Dear Santa:

Please disregard my previous letter.  The problem I told you about has been taken care of, so I’d like to revise my wish list for this Christmas.

As I admitted in my previous letter, I have not been a good boy this year.  I traded Mark DeRosa (one of our most popular players), let Kerry Wood go (I still think I was right about that one), signed Kevin Gregg, and worst of all, I gave a big contract to Milton Bradley.  I’m ashamed and I’ve taken responsibility for my mistakes (But really, who could have predicted how Bradley would act?).

I also want to add that I didn’t handle the Rich Harden situation very well either.  The whole arbitration process is very confusing.

I promise that I will be a good boy this year and ask you to grant my Christmas wishes based on my promise.  It’s sort of like a front-loaded contract, something I don’t know a whole lot about.

This Christmas, I would like the following:

• A center fielder who doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.  Marlon Byrd isn’t really the best you can do, is he?
• A right-handed back of the bullpen arm.  I meant to write to you about Matt Capps, but now it’s too late.  Would Kiko Calero or Kelvim Escobar be out of the question?  Is there any chance that Huston Street could somehow fall into our laps?
• We need a lead-off hitter with some speed and a middle-of-the-order run producer, but where are we going to put them both?  Some people say we need a different second baseman, but I think Mike Fontenot deserves a second chance, don’t you?  If not, I’d like a second baseman who can fill one of the holes in our batting order.  I know I’ve asked before, but is Brian Roberts available?
• I know I ask for this every year, but can I have a good starting pitcher?  If you could make Carlos Silva good again, that would be great, but  if not, could I get someone else.  I don’t want to mention Jake Peavy again this year, but…oh, never mind.  Any good starting pitcher will do.
• Finally, I know you get this request a lot, but this year, could you please bring me the Cubs and their fans a World Series Championship.  If you do it this year, I promise I’ll stop asking.

Thank you, Santa.

Merry Christmas,

 Jim (Lil’ Jimmy) Hendry

Every winter, MLB teams send some of their prospects to winter league teams in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and throughout the Caribbean.  For instance, the Cubs Jeff Samardjzia is playing in Mexico right now.  The spots in these leagues are limited because each league gives priority to their own home-grown talent, so a very limited number of Major League prospects can participate.

It has always seemed curious to me why there was no winter league in the U.S.  Weather is an obvious obstacle in most of the country, but there are places like Florida, Arizona, Southern California and Hawaii that have weather conducive to a winter baseball league.

I was excited early this year to find out that a new winter league was planned in Florida.  For their first year, the league had four teams.  They were located in Miami, Cocoa, Leesburg, and Sanford.  The league was looking forward to expansion to other areas throughout Florida in coming years.  They even recruited Ken Griffey, Sr. to be the commissioner of the league.

The Florida Winter Baseball League (FWBL) started with a lot of promise.  They followed a slightly different model than I would have expected.  Instead of working with MLB to staff their rosters (and pick up some/all of the payroll tab), the FWBL operated as an independent league, recruiting minor league players as well as players from summer independent leagues.

The FWBL season started on October 30 and teams were scheduled to play a 60 game schedule concluding on Janury 16, 2010.  However, after just 15 games, the league folded.  A press release issued by the league indicated that they would be recapitalizing to better accomodate the financial requirements needed to operate the league.  However, that sounds to me like one of those restaurants that close down and put out a sign that says they are closed for remodeling.  The truth is, the remodeling never takes place and the restaurant never re-opens.

It’s amazing to me that a league could shut down so soon after starting.  Officials with the league had indicated that they had enough working capital to carry them for two years.  Apparently they didn’t.  They also over-estimated the number of fans they would draw to each game.  The league predicted they would average 750 fans per game.  By the league’s own stats, they actually only averaged 367 tickets sold to each game and most observers indicated that far fewer fans actually attended the games.

But still, even with poor attendance, how could the league shut down after completing just one-quarter of their first season?  I don’t know any of the people involved, but this fiasco seems like a horribly mismanaged venture.  I had really high hopes for the league and it is stunning to me that it could end so quickly and so badly.

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Back to Cubs news…Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago reports that the Cubs have erected a plywood billboard off the back of the left field bleachers.  The billboard blocks the view of a roof top across the street that is displaying a sign for the Horseshoe Casino.

