Iowa Cubs Winter League Report

I-CUBS WINTER LEAGUE UPDATE
February 15, 2010

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training camps starting on Wednesday. This will be the final installment of the winter league report as we take one more sweep of the latest transactions and let you take one more look at all of the winter league stats. Thanks for checking in throughout the winter. Keep coming back to iowacubs.com to find out about tickets, promotions, and special events for the upcoming season.

TRANSACTIONS:
The Cubs have brought a familiar name back to the organization, signing OF Jason Dubois (2004-05, '08-09 with Iowa) to a minor league contract. Dubois spent most of the season with Iowa last year before getting traded to the New York Mets in August. Dubois is second on the I-Cubs career home run list with 68. Several former I-Cubs have put their name on the dotted line with other organizations this week. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed C J.D. Closser to a minor league deal. LH Will Ohman (2001, '05, & '07) signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles after spending last season battling injuries in the Dodgers organization. OF Angel Pagan (2006-07) avoided arbitration and signed a one-year deal with the New York Mets. RH Todd Wellemeyer (2003-05) signed a minor league contract with the San Franciso Giants that inlcuded an invitation to spring training. Wellemeyer had spent the last two and a half seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rockies signed RH Justin Speier (1997-98) to a minor league contract. Speier spent the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and the Angels still owe him 5.2 million dollars on the final year of a four-year contract he signed prior to the 2007 season. RH Jermaine Van Buren (2004-05) signed a minor league contract with the Florida Marlins. Van Buren pitched in Taiwan last year and pitched with Aragua in Venezuela this winter. The Rangers signed RH Jae-Kuk Ryu (2004, '06) wo a minor league contract. Ryu didn't pitch last season. He was released by the San Diego Padres after spring training last year after Major League Baseball voided the waiver claim that the Cleveland Indians made on him.

CARIBBEAN SERIES:
The Dominican Republic (Escogido) beat Venezuela (Caracas) on the final day to clinch the Caribbean Series title. Former Cubs OF Moises Alou is in his first year as the general manager for Escogido and former New Orleans skipper Ken Oberkfell managed the team. The Dominican Republic finished 5-1 in round robin play, edging out Puerto Rico (Mayaguez), who finished 4-2. Puerto Rico lost their first two games to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela before finishing with four straight wins, including a victory in a rematch against the Dominican. Mexico (Mazatlan) finished third at 2-4. Venezuela was last at 1-5. Two former I-Cubs played in the tournament. IF Luis Figueroa (2008) played in all six games for Puerto Rico and hit .231 (6-for-26) with an RBI and three runs scored. OF Jackson Melian (2003) played in four games for Venezuela and was 1-for-12 with an RBI and a run scored.

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE:
Caracas beat Magallanes in a seven-game series to win the Venezuelan Winter League crown. Former I-Cub RH Jim Brower ('08) was the losing pitcher in the deciding seventh game after allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits in 4.2 innings. He was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts in the championship series overall. Former I-Cubs OF Josh Kroeger (2007-08) helped lead Caracas. He batted .320 (8-for-25) with a double, two home runs, two RBI, and six runs scored in the championship series. Overall in the playoffs, he hit .247 (21-for-85) with five doubles, three home runs, 15 runs scored, and eight RBI in 21 post-season games. His 15 runs scored ranked fourth in the league for the playoffs. OF Jackson Melian (2003) was 2-for-10 with a home run and four RBI in five games in the championship series. His home run was a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning of game three that gave Caracas a 10-7 walk-off win. Melian hit .245 (12-for-49) with two home runs and seven RBI in 17 playoff games overall. C Robinson Chirinos may have been the playoff MVP in defeat for Magallanes. In the championship series, he hit .276 (8-for-29) with two doubles, a home run, and five RBI. During the playoffs overall, he hit .315 with six home runs and 19 RBI in 21 games. He led the league in post-season homers, RBI, extra-base hits (11), runs scored (17), and tied for second with 28 hits. SS Ronny Cedeno (2004-05, '07) was with Aragua in the regular season, but joined Magallanes for the post-season and batted .360 (9-for-25) with two doubles, six RBI, and two runs scored. He didn't make an appearance in the championship series. SS/2B Andres Blanco (2008-09) made one appearance for Magallanes in the championship series, going 2-for-4 in game seven. He batted .261 (6-for-23) with a double, an RBI, and a pair of walks in six playoff games.

