CUBS LOSE FIVE VIA RULE FIVE

I know the BIG news surrounding the Cubs is the BIG money they’ve spent on free agents Alfonso Soriano, Mark DeRosa, & Ted Lilly, and the re-signing of Aramis Ramirez. But the really BIG news story might be the one reported here by InsideTheIvy.com. If history is any indication of whether the Cubs know what they’re doing when it comes to evaluating young talent, then they might be in trouble again as they lost five minor leaguers in the Rule Five Draft. It wasn’t that long ago they traded Jon Garland to the White Sox in exchange for Matt Karchner. Then they traded Dontrelle Willis to the Marlins, in what was Florida GM Larry Beinfest’s first trade ever, in the Matt Clement deal. Maybe they shouldn’t trade for guys named Matt. Then one year ago today they traded Ricky Nolasco (a member of the Marlins rotation), Renyel Pinto (a lefty out of the pen), & Sergio Mitre to the Fish in exchange for rent-a-player CF Juan Pierre. I might be having heart problems too if I were Cub GM Jim Hendry, and I needed my job.

Below is a little rundown on each of the latest five guys to be freed from Cubdom (or Cub-dumb, as the case may be).

Ed Campusano
Campusano is a 6’4″ lefthander out of Venezuela who will fit in nicely into the Detroit Tigers bullpen replacing Jamie Walker. Ed had a nifty 1.46 ERA, 25 saves, to go along with 81 K’s in 55′ innings of work in the minors in 2006.

Lincoln Holdzkom
The 6’4″ righthander Holdzkom should find a home in the Houston Astro bullpen after posting a 1.76 ERA, 43 strikeouts in 46 innings, in the minors in 06.

Jason Smith
Smith is a 29 year old lefthanded hitting infielder who hit five homers last season with the Rockies. In 2006 Jason hit .291 in the minors, was selected by the Blue Jays, and really isn’t much of a prospect.

Richard Lewis
Lewis is one of the most intriguing prospect Chicago let get away. Richard won the 2003 AFL Batting Crown with a .404 average, then he followed that up by being named Southern League MVP in 2004, was the 23rd rated prospect in the Fab50 of 2004, but then a late season leg injury saw him post a .217 average in only 87 games in Triple A in 2005. Last year the secondbaseman out of Georgia Tech hit .252 in Double A. He is 6’1″ righthanded hitting 26 years old. In 2003 Lewis was stuck behind Mark Grudzielanek, now Mark G is KC’s keystone man, and Richard’s new team.

Andrew Shipman
The A’s picked up 25 year old 6’3″ righthander out of the University of Missouri. This past season Andrew split his time between Double A & Triple A, where he struckout 56 men in 72 innings, with a 3.38 ERA.