Chicago Cubs | MLB 12 The Show

[k_mac]

June Standings
Cubs Fall
6/30/12

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[k_mac]

MLB News
All-Star Break
7/12/12

2012 MLB All-Star Game Rosters
American League		National League
Manager: Joe Girardi		Manager: Ozzie Guillen
Pos	Starters	Pos	Starters
RF	Ichiro Suzuki	SS	Jose Reyes
2B	Robinson Cano	2B	Starlin Castro
3B	Miguel Cabrera	1B	Joey Votto
DH	Prince Fielder	RF	Michael Stanton
1B	Adrian Gonzalez	LF	Ryan Braun
CF	Curtis Granderson	CF	Matt Kemp
C	Joe Mauer	DH	Hunter Pence
LF	Alex Gordon	3B	Hanley Ramirez
SS	Alex Rodriguez	C	Buster Posey
Pos	Pitchers & Reserves	Pos	Pitchers & Reserves
SP	Brandon Morrow	SP	Stephen Strasburg
SP	Jusitn Verlander	SP	Cole Hamels
SP	Josh Beckett	SP	Randy Wolf
SP	Max Scherzer	SP	Juan Nicasio
SP	C.J. Wilson	SP	Tim Lincecum
RP	Dan Wheeler	RP	Todd Coffey
CP	Chris Perez	CP	Henry Rodriguez
CP	Joe Nathan	CP	Rafael Betancourt
CP	Matt Capps	CP	J.J. Putz
CP	Hector Santiago	CP	Sean Marshall
CP	Jim Johnson	CP	Jonathon Papelbon
CP	Brandon League	CP	Heath Bell
C	A.J. Pierzynski	C	Yadier Molina
C	Kurt Suzuki	C	Brian McCann
1B	Nick Johnson	1B	Carlos Lee
1B	Eric Hosmer	1B	Lance Berkman
2B	Jeff Keppinger	2B	Neil Walker
SS	Johnny Peralta	3B	Chase Headly
SS	Yunel Escobar	3B	Pablo Sandobal
LF	Johnny Damon	SS	Ruben Tejada
LF	Raul Ibanez	LF	Chris Young
LF	Vernon Wells	CF	Andrew McCutchen
RF	Joey Bautista	RF	David DeJesus

The American League defeated the National League 2-1. Robinson Cano hit a walk-off home run to end the game.

Trade News

Trade 1

Mets Get:
Mike Trout- CF "A"
Alberto Callaspo- 3B "B"

Angels Get:
David Wright- 3B "B"

Notes: The Angels turned into buyers real quick, and gave up one of the best prospects in the entire league to upgrade their third base needs. Sitting only a half game above Texas in the National League West, Los Angeles felt that Wright was the best fit to win now. For the Mets, they get one of the top 5 prospects in the game right now. Trout will stay in AAA for the time being.

Trade 2

Diamondbacks Get:
Matt Garza- SP "A"
Darwin Barney- 2B "C"
Reed Johnson- CF "B"

Cubs Get:
Tyler Skaggs- SP "A"
Trevor Bauer- SP "A"
Adam Eaton- OF "B"

Notes: After the Cubs placed Matt Garza on the block, the Diamondbacks were the only team that had enough interest and the players to make the trade come together. Arizona is 2.5 games back on the Giants in the NL West, but sit at first in the wild card spot. Getting an ace like Garza was something the Diamondbacks needed to do if they wanted to secure a playoff spot. The Diamondbacks also had interest in Cub shortstop/second baseman Darwin Barney, so he was included in the deal as well. Reed Johnson expects to be a spot starter out in the desert, and was thrown in to make room on the MLB roster for prospect Brett Jackson. According to mlb.com's prospect watch, the Garza trade netted the Cubs Arizona's number 1, 3 and 15 prospects. More on this trade later.

[k_mac]

Out With the Old, In With the New
Scouting Reports on the 3 New Cubs
7/12/12

Trevor Bauer
Bats: R, Throws: R
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 185
Age: 21, DOB: 01/17/1991
Drafted: 2011, 1st (3)

Statistically speaking: Bauer made a total of nine starts, including the playoffs, during his summer debut. In two of them, he gave up a total of 17 runs in 4 2/3 innings. The rest of the time, he allowed just eight runs in 29 innings for a nifty 2.48 ERA. He struck out 43 in that span (13.3 per nine innings).

