Justin Upton

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Guess who has two thumbs and won tickets to see Justin Upton and the Visalia Oaks in Rancho Cucamonga in two weekends? :D

[imb]

I didn't realize he was blowing up this year

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Guess who has two thumbs and won tickets to see Justin Upton and the Visalia Oaks in Rancho Cucamonga in two weekends? :D

 

Bob Kelso?

[texascub]

Guess who has two thumbs and won tickets to see Justin Upton and the Visalia Oaks in Rancho Cucamonga in two weekends? :D

 

Over/under 5 day until you find out that you have a scheduling conflict and have to give them up?

[Guest]

Over/under on him being promoted before then if he continues hitting a home run per day?

[Post Count Padder]

Guess who has two thumbs and won tickets to see Justin Upton and the Visalia Oaks in Rancho Cucamonga in two weekends? :D

 

Bob Kelso?

Darn you Bobbo, you beat me to it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Over/under on him being promoted before then if he continues hitting a home run per day?

 

He stopped that nonsense two days ago. He better not go and hit a HR in five straight games again unless I'm at one of those games.

[illiniguy]

Dang congrats raisin. I wish I lived in the area. He is one of two guys I need to have all of last years first round for my autograph collection. The other being Greg Reynolds, whom I will take care of the next time he comes to Wichita.

[Guest]

Over/under on him being promoted before then if he continues hitting a home run per day?

 

You suck, Tim.

 

He already has 4 HRs in 3 games at AA. Best prospect in baseball.

[UK1679666180]

He has progressed quicker than I expected. I still think 3-5 years from now Bruce and Maybin will be better, but it doesn't take away how much he has progressed or how gifted he can become.

[illiniguy]

Upton is ridiculous. Kind of a breakout year for that family.

[Guest]

Haven't you guys heard? High school players suck.

[Guest]

He has progressed quicker than I expected. I still think 3-5 years from now Bruce and Maybin will be better, but it doesn't take away how much he has progressed or how gifted he can become.

 

I'm surprised you favor Bruce to Upton.

[illiniguy]

Haven't you guys heard? High school players suck.

Not if you know what you are doing. That said Ryan Harvey and Earl Cunningham say that we don't. Oh and no one thinks Vitters is in the same class as any of those guys were.

[Guest]

Haven't you guys heard? High school players suck.

Not if you know what you are doing. That said Ryan Harvey and Earl Cunningham say that we don't. Oh and no one thinks Vitters is in the same class as any of those guys were.

Why on earth would you bring Cunningham into the argument? It's a credibility destroyer.

 

The bottom line is that we haven't done a good job of drafting / developing hitters from high school or college under Hendry's oversight of the farm or his oversight of the org. We have taken steps to improve that by hiring one of the most highly regarded talent scouts out there and a bunch of turnover in our minor league instructors / managers. I'm all for drafting the guy with the most talent whether he's HS vs college; hitter vs pitcher; tall vs. short; etc. Wilken has a much better track record at identifying such a person than we do, though we all have our own opinions, of course. The real question for me is if we've made the proper investment on the development side of the house. If not, it may not matter who we draft.

[TruffleShuffle]

Haven't you guys heard? High school players suck.

Not if you know what you are doing. That said Ryan Harvey and Earl Cunningham say that we don't. Oh and no one thinks Vitters is in the same class as any of those guys were.

Why on earth would you bring Cunningham into the argument? It's a credibility destroyer.

 

Not really. People thought Earl Cunningham was an amazing talent. They thought Ryan Harvey was the next Dale Murphy. Everyone things that the top-5 pick they're getting is a can't-miss prospect, but in reality, he's probably not.

[Guest]

Haven't you guys heard? High school players suck.

Not if you know what you are doing. That said Ryan Harvey and Earl Cunningham say that we don't. Oh and no one thinks Vitters is in the same class as any of those guys were.

Why on earth would you bring Cunningham into the argument? It's a credibility destroyer.

 

Not really. People thought Earl Cunningham was an amazing talent. They thought Ryan Harvey was the next Dale Murphy. Everyone things that the top-5 pick they're getting is a can't-miss prospect, but in reality, he's probably not.

His point was whether the Cubs know what they're doing or not. Only Cunningham was drafted and "developed" by an entirely different set of people, so his example has absolutely no relevance to that point.

[illiniguy]

Haven't you guys heard? High school players suck.

Not if you know what you are doing. That said Ryan Harvey and Earl Cunningham say that we don't. Oh and no one thinks Vitters is in the same class as any of those guys were.

Why on earth would you bring Cunningham into the argument? It's a credibility destroyer.

 

Not really. People thought Earl Cunningham was an amazing talent. They thought Ryan Harvey was the next Dale Murphy. Everyone things that the top-5 pick they're getting is a can't-miss prospect, but in reality, he's probably not.

His point was whether the Cubs know what they're doing or not. Only Cunningham was drafted and "developed" by an entirely different set of people, so his example has absolutely no relevance to that point.

No, it isn't that different. Cunningham was supposed to be a once in a generation type talent. He wasn't. When your organization has sucked for decades at developing hitters, you are better off picking guys who have more experience and have already began developing like Weiters. But, it looks like we are going to pick the high school kid once again.

 

But for arguments sake I will go with Montanez, Patterson, Harvey, and Dopirak. You know the high school guys this regime drafted and "developed." Oh and also my point still stands Josh Vitters is not even in smelling range of Maybin, Upton, or Bruce. He is a mistake waiting to happen with Weiters waiting there for the taking.

Edited May 19, 2007 by illiniguy

[Guest]

Dopirak was a second rounder. Cunningham, Corey Patterson, Montanez and Harvey were top-10 picks. Not comparable.

[illiniguy]

Dopirak was a second rounder. Cunningham, Corey Patterson, Montanez and Harvey were top-10 picks. Not comparable.

Not comparable to this years top ten pick? Or the group of top ten picks Maybin, Bruce, and Upton. How can you argue we suck at developing hitters?

[Guest]

Dopirak was a second rounder. Cunningham, Corey Patterson, Montanez and Harvey were top-10 picks. Not comparable.

Not comparable to this years top ten pick? Or the group of top ten picks Maybin, Bruce, and Upton. How can you argue we suck at developing hitters?

 

I'm saying it was more likely that Dope was not going to pan out given where he was picked.

 

I agree that Vitters doesn't compare to Maybin, Bruce and Upton - but I don't think you'll find anyone who disagrees with that.

 

And Tim's point stands about Cunningham, he was scouted by a different regime and it was a different regime that couldn't develop him.

[illiniguy]

Dopirak was a second rounder. Cunningham, Corey Patterson, Montanez and Harvey were top-10 picks. Not comparable.

Not comparable to this years top ten pick? Or the group of top ten picks Maybin, Bruce, and Upton. How can you argue we suck at developing hitters?

 

I'm saying it was more likely that Dope was not going to pan out given where he was picked.

 

I agree that Vitters doesn't compare to Maybin, Bruce and Upton - but I don't think you'll find anyone who disagrees with that.

 

And Tim's point stands about Cunningham, he was scouted by a different regime and it was a different regime that couldn't develop him.

Ok, but this regime is worse than that one. At least that one had grace and palmerio. This one has nothing. In the 8+ years Hendry has been running things, as a gm and head of the minor leagues, we have nothing.

[UK1679666180]

He has progressed quicker than I expected. I still think 3-5 years from now Bruce and Maybin will be better, but it doesn't take away how much he has progressed or how gifted he can become.

 

I'm surprised you favor Bruce to Upton.

 

While I have a soft spot for athletes, Bruce is probably the most polished of the three and the best chance to reach his ceiling.