Whew: Jose Contreras Ain’t a Cub
Some folks around the Cublogoverse are pretty excited that Jose Contreras has not landed on the Chicago Cubs. I was fairly ambivalent about the prospect of landing Contreras, thinking that he would get a minor league deal and an invite to Spring Training. Apparently he actually got a big league deal.
Jose Contreras has signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, a source confirmed for ESPNDeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas.
The Chicago Cubs expressed interest in Contreras and the pitcher was expected to sign with either the Cubs or the St. Louis Cardinals before striking a deal with Philadelphia. ESPN.
Contreras was dominant out of the pen in limited duty for the Rockies last year, so it’s possible this will work out for the Phillies. For the Cubs part, I’d hazard a guess that the failure to offer a guaranteed, big league deal is the reason Contreras is a Phillie today and not a Cub. And that’s just fine.
Minor League Staffs Announced
We already knew that Ryne Sandberg was being promoted to manage the AAA Iowa Cubs, but now the rest of the minor league system teams’ staffs have been announced. Among the notable items:
The Cubs named their Minor League coaching staffs on Thursday. Ryne Sandberg was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, Bill Dancy takes over at Double-A Tennessee, and former big league catcher Jody Davis returns to managing in Boise where he’ll be joined by Jeff Fassero….
Dancy joins the Cubs after spending the past 30 years within the Philadelphia Phillies (1978-2009) and Kansas City Royals (2009) organizations. In 2005-06, he was the Phillies’ third base coach. Dennis Lewallyn will join Dancy as the Smokies pitching coach and Tom Beyers as the hitting coach.
Davis, who managed Peoria and Daytona, spent the 2009 season as the Cubs’ Minor League catching instructor and returns to the dugout for Class A Boise. Ricardo Medina, who previously coached with the Dominican Summer League, will serve as Boise’s hitting coach.
Davis, who was the Cubs catcher from 1981-1988, will be joined by former big league pitcher Fassero, who helped with the Cubs this summer in Mesa. Being retired was nice but the left-hander wanted to do more….
Buddy Bailey, who has been with the Cubs since 2006, will return to Class A Daytona and be joined by pitching coach Tom Pratt and former big league outfielder Richie Zisk. Casey Kopitzke, who managed at Class A Boise in 2009, will move up to Peoria in 2010. David Rosario and Barbaro Garbey will join Kopitzke as the pitching and hitting coaches, respectively.
Juan Cabreja will be the Rookie League Mesa manager for the second straight year and Rick Tronerud returns to handle pitching coach duties for the 10th consecutive season. Desi Wilson joins the staff as the hitting coach after handling those duties for Peoria last year. Muskat Ramblings.
Carlos Marmol Loves Pedro Martinez, But the Cubs Don’t
Even though the Chicago Cubs probably should be in the market for some starting pitching depth, they are not. The relative virtue of such a decision, I will leave to you, good reader. I will say only: Zambrano, Dempster, Wells, ?, ?
That said, even if the Cubs were looking for a pitcher, that guy wouldn’t be Pedro Martinez. Which is fine with me.
In the report from Santo Domingo, [Carlos] Marmol is quoted as saying that the Cubs would like to sign Martinez, a veteran free agent who joined the Phillies last summer and helped them reach the World Series.
“I hope that dream comes true because I’ve always wanted to be on a team with him,” Marmol said.
However, a Cubs source told the Tribune today that although the team had some interest in Martinez before he signed with Philadelphia, there are no plans to pursue the 38-year-old right-hander in free agency. Chicago Breaking Sports.
Martinez was moderately successful in very limited duty last year for the Phillies, but in his time with the Mets, he always looked like he was one throw away from a shoulder explosion.
Obsessive Bradley Trade Watch: Not the Mets
It was reported last week that the number of suitors for Milton Bradley this Winter would be “shocking.” That was quite a relief, because up to that point, all we’d really heard about were the teams that were not interested in Bradley. And the worst part was the fact that all those teams were the ones that made the most sense.
So, yeah, it’s time to start hearing about some of those “shockingly” interested teams, right? Right?
Eh.
The Mets have no interest in taking on Milton Bradley’s problems. Jon Heyman - SI.com.
The Mets did not make a ton of sense, given the whole New-York-media thing, but they certainly would have had the financial wherewithal to make a move.
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Jake Fox is Not a Starter - A Statistical Examination
On Friday, May 8, the Chicago Cubs were playing the Milwaukee Brewers. It was a nondescript, early season game. In the third inning, Ryan Braun drove a hard grounder down the third baseline, and the ball was destined for left field. It was a certain double until third baseman Aramis Ramirez, displaying excellent defensive prowess for which he receives little credit, dove quickly, snagging the hard grounder.
And the 2009 season went off the rails.
Ramirez was out for more than two months after dislocating his shoulder on the play, and Cubs fans suffered through a nightmarish rotation of Aaron Miles and Mike Fontenot at third base. Meanwhile, prospect Jake Fox was lighting up AAA pitching like so many fireflies. Dear God, couldn’t he play third base, at least temporarily, we all cried.
