Author Topic: On The Farm  (Read 324136 times)

CUBluejays

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 17344
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10920 on: January 02, 2023, 11:28:10 am »
Franklin posted a picture on his Twitter of what looked a lot like a sweeper slider.

Christian Hernandez also cleaned up his swing.
Like Like x 1 View List

craig

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13097
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10921 on: January 04, 2023, 02:38:08 pm »
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/baseball/iowa-cubs/2023/01/03/chicago-cubs-iowa-cubs-caleb-kilian-brennen-davis-alexander-canario-miguel-amaya-matt-mervis/69771872007/?src=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Comments from Banner on 5 prospects.
1.  Davis has no limitations, is feeling great, and should be in a great place physically when camp starts.
2.  Amaya should be healthy and full-go when camp opens. 
3.  Canario doing "pretty well", "recovering well", "so far so good", "doctors are pleased with where he is."  No timetable, and "not anywhere near baseball activities yet". 
4.  Some Mervis comments.
5.  Some Killian comments, "“I just think the main focus with Caleb is just getting his delivery back to a place where it's been in the past where he’s commanding his pitches at an elite level and using his lower half well,” Banner said. “I expect that coming into camp, he’ll be in a great place.”

Those are some pretty significant guys.  Any who succeed could have a big impact on the Cubs future.  I tend to forget Amaya, but I love reading that he might be full go.  Given that he's hardly played baseball for years, I can't imagine he doesn't still need a lot of reps, both defensively and as a hitter.  And yeah, given all of the intangible veteran magic that catchers are supposed to have, how likely is it that an inexperienced young catcher will have all of that even in the unlikely event that he can hit.  But man, what a transform that would be if, by end of season, Amaya emerged as a capable big-league catcher and was viewed as the primary catcher moving forward?  If he popped up as a solid/average catcher, that would be transformative.

Killian was a story, then he kind of shut that as a wildman.  It would be so helpful if he emerged as a control artist with good stuff.  During Theo's years, they were always looking for promising young pitching, but the price in trade was always too extravagant to pay.  Imagine if this winter we'd had such a stock of appealing young pitchers that teams with good young catchers or 3B had been calling Hoyer to offer them for Killian? 

Would be fun if Brennen emerged with some breakout hitting, and would bump Hosmer or whomever is our stop-gap DH to the waiver wire? 


Bennett

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7414
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10922 on: January 06, 2023, 03:29:41 pm »
Patrick Mooney

Cubs roster moves:

• PJ Higgins was outrighted to Triple-A Iowa after clearing waivers.

• Alfonso Rivas was granted his unconditional release.

• Brad Wieck signed a two-year, minor-league deal.

• Dom Nunez signed a minor-league deal with an invite to major-league camp.

davep

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15849
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10923 on: January 06, 2023, 05:12:06 pm »
I don't understand all the rules, but I believe that Higgens might be able to choose free agency after the year ends, because this is his second time that he was outrighted.

JeffH

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6154
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10924 on: January 06, 2023, 05:20:29 pm »
I don't understand all the rules, but I believe that Higgens might be able to choose free agency after the year ends, because this is his second time that he was outrighted.

If a player eligible to be a free-agent if outrighted elects to be a free-agent immediately, his contract is terminated and he receives no termination pay. But if the Article XX-D player accepts the Outright Assignment and defers his right to be a free-agent until the conclusion of the MLB regular season, the player continues to get paid, receiving the balance of his salary through to the end of the season. And then if the outrighted Article XX-D player is not subsequently added back to an MLB 40-man roster prior to the conclusion of the MLB regular season, the player can elect free-agency anytime beginning on the day after the conclusion of the MLB regular season through October 15th.

craig

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13097
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10925 on: January 07, 2023, 11:06:59 am »
https://northsidebound.com/2023/01/07/breaking-news-jared-banner-talks-in-detail-about-cub-prospects-mervis-and-pca-this-am/

Says Howard is "just starting to hit in the cage. He should be ready to go for spring training without limitations."  Davis "Will be a full go for spring training. He has been hitting with Cody Bellinger out in Arizona."  Canario "Will be out a little longer"

Comments on Cubs plans for Mervis are reserved.  Not the clean "He's ready and we expect him to be the starting for the Cubs when the season starts"  phrasing that I'd have hoped would apply.  Instead:
“There’s always that balance between what is best for the major league team versus what’s best for any individual player’s development. I can’t answer that for Mervis this time. We’ll have to see how things play out for him personally and for the team. Our goal is to make sure he is getting better each and every day. So that when his number is called, he’s ready to contribute and help the Cubs win games.”

I don't fault Banner for being a little bit vague.  He's not the manager.  But it seems evident that internally, there may not be a uniform consensus that Mervis is the guy and we're going with him right out of the gate. 

craig

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13097
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10926 on: January 07, 2023, 11:09:18 am »

reb, what is the free agency status these days?  Bryant seemed kinda ready, but Mike Olt got the start.  And the Cubs got an extra 2021 season for control.  Which got Canario and Killian out of that.

