July 2011
7/31 Trade deadline update
The Cubs may not have made a deal by the 3 p.m. CT Trade Deadline, but they can still make a trade in August. Expect some action then.
“To make a trade today to say we made one and get somebody who we don’t think is the caliber that I’d expect in return, I have no problem not moving the people we didn’t move,” GM Jim Hendry said Sunday.
The Cubs did deal Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians for two Minor Leaguers on Thursday. The move was to make room for Tyler Colvin; the Cubs want to find out if he’s an everyday big league outfielder.
It may be hard for fans to stomach any inactivity. They see a team that’s 23 games out in the National League Central. Hendry knows that.
“Everybody says ‘Oh, you didn’t do something by 3 o’clock today — this is a disaster, that’s a disaster’ — I don’t put much stock into that,” Hendry said. “The guys we kept are for the most part guys who still have a chance to be involved next year.
“If we do make a trade or two in August,” he said, “it’s no more or less significant than if we made one today.”
– Carrie Muskat
7/31 Cubs lineup
Reed Johnson is leading off and playing in right field Sunday for the Cubs in the series finale against the Cardinals. Johnson is 2-for-7 against Jake Westbrook; Tyler Colvin has not faced the right-hander. Chicago is 1-7 against St. Louis this season, including 0-5 at Busch Stadium. Here’s the lineup:
RF Johnson
SS Castro
3B Ramirez
1B Pena
CF Byrd
LF Soriano
2B Barney
C Hill
P Dempster
– Carrie Muskat
7/31 Trade Deadline passes
The Trade Deadline passed on Sunday with the Cubs standing pat.
The team did not make a move by Sunday’s 3 p.m. CT deadline, although Cubs GM Jim Hendry did tweak the roster earlier in the week when he sent outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians for two Minor Leaguers on Thursday.
The move was a first step toward 2012. It’s not that outfielder Abner Abreu and pitcher Carlton Smith, who were acquired from the Indians, are close to being Major League ready. This year is the last of Fukudome’s contract with the Cubs and the team wants outfielder Tyler Colvin to play more.
Colvin was on the Opening Day roster but scuffled with part-time at-bats, hitting .191 on May 13 when he was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.
The Cubs’ No. 1 pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, Colvin batted .256 at Iowa with seven homers, 12 doubles, six triples and 32 RBIs. The hope is that with regular at-bats, he’ll find the power stroke that produced 20 homers last season. He has started two of three games since rejoining the team; Colvin was not in the lineup Sunday.
“The goal was to move a few pieces that we knew weren’t coming back,” Hendry said Friday.
If you followed the rumors on the Internet, it appeared that teams contacted the Cubs regarding Carlos Pena, Marlon Byrd and possibly Carlos Marmol. However, the reality is there was interest in players the Cubs didn’t want to part with, such as Sean Marshall and Jeff Baker.
Looking ahead, the Cubs do have a lot of money coming off the books in 2012, and are obligated for about $72.6 million, including $19 million for Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano and $14 million for Ryan Dempster. Players who are arbitration eligible include Matt Garza, Geovany Soto, Baker, Koyie Hill, Randy Wells, and Blake DeWitt.
They will have to make decisions on both Pena and Aramis Ramirez. Do they keep Pena, a solid defensive first baseman who is as advertised — a streaky hitter with power. The Cubs don’t have a first baseman in the Minor Leagues who is close to being ready.
What about Ramirez? The list of potential free agent third baseman whom Hendry can consider includes Wilson Betemit, Casey Blake, Eric Chavez, Mark DeRosa, Greg Dobbs, Edwin Encarnacion, Wes Helms, Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada and Omar Vizquel. The Cubs’ best move may be keeping Ramirez.
Now that the non-waiver Trade Deadline has passed, deals involving players on the 40-man roster cannot be made unless the players already have cleared waivers. In other words, the player must be offered to the other teams in reverse order of the standings, and if he is claimed by one of the teams, he cannot be traded. The club that placed the player on waivers can either withdraw the request and keep the player, or let the player go to the claiming team, which would then have the rights to the player.
Last year, both Derrek Lee and Mike Fontenot were traded in August, with Lee going to the Braves and Fontenot to the Giants.
– Carrie Muskat
7/31 Extra bases
Some Cubs notes to pass the time as we wait for the Trade Deadline to pass:
* The Cubs now are 33-23 when they score at least four runs, good for a .589 winning percentage. When they score three runs or less, they’re 9-42. Saturday’s game was the fifth time since the start of June that they’ve scored more than four runs and lost the game.
