Jake Fox is a one bagger in the Chicago Cubs farm system. Fox is currently leading the Minors with 14 homeruns, helped out by the two he slugged yesterday. He is already sitting in AAA Iowa, so there is no where else for dude to go but Chicago. The problem is that the Cubs already have a pretty good one bagger in the Majors already, some guy named Derek Lee. It is a shame that Fox is handcuffed, because dude is straight up crushing the minors. Through 28 games, he has a .402 AVG and a massive 1.425 OPS. Yes, you read that correctly, his OPS is 1.425. Why is it so high? His 14 homers are certainly helping his .941 SLG%, and his 41 hits in 102 at-bats are helping out his .483 OBP. He has nine doubles and two triples to add to his tally, with 24 strikeouts going against it. Did I mention that he has 14 homers in 28 games yet?
If something were to happen to Lee, Fox would be the guy to get the call. If said call were made, Fox would be a must add from the get go. Do not be fooled by MiLB.com tagging him a left fielder, Fox is a one bagger all the way. If he did play in the outfield, he would have a hard time supplanting either Alfonso Soriano or Milton Bradley in the corners, and he obviously does not have the speed to play center. So keep your eyes on Lee, because in injury to him looks like the only chance Fox has at seeing time in the bigs this year.
In a move that is not a huge surprise given his performance in ST, Kevin Gregg was named the closer for the Cubs last night. Everyone who drafted Carlos Marmol should calm down, even if Marmol does not become the closer (which I think he will, it is just a matter of when) he has value in on your team. According to PECOTA rankings, he should get 75 Ks in his 60 innings of work this season, while posting a 3.40 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. While those numbers are not jaw dropping, they will serve as nice filler while you await Gregg’s removal from closing.
It looks like the Jake Peavy era in Atlanta may have to wait, yet again. It appears that Padres GM Kevin Towers does not like the progress made in talks with the Braves, or the Cubs for that matter. This is getting ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Padres Fan, who thinks the Braves offer of Yunel Escobar, Gorks Hernandez, Charlie Morton and Blaine Boyer/Jeff Locke is a lowball offer. Towers sounds like he is going to open the bidding back up across the board.
The Cub’s rookie catcher Geovany Soto fell one vote short of being a unanimous selection like our boy Longo. Cincy’s Joey Votto came in second, and Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens came in third.
Our friends at Rotoworld point out an interesting caveat in the voting. Edinson Volquez received three second place votes? Um, he was not a rookie this year?
According to The Journal News’ Peter Abraham, Jake Peavy has already been told that he will be traded. San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers was quoted as saying “that train has left the station” to a small group of writers earlier today. He revealed that there are three teams in the mix, all in the National League (see the Braves, Cardinals, and Cubs), and that a multi-team deal could be a possibility.
The National League limitations have officially pushed the Yankees out of the running, although some do not agree. Either way, this is about to get really interesting.
According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs may be the new leaders in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes. As we told you yesterday, Cubs GM Jim Hendry has been palling around with Pads GM Kevin Towers. Now it looks like pieces of the puzzle are being put together, and that when it is complete Peavy will be pitching in Wrigley.
Rotoworld is saying that Felix Pie would have to be in the deal, and that Rich Hill, Sean Marshall, Ronny Cedeno, Mike Fontenot and Donald Veal could all be in play as well. The other news is that the Cubs are going to go after free agent Ryan Dempster as well, who has been a Cub since 2004.
What you will read is that signing Dempster would make it less likely that the Cubs can bring Kerry Wood back. Wood, also a free agent, would seemingly cost too much in addition to Dempster. All that means is that it will finally be Carlos Marmol time, and Marmol was arguably the best pitcher in the bully for the Cubs this year.
San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers has pretty much declared that a deal with either the Cubs, Dodgers or Braves will happen in the coming weeks. Towers says that said teams are the three of the seven potential teams that Jake Peavy would accept a trade to. He then went on to say that he is “down the road” in trade talks with two of those teams. Meanwhile, Towers just played a round of golf with Cubs GM Jim Hendry and followed it up a few days later with some QT at the bowling alley. Let us hope they shared a real vanilla Coke together, like I used to enjoy while at bowling class at NC State.
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