Cubs Minor League Wrap -- September 7
by Josh77 on Sep 7, 2009 11:36 PM CDT
in Minor Leagues
39 comments
All the races are decided, and we've only got three teams playing their final game of the regular season.
There will be no wrap tomorrow because there aren't any games. Peoria's playoffs start on Wednesday and I'll be here with coverage of their game with Cedar Rapids. Tennessee's quest for the title starts on Thursday at Huntsville.
Iowa Cubs (72-72)
The Iowa Cubs finished out their year with a 7-2 loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes.
Starter Jeff Samardzija took the loss today, going only 4.2 innings and allowing 5 runs on seven hits. That will give a lot of ammo to his critics, but on the good side, the Shark only walked one and struck out five.
Third baseman Matt Camp was 3 for 3 with a double and a walk. He also scored once and stole his 18th base. If only Camp had even a little power . . .Left fielder So Taguchi went 2 for 4.
Tennessee Smokies (39-31)
The Smokies finished off the season by taking the final four games against their arch-rival, including today's 5-4 victory over the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.
Ryno got work in for four pitchers today, including starter Casey Coleman, who allowed two runs over three innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out two.
Marco Carillo got the win. He relieved Coleman and pitched two innings, allowing one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out three. David Cales got his second save in AA with two perfect innings. Cales had one strikeout.
DH Welington Castillo was 2 for 2 with a double.
Peoria Chiefs (43-26)
The Chiefs ended their regular season by chopping down the Clinton LumberKings, 4-3.
Starter Alberto Cabrera went five innings. He allowed two runs on four hits. Cabrera walked one and struck out seven.
Manolin DeLeon only threw one inning of relief, but that was enough to get the win. He gave up one run on no hits, but two walks and a hit batsman. DeLeon did not have a strikeout.
Jeff Beliveau pitched the final two innings for his third save. He did not allow a run or a hit. Beliveau walked one and struck out four.
Center fielder Jose Valdez had another three steals today, which gives him eight in the eight games he's played in Peoria. Valdez was 2 for 5 with a double. He scored once and knocked one in.
Third baseman Junior Lake had two steals in a 3 for 4 game. Lake also scored once and had one RBI.
First baseman Michael Brenly was 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored.
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Shark critic here with a loaded clip
Could his season have been worse? Honestly if you asked me right now I wouldn’t expect him to be on the Cubs in 2012. He can’t possibly start because he can’t throw a breaking ball. He can’t be a reliever because he has control issues with his only pitch that is major league quality (his fastball).
At the very least I thought Samardzija would be a go-to reliever this season, if not poised to join the starting rotation. He isn’t ready to be either of those things, and the only reason he’s even in AAA still is because he has a major league contract. A contract that included a no-trade clause which prevented us from trading him when he actually had value.
He shouldn’t even be given the September call-up, any game he goes in will surely result in disaster. The Cubs need to figure out what to do with this guy. Hopefully they make him into a set-up man to avoid there being a complete loss of his contract.
If Hendry really thinks this clown has any chance of being in the starting rotation then this team is screwed.
end rant, go ahead and rip me apart
Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.
I'm not going to criticize you
Honestly, The Shark’s season has been a big step backwards. I can come up with some excuses and honestly, I’ve been very critical of the way the Cubs have handled him this year. I think that has contributed to his bad season.
Still, this isn’t a game of excuses. He needed to adapt to the situations the Cubs put him in and grow. I’d be more willing to cut him some slack if I saw some improvement as the season went on. I haven’t seen any.
But I will caution that it’s too early to give up on the guy. The talent is still there and we all knew it was raw and inexperienced. It’s still possible he could put it together at any time. And I am still impressed with his work ethic, so that’s a good sign.
I won't give up on him completely
because like you said he has talent and from all reports is a very hard worker.
Still I think he will join the Marmol, Guzman, Juan Cruz club of top starting prospect turned reliever. If he pitches like those 3 did in the bullpen then we have something nice even if it isn’t what he was drafted to do.
Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.
The usual case of expecting immediate gratification....both from the fans, and the team
And it’s mainly because of the big money. The cash doesn’t make him an immediate star. There’s no idea how Stephen Strasberg is going to perform, either. There’s a large temptation to throw him in MLB immediately. It appears the Nats won’t do that, but who knows?
It’s only two seasons for the Shark. In “olden” days, before players would toil in the minors for years — that was the rule, not the exception.
The Cubs mishandled Samardzija wanting an immediate return. Is he a reliever? No, he’s a starter! So, it was back and forth between MLB and Iowa for the kid .
How about the case of Randy Wells? Once it was determined he’d be better off as a pitcher — he was given time to develop without the microscope Samardzija was imediately placed under. Wells was just another minor league pitcher. The majority of those posting on this site never heard of Randy Wells before this season, I’d wager.
