Recent comments

Childersb3 4 days 3 hours ago (view)

Heyman reports Canario is being promoted
No mention of who's going down
This seems weird
I'm not upset at all, but is he going to play?
Wisdom staying to Iowa?
Mastro going down?
Someone hurt?
We'll see

crunch 4 days 7 hours ago (view)

truth.  his velocity does tend to peak out at 80-90 pitches, but i think he has it in him with regular work given what he showed last season.

the fact he moves so seamlessly between starting and long relief may doom him to the pen, anyway.

TarzanJoeWallis 4 days 7 hours ago (view)

Phil, my presumption was that the Cubs are sellers at the trade deadline and that Happ would be willing to waive his no trade clause to play for a potential WS champion. Lots of ifs there but I don’t think completely out of the question.

Arizona Phil 4 days 14 hours ago (view)

Julio Teheran was a SP for the Brewers last season, so Counsell should know him pretty well. 

bradsbeard 4 days 15 hours ago (view)

I think it’s a fair question if he’ll be able to consistently make it through the order a third time, and if not he’s more of a 6th starter/swing guy. But he’s a very good one if so. 

Arizona Phil 4 days 16 hours ago (view)

TARZAN; Presuming he doesn't spend the next three years in AAA, Owen Caissie projects to initially be  - PRIMARILY -  a DH as long as Happ and Suzuki are on the team (and not on the IL), and both are signed through 2026 and both have a full "no trade."

Which does - NOT - mean Caissie will never play LF or RF while Happ and Suzuki are on the team, just that once he is called up, Caissie projects to be mostly and primarily a DH while Happ and Suzuki are Cubs (very likely through 2026). 

Then AFTER Happ and Suzuki are gone (beginning in 2027), only THEN will Caissie be projected as the primary LF or RF (which of the two TBD).

crunch 4 days 17 hours ago (view)

julio teheran signs with the cubs.  it's most likely a minor league deal.

tim815 4 days 18 hours ago (view)

I'm good with Ty Johnson for Yankees DFA Josh Maciejewski.

azbobbop 4 days 18 hours ago (view)

Phil, any word on where Derniche Valdez is?

azbobbop 4 days 19 hours ago (view)

Alcantara starts AA career 0-26

crunch 4 days 20 hours ago (view)

in a world where kyle schwarber gets to be a LF'r anything is possible.

TarzanJoeWallis 4 days 20 hours ago (view)

Not sure why Caissie is being classified strictly as a future DH. He’s a big guy but he has shone to be surprisingly speedy and a respectable fielder in left.

Happ strikes me as a competitor and I could see him waiving his no trade to go to a potential winner if the Cubs are sellers and willing to take back some salary. Happ is a switch hitter, a former gold glover, and consistent if far from spectacular at the plate. If Happ left, Cassie could slot in quite nicely in left

By contrast, if Bellinger continues to perform as the 2021/2022 version I don’t think he would be movable at the deadline given his current contract.

I’ve expressed my concerns with 
Bellinger and his interview response as reported on Marquee today did little to reassure me. Essentially, “I’m doing everything I want to do in every at bat and I feel like I’ll get there soon.” I translate this as “Don’t be silly! There’s nothing wrong and nothing I need to work on.” Not an answer that points to immediate improvement. Bellinger has proven he’s quite capable of putting together truly terrible seasons and I’m not sure why my concern isn’t more widespread across the fan base.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to have my concerns be totally off base and for Cody to start tearing it up. Just not seeing or hearing much to support that hope.

crunch 4 days 20 hours ago (view)

at what point do people quit treating assad like a "6th/7th starter" that's expendable in the rotation unless there's a string of injuries or someone needs rest?

this guy would be a 3-5 starter on many teams after what he did as a starter last year.

this team will most likely let hendricks and wicks continue to start at assad's expense.  taillon's next start will be with the big league team.

wicks to AAA wouldn't make me upset at this point in his career and considering his early performance in 2024.  wicks has yet to pitch past the 4th inning while throwing a lot of pitches doing it.

crunch 4 days 21 hours ago (view)

m.busch -4- games in a row with a HR.

forget ROY, let's talk MVP.

crunch 4 days 21 hours ago (view)

nestor cortes (NYY) out here trying to advance little league pitching strategy every season...he got some real weird stuff for 2024.

https://streamable.com/rgm98n

First.Pitch.120 4 days 22 hours ago (view)

Fun Tauchman fact…

MT is 3rd in all of MLB in pitches per PA. And the 2 players in front of him have a combined 8 PA

crunch 4 days 22 hours ago (view)

mervis day off, wisdom at 1st.  wisdom continuing to be an old man punishing kids in AAA is a bit overmatched at this point.

they need to figure out (masterboney) who (masterboney) is going to make way (masterboney) for wisdom to rejoin the team rather soon.  that said, counsell seems to be allergic to using cooper as well as masterboney and cooper may be the one that loses his job even though he probably shouldn't...going 5 for 13 with a homer, triple, and double just don't get the respect it used to.

