Tremendous Story on Matthew Cerda

by DartmouthCubsFan on Aug 21, 2008 1:33 PM CDT

I have to say this is one of the better pieces I've read on .com and it's one that moved Matthew Cerda up my list of favorite Cubs prospects. For those that aren't familiar with the name he's our 4th rd pick out of Oceanside, CA as a high school SS who we're working on converting to C. The prospect guys (hi Josh) can talk about him a bit more in depth, but this is a wonderful story that I hadn't seen posted anywhere else around here. I've posted the link below:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=cerda&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Just read that as well...

Would love to see him progress through the system and make it to Wrigley in 5 years. Just an incredible story.

by ACubFan on Aug 21, 2008 1:43 PM CDT reply actions

Link

A working link for those that want one.

Sorry to reply here, but I wanted to get it near the top.

by daubs on Aug 21, 2008 6:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Wonderful story

Thanks for posting it

by leothelip on Aug 21, 2008 1:47 PM CDT reply actions

Cool story

I’d love to see Cerda in the bigs someday, it sounds like he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Also pretty interesting to see what happened to Almonte – it’s a shame that for all his talent he’s gone nowhere, but the phrase “karmic retribution” does come to mind.

"I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game." - Walt Whitman

by hip2bsquare on Aug 21, 2008 2:21 PM CDT reply actions

Read it...

a little bit ago. Great Story! I knew the name Cerda sounded familiar…

You ARE freaking out MAN!

by crw89 on Aug 21, 2008 2:28 PM CDT reply actions

My only objection...

to seeing him in 5 years would be that it means Soto hasn’t worked out, is slipping, or injured. Unless he’s brought up as a back up.

All that aside, I didn’t know that about Cerda but man do I remember the Almonte story. I felt so bad for those kids who I’m sure felt crushed after they couldn’t manage anything against him and were essentially robbed of a chance to see what they really could do. I hope Cerda makes it, be it with the Cubs or not.

by CubFan81 on Aug 21, 2008 2:40 PM CDT reply actions

Cerda is still

obviously, a work in progress behind the plate. considering all the defensive learning and responsibility, the fact that his bat has shown some life, at times, so far is a nice thing (.286/.377/.389). In terms of our system, he’ll be given time to learn catcher, as we have Soto and Castillo ahead, along with some decent guys that are higher up on the ladder, like Carlos Perez (still raw), Steve Clevenger (defense behind plate has to improve, as his bat really only plays there), maybe a Michael Brenly. I wouldn’t expect anything too quick on the timeline. For 2009, I’m guessing XST and AZL again, although there’s a chance of Boise. It’s not impossible that 2010 is XST/Boise, although Peoria might be possible. Short of it is, he’s way down the line barring a remarkable learning curve.

by toonsterwu on Aug 21, 2008 3:32 PM CDT reply actions

a 1.00 BB:K Ratio

so far is pretty nice for such a young player, even if it is against other young players

by DartmouthCubsFan on Aug 21, 2008 3:38 PM CDT up reply actions

great read

nice to hear the cubs have system quality behind the dish

by tim815 on Aug 21, 2008 3:35 PM CDT reply actions

The one thing I love about the story

was hearing that, unlike other organizations, the Cubs weren’t so locked onto a guy that they weren’t willing to adapt. Chris Carpenter was a great pick in the third round, and the fact that the Cubs adapted and took him, despite having their eye on Cerda, is a great sign about drafting.

by toonsterwu on Aug 21, 2008 3:49 PM CDT reply actions

and cerda wanted to come to the cubs....

enough to swing the ’i’ll go to school’ stick to another team.

nice to be a destination location.

by tim815 on Aug 21, 2008 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions

I think the size

of the Angels bonus had more to do with it than his preference to play for the Cubs. If the Angels had offered him a half a million, they’d be wearing Halo red in the Cerda household.

