Rich Hill may be a long way from Chicago, but Jeff Samardzija is getting closer. (Of course, despite their histories, Samardzija does make quite a bit more money than Hill.) The Cubs are promoting Samardzija to triple-A Iowa, reports Inside the Ivy. Yesterday, Samardzija said on his blog: "Bags are packed. I'll see you guys in Iowa." Followed by him telling us what music he is currently listening to so that "maybe just maybe, I can get some of you to get away from whatever is 'popular' on the tube." (At least he doesn't talk down to his readers.)

The Cubs are apparently intent on promoting Samardzija perpetually notwithstanding the fact that his performance has not dictated promotions. Of the four starting pitchers who have made at least nine starts for double-A Tennessee (Donald Veal, Mitch Atkins, and James Russell being the others), Samardzija has the highest ERA at 4.86. Samardzija's 44/42 K/BB ratio is also poor.

Veal, on the other hand, has a 2.82 ERA. Atkins has pitched the most innings on the team and has a 72/24 K/BB ratio.

It does not take much speculation to guess how other pitchers in the Cubs' minor league system likely feel about Samardzija's consistent promotions, even if they consider him their friend.

Many of us expected Rich Hill to be Chicago's second best starting pitcher this year. Right now, Hill is pitching more like Rick Ankiel. "Rich Hill's long search for the strike zone continued Friday night at Principal Park," writes the Des Moines Register's Randy Peterson. "The former Chicago Cubs' starting pitcher walked four, threw two wild pitches, threw wildly to first and plunked a batter while pitching just the first inning during a 12-8 loss against New Orleans."

Hill has now made 7 starts for Iowa, but has lasted just 26 innings. While striking out 32, he has also walked 28. Hill says it is a problem with his mechanics. Whatever Hill and the Iowa coaches are doing to fix his problems, things are getting worse. Hill has walked 18 in his last 9.2 innings.

Baseball Prospectus's minor league guru Kevin Goldstein has posted his top 100 prospects in baseball. Just two Cubs show up on the list, one of whom made an impact on the 2007 big league club and the other the Cubs' #1 draft pick in 2007:

37. Geovany Soto
45. Josh Vitters

Goldstein's top two Cubs matches John Sickels'.

(I assume that Felix Pie no longer qualifies as a prospect.)

ZiPS projects Soto to hit a robust .284/.342/.483 in 2008.

More information about the players from BP will be available in Baseball Prospectus 2008.

John Sickels names his to 20 Cubs' prospects. No one garners an A. The top two are 1st round draft pick Josh Vitters and 2008 catcher Geovany Soto.

I heard this story about a rookie ball pitcher who made the jump to triple A in just one season of work. Is this as rare as I believe it to be? I was in Iowa watching the Cubs play Omaha and this hard throwing free agent right hander came into the game. At first I thought nothing of it but later came to find out that the kid was in Mesa for the entire season. No stops on the way, just straight to AAA. He was throwing 94 with a sick circle change. Retired all six hitters he faced and then the season was over. Any thoughts on this type of jump? Where do you think the cubs will send this prospect at the start of next season? The kids name is Mike Christl and he looks like he has a ridiculously high ceiling.

"The Detroit Tigers today announced lefthanded pitcher Edward Campusano has cleared waivers and the club has outrighted his contract to Triple A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs organization," reports the Detroit Free Press. The Brewers had selected Campusano in the 2006 Rule 5 draft and then traded him to Detroit. He had elbow surgery in March and missed the year.

The Cubs named Geovany Soto their 2007 minor league player of the year. Soto, 24, hit .353/.424/.652 for triple-A Iowa this season.

The Cubs' multi-million dollar 5th rounder, Jeff Samardzija, made his AA debut Monday night. He earned the victory after pitching 6 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 6 hits and 2 walks, striking out 2.

The Cubs promoted Samardzija despite his 4.95 ERA in 107.1 innings for high-A Daytona. He also only had a 1.3 K/BB ratio for Daytona, apparently missing what is supposed to be a lively arm.

