Baseball America Projects the 2010 Cubs

[98navigator]

Baseball America, by way of the Chicago Suntimes, projects the Cubs' 2010 team:

 

 

THE CUBS IN THREE YEARS

 

Baseball America projects the team's core in 2010:

 

Position players

# Catcher: Michael Barrett

# First base: Derrek Lee

# Second base: Eric Patterson

# Third base: Aramis Ramirez

# Shortstop: Ronny Cedeno

# Left field: Alfonso Soriano

# Center field: Felix Pie

# Right field: Tyler Colvin

 

Pitchers

# No. 1 starter: Carlos Zambrano

# No. 2: Mark Prior

# No. 3: Donald Veal

# No. 4: Ted Lilly

# No. 5: Sean Gallagher

# Closer: Jeff Samardzija

 

For more information, go to http://www.baseballamerica.com

 

Apparently, BA doesn't project Matt Murton into the Cubs' longterm plans (at least not as a starter).

 

 

 

#CUBS ON THE FARM

 

Baseball America provides a look at the North

Siders' minor-league system:

 

# Farm director: Oneri Fleita

# Scouting: Tim Wilken

 

BEST THE CUBS HAVE

 

Offense

# Hitter, average: Tyler Colvin

# Hitter, power: Ryan Harvey

# Strike zone: Sam Fuld

# Fastest: Chris Walker

# Athlete: Felix Pie

 

Defense

# Catcher: Jake Muyco

# Infielder: Josh Lansford

# Infield arm: Josh Lansford

# Outfielder: Felix Pie

# Outfield arm: Ryan Harvey

 

Pitching

# Fastball: Jeff Samardzija

# Curveball: Donald Veal

# Slider:

# Changeup: Billy Muldowney

# Control: Scott Taylor

[BigbadB]

I didn't see A-Rod in there anywhere. This list is bogus.

[RammyFanny]

I think this was posted in the minor league forum before, but who cares. The thing about this that really surprised me was they gave Veal the best curveball, when he himself said that was his weak point. He started throwing it more towards the end of the year so if it is developed now he could be nasty (considering most of his early success was off the fastball and changeup). I was reading that if he snapped off a good one, it was pretty unhittable but that he was definately really inconsistant, so let's hope he's worked on it all summer.

[CubinNY]

Man, if Ryan Harvey would just learn the strike zone he would be something special. It's not too late, let's hope a light turns on.

 

BTW> This should be moved to minors.

[98navigator]

Samardzija as closer is interesting as well.

[Mizzou]

The Cubs aren't going to be active in the free agent market at all in the next few years, eh?

[BigbadB]

The Cubs aren't going to be active in the free agent market at all in the next few years, eh?

 

Yeah, and Lee and Barrett will be fielding their positions with walkers.

[BigbadB]

It also looks like our 3rd pick in the 2007 Amateur draft will be a bust. :D

[CardsFanInChiTown]

I guess they don't like Rich Hill.

[RichHillIsABeast]

I guess they don't like Rich Hill.

 

Callis said in his chat that he just forgot to add him. It was a mistake.

 

I'd have to disagree with Pie being the best athlete in the system. Samardzija is the best athlete.

[98navigator]

I guess they don't like Rich Hill.

 

Good catch. I disagree with that assessment because Rich has been good on every level he's pitched and, until he shows me that his overall numbers last season were fluky, I have no reason to believe otherwise. I think they're just high on these upcoming prospects. Even if Rich Hill is merely mediocre, I could see Lilly being moved by 2010 before him.

[98navigator]

I guess they don't like Rich Hill.

 

Callis said in his chat that he just forgot to add him. It was a mistake.

 

That explains it...

[Chocolate Milk]

I didn't see A-Rod in there anywhere. This list is bogus.

 

Yup.

[RichHillIsABeast]

I didn't see A-Rod in there anywhere. This list is bogus.

 

Yup.

 

He's on the team, but he's just not good enough to make the starting lineup. :wink:

[Mephistopheles]

I guess they don't like Rich Hill.

