My List of Cubs Top Prospects Mid-Season

Top Five

1. Brett Jackson: Jackson is on the fast track to the majors. He was the Cubs top pick in the 2009 draft. He has had a few injuries this season so far, but is still having a great year. He is considered a 5-tool prospect.  For AA, he is batting .273, 10 homeruns, and 32 runs bated in. ETA 2012

2. Matt Szczur: For more on Szczur read, Cubs Prospect, Matt Szczur. ETA 2014

3. Josh Vitters: Vitters was the Cubs top pick in the 2007 draft. He has been a late bloomer, but it seems this year he is starting to figure it out. Scouts believe he can hit in the majors, but he needs to work on his plate discipline and defense.  Vitters is batting .275, with 7 homeruns, and 38 runs batted in. ETA late 2013

4. Ryan Flaherty: Flaherty has been the biggest surprise in the Cubs farm system and is on the fast track to the majors also. In 2008, he was chosen in the compensation first round. He is a utility man for the AA team as he has played in the outfield and infield. He is batting, .302, with 14 homeruns and 65 runs batted in. Look for him in a Cub uniform in September. ETA 2011

5. Chris Carpenter: Carpenter has been up and down between the majors and the minors. He used to be a starter, but now is a reliever. He is a flamethrower throwing over 100MPH. The only knock on him is is control. If he can improve on his control, look for him to be a set up guy or closer for the Cubs in the future. ETA 2011

Other Cubs Top Prospects

Trey McNutt

Austin Kirk

Junior Lake

Robert Whitenack

Wellington Castillo

Trade Candidate, Maron Byrd

Marlon Byrd is currently playing center field for the Cubs, but by the time August rolls around that could change. In Byrd’s first year as a Cubs he hit .293, with 12 homeruns, and 66 run batted in and was a fan favorite for how hard he played. Many fans feel that he was cheated out of the gold glove for center fielde because of how many spectacular plays he made almost every game and only had three errors.

Byrd was off to a great start to his season until he was hit in the face with a pitch against the Boston Red Sox’s. On May 21, Alfredo Aceves hit Byrd in the face with a fastball and caused multiple fractures in his face. Byrd was put on the 15-day disabled list and was out for a little but over a month.

Now Byrd is back facing the challenge of standing back in the batters box and try and not worry about getting hit in the face. He is wearing a new batting helmet that protects his left side of his face. Byrd has not shown any fear of batting and could be trade bait later this month. If he can prove to other teams that he has no effects from his injury, he could be on the move. Teams that are looking for outfield help include the: Washington Nationals, Cleveland Indians. San Francisco Giants, and the Atlanta Braves. Byrd is still relative young and should be fresh after spending time on the disabled list. I do not think the Cubs will be trying to move him, but if the right trade comes along, look for the cubs to listen.

Cubs Prospect, Matt Szczur

Matt Szczur played college football and baseball at Villanova University. He was an outstanding wide receiver for the Wildcats.  His best game for the Wildcats was when he gained 270 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns in a winning effort in the 2009 FCS National Championship. He would have been drafted in the NLF draft if he decided to go the football route; instead he decided to play professional baseball.  Szczur signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs organization, which drafted him in the fifth-round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. After the 2010 season, Szczur committed to baseball and signed a $1.5 million deal with the Cubs in January 2011.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Szczur is batting .317 with 5 homers, 27 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases. He plays center field for the Cubs minor league affiliated, Class-A Peoria Chiefs. Szczur was elected to play in the 2011 All-Star weekend Future Game, where all the best prospects in baseball get a chance to show the world what they can do; he will play for the USA team. Szczur is considered one of the best outfield prospects in baseball and is the Cubs 8^th best overall prospect coming into the 2011 season. We do not know how long it will take for him to develop, 2-3 more years, but we can be sure that one day, if he is not traded, he will be playing for the Chicago Cubs. Look for him to get some playing time in the Future Game All-Star weekend; he is the lone Cubs prospect to be elected to the game.

Will Castro Start the 2011 All-Star Game?