Apparently, the Cubs tried to get the casino to purchase in-stadium advertising, but the casino declined.  The casino then made a deal to advertise atop a building on the corner of Kenmore and Waveland that is visible during Cubs broadcasts.

The construction of the new billboard in Wrigley not only provides the Cubs with the possibility of increased advertising revenue, but it also serves the purpose of obscuring the Horseshoe Casino ad and making the advertising space virtually worthless to the building owner, Tom Gramatis.

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The Cubs have announced that Wally Hayward has been hired to be the Cubs new Chief of Sales and Marketing Director.  Hayward was most recently involved in Chicago’s failed bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

At first glance, it may not seem like this is a very important move by the Cubs.  However, at least while they were owned by the Tribune Company, the marketing department has played a big role in the running of the organization.  You may recall that John McDonough held the same position Heyward is assuming before he was promoted to club president.  It was on McDonough’s watch that the Cubs really opened up the purse strings and started spending money to improve the on-field product.

I have been consistent in my criticism of Bradley.  While I don’t believe that Bradley’s performance and behavior were the main reason for the Cubs downfall this year, I do believe that they were the most distracting for the team.  Bradley’s teammates didn’t have much sympathy following the announcement of his suspension.

According to the Daily Herald’s Miles, Ryan Dempster had this to say:

“To say that everybody’s out to get you and the reporters are looking for you and always looking to stick a microphone in your face, well, if you notice that they’re always for you, I think maybe you’re always looking for them,” Dempster said. “I’ve been here six years now and haven’t had a problem with anybody here. D-Lee’s been here, Z, a lot of guys for a long time. Yeah, you have some tough times, but the city’s great. The fans are great. You’ve got to realize sometimes the consequences of your own actions.”

Paul Sullivan of the Tribune quoted Dempster as saying:

“At the end of the day, he was provided a great opportunity to be part of a really great organization with a lot of really good guys,” pitcher Ryan Dempster said. “It just didn’t seem to make him happy — anything. Hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for him, and he’ll realize how good of a gig you have.

Other players commented as well, including Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson.  Everyone disagreed with Bradley’s comments that a negative shadow hovered over the Cubs organization.  Manager Lou Piniella spoke about Bradley’s impact on the clubhouse:

“Last year, I don’t know how many times I heard from the media that we had the best clubhouse in the league,” Lou said before tonight’s game. “Things don’t change that rapidly in a year.”

While I have not been a fan of Bradley and his bad attitude, I don’t think Jim Hendry handled this situation very well.  When Bradley pulled himself out of Friday’s game in St, Louis with an injured knee, Hendry had the perfect excuse to put Bradley on the DL.  If he had, he wouldn’t be dealing with the PR mess surrounding Bradley’s suspension and he would have made Bradley more marketable in the off season.  Instead, now he’s going to have to try to move a clubhouse cancer rather than just a player who had a bad knee.

The Milton Bradley experiment has been a complete and utter disaster.  Thankfully, it is coming to an end.  Let’s hope that the Cubs don’t try anything crazy like this ever again.

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The Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-3 to remain 8.0 games behind the Rockies in the Wildcard race with just 15 games to go.  The Cubs travel to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a three game set starting tonight.  Tom Gorzelanny (5-2) will take on Braden Looper (13-6).

When asked who players would most like to play for, 25% voted for Atlanta’s Bobby Cox, followed by the Dodger’s Joe Torre (16%) and the Angels’ Mike Scioscia (8%).  Torre actually made both lists.  While 16% of respondents said he is the manager they would most like to play for, 4% said Torre is the manager they would least like to play for.

Does this really mean anything?  Probably not.  For one thing, players could not vote for their own manager, so the players that voted for Piniella as the manager they would least like to play for already don’t play for him.  In other words, the Lou haters in the poll can’t affect the Cubs, at least not this year.

But what about in the future?  Will Lou’s negative reputation among the players prevent the Cubs from signing free agents?  Probably not.  Players know that 1) Lou won’t be around forever, 2) the Cubs money is just as green as any other team’s, and 3) players still generally love being a part of the Cubs organization.  So while the survey is entertaining, I don’t think it means much.