Arizona Phil 4 days 22 hours ago (view)

As I have mentioned here before, I really believe Matt Shaw is the Cubs second-baseman (NOT third-baseman) of the future, so if the Cubs are sellers at the Trade Deadline this year and Shaw looks to be MLB-ready as a hitter and at least passable defensively, Nico Hoerner could get moved at the TDL, too. 

Or if it becomes crystal clear that Christopher Morel absolutely positively just can't play 3B and Shaw can play 3B (even with a below-average arm), then Morel could play 2B and Shaw could play 3B long-term.  

Either way, I believe the Cubs will not retain Hoerner much past 2024, or even past Juiy if the Cubs decide to be sellers at the TDL. (Unlike Swanson, Happ, and Suzuki, Hoerner does NOT have a "no trade"). And it's not because Hoerner isn't a Gold Glove caliber second-baseman and a really good player. It's because his trade value will never be higher than it will be at the 2024 TDL (if the Cubs are sellers) or next off-season if the Cubs are not sellers at the TDL.  

All of which means, if the Cubs are sellers at the TDL (or maybe even if they are not), by this time next year the Cubs lineup could look something like this:  

1. Happ, LF 
2. Suzuki, RF
3. Busch, 1B 
4. C. Morel, 3B (or 2B) 
5. Swanson, SS 
6. Caissie, DH 
7. Shaw, 2B (or 3B) 
8. Amaya, C 
9. PCA, CF 

Or even if the Cubs are not sellers at the TDL and Bellinger isn't traded and does not opt-out post-2024 (which would probably only happen if he doesn't have a good 2024 season), I still believe Hoerner will be moved and the 2025 Opening Day lineup could very well be: 

1. Happ, LF 
2. Suzuki, RF 
3. Bellinger, CF 
4. C. Morel, 3B (or 2B) 
5. Busch, 1B 
6. Swanson, SS 
7. Caissie, DH 
8. Shaw, 2B (or 3B)
9. Amaya, C 

Arizona Phil 4 days 23 hours ago (view)

The Cubs have mentioned previously that Matt Mervis would have been their 6th round pick in 2020 if there had been a 6th round that year.

Also, Mervis was rated a 2024 Cubs Top 15 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline during the off season (both had him at #13), so it's not like he isn't considered a prospect in what is a loaded system. (Personally, I would rate Mervis around #20, but that's because I believe he is really a DH, and maybe even a platoon DH at the MLB level). 

Mervis was also rated as the 2024 #6 1st base prospect by Jonathan Mayo at MLB Pipeline, but again I see him more as a DH.  

Barring some unforeseen circumstances, I suspect the Cubs will trade Mervis for a more-useful MLB piece (probably a "fungible" reliever with more than one year of club control) at the Trade Deadline, just like at the TDL last year when the Cubs traded Nelson Velazquez to KC for RHRP Jose Cuas (who had 5-1/2 years of club control remaining and three minor league options  left when the Cubs acquired him). 

The only way I can see Mervis remaining in the Cubs system is if the Cubs are not in contention and are sellers at the TDL, in which case they will probably trade Bellinger, Cooper, Tauchman, Wisdom, and Gomes, which would probably mean that Mervis will get another shot in Chicago (as the DH), but even then Owen Caissie will probably be the Cubs primary DH in 2025 (if not sooner). 

Arizona Phil 5 days ago (view)

W-RAT: I would say Alfonsin Rosario is a slightly better prospect than Rafael Morel (with Rosario just inside the Top 30 and R. Morel somewhere in the 30's). Rosario's power is substantial (Nelson Velazquez would be a good comp at a similar age), and he has the speed & range to play CF and the arm to play RF. 

When I saw him at Minor League Camp last month, Rafael Morel was mainly playing outfield (CF-RF) in games, although he did get a few reps at 2B-3B-SS, too, especially in pre-game and Camp Day workouts. So R. Morel is MUCH more versatile than Rosario, and in fact I would project R. Morel as a bat-first multi-positional OF-INF when he gets to AA, which is kind of funny because that is exactly what the Cubs wanted Christopher Morel to be! 

One thing I would say about Rafael, is that while he is a better defensive player and more athletic than his brother, he clearly doesn't have Christopher's plus-plus power or plus-plus arm strength.