The Cubs need to give Samardzija a defined role and let him work toward it. I’d leave him in AAA for a complete year, and not even think of promoting him unless it’s absolutely necessary. Forget about the money he’s being paid. It’s just what his market value was at the time, anyway — not a measure of his talent.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Sep 8, 2009 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Are we really comparing Randy Wells situation to Jeff Samardzija's?
When a prospect signs a major league contract it comes with the expectation of that prospect actually being good. The Cubs didn’t pay market value for Samardzija, they paid him first round money.
The guy has been pitching full time for a few years now and still doesn’t have a second pitch.
Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.
I
would like to say that the San Diego Smooth Jazz Man has some good points. Samardzija has been handled much the same way Kevin Hart was handled and until some of the starting pitching starts to clear out in Chicago, I dont think Samardzija will break into the rotation. Its a tendency for relievers to delete pitches in his game from 4 to 2 or 3 to 2 and then its tough to go back to starting and start using some of those pitches he canned as a reliever. At one time his slider was working very well last year, along with his split in July and August of 08. In September he seemed to start losing those pitches again for some reason. Last year in 26 appearances he never gave up a home run. So I am with Josh when he says its not time to give up, hopefully he needs more innings and can regain what he took into the major leagues last year in July and August.
His money was not market value...
…as you never see a 5th round guy get $10 mil. I understand it was required to get him to shy away from football, but then no other club would have drafted him as early as the Cubs did.
This is an example of a “Hendry guy” and his good ole boy scouts either told Hendry want he wanted to hear, or they didn’t know what they were seeing.
"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel
A lot of teams thought Samardzija
was a (late) first-round pick. I remember the stories at the time. It’s just that no team other than the Cubs were willing to pay way above late-first round money to get him to leave football behind.
The $10 million isn’t first round money—it’s Mark Prior/Stephen Strasburg money. No one thought that Samardzija was worth that other than the Cubs.
Spellcheck...
…was mis-evaluated by the Cubs people, plain and simple. On top of that, he has $10 mil bucks, a no trade and a guranteed roster spot for a guy who has a long way to go.
Maybe they should have taken 5% of his money to hire some scouts who could get the right read on this guy, because no other major league team was going to draft him where the Cubs did.
"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel
I was at the game yesterday. I don't blame Samardzija entirely...
In fact, several season ticket holders and I were talking about what great stuff Shark had yesterday.
1) There was a 25+ mph wind blowing out directly to left center that resulted in a 3 run homer that barely made it over the fence. No kidding… the wind knocked over my hot dog.
2) If it weren’t for a passed ball that was mistakenly ruled a wild pitch for some reason in the box score, it would have been scoreless through 4ip.
3) So Taguchi misplayed a rather routine line drive to center field that ended up at the wall. This was scored a double, correctly, but I don’t blame Samardzija for this.
Proud recipient of a hot dog shot from the Iowa Cubs hot dog gun.
Thanks "IowaCubs" for the report
It is always interesting to hear from people at games. The stuff you mentioned is generally not captured in a box score.
That's why
you can’t judge a prospect on one game.
But the whole season has been a difficult one for Jeff.
My critique is more of his season in general
I was going to pounce the second Josh put up numbers that we questionable at all to be honest. Samardzija just hasn’t impressed me.
Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.
I can't disagree with you. All of us probably
expected more this season from Jeff after how impressive he was last season in the bigs. His year has been a rollercoaster- a lot of ups and downs with his starts at AAA.
Are we going to see So Taguchi....
… in the majors soon?
I havent really paid attention to how many they’d brought up and was curious if it is a possibility.
"It's hard to win 97 games, it's hard to win the division. Our attitude is if you get in every year, you get in most of the time, sooner or later you are going to knock that door down." -- Jim Hendry
No.
Taguchi isn’t on the 40-man roster — it has only one open spot now after the acquisition of Thomas Diamond — and the only other callup not yet with the Cubs will be Samardzija.
I thought Taguchi could have helped the team while Reed Johnson was out. Too bad.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
He had most of his family at the game in Des Moines Monday...
His wife and son and some family and friends were in the stands near me cheering on every play he made.
Proud recipient of a hot dog shot from the Iowa Cubs hot dog gun.
a couple fun things at the I-Cubs game...
That home run that shark gave up was the hardest hit ball I’ve ever seen in person.
The attempted steal of 2nd base that led to a throwing error, runner advancing to 3rd, throw to 3rd bouncing off the runners cleats on the headfirst slide, and the runner then scoring… crazy.
Interesting...
From where I was sitting it didn’t look like it went that far, though I was watching after two 3 year old boys.
Proud recipient of a hot dog shot from the Iowa Cubs hot dog gun.
