This week’s cuts
Lake, Schlitter, and Rosscup were sent to AAA today. This follows the much more ballyhooed cuts earlier this week of Bryant and Russell (both expected) and Baez (a little unexpected). I was on team Baez-to-AAA but was definitely in the minority in that among the Cubs Twittersphere. He’s 22, it’s not like this is ending his career or anything. He’s working on stuff and I expect to see him back on the team by June, if not sooner.
Guesses at the roster
As of right now, assuming the Cubs don’t cut/trade Beef or EJax (a big if on both of those), my guess is they’ll have
- C: Montero, Ross, Castillo
- IF: Rizzo, Castro, Olt, La Stella, Alcantara
- OF: Coghlan, Fowler, Soler, Sczcur, Sweeney
- SP: Lester, Arrieta, Hammel, Hendricks, Wood
- RP: Rondon, Strop, Ramirez, Grimm, Coke, Motte, Jackson
If Jackson is traded or cut or Motte goes to the DL, Drake “He got enemies” Britton or Blake Parker is probably the next man up. Chris Denorfia is likely headed to the DL to start the season as well.
Tyrano-vision up at Wrigley
Not an April fools joke, the Jumbotron is complete (via @DP3P0 ) #WrigleyField #WrigleyRenovations pic.twitter.com/epY9zEvXKY
— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) April 1, 2015
Tyrano-vision park effects?
This article by Steven Goldstein in the Trib (behind paywall unless you can stop the page from loading fast enough) speculates what putting up a 42’x59′ windbreak might do to the park effects. Most of the speculation out there is that it would be good for hitters, since the last bleacher expansion had a slight effect on the wind, but a lot of other parks have seen more HRs after video board changes, most notably the newest Yankee stadium.
Grantland NL Central preview
Ben Lindbergh has the Cubs ranked third in the division. It warms the cockles of my heart to see the Reds listed dead last.