Cubs Cuts
Over the last 24 hours the Cubs have made a number of cuts, none of which are surprising. The team sent the following 3 guys to AAA: Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol and Geovany Soto while the following non-roster players were sent to minor league camp: Ryan O'Malley, Carmen Pignatiello, Casey McGehee, Micah Hoffpauir and Jake Fox. The team is now down to 36 players in the major league camp with only 2 real races going on. One is the final bullpen spot and the other is for the spot of utility IF or OF.
The bullpen spot is down between Rocky Cherry and Angel Guzman both of whom could end up in the minors if Kerry Wood shows that his arm is healthy enough not to end on the DL. This might be best for Guzman so he can get some innings in the minors as a starter and be the first person recalled to take Wade Miller's place if he falters or gets hurt. I left Roberto Novoa out of the equation becuase I suspect the Cubs will have him start the season on DL to make up for his missed time (though I don't think much of him while he is healthy).
The last spot on the bench looks to be between Buck Coats, Ronny Cedeno, Angel Pagan and Tomas Perez. While I stated early in camp that I wanted Cedeno to be starting SS, I think Izturis has earned the job and it would be better for Cedeno to be in the minors. That said, I think either Pagan or Perez will win the spot on the roster. I say this because even though Coats has come out of nowhere, there really is no place for him to play and he wouldn't help the team overall. Pagan has the inside track due to last season, but he also has been hampered by lingering injuries during camp and isn't any better than a 5th OF anyway. The Cubs might just decide to keep non-roster invitee Tomas Perez. My problem with Tomas Perez is that he is a clone player of Jose Macias (who is available again, maybe I shouldn't say this). This would be the equivalent of having a 24 man roster like the mid 80's experiment.
The bullpen spot is down between Rocky Cherry and Angel Guzman both of whom could end up in the minors if Kerry Wood shows that his arm is healthy enough not to end on the DL. This might be best for Guzman so he can get some innings in the minors as a starter and be the first person recalled to take Wade Miller's place if he falters or gets hurt. I left Roberto Novoa out of the equation becuase I suspect the Cubs will have him start the season on DL to make up for his missed time (though I don't think much of him while he is healthy).
The last spot on the bench looks to be between Buck Coats, Ronny Cedeno, Angel Pagan and Tomas Perez. While I stated early in camp that I wanted Cedeno to be starting SS, I think Izturis has earned the job and it would be better for Cedeno to be in the minors. That said, I think either Pagan or Perez will win the spot on the roster. I say this because even though Coats has come out of nowhere, there really is no place for him to play and he wouldn't help the team overall. Pagan has the inside track due to last season, but he also has been hampered by lingering injuries during camp and isn't any better than a 5th OF anyway. The Cubs might just decide to keep non-roster invitee Tomas Perez. My problem with Tomas Perez is that he is a clone player of Jose Macias (who is available again, maybe I shouldn't say this). This would be the equivalent of having a 24 man roster like the mid 80's experiment.
posted by Greg Abcarian at
1:24 PM
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