I've been spending the past few weeks trying to get a handle as what changes are coming to the Cubs method of player acquisition and development under the direction of new Cubs President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer. I've spent the time studying the Boston Red Sox drafts and minor league systems and the San Diego Padres system for the past two years. I think I've got a good handle as to how Theo Epstein ran the Red Sox and how Jed Hoyer went about implementing change in San Diego. Then along came the new collective bargaining agreement and that threw everything on its head.
To be honest, I don't really know exactly how the Cubs organization is going to change. But I can take a guess, and my guess is that the key word to remember is "more." Epstein and Hoyer are believers in "more." More prospects, more scouts, more front office people, more coaches and more information. If they make a mistake, they don't want it to be because they didn't work hard enough or didn't have enough information. When they do make a mistake (and don't worry, they will), they want to make sure they have a Plan B and Plan C ready to go.
I want to start with dispelling the myth that the Red Sox decided which players to acquire by sitting around a computer with a Jonah Hill clone which spit out a card like a penny fortune-telling machine. I also want to dismiss the idea that the Cubs signed their players by having them model jeans and calculating their batting averages on an ancient Chinese abacus. It just doesn't work that way. The Red Sox use of analytics might have been a little more advanced than the Cubs because they'd been at it longer, but people in the Cubs front office have been aware of advanced analytics for years. Likewise, the Red Sox employed many scouts who tried to project out a skinny kid's frame and looked for mechanical flaws in a pitcher's delivery. Neither one of them refused to draft a kid because his girlfriend was ugly. That's a joke that scouts tell each other.
The Owners and the Players Association announced their agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) today. The good news from this agreement is that it ensures another five years of labor peace. The bad news is that they came to an agreement by agreeing to cheat poor kids from the Dominican Republic as well as the United States.
One of Bud Selig's biggest complaints lately has been escalating amateur signing bonuses. He instituted a "slotting" system in the draft where MLB told teams how much they should pay each of their draft choices. The problem with this system, as far as Selig was concerned, was that teams could and did just ignore these slotting "suggestions."
Teams had no reason to follow these suggested slottings. There was little the commissioner's office could do to enforce them. They often delayed approving contracts that went over slot, but that hurt everyone as newly drafted kids could often not get minor league experience until the next season. This often forced them to either play in Low-A in April, which is a tough way to get your start, or wait until late-June to play in short-season A ball or the Rookie Leagues. The signing deadline for new draftees was moved up to mid-July in the new CBA. That's about the only good thing in the CBA as far as amateur signings are concerned.
I don't want to blame this all on Selig, because he's simply acting on the wishes of the 30 owners. But he's made it clear in interviews over the past few years that he doesn't like the way teams ignore his suggestions.
The solution, as far as the Commissioner's Office is concerned, is to make these draft slot bonuses mandatory, like they do in the NBA. But the MLBPA was going to have none of that as it sounded too much like a salary cap, which they adamantly oppose. So just as they did with major league salaries, they went with a luxury tax where teams who spend too much are forced to pay a fine.
To no one's surprise, you chose Bryan LaHair and his record-setting season for the BCB Minor League Player of the Year. Now it's time to turn our attention to the pitchers, where the choice won't be so clear-cut. Once again, a reminder that this award is intended to reward production and not status as a prospect, but you can vote for whomever you want. This award should be defined by you, so it would be nice, although not required, if you would tell us who you voted for and why.
I tried to pick one player from each affiliate. Of course, there's some overlap as successful pitchers get promoted.
The candidates after the jump. As always, the honor is just to be nominated.
The Cubs named Bryan LaHair and Jeff Beliveau as their Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year earlier this week, but that's no reason why you shouldn't have a chance to express your opinion. We've been doing the "BCB Minor League Player (and Pitcher) of the Month" all year, so now it's time to put it all together and choose the BCB Minor League Player of the Year.
The same rules apply for the award as they always have. The award is meant to reward production over the course of the season and not their status as a prospect, but you can vote for whomever you want. Besides, anyone who can produce over the course of an entire season in the minors has get at least some consideration as a prospect. You can take into account position and defense, role on a winning team, scrappiness or whatever else you want. It would also be nice if you'd defend your choice in the comments, but of course that's not required.
There are six candidates for the award this season as there is a rookie ball candidate for this award. Roughly, I chose one candidate from each team, but of course some players got promoted over the course of the season. I also tried to balance out the positions somewhat.
The candidates after the jump. They say it's an honor just to be nominated.
The Tennessee Smokies lost to the Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks), 6-4. This means that the BayBears have won the Southern League Championship, three games to one. It's the third straight season that the Smokies have lost the Southern League Championship in four games.
The Smokies got off to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha cracked a solo home run. But starting pitcher Trey McNutt gave up a two-run home run in the second inning to surrender the lead. The Smokies would never lead again in this game.
McNutt pitched 4.1 innings and allowed two runs on two hits. He walked four and struck out three.
The real troubles for the Smokies came after McNutt left the game in the sixth inning. Reliever Marcus Hatley entered the game to start the inning and promptly allowed a solo home run. After giving up a walk and a single to the next two hitters, Hatley exited the game for Jeff Stevens. Stevens allowed a single to BayBear John Ford that right fielder Jim Adduci misplayed. Two runs scored on the play and Ford ended up on third base. After a sacrifice fly, the score was 6-1 and the Smokies were in a hole they could not escape.
The Smokies did put up a rally in the seventh inning. Pinch-hitter Nelson Perez singled home Jonathan Mota and two batters later, Ha came to bat and doubled home two to make the score 6-4. But Blake Lalli flied out to end the seventh and the Smokies failed to score the rest of the game.