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh Timmers on Aug 21, 2008 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions

One thing I didn't realize

before reading this article is that I’ve seen Cerda play in person—at that regional Little League tournament in San Bernardino in 2001 before the LLWS.

Sorry, I didn’t keep scouting reports back then. :-)

Cerda’s bonus was the focus of that half a million dollar fine the Cubs got from the commissioner’s office too. Had nothing to do with Matthew though—the Cubs were supposed to tell Uncle Bud before offering him that large a bonus.

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh Timmers on Aug 21, 2008 4:39 PM CDT reply actions

would the brewers had been fined if....

naaah, that would sound conspiratorial

by tim815 on Aug 21, 2008 5:59 PM CDT up reply actions

This is professional sport. Such things just don't happen, Tim

Perish the thought.

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Aug 21, 2008 6:06 PM CDT up reply actions

The Brewers offer a big bonus to a draft pick?

What are you thinking?

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh Timmers on Aug 21, 2008 7:22 PM CDT up reply actions

they did offer a big

plateful of pasta to prince, to sign, i thought

by tim815 on Aug 21, 2008 10:56 PM CDT up reply actions

They did but Cecil ate it first

n/t

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh Timmers on Aug 23, 2008 5:21 PM CDT up reply actions

better not

have been any meatballs in there

by dakoose on Aug 26, 2008 12:36 AM CDT up reply actions

Quite Frankly

I found that article to be a terrible read. Invoking 9/11 for no particular reason, juxtaposing a young kid’s successes against another young man’s failures, the whole thing is just a melodramatic hackjob designed to promote the WWL’s coverage of the LLWS.

The cynic in me would wonder how many steroid cycles the “little runt” did to bulk up and chase his dream, but such a claim would be as irresponsible as some of the other nonsense written by Tom Friend in that piece of garbage.

WOXY.com - The Future of Rock and Roll

by Gibbon Jockey on Aug 21, 2008 6:15 PM CDT reply actions

Jeez

“got to be steriods” he went from 5’3" to 5"9" and lifted and worked his ass off. I remember in the 70’s in between my 7th and 8th grade years I grew 4 inches and got stronger. I couldn’t even spell steriods, and I am sure Cerda would be offended with your speculation. Goodness let it go.
I loved the article. The kid sounds like he won’t be cheated and if he doesn’t make it to the bigs it won’t be because of lack of effort.
The Cubs have some solid catcher prospects, some say to many, I don’t. It will work itself out in the years to come.

"Have You heard of the Boom on Mizar 5?"

by Grockcubs on Aug 21, 2008 7:29 PM CDT up reply actions

Wow, havin' a bad day?

Or did the author run over your dog?

I read the article on my train ride home and enjoyed it. I think the point of the 9/11 stuff was to point out how the story of the scandal, which was huge immediately before the attacks, evaporated immediately afterward. And, c’mon, throwing a ‘roids accusation out there? Really? I think it’s a cool story.

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 21, 2008 8:49 PM CDT up reply actions

What I said

was that a ‘roid accusation would be irresponsible, as irresponsible as some of the claims in that article. I don’t believe Cerda did ‘roids any more than I believe that Cerda’s striking out in a baseball tournament was somehow the thing that made him a draft choice. The kid loved baseball, worked hard and was rewarded. Great for him. Why that has to be juxtaposed against the failures of Danny Almonte is something I don’t think is necessary – Cerda’s a great story on his own.

The whole thing just smells of that petty story of the kid who works hard becomes successful and finds the old playground bully pumping gas into his new Mercedes. It’s just shallow and meanspirited. Cerda obviously has grown beyond the LLWS experience, too bad the author couldn’t.

WOXY.com - The Future of Rock and Roll

by Gibbon Jockey on Aug 21, 2008 10:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Well, OK...

…I see what you mean now. I still think your reaction is a little over-the-top harsh. The article does lean a little heavily on the dramatics, but that didn’t bother me that much. And I actually thought the author tried to temper his portrait of Almonte as the article went on. In any case, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 22, 2008 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions