A reminder that MLB network is broadcasting the AFL "Rising Stars" game. The four Cubs are  Castro, Vitters.Parker and Cashner. So if you you are Cubs fan with no social life ( sound familiar) at 7PM CST time Saturday  you can watch   guys we hope to see at Wrigley someday ( not counting the  Road to Wrigley game) play.

Well, I went the first of at least a half dozen games I'll be watching here until next Monday.  Luckily, I got to see virtually the entire Cubs' contingent today.  Unluckily, the only Cub who didn't play was Josh Vitters, the guy I wanted to scout the most.  Maybe tomorrow, so here's what happened today :

 

Starlin Castro - hit a couple of sharp singles through the infield, drove in a run with a sac fly and made a great play on a bad hop ground ball in the ninth inning and showed a strong arm to throw out Truinfel.  On the bad side, he chased a couple pitches outside the zone preventing him from taking a walk in his third AB and striking out in his last.

Andrew Cashner - had another excellent outing today.  Pitched ahead in the count to almost every batter, no walks and 4 Ks in the same number of innings.  49 pitches of which 35 were strikes shows the dominance of a #1.  The scout I talked to had him at 93-96 for the game.  The majority of the hits were of the seeing eye grounder variety.  Only Brent Morel squared up a fastball and laced a line drive to left.

James Russell, Jon Gaub & Blake Parker all came in and pitched an inning each after Cashner left.  Only Parker gave up a run and that was due solely to the CF losing a ball in the sun and letting a fly ball drop 5 feet away at the warning track.  Nothing there to get really excited about really.

The player of the game had to be PJ Phillips of the Angels.  He crushed a homer and a double and made a diving catch in center field.  Tosoni had the hardest hit ball though.  He obliterated a fastball about 440 to straightaway center field that nailed that 50' tall batters eye for a double.  It hit at least 15' above the rest of the fence.

That's about it.  The Solar Sox play in Surprise tomorrow and I'll make the hour long drive to try to catch Vitters in action.  Fortunately, he made the All-Star game Saturday so there's a good chance I'll catch him then as well.  Though the player I'm dieing to see then is Strasburg.  I'll just keep replying to this post instead of making new ones every day.

There's a hot center fielder on the market that I think the Cubs should jump on and his name may sound familiar: Corey Patterson.  His name may sound familiar because he is the older brother of a former Cubs prospect by the name of Eric.  Eric was traded away to fetch the greatest change-up pitcher ever to come from the Great White North, Mr. Rich Harden!  He may be hard to pry away from the Milwaukee Brewers since he's cheap on just a minor league contract, but I think the Cubs should put together a dynamite package to blow away our division rivals.  This guy is that good!

Now I know the elder Patterson's stats from the last year may not look pretty, but he only had 30 plate appearances last year, and I think he'd really shine if given the opportunity!  He's a top prospect that I think people have given up on too early.  He's really toolsy, cuz he has run fast, thrown hard, and had some hits!  Also, I really think the Cubs need to get a little less Canadian, and Patterson's from Georgia which is just about as non-Canadian as you can get!  Not to mention he throws righty and HITS left-handed, and EVERY team can use more guys like that!  He does strike out a bit, but he really makes up for it because we need a center fielder so we can move Mr. Kosuke Fukudome back to right field.

I don't know about you all, but it's potential moves like this that make me glad to be a Cubs fan!

Jeremy Hermida

 

BAM

 

I'll let you know right now that this is a huge stretch but I'm wondering what you would think about him. He had a bad year last year, but he's got pretty good career numbers and would be a solid 6-7 hitter. Defense leaves something to be desired but he's better than Hoffpauir or Fox in the field. Here are his career stats. He's got some pop and his HR totals will probably increase away from Lanshark Stadium. He does strike out a bunch. He's also 25 and is due for a break out year. I am fully aware that he will not single handedly save the franchise, but signing him would allow the Cubs to trade He Who Shall Remain Nameless for some high risk prospects instead of another bad contract. This clears up some cap space for a future trade and obviously gets him off the team. IMO Hermida is worth a one or two year deal. 

 

Ok if you're still with me and don't think I'm a crackhead, here's how we would go about getting him. From what I've been reading and hearing on the radio, lots of teams are planning on non-tendering a bunch of players. Some of this is due to the economy. If Hermida is non-tendered, the task becomes easier: the Cubs just go and sign him. If he isn't, I imagine that it wouldn't take a ton to get him. It might take more than Miles and Heilman, unfortunately. Fontenot might not be a bad idea, especially if the Marlins are looking to get rid of Dan Uggla. Fox or Hoffpauir might be good throw ins as well. 

 

Just wondering what you guys would think about this. As a one or two year option until something better comes along, I think Hermida would be a good fit. I'd much rather see a young kid with poor numbers and something to prove out in right field than an over the hill player with injury history or steroid allegations.

 

It was reported today that Rich Hill is now a free agent.  I think that he has enormous potential and is worth at least a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.  If he gets his back situation fixed, he could fill a spot nicely in the rotation. 

I'm guessing that a lot of teams will go after him, with the potential that he has shown in the past.  I'd hate to see the Cardinals get him and then watch Dave Duncan turn him into a 15-18 game winner.

Just think about the following quote from Michael Barrett about Hill which I found on Wikipedia.org:

[Hill's] curveball is so electric that the first couple of times I caught him, I had a tendency to come up on the curve because it bites so much. You just don't see a left-handed curveball like that anymore. When he's good, it doesn't hang, and it's nearly unhittable."

It's worth a shot.  The guy has excellent stuff when healthy, and I think it will just take some work to get him straightened out.

