costume party as an Italian island. I said to him ‘Don’t be Sicily’.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  4. GW

    the issue is that up to this point the FO has made it a point up to now of not giving away an asset.

    soriano, for all that he was, was certainly not that.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  5. sitrick

    GW wrote:

    the issue is that up to this point the FO has made it a point up to now of not giving away an asset.
    soriano, for all that he was, was certainly not that.

    And they still got a fairly valuable piece back for him, all things considered. Be really interesting to see who the PTBNL is.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  6. dmick89

    @ GW:
    Yeah, Soriano was paid significantly more than he was worth and was owed $18 million next year. If DeJesus’s option was a player option for $18 million, then the two situations are similar.

    PTBNL’s usually aren’t very good. I don’t really think there is any reason to think that this trade is going to be different. DeJesus’ contract was an overpay in the least. He was worth his contract and more. You could have exercised his option and felt comfortable you’d get what you pay for next year. As you say, he was an asset and Soriano was not.

    I understand that $2.5 million is a lot of money even for the largest businesses, but it irritates me that it appears to be the driving factor in trading a player worth is contract.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  7. Author
    Myles

    We should keep in mind that even if the return is good, it still has to be a PTBNL, because otherwise the player would have to clear waivers (if on the 40-man) which wouldn’t happen.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  8. dmick89

    I’d assume teams wouldn’t want to intentionally piss off other teams.

    That said, there are two reasons why I don’t think the Cubs will get much in return: DeJesus just isn’t that valuable and the player is a PTBNL.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  9. Author
    Myles

    dmick89 wrote:

    @ Myles:
    It just happened in the Rios trade. I wouldn’t think another team would do it knowing the team would take him off waivers.

    That made sense before, when people hadn’t yet been put on waivers. Most everyone was on August 1, so (for example) Leury Garcia probably hadn’t been put on revocables (in which case you’re right, you’d just piss people off), but Nate Karns (or someone similar) was probably but on revocables, was claimed and taken off, and now would only be eligible for irrevocables now. This is just a guess, but I imagine since it’s so far from when people were on waivers that this could possibly be the hold up.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  10. GW

    @ Myles:

    i know it’s commonly said that everyone gets put on waivers, but i doubt that’s the case with younger guys/prospects who obviously wouldn’t clear.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  11. Author
    Myles

    GW wrote:

    @ Myles:
    i know it’s commonly said that everyone gets put on waivers, but i doubt that’s the case with younger guys/prospects who obviously wouldn’t clear.

    I think the return could be some fringey guy who they weren’t that sure would clear, and not necessarily organizational guy #36.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  12. dmick89

    @ GW:
    Yeah, I’ve always assumed it’s mostly veteran players who are placed on waivers. I imagine some teams are more insistent about placing them on waivers and other teams don’t bother.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  13. Suburban kid

    I just think that a valuable asset, like say David DeJesus (worth more than contract) or $2.5 million in cash, has a different value to contending team and a rebuilding team. There’s many situations in baseball where $2.5M or DDJ is no big whoop, and other cases where they are very meaningful. If the Cubs are in the pennant race, they too would be spending an extra couple million on a left handed hitter off the bench. And if the Nats were in as poor shape as the ’13 Cubes, they too would shed even a good value salary if it was surplus to current requirements.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  14. GW

    Suburban kid wrote:

    I just think that a valuable asset, like say David DeJesus (worth more than contract) or $2.5 million in cash, has a different value to contending team and a rebuilding team.

    this is exactly right. and what we have seen to this point is the Cubs leveraging that difference in value for a long-term asset. if this was just a salary dump, it marks a change in their stance.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  15. Berselius

    I don’t like the sounds of this move either, for both teams. I’d like to believe that the real motivation behind this deal was saving money on a player that’s not a priority for the team AND ensuring a higher draft pick. Not like Hoyer is going to go out and say “we made this trade because we wanted to lose more games”. But I’m definitely getting a ‘cheap’ vibe instead, and I also don’t like it.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  16. Berselius

    I was kind of surprised to see Shark pitch so well last night, early in the game JD was saying that his velocity was down. Guess it took him a while to warm up.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  17. dmick89

    @ Berselius:
    In all honesty, how many fewer games are they going to win between now and the end of the season because they don’t have DeJesus? I suppose if all the rest of the outfielders suck ass as much as possible, it might be 2. Realistically? Probably less than half a win less.

    I don’t see this as improving the Cubs draft pick for next year.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  18. Suburban kid

    @ GW:
    It may not be a change in philosophy or strategy.

    It may be more to do with the time of year, or the current point of the contract. I can see that “stance” changing depending on various factors.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  19. srbutch5

    @ Berselius:
    His velocity might have been down, but he was still sitting at 93-94…which isn’t that down. I did only watch the first inning and a half, so maybe he backed off a bit.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  20. sitrick

    josh wrote:

    @ srbutch5:
    Could Shark be evolving into a pitcher instead of just a thrower? Can’t remember the last time the Cubs had that.

    Ted Lilly sure wasn’t getting by on pure stuff.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  21. fang2415

    I’m just dropping in to say that this DeJesus trade is the strangest thing the Cubes have done since that time when they claimed a guy in the Rule 5 draft and then traded him to a team in Mexico for cash

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  22. Nate

    I also don’t really get this move either, but I think the roster spot/40-man spot has something to do with it. I don’t know if there’s much value to giving Sweeney/Bogusvich playing time, or giving Lake CF the rest of the year, but I think that may be part of it. The 40 man is crowded for the upcoming offseason. Part of the value of trading DDJ is being able to hold onto a more long term asset? maybe? Anyway, I also hope it’s because they want to spend money on a good FA OF this offseason and figured they might as well get something for DDJ.

    If they’re broke, they’re screwed and I give up.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  23. josh

    @ Nate:
    You can have money in the long term, and still be broke for the moment. I make whatever amount of money per year, but right now I have like $40 in my checking account. It happens with companies too.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  24. dmick89

    So the Nats placed DeJesus on waivers immediately and apparently don’t really want him. That’s yet another reason why the Cubs won’t be getting anything in return.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  25. dmick89

    @ Jim:
    I wouldn’t assume that. Usually we hear about trades that have been in the works and it doesn’t really sound like the Nationals wanted DeJesus. Not exactly sure why they put in the claim, though.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  26. GW

    @ dmick89:

    It’s strange. If they really didn’t want him they wouldn’t have offered anything in return.

    If they really aren’t going to pick up his option, I guess it’s just a depth move for the dinged up Harper and injury-prone Werth.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  27. dmick89

    Let’s say the report that the Nats didn’t really want him was true. I don’t know that it is, but let’s say that it is. Rizzo may have decided that he’s not a bad option to have off the bench so they decided to give up something pretty small to get him, but weren’t willing to give up anything else. I could see that and I could then see the media saying they didn’t really want him.

    I agree, though. It is strange. If the report is really 100% true, they don’t offer anything. Odds are there is some truth and some exaggeration in what’s reported.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  28. Suburban kid

    Couldn’t they just be riding out the next few days to see how many games they can win. If someone claims DeJesus but they are on a winning streak, they pull him back and go for it. If they are on a losing streak, they let him go. Maybe the Cubs will sweep the Nats and put in a claim!

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0

Leave a Comment