All of the major scouting outlets have published their midseason top prospects updates by now, which is good since the season is well over halfway through. I rounded up a bunch of them (from Baseball America, Bullpen Banter, Baseball Prospectus's Jason Parks, ESPN's Keith Law, and minorleagueball's John Sickels) and pulled the rankings for Cub prospects, including newly acquired 'spects Mike Olt …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-24-13
New Orleans Zephyrs 2 @ Iowa Cubs 1 (10 innings) Boring. Mike Olt was 1-5 with 3 strikeouts, and, well, that'll happen. Josh Vitters, in left, went 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. A Donnie Murphy forceout tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Yoanner Negrin's 1 run 10th gave the game back to New Orleans. Brad Nelson had three …
Better Know a Cub: Matt Guerrier
Matt Guerrier is a few people's favorite Cub. "How could this be possible?", you may ask. Well, his presence on the team means Carlos Marmol's presence isn't. That's a win for many people who just wanted Marmol and his $9.8 million contract out of Chicago. Honestly, I don't really mind if players are overpaid (I care only from the abstract …
Better Know a Cub: Pedro Strop
Pedro Strop was part of the trade that sent Scott Feldman over to the Orioles. While the "big prize" in that trade was considered to be Jake Arrieta, there's a great chance that Strop is going to provide more value going forward. He had a rought beginning to 2013 before he was traded to the Cubs. What's Strop likely to …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-23-13
New Orleans Zephyrs 0 @ Iowa Cubs 1 The only run in the game was scored in the bottom of the 9th. Logan Watkins went 2-4 and was the only real offense. Donnie Murphy was 1-4 and scored the only run of the game off a Edwin Maysonet (remember him?) single to send the Des Moines crowd happy. Mike Olt hasn't played yet. Guillermo Moscoso …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-22-13
New Orleans Zephyrs 9 @ Iowa Cubs 2 This team just got a lot more interesting. I put Mike Olt at #6 on the Cubs top prospects list, which is more a compliment to the Cubs farm system than a diss an Olt, who I think is an Top 80-100 type (Alcantara is a Top 80-100 type too). Justin Grimm has every …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-21-13
Iowa Cubs 0 @ Round Rock Express 3 Logan Watkins had half of the 4 hits the I-Cubs had today. He also stole a base. Donnie Murphy had a double, and Josh Vitters had a single and a walk. That was it. This team S-U-C-K-S to watch and write about. Besides Watkins and Vitters, I'm not sure a single position player …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-18-13
Iowa Cubs 6 @ Round Rock Express 3 Logan Watkins scored 2 runs on a single and a HBP. No walk today. Donnie Murphy had a big day, going 2-4 with a double and a home run. Ty Wright also had a double, as did Edgar "Who?" Gonzalez. On the Texas side (since Garza is probably maybe going there), prospects that might just come with us Leury Garcia …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-18-13
Daytona Cubs 3 @ Charlotte Stone Crabs 4 (11 innings) Chadd Krist had the best day, probably, with two singles and two walks. Ben Carhart and Dustin Geiger each added a double; Geiger also had two singles. Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-4 with a triple. That was every hit. Yao-Lin Wang took the bump and was an out away from a QS. He went 5.2 innings …
Anthony Rizzo: Not a disappointment
As a Cubs fan (ostensibly – why would you read this otherwise?), you really haven't had many reasons to cheer this year. Arguably, the most exciting good thing is that the one the Cubs' tradeable pieces didn't get hurt long enough to be traded (Jake Arrieta, hello! I wish it was 2009 so I could be excited). We've seen Starlin …