Tom Ricketts has been vocal since buying the Cubs about the need to strengthen the minor league system. It’s getting harder to doubt his sincerity given the construction of a new facility in the Dominican Republic, the increased number of overslot draftees in 2011, and the newly competitive nature of the organization in plucking sixteen year-olds out of foreign countries. …
Starlin Castro is an All-Star
Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, or maybe Aramis Ramirez might have been better picks but I’m happy with this selection. Good for the kid. The NL roster: StartersBrian McCannPrince FielderRickie WeeksJose ReyesPlacido PolancoRyan BraunLance BerkmanMatt Kemp PitchersJoel HanrahanRoy HalladayCliff LeeCole HamelsTim LincecumMatt CainBrian Wilson‘s BeardRyan VogelsongTyler ClippardJair JurrjensClayton KershawHeath BellJonny Venters Reserves Justin UptonChipper JonesStarlin CastroBrandon PhillipsJay BruceJoey VottoTroy TulowitzkiGaby SanchezHunter …
Cubs sign Enrique Acosta for $1.1 million
It’s always nice to see the Cubs make a splash in the Dominican or Venezuela. They signed Enrique Acosta for $1.1 million. The full scouting report is here (subscribers only). He’s ranked 9th. Acosta, who is represented by Rob Plummer, has one of the best bats in the Dominican Republic. Acosta, 16, has a short load and gets his hands …
Midseason look at the Cubs top prospects, part 1
I figured now was a good time to post something about the Cubs top prospects since it’s past the midway point in the full minor league seasons. The short-season teams just got under way. I’m using Sickel’s top 20. I’m breaking this into three parts. I’ll cover 11-20 here and then 1-10 while the final part will focus on players …
World Series Champions and biggest payroll
Just thought this graphic was cool (click on it to view a larger image).
Is Mike Quade in over his head?
I’ve argued with Mercurial Outfielder on here that there’s no reason to think Mike Quade is in over his head. Hardball Talk now has an article up titled Cubs manager Mike Quade is in over his head. Here’s why. At least he sort of admitted after the Cubs’ latest loss Friday. “This one is on me,” Mike Quade said after …
Series Preview: Chicago White Sox (40-42) vs Iowa Cubs of Chicago (34-48)
Somehow the White Sox are hovering around .500 despite the vortex of suck that is their offense. As @rotopat pointed out on Twitter yesterday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has more hits against LHP than Adam Dunn does this year. Since everyone cares so much about the Crosstown Cup, the Cubs either need to sweep or win two out of three …
The Obstructed View t-shirt winner is…
jherky. Suburban Kid looked to be the winner entering the bottom of the 13th, but thanks to Reed Johnson, Darwin Barney, an intentional walk to Starlin Castro and a 3-run home run by Geovany Soto, jherky wins. He, along with Megan, both predicted the Cubs would go 11-18 in the month of June. Megan predicted 95 runs scored and jherky …
There’s still nothing wrong with Ryan Dempster
On April 26th I wrote an article about why there was nothing wrong with Ryan Dempster despite his 7+ ERA. This was an article that I took a little heat for two days later after Dempster had the worst start of his career. Considering that I looked at the available information and compared it to league norms or his career …
Contest down to 4
UPDATE: Megan is also still alive. Everyone who entered a prediction to win an Obstructed View shirt has been eliminated with the exception of Suburban Kid, ACT and jherky. Let’s go over the possibilities. If the Cubs win, jherky wins. If they don’t, he’s out. If they lose today then it goes to the first tiebreaker between SK and ACT. …