But it was weeks before the Cubs finally gave him a shot at third base - where, of course, he played competently. And better still, he brought the big stick. He was a spark that the middling Cubs’ offense desperately needed. Visions of Jake Fox, 2010 starter, crept into the collective fan consciousness. And then Ramirez returned, and Fox faded, ever so slightly, into the background. What exactly happened, and what does it mean? After the jump.
Why the Final Week Rainout and the Last Game Loss Were Blessings
Filed under: Analysis and Commentary, Cubs Minor Leagues and Prospects
The 2010 Major League Baseball draft order is out, pending changes due to free agency signings, and the Chicago Cubs come in at 16th. That the Cubs are 16th and not 17th is actually quite huge: now, if and when the Cubs sign a Type A free agent who has been offered arbitration by his former team, the Cubs will lose a second round pick, not a first round pick.
Thanks to commenter N from The Cubs Fan for noting that, but for the rainout cancellation and the season-ending loss, the Cubs’ pick would have come in at 17. Unanswered prayers, and God opening windows, and all that.
In case you want to see the whole order, here it is as of today via BaseballAmerica.com:
The order for the first round:
1. Nationals (59-103)
2. Pirates (62-99)
3. Orioles (64-98)
4. Royals (65-97)
5. Indians (65-97)
6. Diamondbacks (70-92)
7. Mets (70-92)
8. Astros (74-88)
9. Padres (75-87)
10. Athletics (75-87)
11. Blue Jays (75-87)
12. Reds (78-84)
13. White Sox (79-83)
14. Brewers (80-82)
15. Rangers (for failure to sign Matt Purke)
16. Cubs (83-78)
17. Rays (84-78)
18. Mariners (85-77)
19. Tigers/Twins loser (86-77)
20. Braves (86-76)
21. Tigers/Twins winner (87-76)
22. Rangers (87-75)
23. Marlins (87-75)
24. Giants (88-74)
25. Cardinals (91-71)
26. Rockies (92-70)
27. Phillies (93-69)
28. Dodgers (95-67)
29. Red Sox (95-67)
30. Angels (97-65)
31. Rays (for failure to sign LeVon Washington)
32. Yankees (103-59)
Obsessive Ramirez Dislocationwatch: Cortisone Shot
Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez received a cortisone shot on Tuesday, which will keep him out of the lineup likely for the rest of the Phillies series, but which should help ease his pain.
Going forward, Ramirez says he wants to play as much as possible, but that it’s going to have to be through a lot of pain.
”I don’t think I’m going to have surgery because it’s more muscular now,” he said, adding that he didn’t think he returned too soon on July 6. ”[The Cubs] did not rush me, but I wanted to be back. I was pretty good two weeks ago. It just happens.”
…
The pain occurs on his swings.
”I swing pretty hard,” Ramirez said. ”When I finish my swing or [when I'm reaching for] a line drive over my head, but that’s not going to happen too often. It’s when I swing. I have a pretty good idea what I can do.”
Ramirez said he won’t alter his swing or refrain from making a diving play in the field.
”I don’t want to do that,” he said. ”I always swing hard, and I don’t strike out much. I just want to play the way I play.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
And that’s how it’s got to be. The Cubs need Aramis Ramirez to be Aramis Ramirez if they are to have any meaningful shot at not only making the playoffs, but also making a run in the playoffs.
God’s Wrathwatch: Zambrano to the DL
Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano’s back injury proved just a little too much to handled. Thus, the Cubs have sent him to the disabled list.
“He went home today,” general manager Jim Hendry said before Saturday’s game. “We put him on the DL. He’s getting an MRI either tonight or tomorrow morning, but you’ve had two [incidents] like that in a row, so obviously something’s wrong. And at the same time, you get to be pitching short.”
Zambrano lasted only three innings in his previous start, last Saturday in Miami, and left that game with lower back stiffness. He had been symptom-free up until his pregame warmup Friday.
“He’s had some on-and-off issues in the past, but he was fine all week,” Hendry said. “I talked to [Cubs director of athletic training] Mark O’Neal every day. I saw [Zambrano] in Cincinnati. He was fine. He took BP.”
Given the fact that Zambrano felt fine up until batting practice then had the back problems when he started his warmup throws shortly afterward, there is some concern that his typically vigorous displays in the batting cage could be related to the back problem. Manager Lou Piniella indicated that if the MRI suggested a connection to Zambrano’s batting practice, that part of his routine would be “curtailed.” cubs.com.
I’m sure that would be a fun conversation: telling Carlos Zambrano to stop swinging so hard.
The Cubs recalled Jeff Stevens from Iowa to take Zambrano’s spot on the roster, and Jeff Samardzija will temporarily take Zambrano’s spot in the rotation. The plan is for his time in the rotation to last exactly one start - against the Phillies on Wednesday - and then Ted Lilly will hopefully be back.
Zambrano will be eligible to return on August 17, as the Cubs can backdate his time to the last time he pitched, August 1 in Florida.
