“I think you’re better off calling Jeff (Luhnow),” Jim Crane tells the Chronicle when asked about Aiken. “You’re ahead of the curve on me.” — Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) July 18, 2014 First time No. 1 pick hasnt signed since 1983 (Angels- Tim Belcher). Only other time was 1971 (White Sox- Danny Goodwin) — Clint Longenecker (@Clint_BA) July …
Series Preview: Cubs (40-54) at Diamondbacks (40-56)
It’s nice to have a competent front office. Sure, the team is really bad, but I don’t ever really worry about the little things, like our GM so offending a draftee that his agent won’t even return the team’s calls on signing deadline day. I never thought that Jim Hendry was a terrible GM, but were he in charge right …
Brady Aiken is Not Injured (Or Three Lists of Three)
Today at 4 pm is the signing deadline for draftees. The big story concerns #1 overall pick Brady Aiken, and can be read about here and here. Summary: Aiken has a smaller than normal UCL. The Astros are offering him the minimum amount required by the CBA to an injured draftee (40% of their original deal). Because the team hasn’t completed a deal …
Daily Facepalm 7-18-14
Is there a Cubs Game Today? Yes. Finally. The Cubs are on the road in Arizona. JOT Update Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, and Jorge Soler all homered last night. Baez started at second base last night. He looked OK. There were a couple of batted balls that a player with great range would have at least gotten closer …
Consensus Midseason Top 50 Prospects
Top 87, technically. It’s midseason prospect list time. With the release of Keith Law’s top 50 today, a majority of the mavens have now released their midseason updates. I took a look at as many of them as I could,* and combined them to produce a consensus list. *I omitted Bleacher Report, but if someone would like to go through …
“Daily” Facepalm 7-16-14
All-Star Game The AL won the All-Star Game last night 5-3. Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo were both Doolittle’d. The game was mostly a Derek Jeter fawning session. Adam Wainwright did his best to undermine that narrative by saying that he grooved one to Jeter to start the game. It might have worked, too, had he not been quoted on …
Baez’s Futures Game BP and the Homerun Derby
The Homerun Derby starts tonight at 7 pm on ESPN. There are changes in the format this year, but I can’t explain them to you, since I have never payed close enough attention to know the way it used to be. That said, I am going to watch this year, mainly to see whether Giancarlo Stanton does anything amazing. Yoenis …
A Closer Look At Kyle Hendricks’s Debut
Kyle Hendricks was the “other” prospect in the Ryan Dempster trade behind Christian Villanueva. Ostensibly part of Theo’s “get an arm in every trade” mantra, scouts didn’t think that highly of him, but he showed good control in the minor leagues. Hendricks made his major league debut last Thursday for the Cubs. After a rough first-inning, he settled down and …
OV “Daily” Facepalm 7-12-14
Did the Cubs Win? Yes. (h/t Aisle424) In Soviet Russia, Prospects Block You Yesterday in the comments it was suggested that perhaps it’s time to send Mike Olt back to AAA and see whether he can sort some things out there. Uncle Dave pointed out that Olt is more or less blocked at both AAA and AA by better prospects, …
Aroldis Chapman vs. Mike Olt
Aroldis Chapman is not a popular figure among Cub fans at the moment. He buzzed Nate Schierholtz twice on Thursday, and nearly drove our hero to fisticuffs after staring down the Cubs dugout in the ninth. I’m pretty relieved that no punches were thrown, because the Reds strike me as the wrong team to mess with, to paraphrase Ryan Braun*. Chapman …