The Cubs have signed Manny Ramirez as player/coach. When I first saw this, I was seriously hoping it was for the MLB team just because it would be funny, but it’s for the Iowa Cubs so there’s really nothing to see. There’s about a 0.08% chance he’ll reach the major leagues. “We do think at this stage of his life …
Ten Reasons I’m Watching The 2014 Cubs
The last time I posted here, the dinosaurs roamed the earth the Cubs were still in the hunt for the NL pennant I swore I didn’t care about the 2014 Cubs. I said there would be no reason to watch the 2014 Cubs. I pretty much made it clear I wouldn’t so much as accidentally watch 10 seconds of the 2014 …
OV Daily Facepalm
Weekend Roster Moves of note Darnell McDonald —-> AAA Chang-Yong Lim —-> Korea Tsuyoshi Wada —–> released Tsuyoshi Wada —–> re-signed to a minor league deal Neil Ramirez —–> AAA Javier Baez —–> AAA Jonathan Sanchez —-> AAA Casper Wells —-> AAA Blake Parker —–> AAA No real surprises here, except maybe Blake Parker, who was pretty decent last year …
OV Daily Facepalm
Aroldis Chapman hit in face by line drive There was a scary moment in last night's Reds game, as Aroldis Chapman was hit in the face by a line drive. Trainers from both teams rushed to the mound immediately (and his father too from the stands), and he was taken off the field in a stretcher. Reports say he never …
OV Daily Facepalm
McDonald hurt, fifth starter competition winding down James Mcdonald threw two pitches in his start yesterday, the second one to the backstop before being pulled from the game. The Cubs are calling it shoulder soreness, which is not great news for McDonald as he only pitched in six games last year because of shoulder problems. It looks like Chris Rusin …
OV Daily Facepalm
Weekend spring training recap Brett Jackson had a big day on Saturday, homering and driving in five runs. He also hit a double off Justin Masterson on Sunday before finishing his day with two more strikeouts. Travis Wood had a rocky first inning on Sunday, capped off by a 2 RBI double by Jeff Francouer (ugh), but settled down as …
OV Daily Facepalm
Lots of HRs, lots of walks Baez and Olt both hit bombs off of Randy Wolf (video here and here), a not uncommon occurance for Randy Wolf. Olt later hit another bomb against against a Mariners reliever. Likely fifth starter James McDonald issued five walks in 2 2/3 innings in his start last night. First round of cuts The first round of …
OV Daily Facepalm
WBBM favorite to land Cubs radio broadcasts, WGN radio's slow march to doom continues WGN exercised an out clause in their deal last year in an attempt to renegotiate, since they're supposedly losing a ton of money on Cubs broadcasts. According to the Trib's Ed Sherman, WBBM is now viewed as the front-runner. It feels odd seeing the Tribune reporting on …
OV Daily Facepalm
BA Review of Cubs international signings Ben Badler put up a recap of the Cubs international signings over at BA ($). Most of it is just a collection of scouting stuff we saw back at signing time, but still a good read since I don't remember any of it. Most of what seems new to me is where the signings are …
OV “Daily” Facepalm 03-07-2014
Minor League Camp is open 4 squads were on the field yesterday, Iowa down to Kane County. Full rosters courtesy of the inimitable Arizona Phil. A few words: Due to numbers, some people are a fair bit higher than they will be when the season opens. This is because some of the fringe talent is still in major league camp, and …