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Frankly, not a lot of inspiration in today's links. PED talk makes me sleepy.
From Comcast SportsNet
- Carlos Villanueva thinks baseball needs even harsher penalties for PED users.
- Phillies' bench coach, and Cubs Hall of Famer, Ryne Sandberg has no regrets.
- Josh included this in one of his articles, but a former Cubs' farmhand posted another 'W', "winning" The Bachelorette.
- Cubs pitching prospect Kyle Hendricks is definitely turning heads (includes video). It's, as you'd expect from a Dartmouth guy, a well-spoken interview. Of particular baseball note, part of Hendricks' success is developing his slurve this year. By the way, Hendricks will make his debut for the Iowa Cubs today.
- Funny note, to me anyway, about CTL last night. Kaplan had some goofball from Yahoo radio on among a couple other guests. They were talking about whether Cub fans were more excited for the minor leaguers than the major league club. Fair point to debate and there are plenty of pros and cons you can discuss about a "total rebuild". But the Yahoo guy (apt description) kept ranting about Cub fans being sold a bill of goods, why prospects never work out, how the Cubs are trying the "same thing" the Kansas City Royals have (and look where that got them), and the team will just end up like the Houston Astros. When I was done shaking my head, all I could think was "I didn't know NBF had a radio show." (EDIT: Here's the link to the discussion.)
From Cubs Den
- There are already more interesting pieces for the 2014 bullpen on hand than you might think at first.
- You can also check out "who's on first?" in the organization.
From Cubs.com
- Naturally, Thomas Neal is excited for his new opportunity with the Cubs. (Obviously, this was written before his injury Wednesday night.)
- Dale Sveum hopes PEDs are finally out of the game.
From ESPNChicago.com
- More rest for Starlin Castro might be a worthy experiment.
- Yankees' outfielder Alfonso Soriano (still a little weird to type) is still connected to his ex-teammates.
- The Cubs' "Plan" is giving the team time to put pieces in place.
- I file this under pretty big news: Cubs' scouting director Jason McLeod says the front office will be considering a position switch for Javier Baez this offseason. That tells me Baez may be closer to the big leagues than some think.
- Cubs' prospect and Northwestern grad Eric Jokisch threw a no-hitter for double-A affiliate Tennessee earlier this week. The left-handed pitcher is just one Cubs prospect flying under the radar.
From the Chicago Tribune
- Edwin Jackson doesn't think his bad start against Philadelphia will start a new trend.
From the Chicago Sun-Times
- No Cubs were tabbed in the recent Biogenesis scandal. But that PED violations have still affected the organization.
From the Daily Herald
- Alfonso Soriano is among those with strong feelings about PED use.
Today's food for thought
- I used to bowl regularly. Averaged 190+ at my peak (yeah, bragging a little). Never sniffed a 300 game. But this poor guy lost a chance at a perfect game thanks to a mechanical error. Though, if you listen to the interview, it turns out this bowler may have sealed his own fate.