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The Cubs made a trade today, but nobody seems to know who the Cubs traded.  According to Yahoo Sports, the Cubs received Jeff Baker from the Colorado Rockies.  Baker is an infielder who is currently on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues.  For his career, he has a batting line of .257/.313/.458 with 12 homeruns and 48 RBI in 561 ABs.  He is 28 years old.

My guess is that Baker is ready to come off of his rehab assignment and the Rockies don’t have room for him on the roster.  So they’re sending him to the Cubs for a player to be named later (although they’re not saying a PTBNL).  I wouldn’t think the Cubs would have to give up too much in return for Baker, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cubs wait until after the season to send a player to Colorado.

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On the field, the Cubs beat the Pirates last night 4-1.  Randy Wells pitched very well again (how many times can I say that?).  Sam Fuld got the start in left field and played a great game.  He batted lead-off and got on base three times in five trips to the plate (including his first big league hit).  He also made a nice sliding catch and made a terrific throw to the plate to nail Pirates SS Jack Wilson.

The Cubs took two-out-of-three from the Bucs and return home to Wrigley today to take on the Brewers.  Ryan Dempster (4-5) will go up against Seth McClung (3-1).  The Cubs are currently 3.5 games behind the first place Brewers, so this is a very important series.

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Aramis Ramirez is set to begin a rehab assignment on Friday.  Surprisingly, he won’t be going to the triple-A Iowa Cubs, but instead will be rehabbing in single-A with the Peoria Chiefs.  The Chiefs wrap up a series on Friday at Kane County (Geneva, IL) before returning home to Peoria on Saturday.  As it happens, I’ll be in Peoria on Saturday, but it’s looking doubtful that I’ll be able to make it to the game.  Oh well…

Initially, Ramirez was expected to do a week-long minor league rehab, but now it sounds like the Cubs only plan on keeping him in Peoria through the weekend.  It’s hard for me to believe that he’s going to be able to get his timing down in just 12-15 at-bats,  especially against single-A pitching, but it sounds like that is the plan.  For the Cubs’ sake, I hope it works.

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Today, I want to talk about a colum that Jason Stark has on ESPN.com.  In it, he has a few things to say about the Cubs.  First he talks about the Cubs offensive woes.  Here’s what he has to say:

Who bat-napped the Cubs’ offense?

 

Was it really only last year that the Cubs led the National League in runs (5.31 per game), slugging (.443) and on-base percentage (.354)? Yep, sure was. You can look that up.

So is there a logical explanation for why almost an identical lineup — substituting Milton Bradley for Mark DeRosa — should rank 26th in the big leagues in runs scored (4.24 per game), 21st in slugging (.397) and 20th (.325) in on-base percentage?

Well, there are explanations. You can decide for yourself how logical they are.

Aramis Ramirez has been out since May 9 with a dislocated left shoulder. And that’s a gigantic factor. “He’s got such a presence,” one scout said. “You fear that guy.”

And no one has done more than Geovany Soto to perpetuate the idea that the sophomore slump is no myth. He’s hitting .228 (down from .285), slugging .372 (down from .504) and has gotten shockingly pull-conscious. “He didn’t get off to the same kind of start,” GM Jim Hendry said. “And he’s really tried to overdo it.”

Then there’s Bradley, who couldn’t possibly have gotten off to a rockier start — going 3 for his first 31, spouting umpire-conspiracy theories and turning himself into a local boo magnet. “He’s a good player,” one scout said. “It just seems like there’s always a tension that follows him.”

And finally, you have Alfonso Soriano (hitting .167, with two homers and a .231 OBP, since May 19) and Derrek Lee (finally picking it up after spending the first six weeks under the Mendoza Line).

But if you’re looking for one pivotal number, it’s 29. That’s the number of points this team’s on-base percentage is down from last year, an enormous plummet.

“What that tells me,” Hendry said, “is that we’ve got a lot of real high-character guys who care, and they got off to slow starts and now they’re trying to do too much, chasing bad pitches and trying to be the guy who gets us going. And it snowballs.”

But maybe not for long. Ramirez should be back in a couple of weeks. Bradley has hit .341 the last two weeks. Lee has a 21-game hitting streak. And Soriano is 41 points below the lowest batting average of his career, and 105 points below the .531 slugging percentage he put up from 2002 to 2008. So “hopefully,” Hendry said, “in the second half, we can play more like we did last year.”