 

Good catch. I disagree with that assessment because Rich has been good on every level he's pitched and, until he shows me that his overall numbers last season were fluky, I have no reason to believe otherwise. I think they're just high on these upcoming prospects. Even if Rich Hill is merely mediocre, I could see Lilly being moved by 2010 before him.

this stuff is so old. Callis said he just forgot about hill and he should be on there. dont read too much into it.

[98navigator]

I guess they don't like Rich Hill.

 

Good catch. I disagree with that assessment because Rich has been good on every level he's pitched and, until he shows me that his overall numbers last season were fluky, I have no reason to believe otherwise. I think they're just high on these upcoming prospects. Even if Rich Hill is merely mediocre, I could see Lilly being moved by 2010 before him.

this stuff is so old. Callis said he just forgot about hill and he should be on there. dont read too much into it.

 

I thought it was curious but RillHillisabeast set the record straight.

[Balsa]

While somewhat amusing, this list is useless.

[Outshined_One]

It's pretty much looking at the system in a vaccuum, without accounting for trades or drafting.

 

Think of it like, "If the Cubs have the exact same major and minor league team in 2010 as now, what would the lineup look like, accounting for age and development?"

 

In other words, it's not something really worth reading into. Cripes, this is the Florida Marlins' projected lineup:

 

Catcher Brett Hayes

First Base Mike Jacobs

Second Base Dan Uggla

Third Base Miguel Cabrera

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez

Left Field Josh Willingham

Center Field Tom Hickman

Right Field Jeremy Hermida

No. 1 Starter Dontrelle Willis

No. 2 Starter Anibal Sanchez

No. 3 Starter Scott Olsen

No. 4 Starter Josh Johnson

No. 5 Starter Chris Volstad

Closer Brett Sinkbeil

[98navigator]

It's true but I think it's still fun to look at (the mods may want to move this to the Minor League section).

 

Here's Hendry's quote in Bruce Miles' column about the young kids in camp:

 

“We’re starting to get a lot of our own young kids who are going to be playing at the Triple-A level, which is hard to do,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “We’ve started to bring some of our own people to camp, even as nonroster guys, just from the standpoint that we thought it was better to have our own guys get their feet wet, letting them play in a big-league environment, letting the staff get to know them.”

 

Bruce sees a noticeable difference in this year's Spring Training camp from those of previous seasons:

 

...It’s altogether different with the Cubs this year. Instead of a slew of veterans invited to spring training as nonroster men, the Cubs have purposely filled their camp with young players from the system, several of whom could see the light of a big-league day this year.

 

Hopefully, this is all apart of Tim Wilken's master plan to develop position players and not just the pitching that Andy MacPhail coveted.

 

This is also an interesting point by Bruce:

 

...Just a few years ago, the Cubs’ farm system was rated No. 1 by such publications as Baseball America... The system isn’t as ballyhooed now, but the Cubs may reap more serviceable players today than they did at the start of this decade.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Along with forgeting Hill, Callis also said he just wanted to list Samardzija in there so he put him in at closer. These things should really be looked at for entertainment purposes only.

[Bruce Miles]

The Cubs aren't looking at Samardzija as a future closer.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs aren't looking at Samardzija as a future closer.

 

The people who see him as a future closer are judging him based on his offspeed stuff. At the very least, it's far too early to make that type of a decision since he's a work in progress.

[98navigator]

The Cubs aren't looking at Samardzija as a future closer.

 

Good to know

[Jehrico]

I'm disappointed with BA on this article, it seems far beneath their standards. I doubt any real research or effort went into it. They simply picked a few of each organizations top prospects who looked like they would break into the majors by then, and plugged them into a spot. Any two bit writer could have done that with little effort. I expect more from BA than this. The fact that he admitted to overlooking Hill just confirms not much effort went into the article. If you're not going to put any thought or effort into it, then don't do it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm disappointed with BA on this article, it seems far beneath their standards. I doubt any real research or effort went into it. They simply picked a few of each organizations top prospects who looked like they would break into the majors by then, and plugged them into a spot. Any two bit writer could have done that with little effort. I expect more from BA than this. The fact that he admitted to overlooking Hill just confirms not much effort went into the article. If you're not going to put any thought or effort into it, then don't do it.

 

It's not an article. It generally is a little blurb on the side of their top-10 writeups and just is a little add-on. The top-10s and the "best ..." are the best and most important things in these segments.