Center fielder Ha was 3 for 5 with a double and a home run. He had those three RBI. Right fielder Adduci was 2 for 5 and scored once. He also stole two bases.
This is the end of the minor league season for the Cubs farm system. I want to thank all of you for reading all summer and sharing your experiences at minor league parks across the country. I want to thank everyone who commented in the threads and encourage more of you to chip in next season. I'll be back later in the week to let you all vote for the BCB Minor League Player and Pitcher of the year.
Just like the Cubs and Smokies, I can't wait until next year.
The Tennessee Smokies scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Mobile BayBears, 4-2. The win staved off elimination in the Southern League Championship Series. They now trail Mobile in the best-of-five series two games to one.
Ryan Seale got the start against Moblie's ace Tyler Scaggs, but Searle didn't get any help from his defense in the first inning. After a leadoff single, a passed ball moved the runner to second base who then scored on an error by second baseman Nate Samson. A wild pitch then allowed BayBear first baseman Ryan Wheeler to score all the way from second base and the Smokies found themselves down 2-0 before they even came to bat.
But the Smokies pitching staff didn't allow another run to score the rest of the game. Searle pitched five innings and gave up two unearned runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out three. Searle was relieved by Hung-Wen Chen, who pitched two shutout innings, allowing only one hit. He didn't walk anyone and struck out one.
The Smokies got on the board in the bottom of the second inning to make it 2-1 on a Nate Samson double that scored Rebel Ridling. Samson was 1 for 4 tonight.
Jeff Beliveau threw a scoreless inning in the top of the eighth inning and got the win when the Smokies struck back for three runs in the bottom of the inning. Pinch-hitter Nelson Perez tied the game with a lead-off home run. The next batter, Jim Adduci, walked. After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk, Rebel Ridling singled home Adduci with the go-ahead run. The Smokies got another run with two outs in the eighth inning on a BayBear error.
Rafael Dolis entered the game in the ninth inning and despite giving the Smokies faithful a scare, he nailed down the save. Dolis allowed two baserunners on a hit batsman and a single, but got a long fly out to end the game. Dolis had one strike out.
The Smokies will try to force a fifth game tomorrow as they take the field at 4 pm Central Time. Trey McNutt is scheduled to pitch for the Smokies.
The Tennessee Smokies lost a heartbreaker tonight in Game 2 of the Southern League Championship Series, 1-0 in 11 innings to the Mobile Bay Bears (Diamondbacks).
This was a game of missed opportunities for the Smokies as their pitching couldn't have been better. But the Smokies had runners in scoring position in the first, second, eighth and tenth innings and failed to cash in each time. The first inning was especially frustrating as Jim Adduci lead off with a single and stole second, but when the throw went into center field, Adduci tried to advance to third base where he was thrown out. One batter later, Blake Lalli doubled.
In the eighth inning, the Smokies got another double from Lalli with two outs, and pinch-runner David Macias advanced to third on a wild pitch. But Macias was stranded when Rebel Ridling grounded out.
The Smokies pitching and defense was so strong, that through ten innings the BayBears sent the minimum thirty batters to the plate. They were helped out by four double plays and a pick-off play at first. Starter Brooks Raley pitched six innings and allowed but one hit. He didn't walk anyone and struck out five. But Raley was matched by Diamondbacks top prospect Jarrod Parker, who was strong for six innings after pitching out of trouble in the first and second innings.
Raley was relieved by Jeff Stevens, who threw a scoreless inning and Jeff Beliveau, who threw two scoreless innings.
Rafael Dolis came out to pitch the tenth inning and allowed a leadoff single but picked that runner off of first base. Then after an infield error, Dolis induced a 6-4-3 double play. But then he allowed a leadoff single in the eleventh inning. After a strikeout and a pop up, Dolis allowed two straight two-out singles to allow the winning run.
The Smokies had six hits tonight. First baseman Lalli was 2 for 4 with two doubles.
The Smokies are off tomorrow as the two teams travel back to Eastern Tennessee for Game 3 of the best-of-five series. Ryan Searle is scheduled to take the mound against BayBears pitcher Tyler Scaggs.
For the third straight season, the Smokies have made the Southern League Championship Series. Unfortunately, tonight they gave up five runs with two outs in the third inning and fell to the Mobile Bay Bears (Diamondbacks), 6-3.
Smokies veteran Marco Carrillo, who is playing in his fourth straight season in Tennessee, got the start tonight and got into major trouble after two were out in the third. Although he surrendered a lead-off double, he looked to be getting out of it after he struck out the next two batters. But then he hit the next batter on a ball he bounced up to the plate. After a walk, a two-run single and a three-run home run, the Smokies 1-0 lead had become a 5-1 deficit that they never recovered from. Carrillo's final line was 2.2 innings pitched, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk. Carrillo struck out those two batters.
Oswaldo Martinez relieved Carrillo and while he got out of the third inning with no further damage, in the fourth inning he allowed a rare unearned run on a lead-off home run after catcher Steve Clevenger dropped a foul pop up.
Center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha gave the Smokies an early lead on a solo home run in the top of the first inning. Ha was 2 for 4.
The only other runs the Smokies scored tonight came off of a two-run pinch-hit home run by Ty Wright in the fifth inning.
The Smokies will try to even up the best-of-five series tomorrow night in Mobile at 7:05 Central Time. As always, you can listen to the game with our friends at the Smokies Radio Network.
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