Starling Castro is having a magnificent season and is one of the youngest all stars on the NL team this year. Some people even consider him a franchise player. Since both Jose Reyes and Troy Tulowitzki will not be able to play in the All-Star game, Bruce Bochy must give him a look.  Bochy is the manager for the National League team and he picked Mike Quade as one of his coaches, so that cannot hurt Castro’s chance. Castro is batting .307, with 2 homeruns, 38 runs batted in, and 10 stolen bases on the season so far. His numbers are outstanding and should get a look.

However, Castro is very young and his defense at times this year has been shaky. That being said, Bochy might no give chance the chance to start at short  to veteran infielder of the Reds, Brandon Phillips. Phillips is having a really good year, batting .293 with 8 homeruns and 47 runs batted in. Phillips is a gold glove caliber player and can also swing the bat. He is going to be an asset for the NL team.

Even if Castro does not get the start for the NL in the 2011 All-Star game, he is still going to get a chance to play. He is going to  be a big factor in the up coming game. Castro is going to be an all-star for years to come and he will get his chance to start the game. Will it be this year, I do not know, but it will be in the not to distant future.

13 Things I learned From Class

I learned about :
1. Landing pages
2. How to put advertisements on my website using Google AdSense and make money
3. How to create and submit ezine articles to an online database
4. How to set up a Kontactr account to recieve emails so your email address does not get spam
5. How to promote another blog post
6. How to create my own products on cafepress
7. The importance of pillar articles in establishing credibility
8. How key words effects how search engines find your website
9. Importance of other links in your niche area in being discovered by search engines
10. How to track the number of visitors on my website and blog using counters and Google Analytics
11. How to add HTML and Links to my website, such as Buttons and Descriptive and Word Hyper Links
12. How search engines uses an algorithm to find your website by using key word
13. How to submit my website to a search engine

Evergreen Park Native, Tom Gorzelanny

Today the Chicago Cubs will face former Cubs pitcher and Evergreen Park native Tom Gorzelanny. Gorzelanny got traded to the Nationals in the 2010 offseason because the Cubs were trying to cut some payroll. Gorzelanny is have a decent season and would be a solid 5^th starter for the Cubs, who have not been able to solidify that 5^th spot since Andrew Cashner went down in April. Gorzelanny has a 3.77 ERA and is 2 and 6 on the season.

Gorzelanny was traded on July 30, 2009 to the Chicago Cubs along with John Grabow for Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio. Grabow is still with the Cubs. Gorzelanny pitched well for the Cubs in 2010. In 2010, Gorzelanny won a spot in the Cubs starting rotation and compiled a high strikeout rate and an ERA below 4 through September 2010. However, that just was not good enough for the Cubs to keep him around in 2010.

In January 17, 2011, the Washington Nationals acquired the former Evergreen Park, IL native, Gorzelanny from the Cubs for prospects Michael Burgess, A. J. Morris, and Graham Hicks. Gorzelanny became expendable to the Cubs after they traded for Matt Garza ten days earlier. Gorzelanny features three main pitches, including a low 90's four-seam fastball that can occasionally reach the mid-90's, a sharp slider with good movement, and a deceptive mid to low 80's change-up. Gorzelanny will never be a top of the rotation starter, but he is a pitcher who can be a solid end of the rotation or long reliever. Look for Gorzelanny to pitch at least 5-inning against him former team tonight.

International Success Key to Long Term Success

It is no secrete that the Cubs Organization wants to be better as a whole. Tom Ricketts has said that he is going to start to put more money into the farm system and international player development. As recently as this week, Tom Ricketts has started to put his money where is mouth is by signing some highly touted international prospects. Many of these prospects are only 16-years old, so we will not see them for quite some time. However, the Cubs did sign Starling Castro when he was 16 and you cannot argue with the results.

Earlier this week the Cubs signed an international prospect from the Dominican Republic. They signed 16-year-old shortstop Enrique Acosta who they landed for a bonus of $1.1 million. Acosta is a highly regarded hitting prospect that projects as either a third baseman or an outfielder down the road. Today, the Cubs went into Venezuela and landed a much sought after catcher in 16-year-old Mark Malave and a 16-year-old third baseman in Ricardo Marcano. All three players were projected as top international prospects and the Cubs have to be glad that they land all three. This year, the Cubs spending on international players have doubled what they have done in the past.

Championships teams are built from the bottom up. With that being said, the Cubs plan on starting to home grown their own players. Look at an organization like the Tampa Bay Rays, they do not have a lot of money, but they draft well and develop players well and they have started to see results on the field. I believe the Cubs are trying to duplicate the Rays success.

