Tag / Arismendy Alcantara

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Bad Jersey Choices

Last fall, while waiting outside Wrigley Field to get in for the World Series, I saw a young gentleman wearing an Arismendy Alcantara jersey and thought, wow, what a colossal mistake this man has made.  I thought about starting a Tumblr/Twitter account to track poor jersey choices, but never really got around to it.  As this season has gotten underway, I’ve kept an eye out for instances of people who really should have put more thought in to their apparel purchases.

On the north side of town, it has been a total strikeout.  Seeing how everyone has renewed their jersey purchases with the World Series championship, there is just a sea of Rizzos, Bryants, and, of course, Rosses.  On the south side of town, I finally hit paydirt on Sunday, when I came across someone who was so enthralled by last year’s signing of broken down catcher Alex Avila, that he went out and bought the jersey.  A long lasting tribute to a one-season player who spent much of his time here on the disabled list.

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You Get A Prospect! And You Get A Prospect!

chi-russellApparently, the joy of calling up Kris Bryant on Friday wore off for Cub nation, so they decided to dip in to the well one more time on Monday when they decided to call up Addison Russell, the stud shortstop prospect they acquired from the A’s in the Jeff Samadzija trade.  Russell, who had been moved to second base last week, replaces Arismendy Alcantara, who kicked off the prospect parade last summer but had struggled in limited playing time this year, on the roster.  Like Bryant, Russell struggled in his major league debut, going hitless in 5 at bats and garnering 3 strike outs.

AP INDIANS WHITE SOX BASEBALL S BBA USA ILNot to be outdone, the White Sox also decided to call up their top prospect on Monday.  Carlos Rodon, the team’s first round draft pick last summer, was slated to join the starting rotation at some point this season, but instead was brought up to head to the bullpen.  He also made his debut Tuesday night, and it was also a rocky one.  He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in 2 and a third innings.

Chances are both will bounce back and help their respective teams this summer and for years to come.  The hopes of an entire city lie on their shoulders.

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A Dog & Pony Show

cubseventOver the weekend, the Cubs put on a number of presentations for their season ticket holders reviewing the progress over the past year and the plans for the upcoming year.  I attended the early presentation on Saturday, which featured President of Business Operations Crane Kenney, general manager Jed Hoyer, and radio play by play man Pat Hughes.

Crane Kenney kicked things off with a review of that morning’s official ground breaking for the newly dubbed 1060 Project, the rehab and expansion of Wrigley Field.  He followed up on that with multimedia presentations covering, among other things, the new spring training facilities, the new baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, and the goals behind the renovations at Wrigley Field.

Jed Hoyer was next on stage, covering the baseball side of things.  His initial focus was on the development of the major league roster, including Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, and, surprisingly, Luis Valbuena.  The pitching staff remains a work in progress and should be a focal point of this offseason.  Hoyer also went out of his way to point out that signing Edwin Jackson may have been a mistake.  Finally, Hoyer addressed the young future of the team, starting with Javy Baez, Jorge Soler, and Arismendy Alcantara, covering both the successes they had and the struggles they faced in the big leagues.  He followed that up with a look at the minor leagues, including Kris Bryant, Albert Almora, Addison Russell, Billy McKinney, and Kyle Schwarber.

When Hoyer was done, he was rejoined on stage by Kenney and moderator Pat Hughes for a brief Q & A session with the audience.  Nothing of much substance was covered during this part of the presentation.  Overall, it was a well put together event with only one downside: an audience full of demented Cub fans.

One older gentleman spent the time before the program began telling everyone who would listen that Theo Epstein has no business holding his job because he once attended a panel at the Cubs Convention wearing a red shirt.  While focusing in on red being a “Cardinal color”, this scholar has missed out on the fact that it is also one of the colors of, yep, you guessed it, the Chicago Cubs.  Another fun group of gentlemen were the mid-20s former frat boys sitting behind me who wondered 1) why there were so many women at an event for season ticket holders and 2) if throwing your wife down a flight of stairs should really count as domestic violence.  The Cubs spent the afternoon trying to convince their customers to renew their season tickets.  Some of their fans did their best to undo the efforts, just by being themselves.

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The Future Is Now?

darwin-barneyThe Cubs finally reached down to their highly-touted farm system back on July 9th when they called up Arismendy Alcantara, a 22 year old who had signed with the Cubs following the 2008 season, to take Darwin Barney’s spot on the roster while he went off to have a baby.  Thanks to the subsequent trade with Oakland and the All-Star break, the Cubs managed to keep Alcantara with the big league club.  Today, with Emilio Bonifacio due to be activated off the disabled list, they could have sent him back down and continued to work towards possibly contending at some point down the line.  Instead, the Cubs decided to stick with Alcantara, for the time being at least, and designated new papa Darwin Barney for assignment.  For the first time in the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer era, the Cubs went with a legitimate prospect at the big league level over the established, if less talented, veteran.

What does this mean for Barney?  Well, the Cubs have 10 days to either trade him, release him, or convince him to accept a minor league assignment.  Since he became a regular in 2011, Barney has steadied the right side of the Cubs infield, even winning the Gold Glove in 2012.  Each year, though, his offense has declined, to the point where he was not going to get regular playing time even if he stuck with the Cubs.  There are contenders out there, namely the Blue Jays or the Giants, who are looking for help at second base, but might need more offense than Barney can provide.  Chances are he will end up being released, free to sign a minor league deal with the team of his choosing.

Barney’s time with the Cubs coincided with my not going to very many Cub games, so I’ve only seen him play in person 4 times in his 5 seasons with the club.  Ironically, he did hit in those games, going 5 for 15.  His time with the Cubs was numbered, as eventually the “Core Four” and other prospects, like Alcantara, will be given the chance to take over.  Unfortunately for him, the Cubs decided that, at least for Alcantara, the future would start now.