Several other former I-Cubs participated in Venezuela this year. The final regular season statistics for all of them are below. Chirinos had a particularly strong showing. He led the league with a .641 slugging percentage, finished third with a .366 average, and tied for fourth with 10 home runs. Blanco finished tied for fourth in the league with 14 stolen bases and Cedeno led the league with 12 sacrifice bunts.

Player	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
Andres Blanco	Magallanes	2008-09	.291	37	151	25	44	11	2	2	27	10	21	14	2	.353	.430	.783
Ronny Cedeno	Aragua	2004-05, '07	.300	40	150	26	45	4	2	10	20	6	24	3	1	.327	.553	.880
Robinson Chirinos	Magallanes	Cubs Prospect	.366	48	153	24	56	10	1	10	34	13	36	0	2	.420	.641	1.061
Sam Fuld	Aragua	2007-09	.241	6	29	5	7	2	2	0	5	3	4	0	0	.313	.448	.761
Josh Kroeger	Caracas	2007-08	.289	43	159	21	46	12	3	4	23	23	44	9	1	.386	.478	.864
Blake Lalli	Anzoategui	Cubs Prospect	.292	7	24	3	7	1	0	1	4	1	2	0	0	.333	.458	.792
Anderson Machado	Aragua	2009	.240	13	25	3	6	0	2	0	3	8	4	0	0	.424	.400	.824
Jackson Melian	Caracas	2003	.327	35	104	9	34	9	0	2	22	9	21	3	0	.379	.471	.850
Luis Rivas	Magallanes	2009	.714	4	7	1	5	3	0	0	4	1	1	0	0	.750	1.143	1.893

 

Pitcher	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	OPP AVG.
Antonio Alfonseca	Margarita	2003	1	1	4.22	10	0	2	2	10.2	8	5	5	2	0	1	1	4	0	.229
Jim Brower	Anzoategui	2008	3	1	2.17	9	6	0	0	37.1	33	11	9	2	1	14	0	26	2	.248
Sean Gallagher	Magallanes	2007-08	1	1	5.33	6	6	0	0	25.1	37	17	15	1	2	13	0	16	3	.363
J.R. Mathes	Caracas	2007-09	1	2	5.08	6	6	0	0	28.1	42	20	16	3	1	6	1	12	0	.365
Jermaine Van Buren	Aragua	2004-05	0	1	11.25	4	0	0	0	4.0	8	5	5	0	0	2	0	5	0	.400

PUERTO RICAN WINTER LEAGUE:

In the only championship series that didn't go the distance, Mayaguez beat Caguas four games to one to advance to the Caribbean Series. Former I-Cubs OF Andres Torres (2008) led Mayaguez to the upset of top-seeded Arecibo in the first round and performed well in the championship series. Torres batted .238 (5-for-21) with a double, a triple, four RBI, and two runs scored in the five games. Overall in the post-season, he hit .364 (16-for-44) with three doubles, a triple, a home run, and nine RBI in 12 games. He was second in the league in RBI and slugging (.545); tied for second with five extra-base hits (5); ranked third in batting; was tied for third in stolen bases (2); and finished fourth in hits (16). Caguas got strong performances from former I-Cubs IF Luis Figueroa (2008) and OF Lou Montanez (2006) in the regular season, but not the playoffs. Figueroa hit .182 (4-for-22) with a double, an RBI, and four runs scored in the championship series and batted .208 (11-for-53) with eight runs scored, five RBI, two doubles, and three stolen bases in 12 playoff games overall. Montanez didn't play in the championship series.

