It seems as if the whole baseball world has been put on standby for the next 36 hours. Last year‘s trade deadline was rough and this year’s is pretty close. I am a glass half full guy and I see this deadline being the bottom of the barrel. It will be all uphill from here as the Cubs now go about rebuilding the major league roster. How that all shakes down is going to be anybody’s guess as well as how long it will take to competing for the division again.

The Playoff Chase

The Iowa Cubs keep falling off the pace. It’s not that they’re are eliminated, but at 15.5 games behind in an 8 team division, there’s not a lot of hope there. Tennessee, meanwhile, is adjusting to several new players in their lineup. Last week they had a one game lead. They played Birmingham who was one game behind and the lead went back-and-forth all week with Tennessee eventually coming out on top by one game again as they split the series. South Bend currently has a 4 game lead in their division. While Myrtle Beach is already in the playoffs but it would be cool if they won back to back halves. They are currently 1 game out.

180 Roster Concerns

The number 180 is going to be pretty prominent the next few days. Heading into the draft, I had the Cubs with 159 Rostered players, give or take a few. With draft picks that are now signed and some guys coming off the injured list, that puts the Cubs pretty close to 180. That is the number of players the Cubs can have on a active roster in the United States. If the Cubs add several players/prospects the next two days, there are going to have to be some moves made like sending players to the development list. putting some on an injured list or just outright releasing them.

Once we get beyond Tuesday at 5 PM there are a couple of things you might want to keep an eye on the next few days. The first one is the free agent list here at North Side Bound has who is set to be a free agent at the end of the season. The Cubs can place some of them on the 40 Man roster to delay their free agency, but most of them are not coming back. They may re-sign a few and they might not. And, some of them could get a head start on their free agency once the Cubs hit 180.

We also have a list of this year‘s players that are eligible for the rule five draft. It is sitting at 70 guys. And there’s no way the Cubs can protect more than seven or eight of them on the 40 man roster. They just don’t have the room. Then again, if the Cubs jettison a lot of players the next two days, things could change greatly on who gets a 40 man spot this summer and who gets one by the November 18 deadline.

Let’s take a look at what happened in the actual games played and who stood out in the field to play.

Hitter of the Week

Narciso Crook takes this week’s award. He hit .391 with 4 HRs and 9 RBI. Bradlee Beesley of Tennessee was a runnerup as he hit .474 with 1 HR and 4 RBI.

Starting Pitcher of the Week

Porter Hodge – 5 IP, 1 run, 10 Ks. That’ll do.

Reliever of the Week

Hunter Bigge…No runs, 1 hit, 0.43 WHIP, no ERA. 9 Ks, 4.2 IP. Just pure dominance.

Team of the Week 

The Pelicans went 4-2 on the road and without Hodge, Schlaffer, Devers, and Gallardo.