Cub's Prospect Watch And Development Discussion Thread

[SilenceS]

So, I am guessing Baez, Bryant, Soler as our 3, 4, and 5 hitter. Iowa lineup is just amazing right now.

 

[zack54attack]

Wow.. Soler to Iowa. This is going to be great.

 

[beckdawg]

So, I am guessing Baez, Bryant, Soler as our 3, 4, and 5 hitter. Iowa lineup is just amazing right now.

You talking AAA or going forward to the cubs? If so I disagree. I think you'd need to split that right handedness with Rizzo some how. Arguably you'd be best off with Bryant, Rizzo and Baez in that order given their respective handedness and OBP projections. I suppose you could make the argument for Bryant in the 2 hole as you've suggested putting your best hitter there but either way I think it eventually makes a lot of sense to have Rizzp between those two or some other righty if they deal Baez.

 

[SilenceS]

You talking AAA or going forward to the cubs? If so I disagree. I think you'd need to split that right handedness with Rizzo some how. Arguably you'd be best off with Bryant, Rizzo and Baez in that order given their respective handedness and OBP projections. I suppose you could make the argument for Bryant in the 2 hole as you've suggested putting your best hitter there but either way I think it eventually makes a lot of sense to have Rizzp between those two or some other righty if they deal Baez.

Iowa lineup

 

[JP Hochbaum]

I heard from a friend that the mentioned that Soler and Baez will be with the big league team by Sept 1St? anyone else hear this? Makes sense with the 40 man roster and all.

 

[dabynsky]

Soler is expected to be a September call up according to Hoyer. :fap:

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-promoting-jorge-soler-and-albert-almora

 

[JP Hochbaum]

I heard from a friend that they mentioned on air tonight that Soler and Baez will be with the big league team by Sept 1St? anyone else hear this? Makes sense with the 40 man roster and all.

 

[Boobaby1]

Iowa lineup

As far as the Cubs?

CF Alcantara
SS Castro
1B Rizzo
3B Bryant
2B Baez
LF Melky Cabrera
RF Soler
C Castillo

SP: Lester, Arrieta, Wood, Hendricks, Wada.

Play Ball!

 

[beckdawg]

Soler is expected to be a September call up according to Hoyer. :fap:

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-promoting-jorge-soler-and-albert-almora

Presumably this means a dfa/trade for Schierholt though I suppose maybe not given 40 man rosters will be eligible by then.

 

[SilenceS]

Soler is expected to be a September call up according to Hoyer. :fap:

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-promoting-jorge-soler-and-albert-almora

Been saying this since I came back. I thought he would be a September call up. Then come up after about 4 weeks next year.

 

[SilenceS]

As far as the Cubs?

CF Alcantara
SS Castro
1B Rizzo
3B Bryant
2B Baez
LF Melky Cabrera
RF Soler
C Castillo

SP: Lester, Arrieta, Wood, Hendricks, Wada.

Play Ball!

I dont see Cabrera unless they can get him one 2 year deal tops.

 

[SilenceS]

As far as the Cubs?

CF Alcantara
SS Castro
1B Rizzo
3B Bryant
2B Baez
LF Melky Cabrera
RF Soler
C Castillo

SP: Lester, Arrieta, Wood, Hendricks, Wada.

Play Ball!

Also, I can see

Alcantara
Soler
Rizzo
Baez
Bryant
Castro
LF
Castillo
P

 

[dabynsky]

Been saying this since I came back. I thought he would be a September call up. Then come up after about 4 weeks next year.

Honestly he might be up to stay since he has a major league contract already and is making money. There actually is an argument that it is better if he hits arbitration sooner.

 

[CSF77]

Originally Posted by dabynsky View Post
Soler is expected to be a September call up according to Hoyer.

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-...-albert-almora
Been saying this since I came back. I thought he would be a September call up. Then come up after about 4 weeks next year.