Scouting report: Bauer gets attention for some of his unorthodox methods, both in terms of his delivery style and his conditioning, eliciting comparisons to Tim Lincecum. He does a lot of long-tossing and has used many other techniques to allow his smaller frame to handle heavy workloads. That said, he can learn to be more efficient with his very fast repertoire. He has four outstanding pitches from which to choose. He can run his fastball up to 97 mph and sits comfortably in the mid-90s. His curve is a plus, top-to-bottom breaking ball. His slider is another plus offering. He also throws a very good changeup and a more-than-serviceable splitter. He’s willing to throw any of them at any point in the count. He showed by pitching well in Double-A that he’s the type of arm that should be big league ready in a hurry.

Tyler Skaggs
Bats: L, Throws: L
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 195
Age: 20, DOB: 07/13/1991
Drafted: 2009, 1st (40)

Statistically speaking: Skaggs’ numbers improved across the board in 2011, his first full season with the D-backs, compared with 2010. Even though he spent much of the year in the California League, Skaggs still finished with a lower ERA (2.96 vs. 3.29 in 2010) and hit rate (7.2 vs. 8.3 per nine) while improving his strikeout rate (11.3 vs. 9.3).

Scouting report: The 2011 Futures Game starter who came to the D-backs in the Dan Haren deal has three very good pitches from which to choose. He’s gained a few ticks on his fastball, which tops out at 92-93 but now sits comfortably in the 91 mph range. His curve is a plus breaking ball with a big break that misses a lot of bats. His changeup also has the chance to be a plus offering for the projectable left-hander. He commands all three pitches extremely well and gets high marks for his mound presence.

Upside potential: His stuff and command should allow him to be at least a No. 2 starter in the big leagues.

Adam Eaton
Bats: L, Throws: L
Height: 5' 8", Weight: 185
Age: 23, DOB: 12/06/1988
Drafted: 2010, 19th (571)

All the Miami of Ohio product has done since becoming a pro has hit. He made it to Double-A in his first full season and hit better than .300 in the playoffs to help Mobile win the Southern League title. He’s hit .340 overall and that doesn’t even count his .344 showing in the Arizona Fall League. He has a plus arm from the outfield and likes to bait runners so he can throw them out. He gives 100 percent effort at all times and could be an outstanding fourth outfielder at the very least.

- all from mlb.com's prospect watch

[Assassin]

Looks like you netted a good trade with Arizona. Those three prospects look like they could do well for the Cubs this year and in the future. Hopefully this will give your team a shot in the arm to get back up in the division race.

[Cabbie91]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrCub

Preseason News Part Two: Depth Chart/Roster 4/3/12 Chicago Cubs Depth Chart - 2012 Catcher Wellington Castillo Steve Clevenger First Base Anthony Rizzo Second Base Starlin Castro Adrian Cardenas Third Base Ian Stewart Jeff Baker Shortstop Darwin Barney Left Field Bryan LaHair Center Field Reed Johnson Tony Campana Right Field David DeJesus Starting Pitcher Ryan Dempster Matt Garza Jeff Samardzija Mike Minor Paul Maholm Randy Wells Relief Pitcher Lendy Castillo Shawn Camp Rodrigo Lopez Michael Bowden Rafael Dolis Justin Berg Closer James Russell Disabled List Marcos Mateo No, you didn't read that wrong. Starlin Castro has been moved to second base to start the 2012 year. Castro has spent all of spring training playing and learning his new position. Darwin Barney will take over at short for Castro. Castro's move may or may not be a surprise to you, if it is, then I'll lay it on you; Starlin Castro needs to improve his defense, and playing second takes his glove out of the game somewhat. So for the time being, he will man the other middle infield position. The coaches feel that Barney can handle shortstop and make all the plays necessary there. Another position change is Bryan LaHair playing left field. After Alfonso Soriano's departure, LaHair was placed in left to let up and coming star prospect Anthony Rizzo play first base. In the bullpen, James Russell has taken over for Carlos Marmol in the closing department. After Kerry Wood's retirement, youngsters like Rafael Dolis, Michael Bowden and Lendy Castillo will have big shoes to fill. Those three will compete throughout the year for the setup role. Starter Randy Wells will start the year in the bullpen, and if he needs to, will jump to the rotation. Starting, we have Dempster, Garza, Samardzija, Minor and Maholm in that order.

can i please ask how you did that depth chart/ score sheets etc? very cool layout!!!