Below are the final regular season stats for the former Iowa Cubs in Puerto Rico. Figueroa finished second in the league in at-bats (158), hits (48), and doubles (13); tied for second in games played; tied for third with 15 extra-base hits; and tied for fourth with 66 total bases. Montanez finished 10th in the league with a .324 batting average and third with a .514 slugging percentage.

Player	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
Luis Figueroa	Caguas	2008	.304	40	158	18	48	13	1	1	19	11	8	2	0	.351	.418	.769
Lou Montanez	Caguas	2006	.324	28	111	15	36	10	1	3	13	3	9	1	0	.367	.514	.880
Andres Torres	Mayaguez	2008	.275	31	109	16	30	7	2	1	6	17	27	5	0	.375	.404	.779

 

Pitcher	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	OPP AVG.
Federico Baez	Carolina	2005-07	1	0	4.66	18	2	1	2	29.0	33	15	15	2	1	7	1	21	1	.297
Francis Beltran	Carolina	2003-04	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Hector Carrasco	Ponce	2008	0	1	4.15	6	1	0	0	13.0	11	10	6	2	1	6	0	10	2	.229
Andrew Lorraine	Carolina	1999	0	1	4.05	3	1	0	0	6.2	7	3	3	0	2	1	0	4	0	.318
Jerome Williams	Carolina	2005-06	1	0	4.31	22	2	1	2	31.1	42	17	15	1	3	10	0	14	2	.339

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE:
Hermosillo beat Mazatlan 1-0 in game seven of the Mexican League championship series to advance to the Caribbean Series. Neither team had any former I-Cubs on their rosters. OF Brad Snyder ('09) and CF/SS Matt Camp ('09) were standout players in the regular season for Mexicali. Snyder finished the regular season with a .379 average, nine home runs and 48 RBI. He ranked second in the league in average, on-base percentage (.463), and slugging percentage (.602); was third in stolen bases (18); tied for third in RBI; fourth in runs scored (46); and fifth in hits (80). He also reached base safely in each of his last 11 regular season games. Camp hit .329 with two home runs and 29 RBI during the regular season. He tied for second in the league with 18 doubles; ranked fourth in average, hits (83), and triples (3); and finished fifth with 14 stolen bases. RH Jeff Stevens ('09) was 0-5 with a 4.43 ERA during the regular season, but the final numbers don't tell the whole story of Stevens' stay in Mexico. He allowed a run in just eight of his 19 appearances, but allowed multiple runs in six of the eight to finish with an 0-5 record and a 4.43 ERA.

The following are the final regular season stats for for all of the players with an Iowa/Chicago Cubs tie:

Player	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
James Adduci	Hermosillo	Cubs Prospect	.224	20	67	12	15	0	0	2	7	13	20	2	0	.346	.313	.659
Matt Camp	Mexicali	2009	.329	59	252	45	83	18	3	2	29	28	18	14	7	.400	.448	.848
Brad Snyder	Mexicali	2009	.379	55	211	46	80	16	2	9	48	31	42	18	5	.463	.602	1.065

 

Pitcher	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	OPP AVG.
Andy Cavazos	Guasave	2008	2	1	5.06	28	0	1	1	26.2	33	17	15	1	0	16	1	32	3	.300
Bryan Corey	Obregon	2004	3	0	3.60	6	6	0	0	35.0	32	14	14	8	1	14	0	29	0	.244
Thomas Diamond	Mexicali	Cubs Prospect	2	0	0.64	3	3	0	0	14.0	8	1	1	1	0	3	0	15	0	.167
Jeff Samardzija	Mexicali	2008-09	2	0	2.25	5	5	0	0	24.0	22	10	6	0	3	8	0	22	2	.256
Brian Schlitter	Mexicali	Cubs Prospect	1	0	3.79	18	0	6	8	19.0	15	10	8	1	1	10	0	14	2	.256
Jeff Stevens	Mexicali	2009	0	5	4.43	19	0	3	4	20.1	18	15	10	4	0	10	0	14	1	.228

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE:
Escogido and Cibao battled through all nine games of the championship series before Escogido pulled out the finale for the win. There weren't any players with I-Cubs ties that played a role during the Dominican League post-season.