Player of the Week, Aramis Ramirez

There has not been a hotter player in the NL than Aramis Ramirez. He has to be the least excited player that the All-Star breaker is coming up. After leading the Majors with six home runs in an eight-game span last week, Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez was named the National League Player of the Week. The league announced this on Tuesday. To go along with the 6 homeruns, Ramirez hit .393 with 10 RBIs and a 1.071 slugging percentage over the eight games, and the 33-year-old was also tied for first in the NL with nine runs scored.

I have said before that I believe Ramirez is going to get traded and his value has not been higher than it is right now. He has a no trade clause, but I believe he would like to keep improving his market value, as he will be a free agent next year. Saying that, I think if Cubs management asked him to waive his no trade clause he would at a chance to win a world series.

The right-hander is batting .295 this season with 12 home runs and is tied for the club led with 44 RBIs. Ramirez leads the NL is homeruns and RBI’s and he would definitely be an asset to anyone who would want him. Ramirez came to the Cubs in 2003 to try and help the Cubs win the World Series, so it would only be fitting that he was traded from the Cubs to help some other team try and win.

Who is Roman Ortiz?

Roman Ortiz is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. He has previously pitched in Major Leagues for the Anaheim Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Anaheim Angels signed Ortiz as an international free agent in 1995 and he made his Major League debut on August 19, 1999. On August 9, 1999, he started for the Angels against the Chicago White Sox and pitched eight innings against them and got the win. His best season was 2002, when he went 15-9 with a 3.77 ERA for the Angels. He earned the win in Game 3 of the 2002 World Series against the San Francisco Giants. In 2003, he set a career high with 16 victories.

In 2004, the Angels traded Ortiz to the Cincinnati Reds. Then two years later in 2006, Ortiz signed with the Washington Nationals as a free agent prior to the season. In 2007, Ortiz signed with the Minnesota Twins for a one-year deal, but was later traded to the Rockies mid-season.  In 2009, Ortiz signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the San Francisco Giants. In 2010, he signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers and then in 2011 he signed with the Cubs.

The once highly touted international prospect is now 38 years old and is going to make a start for the Cubs today against the Washington Nationals. Ortiz is only pitching because Dempster and Zambrano are both hurt. I do not expect him to be around when they Cubs once again get healthy.

The Coleman Legacy

The Cubs drafted Coleman in the 15th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Amateur Player. He made his major league debuted August 2, 2010. Coleman earned his first major league win on August 23, 2010 with a 9-1 victory against the Washington Nationals. He also pitched against the Nationals today and did quite well and for more on that check out my post, No Fireworksfor The Cubs.

Both Coleman’s father and grandfather were pitchers in the Major Leagues, making Coleman a third-generation player in the MLB. His father, Joe, played from 1965 to 1979 and his grandfather, Joe, played from 1942 to 1955. The Coleman family is the forth family of third-generation players, but they are the first third-generation pitcher family in Major League history.

In four seasons in the minors, Coleman has a 30-17 record in the minors with a 3.72 E.R.A. However his minor league success has not translated to success in the majors. He is 6-6 with a 5.50 E.R.A. in 22 career games. This season he is 2-4 with a 7.78 E.R.A and has not looked go in most of his starts. Coleman does not throw hard with his fastball toping out around 90 MPH.  Coleman has struggled a lot this year and it has made fans wonder if he will ever figure it out. There may not place for him in the Cubs rotation and maybe a chance of scenery will do him well or maybe he will just be considered a “AAAA” player for the rest of his career.

No Fireworks for The Cubs

Today is the 4^th of July and the Cubs were hoping to make some fireworks of their own, but they fell short in the 10^th inning. After Jason Werth, who the Nationals signed in the offseason for 7 years at $126 million, walked to lead off the 10^th. Werth is only batting .176 since June 1^st and has gotten his fair share of boo’s this year. He was bunted to second. Then after he stunned the ballpark by swiping 3rd, Werth crossed home plate with his arms raised after a wild pitch by Cubs closer, Carlos Marmol. Soon those boo’s Werth heard earlier turned to cheers and the long list of Cubs disappointments this year continues.

