Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: September 5
by Josh Timmers on Sep 5, 2011 10:36 PM CDT
in Minor Leagues
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Printit's the end of the season for two teams today and the beginning of the playoffs for the Boise Hawks. The D-Cubs playoffs start tomorrow and the Smokies start on Thursday.
John Gaub, Lou Montanez and DJ LeMahieu were promoted to Chicago after the Iowa Cubs finished their season this afternoon.
Boise Hawks
The Boise Hawks were grounded by the Tri-City Dust-Devils, 6-0. They now trail the best-of-three series one game to none.
Jose Rosario started and allowed four runs on five hits over four innings. One of the four runs was unearned. Rosario walked two and struck out two.
The Hawks did not get a hit until the sixth inning. They finished the game with four hits. First baseman Ryan Cuneo went 2 for 4.
The Hawks get on the bus early tomorrow morning and take the five hour drive to Pasco, Washington to play game two tomorrow. If they win game two, game three will be played on Wednesday at Tri-City.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs finished the season by catching the Omaha Storm Chasers, 7-2.
Jay Jackson started and got the win, improving his final record on the season to 8-14. Jackson pitched five innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He did not walk anyone and struck out three.
Center fielder Brett Jackson led off the bottom of the first inning with his tenth home run for the I-Cubs and his twentieth overall. Jackson was 1 for 4 with a walk.
First baseman Scott Moore doubled twice in a 2 for 4 game. Moore scored once. Catcher Chris Robinson was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI.
The Iowa Cubs finish the season 66-77 and in fourth and last place in their division. The big problem was the pitching, which finished the season with a team ERA of 5.52. That was the worst team ERA in Iowa Oaks/Cubs history.
Peoria Chiefs
The Peoria Chiefs were held up at gunpoint by the Quad City River Bandits, 9-3.
Starter Austin Kirk finished the season with a 5-12 record as he took the loss today. Kirk pitched 4.2 innings and allowed four runs on three hits.
Center fielder Rubi Silva was 2 for 5 and scored a run. Third baseman Dustin Geiger went 2 for 5. Shortstop Kenny Socorro went 2 for 4 and scored once.
First baseman Richard Jones was 0 for 4. However, he finished with 98 RBI, which were the most in the Midwest League this year. It is the first time a Peoria hitter has ever won the RBI crown.
The Chiefs finished the second half with a 27-42 record, which was good enough for eighth and last place in the Midwest League Western Division. Their overall record was 60-79 which again was the worst record in the division. Hitting was a problem with the Chiefs all year, but the big culprit was the bullpen. They blew 21 saves and lost something around 26 games in their final at-bat.
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Good to see Brett reach the 20-20 mark on the last day of the season.
Hopefully we see some more of them in the upcoming years.
if we delay his
callup until June of next year we effectively get a free year of him in 2017…when he costs between $8 and $10 million – will those three months being with the big club matter that much?
Further
…. he’s playing for Team USA this fall. A callup for the last three weeks of a lost season, in meaningless games — I’m not too worried about him missing those.
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I'd prefer to have him as the opening day guy next season.
waiting 3 months simply for money is something the pirates should do, not the chicago cubs.
by MDavis on Sep 6, 2011 9:11 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
how about spending money wisely...
just because we have more doesnt mean we should piss $8 million down our legs…
wasnt there alot of bitching earlier this year about the Cubs wasting $400K on hill?
How about putting the best team on the field?
Jackson looks and sounds ready. A legitamate lead off hitter who runs, walks, has some pop. solid defensively. making him wait for the hell of it is ridiculous.
by MDavis on Sep 6, 2011 10:27 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I agree
if we can move Soriano and he looks good in ST then by all means plug him in Opening Day but if he looks shaky at all send him to Iowa for a couple months
Putting the best team on the field next year is far leas important than putting the best team on the field in 2017
Since our chances of winning a championship will be much greater in 2017.
Pat Riley is the devil.
Moreover
We’re talking about the best team for the remained of the 2011 season which means absolutely nothing now.
I would like to see him start the season with the Cubs but I won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t arrive until June.
They have two liter bottles now? To think I spent all that time demanding a liter!
So because we have money, we shouldn't spend it as wisely as possible?