[k_mac]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cabbie91

can i please ask how you did that depth chart/ score sheets etc? very cool layout!!!

http://dynasties.operationsports.com/index.php Head on over to the baseball section, they've got everything you need. Just create the table and copy the code over to your post and you've got it.

[Getty51]

Nice Trade

I'm wondering what your plan for the future is because you look pretty stacked in the field

C-Clevenger/Castillo
1B-Rizzo/LaHair
2B-Cardenas/Beckman/Lake/Baez/Castro
SS-Castro/Lake/Baez/Beckman
3B-Stewart/Vitters/Lake/Castro/Beckman/Baez
LF/RF-Lahair/DeJesus/Eaton/Jackon/Campana/Soler/Sappelt
CF-Campana/Jackson/Soler/DeJesus/Sappelt

If the pitching comes around that could be a ridiculous looking lineup to face provided they all turn into what they can be.

[k_mac]

Quote: Originally Posted by Getty51

Nice Trade I'm wondering what your plan for the future is because you look pretty stacked in the field C-Clevenger/Castillo 1B-Rizzo/LaHair 2B-Cardenas/Beckman/Lake/Baez/Castro SS-Castro/Lake/Baez/Beckman 3B-Stewart/Vitters/Lake/Castro/Beckman/Baez LF/RF-Lahair/DeJesus/Eaton/Jackon/Campana/Soler/Sappelt CF-Campana/Jackson/Soler/DeJesus/Sappelt If the pitching comes around that could be a ridiculous looking lineup to face provided they all turn into what they can be.

Chicago Cubs Depth Chart - 2012

• Catcher
• Welington Castillo
• Steve Clevenger
• Blake Lalli
• Michael Brenly

• First Base
• Anthony Rizzo
• Rebel Ridling
• Justin Bour
• Dan Vogelbach

• Second Base
• Tim Beckham
• Adrian Cardenas
• Luis Valbuena
• Edgar Gonzalez

• Third Base
• Ian Stewart
• Josh Vitters
• Jeff Baker
• Jeimer Candelario

• Shortstop
• Starlin Castro
• Javier Baez
• Matt Tolbert
• Jonathon Mota

• Left Field
• Bryan LaHair
• Dave Sappelt
• Joe Mather
• Jae-Hoon Ha

• Center Field
• Brett Jackson
• Tony Campana
• Matt Szczur
• James Adduci

• Right Field
• David DeJesus
• Adam Eaton
• Michael Burgess
• Kes Carter

• Starting Pitcher
• Ryan Dempster
• Paul Maholm
• Jeff Samardzija
• Mike Minor
• Travis Wood
• Randy Wells

• Pitching Prospects
• Trevor Bauer
• Chris Archer
• Trey McNutt
• Tyler Skaggs
• Jay Jackson
• Dillon Maples

• Closer
• James Russell
• Rafael Dolis

That's how I'm looking right now. For some reason Junior Lake wasn't in the newest OSFM set, I think it was because he wasn't on a club because the Cubs had him in extended spring training. But anyways, in the table, I used the relief pitching section to list the pitching prospects I have, so keep that in mind too. I have moved Castro back to short since the departure of Barney, and Beckham to second, where he's starting. Since I don't want to rush any of my pitching prospects, I've moved Wells and Maholm back into the rotation. B-Jax has also been called up to play center, which means Campana is now the 4th outfielder.

But, to answer your question, my plan is to build for the future. I like Garza but I felt in the long run having three good prospects was a better decision than to keep him and pay him a ton. I've got one more trade in mind, but if it does happen, it won't go down until the deadline.