Last Tuesday turned out to be a pretty exciting day in terms of transactions when we thought nothing was going to happen. We got to see Jordan Nwogu and Kevin Alcântara come up. We got to see Andy Weber make his debut later in the week while Kevin McCarthy was assigned to Iowa. Kevin Made arrived in Myrtle Beach on Saturday night but did not play until Sunday. And Tim Susnara was added to the Smokies website roster on Sunday. In addition, the Cubs signed three international players that I talked about Sunday in the weekly. That’s a lot of moves in one week for April.
However, we didn’t mention that Cory Abbott and Greg Deichmann were designated for assignment on Saturday. We should find out what happens with both today. Don’t be shocked if either is traded to the A’s who are known for bringing back their old prospects. In this case, that would be Deichmann. The Cubs could, theoretically, thrown in Abbott to get back a class A or rookie league player who would not take up a 40 man spot. The Cubs have until Thursday to trade either or place them on waivers until Saturday. If no one claims them or trades for them, the Cubs could release or re-sign them to minor league deals.
The Cubs currently have 18 players who have not been placed on an affiliated roster or on the 60-Day IL (which contains 21). That’s a lot of players held back in extended spring training and rehab.
Here is the non-rostered group.
| Christian Franklin | Bryan Serra | Bryan Serra |
| Matt Warkentin | Casey Opitz | Reivaj Garcia |
| Ben Holmes | Bryan King | Josue Huma |
| Jake Slaughter | Miguel Pabon | Danis Correa |
| Bailey Horn | Zachary Leigh | Luke Farrell |
| Wyatt Short | Flemin Bautista | Edwin Figuera |
In addition, according to Arizona Phil of The Cub Reporter, it looks like the Mesa roster is in Extended Spring Training. Here’s what looks to be most of the roster. I will have more about this roster on Saturday.
| Pitchers | ||
| Jose Alcila | Elian Almanzar | Michael Arias |
| Rony Baez | Yovanny Cabrera | Yohan Crispin |
| Wilfri Figuereo | Angel Gonzalez | Dominic Hambley |
| * Angel Hernandez | Anthony Mendez | Gleiber Morales |
| Anthony Martinez | Gregori Montano | Kenyi Perez |
| Starlyn Pichardo | Cristian Rojas | Oliver Roque |
| Erian Rodriguez | Jose Romero | Tomy Sanchez |
| * Marino Santy | Joel Sierra | Alfredo Zarraga |
| Catchers | ||
| *Moises Ballesteros | Dilan Granadillo | Wally Soto |
| Edgar Gamargo | Ronnier Quintero | Bryan Serra |
| Infielders | ||
| Cristian Hernandez | Rafael Morel | Pedro Ramirez |
| Juan Mora | Christian Olivo | Alejandro Rivero |
| Joanfran Rojas | ||
| Outfielders | ||
| Brayan Altuve | Frank Hernandez | Anderson Surriel |
| Raino Coran | Cristian More | |
As for today, I am not sure quite what to expect. We might see a guy or two get placed on the injured list and someone called up from Mesa to take their place. I doubt if we will see any promotions from one level to another until the end of the month.
I’ll be back somewhere around 11 AM with my first check in and I will periodically update throughout the day. The Susnara addition should be made official today as well. Dauris Valdez of Tennessee was also pulled from a game last game. We will find out if he goes on the IL and a replacement arm is called up.
10 AM
Susnara is on the Smokies’ roster and listed as active. Still no word on the transaction wire. There may not be until 4ish.
I will be back around 11ish.
11 AM
Crickets
12:20 PM
Still crickets.
3:30
I am not hearing anything yet. Teams should be posting some stuff shortly regarding the rosters and lineups for tonight. If anything is going to happen, it will happen then.
4:51 – No moves for Myrtle Beach or Iowa. That leaves Tennessee and South Bend. Would be a surprise being it is almost game time, but it has happened.
