The Rule V draft affected the Cubs likely more than any other team in baseball this year. Theo & Co. lost Starling Peralta in the major league portion, and Michael Burgess/Matt Cerda/Alvy Jimenez in the minor league portion. However, it wasn’t all bad for the Cubs, as they landed a flamethrower in Hector Rondon. Will he stick? I think the chance is very …
Better Know a Cub: Anthony Rizzo
Anthony Rizzo has packed a lot of bags. Drafted in the 6th round out of Stoneman-Douglas HS, Rizzo has been a part of 3 different organizations in 6 years, being traded in both 2011 and 2012. He was an early riser, spending only 24 PA in Rookie Ball and only a season or so in A and A+ combined. His …
Better Know a Cub: Jeff Samardzija
The Cubs had an interesting draft in 2006. They had the 13th overall pick in the draft (they used it on Tyler Colvin, now with the Rockies). Then, they didn't pick again until the 149th overall pick. They used it on a player who many thought would not even sign; Jeff Samardzija. Samardzija has had a very interesting sporting …
Better Know a Cub: Welington Castillo
Coming into the 2012 season, the Cubs had an interesting catching debate, and it wasn’t for the starting job. Geovany Soto still had some of that old sheen on him, but behind him was a pair of catchers that were dueling for the backup C job, neither a world-beater in the minors. One of the two was Steve Clevenger, the …
Better Know a Cub: Starlin Castro
As I try to re-boot this old blog, I thought it would be a good idea to include a post on each player on the Cubs 40-man roster as they enter it. Unfortunately for me (or fortunately, depending), that means I have a backlog of 40 profiles to do. I’m going to start with the people who (hopefully) are long-term …