I thought Hendry’s explanation was weak, but if you’re in his shoes, what are you going to say?

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Jason also talked about the possibility of the Cubs re-aquiring Mark DeRosa (a move I heartily endorse).  Here’s what he said:

Reunion time?: And now for another potential Cleveland deal to watch: For all the weird talk in Chicago last week about some kind of fictional rift between Mark DeRosa and Lou Piniella, we’ve been hearing that the Cubs have kicked the tires on a deal that could bring DeRosa back to Wrigleyville.

For one thing, the reason the Cubs traded DeRosa in the first place had nothing to do with any “rifts.” It was because they’d have had to play almost an entire right-handed-hitting lineup if they’d kept him, and because they needed to move salaries to fill other needs.

But by late July, DeRosa would have only about $2 million left on his $5.5 million salary. So we’re guessing the Cubs might be allowed to take on that kind of money. That’s still unclear, though, given their ownership issues.

Finally, we know the Cubs have been doing some preliminary poking around for a bat. But because they aren’t sure where they’d play that bat, they’ve been asking about what one exec they talked to described as a “DeRosa-type player,” with enough versatility to be moved around as needed. But nobody fits that description, obviously, better than DeRosa himself.

Extremely well said.  The Cubs need a DeRosa-type of guy and no one is more like DeRosa than DeRosa himself.

I’ll only add that Crane Kenney has already said that the Cubs can add a smaller contract at the trade deadline and he used Mark DeRosa’s contract as an example.  It would be hard for him (or anyone else) to say the Cubs can’t afford DeRosa considering that Kenney has already said they could.

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The Cubs starting pitching is getting it done this year.  Unfortunately, the bullpen has not been good and the offense at times has been non-existent.

Jason Stark provides a list of the best and worst teams when it comes to having the starters complete 6 1/3 innings or more in their starts.  The Cubs are tied for second place with 33 (the Reds and Angels also have 33).  The Blue Jays lead the majors with 36.  The Brewers are 26th with only 19 games of 6 1/3 or more innings pitched by their starters.  I would think that would bode well for the rest of the season (although it hasn’t panned out so far).

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The Daily Herald reported that Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic in March.  Soto addressed the issue by saying, “I don’t want this to be a distraction for me or my teammates. I’d appreciate if this is the last time we talk about it. It’s embarrassing, and I want to move forward. I’m man enough to do stuff; I’m man enough to face it. I just want to apologize to the Cubs’ organization, my family and the fans.”

Without being overly judgemental, this was a stupid thing to do by Soto.  At the time of the test, he was representing Puerto Rico in the WBC.  After the WBC, he had Spring Training with the Cubs.  Is being high really the best way to approach these responsibilities.

Soto claims that it was an isolated incident, but people will still question whether or not it is pot smoking that has led to Soto’s dismal offensive performance this year.  And if it’s not his pot smoking, is dealing with the aftermath of a failed drug test weighing too heavily on Soto’s mind?  Is that why he’s not hitting?  It was just a stupid thing to do no matter how you look at it.

What was so impressive about the win against the Indians was that the Cubs spotted the Indians a 7-0 lead, but kept fighting to come back.  Rich Harden looked bad, giving up all seven runs in the first four innings.  However, the Cubs bullpen looked unusually good, giving up just one hit and no runs over the final five innings of the game.

Derrick Lee was the hitting star for the Cubs.  He smacked a solo shot in the 6th off Cliff Lee, and then tied the game with a homerun in the bottom of the ninth off former Cub Kerry Wood.  Lee’s ninth inning heroics gave way to Theriot’s in the 10th.

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Milton Bradley continues to struggle.  It’s clear to see that he is pressing at the plate, trying to hit a five run  homerun every at-bat.  It’s not for lack of effort that Bradley’s hitting line stands at .242/.345/.386.  He’s trying hard, but just not getting the results.

I found this article profiling Bradley in 2003 while he was playing for Cleveland.  It details the tough childhood Bradley had and explains why he has such a “me against the world” mentality.  Even though we look at Bradley sometimes as fiery, angry, and maybe even a head case, I was struck reading the six-year old article with how much Bradley has mellowed.  That’s not to say he is mellow.  Just more mellow than he used to be.

After reading the article, I find myself looking at Bradley more as an underdog and cheering for him to turn his season around.  I was cheering for him before, but I’m cheering even more now.