I don’t see how you can take that view and then go on to criticize, say, the John Grabow signing.
Pat Riley is the devil.
Well, there are differences
In Grabow’s place, we were throwing away money toward a bad pitcher. In this case, we’d be (theoretically) throwing away money toward a good player (otherwise he won’t cost much).
I think the “big market” argument is “money shouldn’t get in the way of putting talent on the field.” Grabow doesn’t fit into that argument – he was a bad decision regardless of whether you’re a big or small market team.
Note: I’m not saying I disagree with the “wait three months” strategy. Just pointing out some differences in the two scenarios.
I see your point
But in the end, it’s all the same isn’t it? The issue with Grabow wasn’t that he was on the roster; if he’d been signed for the minimum, nobody would’ve cared. The issue was that the money we spent on him could’ve and should’ve be spent on improving the team elsewhere. The same logic applies to BJax. If we can save money without significantly impairing our chances to compete next year, we should, regardless of whether we’re a big-market team.
Pat Riley is the devil.
No disagreement there
I was just nitpicking.
Getting more value for less money is important even as a big market team. Because by spending less money per player value, you can afford to get more good players (or the same number of good players, but better quality of those players).
Slight quibble, but the "free" year would be next year...
Not 2017. He’ll still eventually have arb eligibility and theoretically cost about the same amount. The arb eligibility will just happen one year later.
no
we would effectively lose a year of league minimum (based on current ARbitration and Super-two status
Which is exactly what I said
we get a free year of league minimum status. We’ll still have three years of arbitration years – they’ll just come a year later.
The problem with all this is
that we don’t know what the next CBA is going to look like. One thing I know is that both sides hate the “Super 2” rule. They’re having trouble figuring out how to replace it, but it’s going to get changed.
The big issue with Jackson is that he’s going to play for Team USA.
by Josh Timmers on Sep 6, 2011 10:34 AM CDT up reply actions
ding-ding
Or when the CBA will be signed.
I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.
You're really convinced there will be a labor stoppage, aren't you?
I cannot see that happening.
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Nope. Not convinced.
I fear the Bears may lose to the Falcons on Sunday. It may or may not happen. To act as if bad things are impossible is not in my worldview.
Bad things happen all the time. Accounting for their potential is realism.
I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.
Unfortunately for you,
I believe rather strongly the falcons will beat the bears Sunday ;)
I may be the only Falcon fan on BCB though…
Didn't say a labor stoppage is impossible.
But to me, it seems extremely unlikey.
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It depends on
if this is the one in which the Commish decides to ‘equalize’ the teams somehow. If it’s the traditional moneygrab, they’ll solve it routinely.
But if Selig wants to make small market teams legitimate again, it could take awhile.
I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.
Those are not the only factors.
Given the NFL labor strife, settled somewhat contentiously, and the ongoing NBA labor issues, I think MLB has seen that it would be in both sides interest to settle quickly and amicably.
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I'm not sure why Team USA is a problem
It’s certainly not a problem for starting next season on the MLB roster, which is a big part of what is being discussed here.
I also don’t think it’s a huge reason for why he wouldn’t be called up in September (I’m sure he’d be fine with spending a few weeks in Chicago instead of at home before going to participate with Team USA).
Here are two possibilities.
When the CBA is agreed upon, it could indicate that “Super Two” status would be excluded for players with no big league service time. Getting Brett Jackson 15 at bats after spending time with Team USA would be counter-productive if it costs the team a huge chunk of change down the stretch.
The potential (however unlikely) exists for a strike/lockout. Any player on the 40 Man might be limited in at bats come April. None of us want it to happen, and I’m probably wrong in expecting a strike, but if it happens, I would prefer Jackson and others to be able to play in AAA in April. That may not happen if he gets called up in September.
There are always ramifications (good and bad) for actions. It would be inconsiderate of Randy Bush to hamstring the next GM for the desire to get Jackson 20 at bats.
I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.
Again, none of this is relevant for the start of NEXT season
I can agree with these statements as they relate to September. But not so much with regard to April vs June/July of next year.
Again, at the risk of
getting hassled as pessimistic…
If next season doesn’t start until May or August, would you prefer Jackson in Iowa or at home come the first of April? I would say that “Jackson is unable to play in the minors due to a September callup” has a bearing on his development. If you disagree, that’s fine.
