Cuts Loom, Nico’s Approach, Gennett Injury, and Other Bullets

The Little Girl is an appropriate moniker, as she’s not the biggest player in her soccer league. But man, she gets physical in there. Sometimes, you don’t so much stop the ball as you stop the player. And, not infrequently, she gets trucked for her effort. But she gets right back up to engage the next player. You rock, Little Girl.

  • Per the Cubs transactions page, Alec Mills has been optioned to Iowa – aka, a Spring cut – so I would not be surprised if we see a big batch of cuts today. As for Mills, specifically, he was not a threat to make the big league roster, but he couldn’t be optioned to the minors until he was healthy (back injury). Good news, then, that he’s healthy. Mills figures to be among the depth starting options for the Cubs this year, while also possibly contributing out of the bullpen. He is just right there on the fringe of being a solid, useful, big league pitcher.
  • Sahadev Sharma with notes on Albert Almora’s new two-strike approach, Allen Webster’s impressive work, and Brad Brach’s depressed velocity.
  • Really love hearing a top Cubs prospect talking through his transitions into professional ball and into the Cubs organization – the game has just changed so dang much the last five years:
  • I am just sharing a tweet and I am making no further comment:
  • Reds second baseman, and key bat, Scooter Gennett suffered some kind of groin injury yesterday, and the team is awaiting MRI results. For a team hoping to pop up into surprise contention, they really can’t afford to lose too many useful pieces, so this bears watching.
  • On the very same day Gennett was injured, top prospect Nick Senzel’s agent issued an angry statement that his client had been optioned to the minors:
  • If Gennett is seriously injured, it’ll be interesting to see if the Reds suddenly change course.
  • The unique Eloy Jimenez extension is officially official:
  • I find that deal so fascinating, because it’s such a healthy guarantee from the team for so little upside in return. If everything goes right and Jimenez is a beast for the next several years, they save some money in arbitration and get a year of free agency for maybe half the market rate at the time. But there is so much downside risk for ALL players, even the very best of the best prospects. I remain of the mind that teams/owners know something about what’s going to happen soon in the market, as they continue to commit significant dollars for these extensions – just look at the Sale and Verlander ones yesterday. They are not cheap.
  • Coffee makers, robot vacuums, and supplements are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon today.
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    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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