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The sale of the Cubs continues at a snails pace.  The Ricketts family had exclusive negotiating rights to purchase the team up until this past week.  Now that the exclusive period has passed, Cubs owner Sam Zell and the Tribune Company have re-open negotiations with a group led by Marc Utah and Leo Hindery.  The Utay/Hindery group had the second highest bid behind the Rickett’s $900 million offer.

The sticking point at the moment for the Ricketts is the value of the Cubs television contract with WGN.  The Ricketts feel that WGN is paying too little for the broadcast rights and is looking to decrease their offer; some say by as much as $50 million.  It appears that Sam Zell is not budging.

An earlier report indicated that the sale was not moving forward because the Ricketts could not borrow the money they needed due to the current economic conditions.  However, a spokeman for the Ricketts family indicated that this was not true and that they had already secured the financing they would need to purchase the club, Wrigley Field, and 25% of Chicago Sports Net.

The sale of the Cubs would be nothing more than an interesting story if it didn’t also impact the team’s ability to add payroll at the trade deadline.  Crane Kenney has indicated that the Cubs could take on some “small” contracts, but it appears that Jim Hendry’s hand will be at least somewhat tied in doing anything more than tweaking the team.

Obviously, I kid.  The move had no real impact and probably won’t for a while, if at all.  It’s hard to put any real blame on Perry for the Cubs hitting woes.  I don’t think any hitting coach could be so inept that he causes the kind of problems the Cubs hitters have had this year.

Having said that, I think there were some problems with Perry.  I noticed that Lou Piniella had to get involved a lot when guys were in extended slumps.  It’s great that Lou has the ability to get involved and make a difference, but if the hitting coach is doing his job, Lou shouldn’t have to.  It seems to me that in too many instances,. Lou had to.

Even so, I don’t think that switching hitting coaches is the cure to the Cubs’ ills.  Von Joshua, no matter how good he is, isn’t going to fix Milton Bradley’s head.  He’s not going to make Lee into a power hitter again.  And he’s not going to make Aramis Ramiez heal faster.

If Joshua wants to know where to start, here’s a list of the guys hitting less than .250:  

• Ryan Freel    .167/.211/.167
• Aaron Miles    .200/.240/.252
• Andreas Blanco  .212/.278/.303
• Geovany Soto    .223/.332/.318
• Milton Bradley    .227/.335/.383
• Alfonso Soriano  .229/.296/.454
• Mike Fontenot    .236/.324/.396
• Bobby Scales  .241/.333/.466
• Koyie Hill  .246/358/.386

Cook played for four years at Miami, playing linebacker for the ‘Canes.  After his senior year he entered the draft and was chosen by Chicago.  Not the Bears, the Cubs.

No one was more surprised that he was drafted by the Cubs than Cook himself.  He hadn’t played baseball since he was in the 11th grade and had no expectations of having a career in baseball.  But when no teams showed an interest in him during the NFL draft, Cook was contacted by a scout that followed him in high school and was invited to a Cubs tryout.  The scout explained, “Come on out.  You have nothing to lose.”

Cook, who was trying to decide what to do for a job, took the scout up on his offer and attended the tryout.  Afterwards, he said he wasn’t sure how well he had done.  The Cubs thought he had done well enough to draft him in the 42nd round with the 1,400 overall pick.  Cook will now report to the Cubs minor league training facility in Mesa, AZ.

Glenn Cook wasn’t the only football player chosen by the Cubs.  They also selected Colin Kaepernick, a QB at the University of Nevada, and Daniel Sheppard, a high school quarterback and linebacker from Downers Grove (IL) North HS who has committed to play football at the University of Iowa.  Kaepernick, a junior at Nevada,  hasn’t played baseball since high school.  Sheppard was an outstanding baseball player in high school, but is unlikely to give up his football scholarship to Iowa.  If he doesn’t sign with the Cubs, he’ll be eligible for the MLB Rule 4 draft again in 2012.

I’m not sure if the Cubs are building a stronger minor league organization, but it’s clear they are building a very good football team.  Look out Bears.  The Cubs may have the best football team in Chicago.