Here's scouting director Tim Wilken's explanation for the promotion, as quoted in the Chicago Tribune: "I think this will be good for him. Also competition-wise, it's a little bit more of a challenge. Frankly, it's not the most conventional way. I understand that. I can read numbers too."

There has to be more to the story. It's a little bit more of a challenge? Well, sure, but that doesn't mean you promote everyone in A-ball.

The Cubs have to be thinking the guy is 22 and, for what we're paying him, he better start producing somewhere. Or maybe Kodak, TN is just a safer place to put him than Daytona, FL.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Cubs "flatly refused to consider trade scenarios that involved [Matt] Murton during discussions with the Padres that eventually sent Michael Barrett to San Diego a week after Murton's demotion." Murton is hitting .280/.368/.467 for Iowa since his demotion. He has two home runs in 75 at-bats.

Baseball Prospectus's Kevin Goldstein notes (sub. req'd) that Ronny Cedeno is doing what he does best: knocking the cover off the ball in triple-A. Cedeno hit 5 home runs in 4 games from June 27-30, and is now hitting .387/.466/.638 in 45 games for Iowa. The last time Cedeno was in Iowa, in 2005, he hit .355/.403/.518, leading to his disappointing audition as the starting shortstop for the big league club in 2006. If the Cubs could find someone to assume Cesar Izturis's overpriced contract, Cedeno may find his way back to the big leagues soon.

Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein names Cubs' minor league pitcher Jeff Samardzija to his "All-Disappointment Team." Goldstein writes: "A disturbing double-dip for the North Side. After giving him a record deal to buy him away from an NFL career, the big righthander from Notre Dame has been far worse than his 5.22 ERA would indicate--allowing 93 hits in 69 innings with a ridiculously low 25 strikeouts. He could be on the way to being one of the biggest bonus mistakes in draft history." (Emphasis and link added.) (Hat tip: View from the Bleachers.)

Mark Holliman, the Cubs' 2005 3rd round draft pick, threw a 7-inning no-hitter for double-A Tennessee last night, in the Smokies' 3-0 victory over Huntsville. Holliman had not won a game in more than a month, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel. Holliman also hit a two-run homer in the game.

Holliman, 23, now has a 2.49 ERA, which leads the Southern League, in 86.2 innings this season, with a 2.0 K/BB ratio. He has allowed just 3 home runs. In his first professional season last year, Holliman had a 4.38 ERA in 144 innings for high-A Daytona.

Last Saturday night, in the Iowa Cubs' 19-4 loss to New Orleans, player/coach Mike Mahoney got to try his hand at pitching. Not only did he prevent Jake Gautreau from getting his seventh hit of the night, but he outthrew Wade Miller, reports the Des Moines Register: "[H]is fastball was clocked at 84 mph, according to the radar gun behind home plate. Wade Miller's fastball, while rehabbing in Des Moines two weeks ago, topped out at 81."

Felix Pie went 4-for-4 in the Iowa Cubs' 7-2 win yesterday, the ICubs' third in a row. Pie hit his 4th triple and 3rd homer of the year. He is now hitting .406/.467/.604 for Iowa on the year.

The Cubs have promoted RHP Jim Henderson and LHP Paul Schappert from AA Tennessee to AAA Iowa and Matt Avery from high-A Daytona to AA Tennessee. Avery, a 6'6" righthander, was the Cubs' 9th round draft pick in 2005. The Cubs converted him to a reliver last year, and he ended up serving as low-A Peoria's closer, posting a 2.15 ERA in 67 innings. This season, he had a 1.61 ERA in 22.1 innings for Daytona. Henderson is a 24-year-old 6'5" righthanded reliver in his first season in the Cubs organization. He had allowed just 2 runs in 24 innings for Tennessee, striking out 25 while walking 10. Schappert was Daytona's closer last year for part of the season. He also spent half the season in double-A. This year, he had a 6.23 ERA in 30.1 innings for Tennessee.