Cubs Minor League Wrap -- August 6

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 12:43 AM CDT in Minor Leagues

Casey Lambert got promoted to Iowa to replace the released Jason Waddell.

I'd plug the I-Cubs "Road to Wrigley" game this Sunday, but something tells me that Len and Bob have done that enough and that you're all aware of it by now.

Iowa Cubs

They scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the bases loaded with two outs, but in the end the Iowa Cubs folded against the Reno Aces, 6-5.

Starter James Russell took the loss tonight as he gave up three runs on six hits over four innings. Russell didn't walk a batter and struck out two.

Third baseman Nate Spears was 2 for 4. Bobby Scales entered the game in the seventh inning during a double switch and went 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies were subjugated by the Birmingham Barons, 2-0.

Starter Chris Carpenter was perfect through four innings tonight. But he walked the first batter in the fifth, who then scored after a stolen base and a single by the next batter. Carpenter was then removed from the game, taking the loss despite allowing only the one run on one hit over the four plus innings. Carpenter struck out five.

Dustin Sasser allowed one run over three innings of relief in his AA debut.

The Smokies only managed three hits tonight.

Daytona Cubs

The D-Cubs were beached by the Brevard County Manatees, 6-3.

Starter Ryan Searle took the loss, allowing three runs over three innings. Only one of the runs was earned, however. Searle gave up three hits, walked two and struck out one.

Second baseman Nate Samson was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Shortstop Marwin Gonzalez had a rough night. He made three throwing errors during the game.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs ran over the Beloit Snappers, 7-2.

The Cubs may actually have something in Austin Biebens-Dirkx. Tonight ABD improved his record to 4-1 with seven strong innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, and one of the runs was unearned. He walked one and struck out eight. Biebens-Dirkx lowered his ERA to 2.18, which I believe justifies promoting him to the majors immediately so that Al has to type his name from now on.

The Chiefs hit three home runs tonight. DH Ryan Flaherty jacked his 15th of the season. It was a ninth inning solo homer. Flaherty was 1 for 4. Shorstop Junior Lake hit his sixth home run in the fourth inning with two men on. Lake was 2 for 4. Finally, third baseman Jovan Rosa hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Rosa was 1 for 5.

First baseman Rebel Ridling had two doubles in a 3 for 5 effort. Ridling had one RBI. Right fielder Nelson Perez was 2 for 4 with a run scored. and a stolen base. Left fielder David Macias went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Center fielder Brett Jackson was 2 for 5 with a double. He scored twice.

Boise Hawks

The Hawks got run through the ringer by the Everett Aqua Sox, 4-0.

Starter Christopher Rusin took the real hard-luck loss tonight. He allowed only one unearned run over five innings. He gave up just two singles, didn't walk anyone and struck out six. He did hit one batter, however.

The Hawks only had three hits tonight as well.

AZL Cubs

Beat the Mariners, 5-4.

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Comments

Haha!

“Biebens-Dirkx lowered his ERA to 2.18, which I believe justifies promoting him to the majors immediately so that Al has to type his name from now on.”

Excellent idea. Jim Hendry, get it done!

by WiscCubsFan on Aug 7, 2009 1:25 AM CDT reply actions

But then, in a related move,

the Cubs would then sign Ariyel Olivier MacFarlandscmidtsteinersonman to a contract. Or someting like that.

by tim815 on Aug 7, 2009 3:13 AM CDT up reply actions

If MacFarlandscmidtsteinersonman could play shortstop...

… I would advocate having MacFarlandscmidtsteinersonman replace Aaron Miles immediately.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 7:05 AM CDT up reply actions

Glad to read about Dustin Sasser

He went to ECU here in Greenville. I was so excited when the Cubs drafted him.

by mlern on Aug 7, 2009 4:16 AM CDT reply actions

Chris Carpenter looked very good...

until my friend jinxed him by mentioning the perfect game. Sure enough, the very next batter was walked, then the single. Over the 1st 4 innings he was hitting 96 mph on the gun, changing speeds, and had great command. I thought Ryno took him out too early, but the bullpen did a good job, just couldn’t get any help from the offense.

Ryno signed a ton of autographs. He probably signed for 30-40 minutes straight before the game. I may try to go back on Sunday.

by CrimsonCub on Aug 7, 2009 10:36 AM CDT reply actions

Sandberg

One thing Sandberg really understands is the public relations side of managing. He’s said several times that he understands that a lot of fans come out to see him and that it’s important to the team that the fans go home happy. He’s always made it a policy to sign as many autographs as he can.

The biggest rap against Sandberg becoming a manager was that as a player, he wasn’t exactly known for being open and accessible to the media and fans. I think this is something he’s decided to do to make himself a better manager.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions

do you think he replaces

Lou when Lou retires?

I think so.

by socalbob on Aug 7, 2009 11:41 AM CDT up reply actions

Don't know

It depends on when he retires. Right now, I think Trammell is next in line for the job so if Lou decided to hang it up this year, Trammell will probably get the job. But if Trammell takes a job with another team before Lou retires, or if Lou just hangs around a while and Ryno can get a couple more seasons experience in, then yes, I do think he’ll succeed Lou.

I’m kind of ambivalent about the Cubs hiring Ryno as manager because when you hire one of your team’s legends as a manager, it becomes tough to fire them if something goes wrong. I can’t help thinking of Bart Starr coaching the Packers for all those seasons. On the other hand, the Tigers had no problems firing Trammell, although losing 119 games will change a lot of rules.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 11:50 AM CDT up reply actions

good point

Pete Rose in Cincy & Billy Martin in NY come to mind.

by socalbob on Aug 7, 2009 12:15 PM CDT up reply actions

I also checked

I forgot that Trammell got tto manage the Tigers to two ninety loss seasons after the 119 loss debacle. Now you can argue, and the Tigers did at the time, that no one could have managed that 119 loss team and that “only” losing 90 after losing 119 was a 29 game improvement and deserved to be rewarded. But then Trammell managed a much better team to a 91 loss season the next year, and he was gone. The Tigers did give him a longer shot than they gave Phil Garner before him, but they didn’t hesitate to fire him when the team stopped showing improvement.