Rnd/Overall       Player                                   School                                           Position

31/950                  Andrew Clark                     University of Louisville                 1B

                Note: Former Indiana High School Player of the Year

32/980                  Trey McNutt                      Shelton State CC                              RHP

33/1010                John Lambert                     North Carolina State                       LHP

34/1040                Rett Varner                     University of Texas-Arlington         RHP/OF

35/1070                Kevin David                       Oklahoma State                              C

36/1100                Brandon May                     University of Alabama                  IF/OF

37/1130                Peter Mooney                    Palm Beach CC                                 SS

38/1160                Bobby Wagner                   Panola Junior College                     3B

39/1190                Nick Struck                         Mt. Hood Junior College                 RHP

40/1220                Eric Whaley                       Cardinal Gibbons HS (FL)               RHP

                Note: Signed NLI with LSU

41/1250                Jake Schmidt                     Concordia University                      RHP

42/1280                Trey Ford                           Chaparral HS (Scottsdale, AZ)        SS

43/1310                Colin Kaepernick               University of Nevada                     RHP

                Note: Hasn’t played baseball since HS.  Is QB on U of Nevada football team.

44/1340                Frank DeJulio                     Daytona State JC                            RHP

45/1370                Addison Dunn                    Warren Area HS (Warren, PA)       RHP

                Note: Signed NLI with Kent State

46/1400                Glenn Cook                        University of Miami                       OF

                Note: 24 year-old who played football at Miami.  Did not play baseball in college.

47/1430                Joey Jocketty                     Watkins HS (Ladue, MO)               3B

                Note: Son of Reds GM Walt Jocketty.

48/1460                John Nasshan                    Niles West HS (Skokie, IL)             RHP

                Note: Signed NLI with Bradley University.

49/1490                Christian Segar                  McQuaid HS (Brighton, NY)           CF

50/1520                Zach Cleveland                  Central Arizona JC                          RHP

By all accounts, the Cubs had a very good day two at the MLB draft.  I have to admit I don’t know a lot about some most of these guys.  Even so, that didn’t stop me from making a few comments.

Rnd/Overall       Player                           School                                                  Position

4/149                  Chris Rusin                   University of Kentucky                          LHP

                Note: Rusin was Kentucky’s number one starter.

5/170                  Wes Darvill                   Brookswood Secondary                         SS

                Note: HS kid from British Columbia.  Considered one of the top HS players in Canada

6/200                  Brooks Raley                 Texas A&M                                            LHP/OF

                Note: Number one pitcher at Texas A&M and an outstanding outfielder. 

7/230                  Blair Springfield            MacArthur HS (Decatur, IL)                   CF/SS

                Note: Signed NLI to play at Illinois State

8/260                  Robert Whitenack         SUNY-Old Westbury                              RHP

9/290                  Richard Jones                The Citadel                                            C

10/320                Joseph Thomas             Edward Waters College                        3B/1B

11/350                John Mincone                Suffolk County CC                                  LHP

12/380                Runey Davis                  Howard Junior College                          OF

13/410                Chad Taylor                   Jefferson HS (Tampa, FL)                      SS/RHP

14/440                Danny Keefe                  University of Tampa                             RHP

15/470                Bryan Shields                 Auburn-Montgomery                            CF

16/500                Keenyn Walker               Memorial Catholic HS (SLC, UT)          OF

17/530                B.J. Dail                          Mt. Olive College                                  RHP

18/560                Matt Williams                Duke                                                      C

19/590                Sergio Burruel                Brown HS (Phoenix, AZ)                        C

20/620                Eric Erickson                  University of Miami                              LHP

21/650                Greg Rohan                    Kent State                                             1B

22/680                D.J. Fitzgerald                 Dyersburg State CC                              SS

23/710                Jeffrey Pruitt                   Cal State – Northridge                         CF/RHP

24/740                Geraldo Esquivel             La Salle Inst. (Chicago, IL)                   RHP

25/770                Justin Bour                      George Mason                                      1B

26/800                Steve Grife                      Mercyhurst College                              RHP

27/830                Corey Martin                   Western Carolina                                RHP

28/860                Jordan Petratis                Miami of Ohio                                     SS/2B

29/890                Timothy Chubb                Missouri State                                     RHP

30/920                Daniel Sheppard              Downers Grove HS (IL)                        C

                Note: Sheppard has signed to play football at the University of Iowa