I think it would be foolish to frivolously start an arbitration clock this season when we don’t know what impact that will have on his eligibility/contract status. #JustSayin
I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.
I think you're missing the point
Your argument is only relevant for not calling him up THIS season. It has no implications on having him start the MLB season on the roster NEXT season (as opposed to waiting until June/July).
You don’t have to put Jackson on the 40-man roster now in order for him to be available for opening day next year. There’s nothing stopping the team from having him be a non-roster invitee and then purchasing his contract before opening day. If the season doesn’t start in April, obviously you don’t do that.
In a discussion about whether to start him in AAA or in MLB next year, both the Team USA stuff and the small chance of a labor dispute are non-issues.
I'm good with him earning a spot in April,
or whenever.
I'm a Cubs fan. The Jaded Bitterness comes as a Standard Feature.
as in
it will be replaced by a year of FA status…in effect he will be wide open starting at the end of 2016 vs the end of 2017 – odds are he will get paid the same either way so we are talking about the difference between year 3 arbitration and year 1 of FA which wont be $8 million but will be a significant amount.
I'd rather see him for three more months in 2012 and pay him an extra three mil in 2017.
we have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, we should put the best possible team on the field we can on opening day.
This could be inaccurate
But it seems like Austin Kirk just wasn’t the same after his no-hitter.
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Pretty pathetic when perhaps BCB's favorite pitching prospect, Austin Kirk
Finishes the season with 5-12 record. The kid threw a no-no and everyone here went wild, even though he threw it against one of the worst lineups in the minors.
We need pitching… badly.
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
Kirk is not the favorite pitching prospect
McNutt and Kurcz and Rhee immediately come to mind as guys who’ve been better than Kirk and have done so at higher levels than Kirk.
That said, W/L record is a terrible way to evaluate a pitcher. His peripherals (WHIP, K/9, and K/BB for example) were very solid this year. He was in some measure a victim of bad luck, as not even his ERA was indicative of a 5-12 pitcher.
Hopefully Wells is past his injuries (or whatever gave him problems for much of this year) and rebounds next year. And hopefully Cashner recovers and makes it as a quality starter next year. After those two, hopefully McNutt makes it late next year and Rhee makes it the year after that.
Remember minimium innings per start
If you pitch 3 bad innings in a start, you get the loss.
If you pitch 3 great innings in a start, you get a no-decision.
Pay no attention to W/L for A/A+/AA starters.
It's a simple question, Doctor: would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs??
That's sometimes true, but not really relevant in the case of Kirk
Kirk has only had one good start that didn’t last 5 IP this year (the first game of the year, in which he pitched only 4 IP). The bigger culprit for him has been bad run support and a bad bullpen.
But yes, there are lots of reasons why W/L is a poor measure for evaluating a pitcher.
I prefer looking at his WHIP
Nice and low.
[...]when Giants coach Steve Owen, a certified defensive genius, was asked how he planned to stop Nagurski, he said: "With a shotgun, as he’s leaving the dressing room."
by NobodySpecial on Sep 6, 2011 5:34 PM CDT up reply actions
To be fair
W-L record is a pretty worthless way of determining a prospect. Peoria’s offense was putrid for part of the season. Their bullpen was putrid the whole season. Kirk got an L in a lot of games he pitched well because of no offense and a ND in a lot of games he pitched well because the bullpen was putrid all season.
I sometimes hesitate to mention wins and losses because they are so meaningless. But they do keep track of them and they are a good way to describe what happens in an individual game.
Games in the minors
also are not always managed primarily to be won, in the sense that guys are sometimes working in situations to get experience whereas at the MLB level they would get pulled, pinch hit for, etc. Or they only pitch a few innings per start due to pitch counts and so on.
2012 I-Cubs, Smokies Dates in West Tennessee
Iowa @ Memphis
Monday, April 30 – Thursday, May 3
Saturday, May 26 – Tuesday, May 29
Tennessee @ Jackson
Wednesday, April 25 – Sunday, April 29
Friday, August 3 – Tuesday, August 7
Good things come to those who wait... and wait....and wait.
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