Tom Gorzelanny May Have to Write With His Other Hand For a While
Chicago Cubs pitcher Tom Gorzelanny took a comebacker off his left (pitching) hand today. After trying to make a play on the Jose Tabata ball, Gorzelanny went to the dirt, and was pulled from the game. X-rays haven’t shown much yet.
X-rays of Tom Gorzelanny’s left hand were inconclusive Wednesday but did show there was no displacement and the Cubs pitcher will have a CT scan on Thursday. Gorzelanny was hit by a line drive by Pittsburgh’s Jose Tabata in the third inning Wednesday. The pitcher will undergo more tests on Thursday once the swelling has subsided. Muskat Ramblings.
Inconclusive does not necessarily mean his hand is jacked; it could just be incredibly swollen. If Gorzelanny is out for an appreciable period of time, Casey Coleman may get a reprieve to stay in the rotation when Carlos Silva returns next week.
Seven Chicago Cubs Prospects Will Play in the Arizona Fall League, Including Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters
Two of the Chicago Cubs’ last four first round picks will get the opportunity to play in the prospect-heavy Arizona Fall League this, well, Fall. Third baseman Josh Vitters and outfielder Brett Jackson will compete against some top tier competition, and will have the opportunity to refine their skills. Recall that, following a successful 2009 season, the Arizona Fall League is where Starlin Castro announced to the world that he was a legit top prospect.
Vitters and Jackson will be joined by five others, which in total makes a very strong showing for the Cubs.
Vitters has been sidelined with a broken hand after he was hit by a pitch in late July. He began the season at Class A Daytona and batted .291 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 28 games, then was promoted to Double-A Tennessee, where he batted .223 in 63 games.
“Vitters is healthy,” Cubs player development director Oneri Fleita said. “He’ll start taking ground balls this week. He starts hitting next week. The plan is to be ready for the instructional league [on Sept. 15] when we arrive and he’ll play in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll get the at-bats he missed and then go to our winter program in Arizona and get ready for Spring Training.”
Jackson also began the season at Daytona and hit .316 in 67 games with six homers, 19 doubles and 38 RBIs. He was moved up to Tennessee on June 27 and was hitting .274 in 55 games with five homers, 11 doubles, five triples and 23 RBIs. Jackson was hitting .250 in August.
“It’s the first time he’s played 140 games,” Fleita said of the outfielder. “He didn’t get much time off. He’s being challenged. As soon as [the Smokies] get into the playoffs, I’m sure his juices will get going.”
The other Cubs players who will compete for the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL include pitchers David Cales, Chris Carpenter, Jake Muyco and Kyle Smit and infielder Ryan Flaherty. cubs.com.
The AFL tends to include prospects who are approaching the big leagues, but who need extra work against top competition (though that’s not always the case). Chris Carpenter (not that Chris Carpenter) is one of the Cubs top five pitching prospects, and was recently promoted to AAA Iowa. David Cales has struggled this year after a dominant 2009. Kyle Smit, you may recall, was the reliever received in the Ted Lilly trade. Jake Muyco is another in the long list of Cubs catching prospects converted to pitcher (Carlos Marmol and Randy Wells head up the list). Ryan Flaherty disappointed in AA before being demoted to High A this year.
Report: Fredi Gonzalez is Chicago Cubs’ Top Choice for Next Manager
The Chicago Cubs will search far and wide for their next manager, as they should. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a first choice already – and according to “sources,” that top man is former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez.
Sources say that Gonzalez is at the top of general manager Jim Hendry’s wish list in the early stages of the process and that he prefers a manager with major-league experience — with Class AAA manager Ryne Sandberg considered the strongest, if not only, serious candidate without that.
Gonzalez’s communication skills with Latin players he has managed, as well as his swift and decisive handling of Marlins star Hanley Ramirez’s loafing earlier this season, are considered significant strengths in his favor.
Gonzalez, 46, has a strong relationship with Hendry that goes back three decades and included time together in the Marlins organization.
Reached by phone Tuesday night, Gonzalez would neither confirm nor deny interest in the job or contact by the Cubs.
”I don’t have anything I can tell you,” he said, ”except Jim and I go back to my high school days. He coached one of the opposing teams when I played. And we worked together with the Marlins.”
Asked specifically whether he had interviewed or expected to, he declined comment. But indications are he’s in the first group of candidates on Hendry’s interview list. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Gonzalez is also expected to be pursued heavily by the Atlanta Braves to replace retiring skipper Bobby Cox. Gonzalez was a coach with the Braves from 2003 to 2006.
While with the Marlins, Gonzalez had a .497 winning percentage, including back-to-back winning years in 2008 and 2009. He was widely regarded as one of the best young managers in the game, if not one of the best regardless of experience.
For my part, I view Gonzalez and Joe Girardi as options 1 and 1A in the managerial search. If the Cubs land one of them, I certainly won’t complain, but that said, I remain open minded with respect to whomever the Cubs end up with. So far, I don’t see anyone on the list that I’d scream bloody murder about – like I did (on the inside) when the Cubs went with Dusty Baker, and, to a lesser extent, Lou Piniella.
September Call-Ups to Be Delayed for AAA Playoffs
Rosters expand today from 25 to 40, and the Chicago Cubs are expected to call up a number of the young players – most of whom we’ve seen already this year – in the next couple of weeks. In general, though, the Cubs will wait until Iowa’s season, including the playoffs, which run through September 19. Iowa currently holds a half-game lead in their division.
Among the players the Cubs are expected to call up are pitchers Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, and Jeff Stevens, each of whom recently spent time in the Cubs’ pen. The team is also expected to call up Jeff Samardzija, who has been refining himself as a pitcher at Iowa since being sent down in April. Outfielders Sam Fuld and Brad Snyder will probably also join the Cubs at some point.