That’s not to say Trammell couldn’t be a good manager with the Cubs, however. Joe Torre was a terrible manager with the Mets, for example, and he’s had a long and successful career after that.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 12:47 PM CDT up reply actions

I suspect Alan Trammell will never manage the Cubs.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 1:32 PM CDT up reply actions

I think

everything depends on how long Piniella stays.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think it matters, honestly.

I think Lou finishes out his deal next year — with Sandberg on the ML staff, possibly as 1B coach.

Then Sandberg takes over in 2011.

This is just me speculating, no inside info.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions

I'd agree with that

then the speculation begins—does Tony Thomas become his 2B? Castro his SS? What pitchers have come through the ranks with him that he keeps around? It’s nice to promote someone who has experienced your own minor league system.

by socalbob on Aug 7, 2009 2:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Castro is only 19 years old.

He’s probably ETA 2012 at the earliest. But yes, I’d think Sandberg would like to have some of his better players with him at the ML level.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions

agreed

I’d love to see him get a full AA season next year, but it looks like they are challenging him, so he may do another 2/3 in AA and 1/3 in AAA. If he responds he may be our SS in 2011.

Exciting to start talking about hitters coming up. All of ours have bombed out.

by socalbob on Aug 7, 2009 2:11 PM CDT up reply actions

haha

for a second i thought you were still talking about sandberg as our SS in 2011. Now that would be something

by apett8 on Aug 7, 2009 6:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Sandberg

appears to be a real players manager from all accounts. From what I read, he tells guys to just go out and play. Sure, he sets rules—he’s not as loose a manager as, say, Bob Brenly was. But he’s more Brenly than Buck Showalter.

As far as who plays for him, I don’t think he’s going to have a lot of say in personnel matters at first. Hendry (assuming he’s still here) will be calling the shots there for a while and I don’t think he’ll defer to Ryno as much as he did to Dusty and Lou. I think the roster is going to be determined by who’s ready to play.

Of course, the think we’re ignoring in this is the Ricketts family. These are the plans for now. No one knows what Ricketts is going to do when he takes over. We assume he’s not going to make wholesale changes, but we don’t know.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions

One way the Ricketts group...

… could become very popular with Cubs fans is to name Sandberg manager.

The best thing is, that’s not just a popularity move, either — he seems well qualified, too. Best of both worlds.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah

I really doubt that the RIcketts are going to do what NewsCorp did when they took over the Dodgers and clean house and drive Mike Scioscia to the Angels.

Scioscia’s position with the Dodgers when NewsCorp took over was pretty similar to where Sandberg is today. Only time will tell if Sandberg is as good a manager as Scioscia is though.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 2:27 PM CDT up reply actions

It would be a very similar hire...

… to the White Sox hiring Ozzie. Say what you will about Ozzie and his mouth basically saying whatever it wants, but the Sox have been successful under him as manager.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 2:39 PM CDT up reply actions

My thinking is though

that if we win the World Series this year, Piniella retires on a high note. I don’t think they offer Sandberg the job just yet.

Otherwise, I completely agree with you.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 2:11 PM CDT up reply actions

In that case...

… Trammell could serve as “interim” with Sandberg as his bench coach.

IF the Cubs win this year, Lou could finish out his deal as sort of a “victory lap”, too.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions

mayyybee
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1704725,cubs-sandberg-manager-06.article

He can throw a fastball at 87MPH and make you look like a fool. He can spray lines drives to right field. He can put up with crappy offense and take the loss. He is Randy Wells. He is the most interesting pitcher in the world. Stay healthy, my friends.

by jesus christos on Aug 7, 2009 12:56 PM CDT up reply actions

I really don't know how I would feel about that...

Obviously, it would be great if he wins. He certainly understands what he is getting into, but I would hate to think about possibly tarnishing his legacy. He was my favorite player growing up, and let’s face it, we end up hating most of our former managers. In my lifetime, the only former managers that I remember somewhat favorably are Jim Frey and Don Zimmer.

by CrimsonCub on Aug 7, 2009 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Josh--FYI

the link for Chris Carpenter in the thread took it to the Cardinals stater-extraordinare, not Chicago’s very own Tennessee Smokie.

Does our Carpenter sit at 96 or was this an anamoly? If he sits there WITH command, he may be a Top 5 prospect for the Cubs, no? He was dominant after a promotion to Daytona and had 100 IP with 70 hits allowed and 93 K’s. Pretty impressive, I’d say.

by socalbob on Aug 7, 2009 2:04 PM CDT reply actions

I know that

That’s done automatically. There’s no page for our Chris Carpenter. I can make it so that there’s no link to any page, but that means going in manually and mucking around and it’s just not worth my time.

Besides, it means when Cardinal fans go looking for stuff on their guy, they get to hear about our young phenom.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 7, 2009 2:29 PM CDT up reply actions

I have asked for the other Carpenter to be put on the list.

It’s not all under SBN’s control — they get data from an outside provider. Hopefully, by next season the entire minor league system will have pages for players.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Aug 7, 2009 2:40 PM CDT up reply actions

It appears Tony Thomas has a Twitter page...

…but, honestly, his tweets are so embarassing, I’m not even going to follow him.

LINKY

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Aug 7, 2009 2:10 PM CDT reply actions