Mervis is obviously not a Bryant-esque prospect.  But, how long does a club need to hold a guy back in order to ensure an extra year of club control, under the current CBA?  Is that totally a non-factor these days, or might that be a small factor in the decision-making? 

davep

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15849
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10927 on: January 07, 2023, 11:50:01 am »
I don't know the answer to that, other than to state my belief that Mervis is not a good enough prospect to worry about an extra year of control in return for a third of a year's production this year.  I think that historically, the Cubs have been more likely to bring up a prospect too soon rather than too late, and I don't expect that to change for a prospect the level of Mervis.

PCA may be a different story next year.

Reb

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5086
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10928 on: January 07, 2023, 12:38:38 pm »
172 days service time in the majors is a “full” season. So, do the math from the season opener on March 31 to last game. Typically, can come up about 10 days or so after opening day and get those 172 days service time. And new cba has some caveats based on rookie of year tallies even if don’t have the 172 days.

Kinda doubt will be a factor for Mervis making the club but who knows.

craig

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13097
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10929 on: January 07, 2023, 01:32:07 pm »
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33761266/the-end-mlb-service-manipulation-how-kris-bryant-paved-way-next-kris-bryant

Assuming the above link is accurate, it seems to be pretty detailed.  It's still 172 days, same as it was for Bryant, out of the 187-day season.  (https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/service-time). 

But as reb correctly recalls,
*"No matter when a player comes up from the minors, he'll be awarded a full year of service if he finishes first or second in Rookie of the Year voting."

That's pretty limited.

craig

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13097
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10930 on: January 07, 2023, 02:15:57 pm »
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33761266/the-end-mlb-service-manipulation-how-kris-bryant-paved-way-next-kris-bryant

"A new system put in place now rewards teams with extra draft picks if they promote their top prospects on Opening Day. A player who receives a full year of service time and finishes in the top three in Rookie of the Year voting or top five in MVP/Cy Young voting will earn his team an extra draft pick coming after the first round."

The latter is interesting, for a Cubs team that believes it's got a strong development rebuild happening. 

1.  Heh heh, wouldn't it be cool if Mervis finished 3rd in ROY, and got us an extra comp pick? 
2.  Then next year, PCA does it, then Alcantara or Horton or Palencia? 
3.  Two leagues, so that's 6 extra draft picks assigned in the 30's every draft.  That's very significant. 
4.  I'm just a naive optimist I know; but it really does seem that the Cubs could hypothetically have some guys over the next several years who might be ROY contenders who earn extra picks?  Being a superstar is one thing, but being top-3 ROY in a league isn't quite that hard. 


In old days, comp picks for FA's lost came directly after round 1, in the 30's.  Now they'll come after the 2nd round, which itself will come after these six extra ROY sandwich picks.  So the compensation for losing a good draft pick will now be about 40 picks later, in the 70's instead of the 30's.  I understand this is what the union wants, but it does seem to make it harder for small-market teams to restock. 


JeffH

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6154
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10931 on: January 15, 2023, 09:29:36 am »
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1lPJqBAMbBYxb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1614385852309991425%7Ctwgr%5Ea2d17fed95e7686de66f4af3d688204d3ab37fe1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fnews%2Fcubs-convention-2023-highlights-top-prospects

From left to right on the panel:

Jordan Wicks, Chase Strumpf, Kevin Alcantara, Miguel Amaya, Owen Caissie, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ed Howard, Matt Mervis, Brennen Davis, Ryan Jensen, DJ Herz, Jordan Nwogu, Ben Brown
Informative Informative x 1 View List

CUBluejays

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 17344
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10932 on: January 15, 2023, 12:11:50 pm »
Cubs will sign3 players in IFA for $5.2 million.  They haven’t confirmed Espinosa because with Swanson signing they are $500,000 short. 

MLB Pipeline rankings
6) Derniche Valdez, SS, $2.7 million
14) Ludwig Espinosa, SS, $1.5 million
19) Angel Cepeda, SS, $1 million

chgojhawk

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 998
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10933 on: January 15, 2023, 02:31:49 pm »
Is Fernando Cruz the following year?  Signed with someone else?  Hasn't signed yet?  He was the #1 prospect that the Cubs were the favorites to sign?

chgojhawk

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 998
Re: On The Farm
« Reply #10934 on: January 15, 2023, 02:34:54 pm »
Cubs will sign3 players in IFA for $5.2 million.  They haven’t confirmed Espinosa because with Swanson signing they are $500,000 short. 

MLB Pipeline rankings
6) Derniche Valdez, SS, $2.7 million
14) Ludwig Espinosa, SS, $1.5 million
19) Angel Cepeda, SS, $1 million

I like signing shortstops as they can likely play almost anywhere.  My HS coach used to say "there is no such thing as an OF.  An OF is an IF who wasn't good enough to start over anyone in the IF so they made him an OF."  I don't completely agree with his logic, but I understand what he meant.