Less than 20 minutes which I believe is a little FASTER than last year. Tickets came to about $66 each with fees. So much for the theory no one would or should support them. I did in fact get through but I am unlikely to go ( before you ask my friends including Kasey have first dibs) If Maddux goes than maybe I will skip the rent for a month and come.. I think  it will be a VERY interesting year . I am sure the whole Ricketts family will be there.

Ernie HARWELL, that is...

Since longtime Detroit Tigers' play by play announcer Ernie Harwell announced he has cancer, there has been a groundswell of support to recognize his Hall of Fame contribution to baseball by naming the playing field at Comerica Park the "Ernie Harwell Field" (at Comerica Park). 

For those of us Cubs fans that are also Tigers or Ernie Harwell fans, there is a way to support the movement.

You may visit the Detroit Free Press article link: Support "Ernie Harwell Field" at Comerica Park for more information

or you may visit the FaceBook site directly at: Facebook direct link to show your support.

The Milton Bradley for Vernon Wells trade must be around the corner... Blue Jays’ Wells to have wrist surgery

TORONTO (AP)—Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells(notes) will have surgery next week to repair damaged cartilage in his left wrist.

The team announced Tuesday that Wells is expected to be ready in time for spring training.

Wells, who is entering the third season of a seven-year, $126-million contract extension, hit .260 with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs in 158 games last season.

The Blue Jays also said third baseman Edwin Encarnacion(notes) had surgery on Friday to repair a bone spur in his left wrist.

Listed at the bottom of this fanpost are 15 events that may (or may not) occur this offseason.  Your challenge is to arrange them in order of likelihood of happening, most to least.  Similar to last year’s free-agency contest, your ranking will be weighted. In other words, your top choice (the one you think is most likely to happen)  will be worth 15 points – your bottom choice (the one you think is least likely to happen) will be worth 1 point.

Here's where it gets fun.  As you’ll see, there are quite a few events involving Milton Bradley. Obviously not all of them are going to happen, so you could hedge your bets by ranking them close together if you’re unsure on how the MB saga will end.  On the other hand, if you’re so sure you know how it will end, put that one at/near the top and the others at the bottom of your rankings.

Other Ground Rules:

• The contest begins after the last out of the 2009 World Series and ends with the first pitch of the 2010 major league season.
• Points are accumulated only if the event happens.
• If an event occurs before the last out, i.e. someone pulls a "Boras", then said event will be removed from the contest and no points awarded for that event.
• If there is some dispute as to whether or not an event "happened" or the definition of said event, I will certainly consider any and all viewpoints, but in the end – my contest, my call.

Please submit your entry by posting a comment below.  Right now, deadline for entries is the last out of the 2009 World Series.  But if the Yankees manage to win this thing in 5 games, I may extend the deadline by a day or so, provided of course, none of these events occur.  If they do, then - in the interests of fairness - any entries submitted after that point will not be accepted.

I will track all entries and provide occasional updates throughout the off-season, as well as announce the final results shortly after Opening Day 2010.  The person with the highest point total will receive an official MLB baseball hit out of Wrigley Field from my collection.  And just to keep things interesting, the person with the lowest point total will receive an official minor league baseball from my collection – sufficiently grass-stained and scuffed-up to appropriately reflect said achievement (or lack thereof).

Please post any questions in the comments and I'll be happy to respond.

THE FIFTEEN BIGGEST EVENTS THAT MAY (or may not) HAPPEN THIS OFF-SEASON:

__ - Milton Bradley is traded or released by start of Cubs Convention.
__ - Cubs sell naming rights for entire Wrigley Field, e.g. Walgreens Park at Wrigley Field.
__ - Randy Wells finishes higher than Colby Rasmus in the ROY voting.
__ - Cubs lower ticket prices on some seats.
__ - Milton Bradley is traded for player(s) only, i.e. Cubs will NOT eat any of his contract.
__ - Cubs make an official announcement  on a new Spring Training location  (Az or Fla).
__ - Ryan Theriot is starting shortstop for Cubs on Opening Day 2010.
__ - Cubs’ broadcasting team stays intact - Len & Bob on TV; Pat, Ron, & Judd on radio.
__ - Milton Bradley is traded and Cubs WILL eat some portion of his contract.
__ - Cubs install additional scoreboard facilities, e.g. ribbon board.
__ - Aaron Miles is on the Cubs 25-man roster on Opening Day.
__ - Cubs offer arbitration to Rich Harden.
__ - Milton Bradley is on the Cubs 40-man roster on Opening Day.
__ - Cubs hires top-level executive, e.g. a "baseball guy", to oversee Hendry.
__ - MLB expands instant replay capabilities.

<img src="http://www.spiritwatch.org/cubscincy08.JPG"/>

My utterly adorable niece Maggie and nephew Alex, both about 8 and 10 years old each and hopelessly  indoctrinated into being Cubs fans by our Cubs-crazy family, have suddenly decided they want to start learning how to play guitar. 

I kinda sorta plunk along with it, and am frankly not that great at it, but I want to encourage them to do so. I will be spending some time with them this Christmas and giving them real kid sized guitars to play with to see if they really want to do this long term. And as anyone knows who teaches music to kids, for them to put it all together, you have to help them learn to play something simple quickly that helps them feel like they're achieving something that gives them the payback for the attention to detail they'll have to put into it, plus whatever basic chord/music stuff I can rummage up for them.

I would really like to teach them Steve Goodman's  "Go Cubs Go" but can't find any tabs for it anywhere. Any guitar playing Cubs fans out there who can help me figure them out or know somewhere on the net they might be posted, your help would be really appreciated, plus any other suggestions on simple songs I could direct them to.

Just not "Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" .. puhleeze!