Last Week The Vikings had a great start to their tilt against the Lions, with an AP 78-yard scamper for an early score. They held it together in the first half, taking a 14-13 lead into the locker room, but were blown out in the second half to eventually lose 34-24. The Bears were pretty uneven last week, but Cutler …
Let’s Talk About Junior Lake
This year has been a miles-deep cesspool of suck. We can mostly all agree upon that. What hurts the most is that our core players have seemingly all have bad years; Castro's struggles have been well documented, as have Rizzo's. Shark still flashes dominance, but at the end of the year he still has a 3.69 FIP and a 4.29 …
2013 Cubs Prospects In Review: Armando Rivero
It's hard to get excited about middle relief prospects. I know that I certainly poked my share of fun at the Rivero signing when it was made. He got $3.1 million, and Brett had this to say: While he may prove a valuable piece of the bullpen in future years, this is simply about accumulating talented pitching, and paying handsomely to …
Cubs Win Playoffs! Daytona, Boise, Tennessee Final Games
Birmingham Barons 7 @ Tennessee Smokies 4 The Smokies lost in the first round of the playoffs. Javier Baez went 1-4 with a home run and 2 SO, and ended the series with a .211 average and a pair of jacks. He was also hit by a pitch in this game. Arismendy Alcantara had a pair of singles and a stolen …
Bears 24, Bengals 21
Well, the game didn't really pan out how I expected it to (though the margin of victory was identical). Bears Run Versus Bengals Run Defense I said that this was a defense that could be run on, but I was wrong. Forte carried the ball 19 times for just 50 yards; as a team, the Bears were 28 for 81 …
2013 Cubs Minor League Playoffs: Tennessee Game 1, Daytona Game 1 (Round 2)
Tennessee Smokies 1 @ Birmingham Barons 3 This was rough. The top 4 in the lineup went 0-15, 7 SO. Rubi Silva had a HR, which was all they had. Christian Villanueva doubled, and John Andreoli had a pair of singles. And that's it. As a team, they walked 0 times and struck out 12. Woof. Nick Struck failed to …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Yoanner Negrin
Yoanner Negrin is sort of an enigmatic fellow. He signed with the Cubs in 2011, when he was 27 YEARS OLD. He wasn't exactly a premium prospect; I can't find any information on what he signed for. The expectation at the time of the signing was the he preferred relieving, but his arsenal of pitches were such that it made …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Willson Contreras
Willson Contreras is only 21, but has been in the Cubs' organization for 5 years. An unheralded IFA from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Contreras spent two years in the Dominican Summer League before making his stateside debut in Boise 2 years ago. In the 5 years he's played for Cubs affiliates, he's done yeoman's work, playing adequate defense with mediocre offensive …
Cubs Minor League Playoffs 2013; Daytona, Boise Game 1
Dunedin Blue Jays 1 @ Daytona Cubs 6 Kris Bryant led the way with 2 hits and a single. He also had enough RBIs by himself to win. The only extra-base hit was a double by Pin-Chieh Chen to lead off the Cubs in the bottom of the 1st (he'd come to score on a move to 3rd off a …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Trey Masek
Trey Masek was one of the more intriguing arms that the Cubs picked up in the 2013 draft. Originally slated to go in the first round, a bout of shoulder tendinitis knocked his stock down considerably. While Baseball America had Masek as high as 48th, Masek actually went with the 138th pick in the draft. The slot value for the …