Cubs Minor League Wrap: August 21

by Josh Timmers on Aug 21, 2011 11:08 PM CDT in Minor Leagues

Hey, hey, whaddya say? Everyone lost today!

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were shut down by the Oklahoma City RedHawks, 4-0.

Jay Jackson got the loss despite allowing only two runs over six innings. He gave up seven hits and four walks. Jackson struck out five.

Lou Montanez hit a double in the first inning and that was the only hit the I-Cubs got off of RedHawks pitchers J.A. Happ and Fernando Abed.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies couldn't hide from the Chattanooga Lookouts, 3-2 in eleven innings.

Brooks Raley pitched the first six innings and was touched for two runs on nine hits. He did not walk anyone and struck out three.

Marco Carrillo got the loss after surrendering a solo home run in the top of the eleventh. Carrillo pitched two innings and gave up two hits and one walk. He struck out two.

Center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha was 2 for 5 with a stolen base. He also scored once. Shortstop Junior Lake went 2 for 4 with a double and he scored the other Smokies run.

Daytona Cubs

Two home runs by Matt Szczur weren't enough as the D-Cubs lost to the Dunedin Blue Jays, 7-5.

Starter Jeffry Antigua had the textbook quality start as he allowed three runs on three hits over six innings. Antigua walked three and struck out five.

Frank Batista blew his sixth save today when he gave up two runs over 1.2 innings. Batista allowed three hits and he walked two. Batista struck out one.

Center fielder Szczur's home runs were both solo shots in the fifth and seventh inning. He now has four home runs for the D-Cubs and nine overall this season.

Left fielder Greg Rohan went 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored. DH Matt Cerda went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs were harvested by the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 6-2.

Austin Kirk started and took the loss. He went 4.2 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits, although one of the runs was unearned. Kirk walked two and struck out two.

Center fielder Taiwan Easterling went 2 for 4.

Boise Hawks

The Hawks committed four errors in a 4-1 loss to the Yakima Bears.

Austin Reed pitched the first four innings and allowed four runs on five hits. One of the four runs was unearned. Reed walked one and did not record a strikeout.

Shortstop Wes Darvill hit three doubles in a 3 for 3 game. He failed to score or drive anyone with any of the doubles, which tells you all you need to know about the game.

AZL Cubs

Lost to the Mariners, 6-5 in 11 innings.

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Comments

Lake still hot.

And all hail Matty Szcz. Great game. He’s been pretty bad since the finger injury so hopefully he turns it around and goes on a streak before the end of the season.

by Ryno G on Aug 22, 2011 3:18 AM CDT reply actions

Agree - it would be best if Szczur was ready for at least AA in the spring

There will be outfield slots available by 2013 – would be good if he is ready to fill one of them.

by ClarkFan on Aug 22, 2011 5:59 AM CDT up reply actions

Found this while searching around the other day and found it semi interesting

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=11334

I figure Sandberg’s name will get thrown around once Quade gets fired, but I have no idea who the other candidates would be..so I went looking for this. I’m not really in favor of having Brenly or Valentine..I’d trust Friedman with whoever he hired, but we have to get Friedman first.

by Ryno G on Aug 22, 2011 3:28 AM CDT reply actions

Junior Lake

40 Man. Yes or no. Yes for me.

I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.

by timh815 on Aug 22, 2011 7:36 AM CDT reply actions

Depends on what the new GM wants...

… and how many people you think you can cut, and how many others have to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.

Join us for complete MLB coverage at SB Nation's Baseball Nation

by Al Yellon on Aug 22, 2011 7:57 AM CDT up reply actions

Absolutely

Angel Guzman is the man.

by cubzfan on Aug 22, 2011 8:14 AM CDT up reply actions

He's made enough adjustments as a 21 year old at AA

that I would hate to just lose him considering his touted upside and considerable tools. I am curious what other teams think of him. He obviously has issues with defense and walks, but if he can handle 3B and get his walks up to the 7% range, the power/speed package could make for an exciting player.