The one player the Cubs could really use, catcher Welington Castillo, is not eligible to return to the Cubs until 10 days after he was most recently sent back down to Iowa. That pegs his return on Thursday, unless Geovany Soto goes on the disabled list in the next day and a half.
Ryne Sandberg Officially Interviews for Chicago Cubs’ Managerial Opening
While he manages the Iowa Cubs to a hopeful playoff berth, you’ll forgive Ryne Sandberg if he’s got bigger things on his mind. Yesterday, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry came to interview Sandberg for the Cubs’ open managerial gig. Of course, the concept of an “interview” for a job that the candidate knows all too well, and of a candidate that the potential employer knows all too well is a little silly, but hey, whatever works.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry was in Albuquerque on Tuesday, and it wasn’t only to watch the Cubs’ Class AAA Iowa team as they try to make the playoffs.
Hendry also was there to talk with Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg about the Cubs’ managerial job….
Hendry may have a tough decision to make. Sandberg has not been shy about saying he’s ready to manage in the big leagues as he completes his fourth year as a minor-league manager in the Cubs’ system….
It’s unknown whether Sandberg would accept a major-league coaching job instead of the manager’s position even if Hendry tries to sell him on that option. Daily Herald.
With apologies to Sandberg, it’s hard not to see him emerging as the team’s primary fall-back candidate. The team knows what they’d be getting with Sandberg, so the mere fact that they’re interviewing so extensively suggests that they aren’t sold on Sandberg as a big league manager yet. At least not while the possibility of a perfect fit might be out there. And it would be unlikely that Sandberg would ditch the Cubs for another job before the Cubs actually make a decision.
Thus, the Cubs remain interested in the possibility of Sandberg if they can’t get into Harvard, so to speak.
The Chicago Cubs Will Sign Adam Dunn if Marlon Byrd Has His Way
With a gaping hole at first base, left vacated by Derrek Lee who was traded to the Atlanta Braves two weeks ago after manning the spot for almost seven seasons, speculation as to whom will be the next first baseman is bound to bandy about for the next few months. So I guess I’m saying prepare yourself – it could reach Obsessive Watch status.
Adam Dunn, a free agent after this season, will likely be a primary target, assuming he doesn’t sign the extension that the Nationals are so desperately trying to get him to sign. That is, at least, according to Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd.
“Definitely. You know the guys we’ve lost this year,” Byrd said. “Quality guys like [Ted] Lilly [traded to the Dodgers] and [Derrek Lee [traded to the Braves]. You’re thinking you have to replace those guys. Our clubhouse is good, but we need some athletes out there. I have an idea who they should bring in, the type of players. I think I have an idea of who to bring in to help us win.”
I asked Byrd what impact Dunn would have on the Cubs.
“He’s a definite automatic. I think anyody wants a guy like that,” Byrd said. “Hopefully the team he is on doesn’t hold on to him so that we get a shot at him next year because thump from the left side like that just doesn’t come around often. You always want a guy hitting 30 to 40 home runs a year on your team. He’s certainly one of the guys I’ve been thinking about.” ESPN Chicago.
Dunn’s general lack of athleticism leads me to question Byrd’s successive comments that the Cubs need “some athletes” out there, and that the Cubs should go after Adam Dunn. Nevertheless, Dunn figures to be one of the better options available to the Cubs this winter.
The Chicago Cubs Love Andre Dawson
Yesterday was Andre Dawson Day, both at Wrigley Field and in the city of Chicago. The Chicago Cubs held a ceremony for the recent Hall of Fame inductee and former Cub great, and for a few moments it was easy to forget how miserable the 2010 season has been.
Dawson, inducted into the Hall of Fame in July, was honored in pregame ceremonies at Wrigley Field. The outfielder known as “The Hawk” was given a No. 8 from the Wrigley Field scoreboard as well as a copy of Mayor Richard Daley’s proclamation that Monday, Aug. 30, is “Andre Dawson Day” in Chicago.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said he and his family used to live behind the right-field bleachers and came to games to cheer Dawson when he played for the team from 1987-92. Dawson said Cubs fans convinced him to keep playing.
“I’ve addressed these fans on numerous occasions over the years, and they, I think, were the ones who made the difference,” Dawson said. “I wouldn’t say the organization, but the fans — I was driven off their energy.
“I was looking at leaving the game because of the history of the knee problems,” he said. “[The fans] fueled me to the point where the game was fun. I wanted to go out there and make the most of what my blessing and my ability was. Had it been in another city, it probably would’ve been a lot more difficult.” cubs.com.
The Hawk will always be thought of by Cubs fans as among the greats, particularly in this generation of folks who remember watching a guy who was not only excellent, but played the game the right way; the way we envision we’d play the game if we were blessed with a physical ability beyond the ping pong table. He played hard and grateful, and it showed.
Geovany Soto’s Knee is a Little Banged Up
The Chicago Cubs today sent catcher Geovany Soto for an MRI on his right knee, which was sore when he woke up this morning. Fortunately the results showed no tears and just minor swelling.
Soto apparently injured the knee Sunday while sliding into second base on an eighth inning double, and was limping Monday.
“I’m a little concerned about his knee,” manager Mike Quade said. “No effects during the game whatsoever. He goes home last night, goes to bed and wakes up and has some problems. We’re going to be real careful with him.”
Koyie Hill will catch Monday night against Pittsburgh. Soto is listed as day-to-day, and the Cubs don’t have any plans yet to call up a catcher, such as Welington Castillo, from Triple-A Iowa. Chicago Breaking Sports.
Rosters expand on Wednesday, so the Cubs will have a third catcher soon enough regardless of Soto’s prognosis.