* Ryan Dempster will make his 347th appearance as a Cub on Sunday night. That moves him past Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown” into 10th for appearances in franchise history.
* Aramis Ramirez heads into the final game of July with nine home runs and 23 RBIs. He has nearly matched the rest of the team combined for home runs in July. The rest of the Cubs have hit 10.
* James Russell’s scoreless streak ended on Saturday at 14 1/3 innings. That’s the fifth longest streak by a Cubs lefty reliever since 2000. Russell has a 1.69 ERA in 33 relief outings in which he’s thrown 1 1/3 or fewer innings per appearance.
* Geovany Soto posted his first RBI since July 23 on Saturday, and first multiple RBI game since June 30.
* Pitching probables for Cubs’ next series vs. the Pirates:
Monday: Carlos Zambrano (7-6, 4.59 ERA) vs. Paul Maholm (6-10, 3.16 ERA)
Tuesday: Randy Wells (2-4, 6.16 ERA) vs. Kevin Correia (12-8, 4.24 ERA)
Wednesday: Matt Garza (4-8, 3.99 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (8-6, 4.04 ERA)
Thusday: Rodrigo Lopez (2-3, 4.40 ERA) vs. James McDonald (7-5, 4.17 ERA)
– Carrie Muskat
7/31 Minor League report
Brett Jackson hit his third homer and second in as many games but it wasn’t enough as Iowa lost, 6-3, to Memphis. Jackson tied the game at 3 with his solo shot in the sixth. He’s 8-for-21 in his last six games, and batting .241 overall. Steve Clevenger had three hits. Chris Carpenter took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings in relief.
Tennessee scored six runs in the sixth to beat Montgomery, 8-2. Blake Lalli had two hits, including a two-run single in the sixth.
David Macias drove in all three runs as Daytona edged Jupiter, 3-2. Macias broke up Jupiter’s no-hit bid with a single in the fifth, and with two outs in the ninth, hit a two-run walkoff single.
Anthony Giansanti hit a RBI triple in the ninth to help Peoria beat Clinton, 3-1. Taiwan Easterling tied the game with a RBI single in the sixth.
Rafael Lopez and Reggie Golden each homered in Boise’s 8-7 loss to Everett. Golden had two hits to end an 0-for-15 skid.
– Carrie Muskat
7/30 Cubs lineup
The Cubs will try to avoid dropping to a season-low 23-games under .500 as they tackle the Cardinals in Game 2 of their three-game series on Saturday. Here’s the lineup:
SS Castro
2B Barney
3B Ramirez
1B Pena
CF Byrd
C Soto
LF Soriano
RF Colvin
P Lopez
– Carrie Muskat
7/30 Minor League report
Chris Rusin gave up one run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings in Iowa’s 1-0 loss to New Orleans in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday. The I-Cubs totaled four hits. In the second game, Brett Jackson had three hits, including his second homer since joining Iowa, in a 5-1 win. Jackson is 7-for-18 with four runs, one double, two homers and four RBIs in his last five games.
Ty Wright and Josh Vitters each homered in Tennessee’s 7-4 loss to Montgomery. Vitters went 3-for-4 with one RBIs. He’s batting .301 since the beginning of June. Rebel Ridling had two doubles.
Greg Rohan hit his third homer but Daytona lost, 8-4, to Jupiter. Angel Guzman started and gave up one run on two hits over two innings. It was Starlin Castro bobblehead night, and, unfortunately, Daytona shortstop, Rafael Valdes made three errors. Abner Abreu, acquired from the Indians in the Kosuke Fukudome deal, made his debut for Daytona. He singled in the seventh inning.
Luis Liria gave up six runs — three earned — on six hits over two innings in Peoria’s 11-3 loss to Quad Cities. Rubi Silva and Richard Jones each had two hits.
Yao-Lin Wang gave up two runs on seven hits in Boise’s 2-0 loss to Everett. Pin-Chieh Chen had two hits and two stolen bases.
Mesa totaled 24 hits in a 24-4 win over the Reds. Only four of the hits were for extra-bases. Taylor Davis and Kyung-Min Na each had four hits and Gregori Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
– Carrie Muskat
7/29 Saturday’s starter: Rodrigo Lopez
On Saturday, Rodrigo Lopez returns to the mound for the Cubs, his first start since July 18. The right-hander has had to battle to stay in the big leagues, including spending time on the DL because he needed Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
“It’s been tough to establish myself in the big leagues,” Lopez said. “I guess a lot of factors are involved. I don’t think my age has taken anything from my skills. My velocity hs been pretty consistent, 88 to 90 [miles an hour]. I’ve never been a power pitcher.”
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