Good read on the I-Cubs season
Half million in paid attendance (that’s pretty good) and rumors that Sandberg may be the new manager next year in Des Moines. If this happens I would call that the fast track. Read about it here:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090907/SPORTS1402/909080345&theme=/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SPORTS
This is only the beginning....Lou Pinella end of '07 season and Chicago Transit Authority (the band when they were really good).
That's speculation on the part of the writer, I think.
It’s also possible that Sandberg might be named to the major league coaching staff.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I'd prefer Ryne stay away from the big club
until he is actually the manager. Him sitting in that dugout next to Lou would probably lead to a media feeding frenzy.
Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.
But what if it isn't Lou he's sitting next to?
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
No matter who he sits next to
The second the Cubs aren’t in first place the RYNE FOR MANAGER columns will pour in. It isn’t fair to a manager to have that added pressure on top of the crap they already deal with.
I do think a promotion to AAA next season seals his job as manager in 2011.
Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.
I agree...
…I like it when a new manager comes in fresh, because his message is usually better accepted (at least in the short term) by the players. Also, when you are a bench coach, you may have relationships with players that need to be different than they would be as a manager, and that is difficult to reverse.
"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel
I think it's good speculation though
with the caveat that no one knows what the Ricketts are going to do. But unless Alan Trammell (or Lou) leaves, I don’t see Ryno coming to Chicago to be a base coach.
The big issue is what to do with Bobby Dickerson, who I don’t think the Cubs just want to shunt aside.
I think Sandberg would come to be a base coach in a heartbeat.
Especially if there were promises, private or otherwise, that managing could be a couple years down the road.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Oh, I think he'd do it
the question is whether the Cubs think that’s the best spot for his development as a manager.
Plus, putting Ryno in the minors makes the affiliates very, very happy.
Bobby Dickerson
He’s been in the Cubs organization as a manager for a good while now. He managed that great 2005 West Tenn team in the Southern League. Dickerson has a lot more managerial experience than Ryno. If Dickerson doesn’t get a job in the major leagues as a coach for next season, then he should stay as the I-Cubs manager.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
The problem
is that the Cubs have pretty well decided that everyone else is going to have to accommodate Sandberg. Dickerson isn’t in line to manage the Chicago Cubs when Lou retires. If the Cubs decide that Sandberg managing the I-Cubs is what is best for Ryno, Dickerson is going to have to take a different job.
I agree with you that Dickerson has been a good manager and a solid guy in the organization.
Dickerson's Future With Another Organization?
I think Dickerson knows he has a very slim chance of ever managing the big club. Furthermore, I don’t think his chances of coaching for Chicago are that much better. I’m thinking his next step upward would be to hook on with another organization as a coach on the major league level.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Dickerson
Held the same type of job for the Arizona Diamondbacks as Oneri Fleita has with Cubs presently before coming to Chicago. Bobby has very good value to the organization whether it would managing, roving infield instructor or probably other positions that he could do.
Dickerson...
… could, like Quade, be given a ML coaching job as a reward for his service to the organization.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
+1
I’d love to see Dickerson get a ML coaching job. Dickerson is the one of the best I’ve seen in the minors putting on a show when he’s disagrees with umpires. I wish more people had seen him during his days at Pringles Park. Dickerson had it right when he said that Jackson, TN, was a “big town” but not a city.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Dickerson is the one of the best I’ve seen in the minors putting on a show when he’s disagrees with umpires.
can you imagine a coaching staff consisting of ryno and dickerson? that would be quite a show
people who swing at the first pitch should get punched in the face
by jesus christos on Sep 8, 2009 3:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Free Concessions at Pringles Park
Being that it was the last game of the Diamond Jaxx season, concessions other than beer were free from the 7th inning on at Pringles Park. I was glad to take advantage of that. It was nice to see the Smokies win that game yesterday.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Good going, Michael Brenly....hope to see you in the majors with your dad
in Wrigley Field….
"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.
2010 Iowa at Fresno Dates
2010 Fresno Grizzlies Home Schedule Link
The I-Cubs will be in Fresno from Friday, August 13 – Monday, August 16, 2010. I am guessing that the I-Cubs will be in Sacramento from Tuesday, August 17 – Friday, August 20, 2010. Josh, mark your calendar!
It appears as if Iowa and Omaha will be taking their bi-annual California trip swapping Fresno and Sacramento as opponents during the same 8-day period. Memphis and Nashville are taking their California trip in May.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Yay!
I knew the I-Cubs were coming to California next year, but I’m glad it’s over the summer. And over a weekend in Fresno! (My recent move has me closer to Fresno than Sacramento now)
I’m betting one of those games will be my daughter’s first baseball game, unless I get to AT&T to see the Cubs in SF. That’s going to depend on when the Cubs come out to California next year.
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