Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Cubs’

Congrats to the Fort Wayne 16U Cubs. They have qualified for the 2009 NABF Baseball World Series which starts this weekend. The club features local high school standouts, several of whom are NABF veterans. Former San Francisco Giants farmhand and former Canterbury and Purdue standout, Simon Klink is the team’s assistant coach.

For more information about the team and a roster listing, please see this article in the Dupont Times.

Peavy hit Bobby Scales on the right thigh with his first pitch of the second inning, drawing a warning from plate umpire Dana DeMuth, who also warned both dugouts. [ContraCoastTimes]

This caught my eye because Peavy has been in the big leagues several years, while Scales is getting his first taste at age 31 and more than a decade in the minor leagues. Both were on the 2000 Wizards squad. Seems odd that Peavy would welcome his former teammate to the big leagues by plunking him with the very first pitch he threw to Scales.

Anywho, probably a whole lot of nothin’ goin’ on there, but it’s an interesting quandary.

The Cubs have insisted that they are still looking for another utility infielder – even after inviting former Wizards Luis Rivas and Bobby Scales to spring training. Now you can add Corey Koskie to the former Wizards mix.

The Chicago Cubs Koskie agreed to terms on a 2009 minor league deal that includes and invitation to their Spring Training camp. Obviously, the deal is pending a physical.

Koskie will report to Cubs’ camp following his participation with team Canada in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

He has not played since July 5, 2006 following a concussion that was suffered while with the Brewers. He had been working out with the Minnesota Twins in preparation. Koskie joined the Fort Wayne Wizards in 1995 as a 26th round draft selection of the Minnesota Twins. While in Fort Wayne, he appeared in 123 games; posting a .310 batting average, 143 hits, 78 runs batted in and 16 home runs.

The 35-year-old Koskie is a career .275 hitter (936-for-3399) with 223 doubles, 124 home runs and 506 RBI in all or part of nine major league seasons with Minnesota (1998-2004), Toronto (2005) and Milwaukee (2006), covering 989 games. The left-handed hitter recorded 20 or more doubles in each of his last eight big league campaigns, including a career-high 37 doubles in 2001 and 2002. Koskie owns a career .367 on-base percentage and .458 slugging percentage, good for a .825 OPS (on-base plus slugging).

Luis Rivas played with the Wizards in 1997, appearing in 121 games while hitting .239 with 100 hits and 30 runs batted in over 419 at-bats. He played last season wiht the Pirates. More about Rivas can be found on page 58 of Baseball in Fort Wayne (Koskie is featured on page 108).

Bobby Scales played the full 2008 season within the Cubs organization at Triple-A Iowa. The 31-year-old infielder set career highs in batting average at .320 and had 94 runs, 59 walks to go along with a .415 on-base percentage over 121 games. Why he has not already made it to the Majors is a big question mark in my mind.

Photo is couresy of the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Cubs Invite Scales and Rivas to Spring Training
• Free Agent Koskie Thinking Return for 2008

Today, the Chicago Cubs signed free agent infielder Aaron Miles. They then promptly traded Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for three young pitchers.

These transactions have potential implications for two former Wizards. The first and most obvious is the fact that Josh Barfield’s chances of a return to the parent club just got a lot tougher than what I discussed a few days ago.

The second involves Jake Peavy. As you might recall, the Cubs were hot after Jake Peavy not too long ago, but didn’t hav ehte young pitching that San Diego was said to have coveted. After many rumors and much speculation, there was actualy a formal announcement from the Cubs stating the talks were dead. San Diego looked posied to enter the season with Peavy - who could be dealt at a later time during the season.

However, anyone paying attention has to wonder if this trade might spark renewed talks for Peavy – especially if the rumored Marquis to Colorado trade happens. Should be an interesting couples months before Spring Training starts. Hoepfully the Cubs’ ownership situation gets sorted out soon so big things can happen.