not unlike the Cubs did, aye?

The Cubs got a bit more for Garza than Olt.

Namely, the next Adam Wainwright and Pedro Martinez.

<3 as was I.

Unless the Cubs did get the next Wainwright and the next Pedro, which in that case....#yoloswag

Olt is hitting .345 in the minors.

Keeps that up and there could be a pitcher on the way from some team that thinks they're smart.

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2014/08/daily-cub-minors-recap-soler-hrs-bryant-to-stay-at-iowa-almora-hurt/

A couple excerpts:


Bill McKinney is beginning to look like an absolute steal. 2 more hits and 2 more walks left him at .340/.439/.470 since joining Daytona. He has a .360 OBP and 11 HRs between the two levels this year.

Jorge Soler went 2 for 3, hitting his 5th HR, a double, 2 walks, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored. He was only retired in his last AB, which was a strikeout. It has been a remarkable season for the RF'er who is still just 22 years old and on the doorstep of the major leagues. He has 10 walks vs. 11 Ks at the AAA level. It's really hard to make sense of Soler's numbers as he has had just 165 PAs in 46 games, most of which have come at the AA and AAA levels. His total numbers? .377/.473/.783 with 12 HRs, Wow, just wow. At Iowa he is hitting .313/.431/.750. Not too shabby either. Including the playoffs he can still accumulate another 100+ PAs and approach 300 for the year and my guess is they will let him do that, but unlike Bryant, it doesn't cost the Cubs anything but a 25 man roster spot to call him up.

Dan Straily's combined stats over his past 3 starts:
19IP 12H 2R 0ER 4BB 18SO

ERA has dropped from 4.99 to 3.00.

McKinney is batting over .300 in High-A and Russell is at .300 or around.

Ya gotta hope someone out of Straily/Turner/Doubront will become a nice 4th/5th starter. Maybe next year 1 or 2 pitch out of their minds like Hammel/Maholm/Feldman and you flip the guy if it's unsustainable since you can't have a rotation of 4th and 5th starters.

Well, next year there is a full boat of 4th & 5th starting candidates:
Wood
Hendricks (so far so good)
Straily
Turner
Doubront
Jokisch

You hope one of them could possibly elevate to a 3 but none of them have great raw stuff other than Turner. They're all soft tossers with high 80s low 90s fastballs. You do need more than 5 starters to get through 162 so I see Theo's strategy and of course all these guys becoming anything isn't guaranteed.

Ben Badler‏@BenBadler
If he had enough plate appearances to qualify, Jorge Soler would lead the minors in OPS. Since he doesn't, it's Kris Bryant.

Ben Badler sounds like a name we could have some fun with on this board...like that guy who worked for the Fire a few years back

Thanks for the update RPB.