by Bradsbeard on Aug 22, 2011 8:35 AM CDT up reply actions

I was thinking about this the other day

Current 40 man roster has 37 players, although Cashner and Schlitter are on the 60 day DL and Z is on the suspended list (not sure on how Z counts towards 40 man, now that I think about it, so it could be 38 players). Here are the current 40 man players I don’t expect to be back next year:

- Ramon Ortiz
- John Grabow
- Carlos Zambrano
- Rodrigo Lopez
- Koyie Hill
- Blake DeWitt or Jeff Baker (both will be making over a million and can be replaced fairly cheaply)
- At least 1 of Reed Johnson/Tyler Colvin/Alfonso Soriano/Marlon Byrd

Then there are current minor leaguers on the 40 man who could easily get taken off:
- Kyle Smit
- Lou Montanez
- Esmailin Caridad
- Justin Berg
- Brian Schlitter (even though he currently doesn’t count towards the 40 man, he will once he’s healthy)

This is just assuming that Aramis, Dempster, Pena, Samardzija and Woody are all back next year. That’s at least 12 spots on the 40 man roster I feel will be open for both Rule 5 protection and FA additions. The guys you have to at least consider protecting are (in no particular order):
1. Matt Szczur
2. Jeff Beliveau
3. Ryan Flaherty
4. Steve Clevenger
5. Marwin Gonzalez
6. Jay Jackson
7. Blake Parker
8. Josh Vitters
9. Brett Jackson (he’s not Rule 5 eligible, but he will play the majority of the 2012 season in Chicago)

with guys like Abner Abreu, Michael Burgess, Jeffry Antigua, Larry Suarez, Dae-Eun Rhee, Kyler Burke and the aforementioned Junior Lake available in the draft as well.

I, personally, would roll the dice with Lake and leave him unprotected. He’s very young and has great tools, but that plate discipline still needs worlds of work and I don’t see any way he lasts on a major league roster.

by RynoRooter on Aug 22, 2011 9:28 AM CDT up reply actions

Of the extra guys you mentioned

would you really rather protect Abreu, Burgess, Suarez, and Burke? I could see keeping Antigua and maybe Rhee over Lake, but of those you mentioned Lake seems much closer to being an actual prospect.

by Bradsbeard on Aug 22, 2011 9:44 AM CDT up reply actions

He's still pretty far away

He’s a 3B, so his bat needs to really step it up.

by RynoRooter on Aug 22, 2011 11:08 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, I totally wasn't thinking about the Rule 5 requirement

to keep the drafted player on your active roster the whole season. There is probably no way that Lake makes a major league team out of Spring Training, much less that he would be able to stick with a big league club the whole year next season. Even if some team did draft him, they’d probably want to work out a trade so they could send him back to AA.

by Bradsbeard on Aug 22, 2011 1:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Why would they protect Blake Parker?

He seems to be another Stevens / Berg / et al., that I wouldn’t waste a spot protecting.

"Stuff like this is why they should shut off the internet."

by Orval Overall on Dec 17, 2010 1:19 PM CST

by fsuapollo on Aug 22, 2011 10:37 AM CDT up reply actions

Because he can still be an asset to the team

and is exactly the type of guy that other organizations target in the Rule 5. Lake is so far away from being a contributing member of a big league team, that I really wouldn’t have a hard time leaving him unprotected. He’s still an all-tools lottery ticket at best, and I strongly doubt he would get picked.

by RynoRooter on Aug 22, 2011 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions

I see the logic

But I just don’t think much of Parker. He’s already 26, has never really been talked about in prospect terms, and was in AA for part of this year after being the closer in AAA last year. At least he’s pitching better in Iowa.

But you’re probably right, since lots of the “open” 40 man spots are pitchers… so they’ll need to protect more pitching. The Cubs have 24 guys on the 40 man (including the 60 day DL and restricted players)… and you listed 8 of those as unlikely to return while only adding three to the protection list.

So I would suspect the Cubs are going to have to make a volume deal to trade away some of their positional depth (e.g., way too many middle IF) in favor of some arms.

"Stuff like this is why they should shut off the internet."

by Orval Overall on Dec 17, 2010 1:19 PM CST

by fsuapollo on Aug 22, 2011 11:41 AM CDT up reply actions