Interesting. It is still 2 sources familiar with the teams thinking vs inside info. Which means speculation.

I can see if he pounds AAA then yes Schierholtz will become a F/A and it makes sense to let Soler take over in Sept. But he has to perform in AAA leading up to it.

That has been the trend with management.

Baez they kept him at SS while he was struggling. Now that he is hitting they are moving him to 2B.
Bryant they are keeping at 3B because of Soler.
Almora got promoted after getting hot.
Schwarber promoted 2x after dominating 2 levels.
Alcantara got promoted after hitting .300 in AAA and hit well enough in Chi to DFA Barney.

That it the thinking going on. There is no guaranteed promotion in Sept. Soler has to earn it.

 

[CSF77]

What I see happening in 2015:

LF: Cog/Ruggiano

Rugg vs LHP: .304/.344/.482
Cog vs RHP: .260/.326/.441

Ruggiano will be in Arb 2. He is making 2 mil this year.
Coghlan hits Arb 3 next year but has a Arb 4 to give.

It is a simple solution to a 2 year fix with little resource invested and long term contract blocking.

With that in mind I see the line up as:

Alcantara
LF platoon. You are looking at a .344 OBA and a .326 OBA vs Castro's .311 OBA
Rizzo
Baez (I believe he will need Bryant's protection)
Bryant
Soler
Castro (.436 SLG is lower than the potential above him)
Castillo

Soler hitting #2 is also a possibility. It will come down to which is stronger for him. SLG vs OBA.

 

[JP Hochbaum]

So with Olt being demoted, where the heck does he play? Maybe its time they move him to an OF spot and hope he could become a 4th outfielder? Or get him back to tradeability?

 

[dabynsky]

So with Olt being demoted, where the heck does he play? Maybe its time they move him to an OF spot and hope he could become a 4th outfielder? Or get him back to tradeability?

I am guessing he gets time at 1B/DH. He might get some starts in LF as well. If Bryant moves to OF my interest in the last month of this season will just keep growing.

 

[CSF77]

So with Olt being demoted, where the heck does he play? Maybe its time they move him to an OF spot and hope he could become a 4th outfielder? Or get him back to tradeability?

I see him in limbo with Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters. But 1B is the likely spot.

Normal line up for Iowa:

Szczur CF
Jackson LF
Baez 2B
Bryant 3B
Valaika SS
Lopez C
Vitters 1B
Kalish RF
P

With Soler promoted it should push out Kalish's .208 BA out of RF.
Vitters .202 BA Jackson .217 BA I see a cut happening here.

 

[CSF77]

CHICAGO -- Mike Olt leads all National League rookies with 12 home runs, but he's also first with 84 strikeouts and was batting .139 after going 0-for-4 in Tuesday night's 6-0 victory over the Padres with three strikeouts. After the game, the Cubs announced they were optioning Olt to Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs need to open a roster spot for pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada, who will be making his second big league start Wednesday against the Padres.

Olt, acquired a year ago Tuesday from the Rangers in the Matt Garza deal, went 2-for-35 in June, and was 3-for-25 in 12 games in July. If there's a plus to the demotion, it's that he'll be reunited with Manny Ramirez, who is a player/coach at the Cubs' Triple-A team, and a former teammate of Olt's.

Before Tuesday's game, general manager Jed Hoyer was asked about Olt and outfielder Junior Lake, who was batting .216. Manager Rick Renteria has tried to start Olt and Lake against lefties.

"Their contact rates have been a struggle," Hoyer said of the two players. "They've showed some frustration at times but I do like that they keep on working to improve."

 

[CSF77]

So lets see:

Alcantara promoted.
Bonifacio off DL
Barney DFA
Olt demoted.

:clap:

Keep it up.

Hendricks put up a solid game and I'm interested in seeing Wada's 2nd game. Concidering they were the #1 & 2 pitchers in Iowa there is a good chance they will be better than Wood and Jackson the rest of the season.