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BN Chicago Cubs Minor League Free Agent Targets,....

Minor League Free Agent Targets, Red Sox Prospect Passes Away, and Other Bullets

Brett Taylor Brett Taylor
Nov 09, 2017
Chicago Cubs

I moved all the stuff over in the garage so that I could park my car in there now that morning frost season has arrived. Great job, Brett. Perfect timing. Because there was a terrible frost this morning.

And then I parked my car in the driveway last night.

  • Earlier this week, we noted the Cubs’ outgoing minor league free agents, and Baseball America now has the full list of minor league free agents for all teams. So if you want to go REALLY deep on options for the Cubs this offseason, there’s your extreme sleeper pool. I’d start with the organizations with good pitching depth at the big league level, and then look at some of their outgoing AAA/AA-level pitchers. You’ll also see the Cubs going after middle infield depth, likely with a focus on top defenders. Typically, there’s a wave of minor league signings here in November, and then you might not hear about others until late December/early January, when we’ll start to see the non-roster invitations for Spring Training coming out.
  • One random throwback name that I noticed departing the Indians on that list: Tim Cooney. Remember him? He was a lefty who rose quickly and successfully through the Cardinals’ organization before a shoulder procedure ended his 2016 season before it began. He started working his way back with the Indians last year, but didn’t get in much work. If he’s healthy now, he’s just 26, and would totally be worth a no-risk flyer. Or how about another lefty, Manny Banuelos? The former top Yankees prospect is also just 26, and was at AAA with the Angels last year with some nice peripherals when he was pitching out of the bullpen. And another 26-year-old lefty, Joe Mantiply, looks like a good one headed out from the Yankees. I could go on.
  • I keep waiting for the officially official announcement of Jim Hickey as the Cubs’ new pitching coach, which I assume is being paired with the official announcement on the bench coach (and, if that winds up being an internal promotion like Brandon Hyde, then also the announcement of the new first base coach). I don’t think there’s any concern that it’s not happening, but it’s taking a while to make official apparently. (UPDATE: It’s still not official, but Hyde will reportedly be the bench coach.)
  • In case you were wondering – I was – the Cardinals were NOT a revenue-sharing recipient last year, which means that, when qualified free agent Lance Lynn signs elsewhere, they will receive draft pick compensation after the second round, just like the Cubs.
  • Very sad news out of the Red Sox organization, as one of their top prospects, Daniel Flores, passed away while being treated for cancer. He was just 17 years old.
  • Anthony Rizzo, who battled cancer himself around the same age in the Red Sox organization, shared his condolences:

  • If you missed it last night, Rizzo won the MLBPA’s man of the year honors.
  • A small addendum to yesterday’s discussion about how poorly the Cubs rated in baserunning this year at FanGraphs, and how that was surprising given how well they rated in the years before – FullCountTommy points out that the Cubs actually rated in the top 10 in baserunning in BP’s statistical universe, which does suggest there’s some flukiness/noise in these numbers.
  • I get this reference, and it is awesome:

  • Also awesome:

  • Over at The Ten-Yard Line, it’s Packers week, and Mitch Trubisky is getting ready to maybe air it out. Hopefully. Maybe.
  • Hey, parents: one of the Deals of the Day today at Amazon is cold weather gear for kids. Also on a deal, under fourteen bucks: a portable hammock. I have literally seen kids setting one of these up in the trees across the street from our house, and then just chilling there on their phones. It’s … kinda wild. But I guess I get it.
  • The official MLB Shop has a 20% off sale going on today and tomorrow, so get on it:

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    written by

    Brett Taylor

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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