For some reason, I was thinking that Logan Watkins was drafted in the 3rd round in 2008. He did sign for $600,000, which was probably 2nd round money considering the Cubs draft order that year (maybe even higher at that time), but he lasted until the 21st round. He had a strong committment to Wichita State. Watkins weighs 175 pounds …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Matt Szczur
The minor league season ends today and we'll be starting a four to five week series in which Sitrick, Myles and I review numerous 2013 Cubs prospects. Our goal is to write about no less than 40 Cubs prospects and we intend to be finished with the reviews by the time the postseason begins. We'll have two reviews published each …
Starlin Castro falls asleep again
I didn't see the Cubs and Cardinals game yesterday, but Starlin Castro had another costly mental error. Castro's brain cramp on a popup in the fifth allowed the Cardinals to score, as St. Louis posted a 4-0 victory over the Cubs in front of 41,981 at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals led, 1-0, when they loaded the bases with one out …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 8-16-13
St Louis Cardinals 0 @ Chicago Cubs 7 How 'bout that Jake Arrieta, huh? I'm starting to think we won the Feldman trade. Arrieta tossed 7 shutout innings against the cards, allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks against 7 Ks, and was dominating. Someone asked Keith Law on Twitter if Arrieta could be "a GUY" (which, can I say, …
2014 Contending Cubs, Part 2: Depth
We've taken a look at the 2014 Cubs Payroll as part of this series and we learned that it's unlikely the Cubs are going to have enough money to buy themselves a championship. They'll have about $25-35 million to spend this offseason, which is a considerable amount, but not large enough to sign multiple big-name free agents. In order to …
2014 Contending Cubs, Part 1: Payroll
I thought it was about time to take a more thorough look at the 2014 Cubs and eventually discuss ways in which they could contend. The first thing to look at is how much money the Cubs may have to spend, which means we need to know how much money they currently have on the books for 2014. Cots Contracts …
If you had Luis Valbuena in the office pool, raise your hand
It’s June 19th and the Cubs are 69 games into their season. You and I probably picked Anthony Rizzo as the most productive position player on the team through this many games, assuming he remained healthy. I think most everybody would have taken Rizzo and almost no one would have taken Luis Valbuena. Well, Valbuena has had a surprisingly good …
Cubs Prospects on the Rise, June edition
Myles already posted the Cubs prospects who have fallen so now it's time to look at the ones who have risen. We'll also have an updated Cubs top prospects list for you. 3. Pierce Johnson – The 22 year old supplemental first round pick from 2012 is probably a little too old for his level, but he's been dominating. He …
Daily Facepalm 6.10.13 – Welcome to the Cubs, Edwin Jackson
Edwin Jackson finally arrives The 'real' Edwin Jackson showed up for the first time this season, striking out eight while allowing one run, one walk, and four hits in seven innings. More importantly, his fastball averaged 94.78 on the day, much closer to his career avg of 95 mph than the paltry low 93.x mph he had been throwing earlier …
Cubs under contract for 2015
With the Anthony Rizzo signing, I thought it'd be sweet to show you the "Cubs Core;" players under team control for 2015 (when we should EXPECT a competitive team instead of just hoping). Anthony Rizzo: 2021 Starlin Castro: 2020 Welington Castillo: 2017 Edwin Jackson: 2016 Luis Valbuena: 2016 Travis Wood: 2016 Darwin Barney: 2016 Jeff Samardzija: 2015 James Russell: 2015 …