Casey Coleman started the game for the Cubs because Ryan Dempster could not go; He was out with the flu. Colemen was off to a rough start by giving up two runs in the first and it look like it was going to be another one of those games for the Cubs. He then settled down and gave the Cubs five solid innings giving up only those two runs. He left the game with the Cubs leading 3-2 and with the Cubs solid group of late inning relievers; I thought that this game might be over.

Once again Mike Quade got caught playing the matchups and not having faith in his relievers. This was ultimately the Cubs down down fall in this game. Jeff Samardzija came in for Coleman and was solid. Instead of living him in after only pitching .2 innings, the Cubs turned it over to Marshall, Wood, and Marmol, who could not hold a two run lead. Once again, this game left Cubs fan scratching their head with another Cubs loss.

The Truth About the Cubs and Sox

In this post written by Jon Greenberg, a writer for The Cubs Report on ESPNChicago, talks about the Why the White Sox, Cubs series are not as exciting as they used to be, how things will be better for the Cubs when Jim Hendry, Mike Quade, and Crane Kenney, how the White Sox’s must address Ozzie Guillen’s contract, how the Cubs need a fire sale, and how the White Sox’s will win the AL central.

Why the White Sox, Cubs series are not as exciting as they used to be.

He first talks about how both teams records are bad and then goes on to talk about how the buzz around the series peaked in 2006, when A.J. Pierzynski and Michael Barrett started a bench-clearing brawl.

How things will be better for the Cubs when Jim Hendry, Mike Quade, and Crane Kenney.

He talks about how he thinks that Hendry's days are numbered in Chicago. Also he goes on to say that he did not think that Hendry would be the long-term answer, and nothing has changed his mind this season.

How the White Sox’s must address Ozzie Guillen’s contract.

Jon is on board with the Sox’s extending Ozzie. He says that Ozzie is the perfect manager for the White Sox’s.

How the Cubs need a fire sale.

He also believes in order for the Cubs to get back into contention, the Cubs must have a fire sale and get rid of all their players like the Marlins have done in the past.

How the White Sox’s will win the AL central.

 He feels like the white Sox’s have the best overall team and should win the AL Central over the Tigers.

This is just a preview of the post; to read more, clickhere.

Memorable Events in Cubs History, July.

As June has come to an end, the Cubs have realistically no shot at the playoffs, so I decided to take a look at some of the Cubs most memorable events in July.

• July 31, 1910, King Cole pitches an abbreviated no-hitter against Cards in St Louis, 4-0. 
• July 1, 1935, The Cubs play their first road night game, defeating the Reds 8-4 in Crosley Field.
• July 8, 1947, Wrigley Field hosts the all-star game for the first time.
• July 3, 1960, Ron Santo hits first ML home run against Reds during in a 7-5 win in Wrigley Field.
• July 4, 1966, Cubs third basemen Ron Santo, extends his hit streak to 27 and 28 in a double header, after returning to the lineup after getting HBP on June 26, 1966.
• July 21, 1971, Don Kessinger ties ML records for starting 4 DP's in a 11-7 win over the Mets at Wrigley Field.
• July 6, 1980, Cubs lose a 20-inning game, losing to Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium 5-4. 
• July 1, 1987, Greg Maddux pitches his first career shutout defeating the Expos 1-0 in Montreal.
• July 21, 1989, Dwight Smith signs National Anthem. 
• July 28, 1990, Shawon Dunston ties ML record with 3 3B's in a 10-7 win over Expos in Montreal.
• July 2, 1993, Sammy Sosa has a six hit game during an 11-8 win over Rockies in Denver.
• July 3,1993, Ryne Sandberg gets his 2000 hit of career during a 5-4 loss to Rockies in Denver.
• July 27, 1998, Sammy Sosa hits his first ML grand slam. He holds a modern day record for the most HR's in a career without hitting a grand slam (247). Sosa also drives in all 6 runs in a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks. 
• July 22, 2003, Cubs trade Jose Hernandez, Matt Brubeck and a player to be named later for Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton. Both Ramirez and Lofton played pivotal roles in leading the Cubs to the 2003 playoffs. 
• July 31, 2004, Cubs acquire Nomar Garciaparra in a 4-team trade with the Red Sox, Twins and Montreal Expos.