Final regular season stats for the former I-Cubs and players of interest in the Dominican this year are below:

Player	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
Starlin Castro	Leones del Escogido	Cubs Prospect	.182	8	22	2	4	0	0	0	2	2	5	2	1	.280	.182	.462
John-Ford Griffin	Estrellas de Oriente	2009	.136	7	22	1	3	1	0	0	1	1	7	0	0	.167	.182	.348
Jake Fox	Tigres del Licey	2007-09	.284	20	74	6	21	4	0	1	13	4	15	0	0	.338	.378	.716
Daryle Ward	Leones del Escogido	2007-08	.267	16	60	11	16	2	0	1	11	9	12	0	0	.357	.350	.707

 

Pitcher	Team	Yr(s) with I-Cubs	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	OPP AVG.
Esmailin Caridad	Tigres del Licey	2009	0	1	3.38	3	0	0	0	2.2	1	3	1	0	1	2	1	2	1	.143
Hector Carrasco	Toros del Este	2008	0	3	6.97	7	7	0	0	20.2	29	17	16	0	3	11	0	7	3	.345
Randy Keisler	Tigres del Licey	2008	0	1	27.00	2	0	0	0	1.1	4	4	4	1	0	1	0	2	0	.571

 

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE:
The Chicago Cubs had eight players participate in the Arizona Fall League as members of the Mesa Solar Sox. SS Starlin Castro finished sixth in the league with a .376 batting average, was second with 38 hits, and tied for third with nine stolen bases. He also hit a home run and collected 10 RBI in 26 games. Castro was the youngest player in the AFL and has recently been ranked by Baseball America as the Cubs' #1 prospect entering the 2010 season. 3B Josh Vitters, the Cubs top pick in 2007, finished ninth in the league with a .353 batting average and had a home run and eight RBI in 16 games. BA ranks Vitters #3 on the Cubs prospect list for '10. C Michael Brenly joined the team on November 2nd and hit .240 with a homer and three RBI in eight games. C Welington Castillo had his season cut short after playing in just four games. On the mound, LH James Russell finished third in the league with a 1.26 ERA and tied for second with a 0.98 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched). He didn't allow a run over his final 12.1 innings. RH Andrew Cashner allowed seven runs (six earned) in six innings over his final two starts to finish 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA in six starts overall. He was 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA after his first four starts. He tied for third in the league with three losses. LH John Gaub allowed two runs in 4.2 innings over his final five appearances. He struck out 15 batters in 9.2 innings and finished fourth among all relievers with 13.97 strikeouts per nine innings. RH Blake Parker finished his season with a scoreless inning in his last two appearances. He was among several pitchers tied for fourth in the league with two saves. Both Castro and Vitters were named to the AFL Top Prospects team after the season.

Player	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
Michael Brenly	.240	8	25	4	6	1	0	1	3	0	3	0	0	.240	.400	.640
Welington Castillo	.357	4	14	1	5	0	0	1	2	2	5	0	0	.438	.571	1.009
Starlin Castro	.376	26	101	18	38	5	1	1	10	3	14	9	3	.396	.475	.871
Josh Vitters	.353	16	68	6	24	4	1	1	8	2	11	0	2	.380	.485	.866

 

Pitcher	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	SO
Andrew Cashner	2	3	4.58	6	6	0	0	19.2	22	11	10	2	1	5	19
John Gaub	1	1	9.31	10	0	0	1	9.2	13	10	10	1	0	6	15
Blake Parker	2	1	4.50	11	0	2	4	12.0	12	6	6	3	0	6	11
James Russell	0	1	1.26	11	0	0	2	14.1	12	6	2	2	0	2	14

*Stats are courtesy of Major League Baseball Advanced Media