BA's MWL Top 20

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1. Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Great Lakes (Dodgers)

2. Travis Snider, of, Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays)

3. Brett Anderson, lhp, South Bend (Diamondbacks)

4. Gorkys Hernandez, of, West Michigan (Tigers)

5. Hank Conger, c, Cedar Rapids (Angels)

6. Carlos Triunfel, ss, Wisconsin (Mariners)

7. Jose Ceda, rhp, Peoria (Cubs)

8. Gerardo Parra, of, South Bend (Diamondbacks)

9. Josh Bell, 3b, Great Lakes (Dodgers)

10. Drew Stubbs, of, Dayton (Reds)

11. Tyler Herron, rhp, Quad Cities (Cardinals)

12. Omar Poveda, rhp, Clinton (Rangers)

13. Jeff Manship, rhp, Beloit (Twins)

14. John Whittleman, 3b, Clinton (Rangers)

15. Juan Francisco, 3b, Dayton (Reds)

16. Drew Miller, rhp, Fort Wayne (Padres)

17. Kasey Kiker, lhp, Clinton (Rangers)

18. Sean O'Sullivan, rhp, Cedar Rapids (Angels)

19. Trevor Cahill, rhp, Kane County (Athletics)

20. Tyler Robertson, lhp, Beloit (Twins)

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/features/264933.html

 

For some reason, when I checked the writeup, the only writeup missing was the one for Ceda. :roll:

[Guest]

Ask Jim Callis questions here: http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/chat/chat.php?id=2007092801

 

Chat is at 1 pm ET.

[CUBZ99]

One player on the whole list? Are all the Cubs top talents skipping Peoria?

[CubColtPacer]

One player on the whole list? Are all the Cubs top talents skipping Peoria?

 

The Cubs didn't have many great hitting prospects there most of the season. Colvin was likely to be there, but he skipped right on to Daytona at the beginning of the year, and then they didn't really have some good prospects there again until the last couple weeks of the year.

 

Their pitching prospects were better there, but most of the intriguing ones got hurt for a large part of the season.

[UK1679666180]

Peoria didn't have a real toolsy team and players that did well for Peoria were likely uninspiring to scouts.

[craig]

One player on the whole list? Are all the Cubs top talents skipping Peoria?

 

There are 14 teams sharing the top-20. So aveage team has only one guy on top-20 there. Peoria wasn't all that talented this year, so having one is not very surprising.

 

The next two that I like who didn't make it are Welington Castillo and Robert Hernandez, in that order. Perhaps Nathan might chime in on this, too.

 

Without injury, I think Rafael Dolis might have been a guy.

 

Lansford has some talent, but obviously with his injury and with no power or walks, his hitting stats were pretty weak. A 23-year-old corner guy with a .650's OPS isn't going to get a lot of zing.

 

the strength of that team was probably the bullpen, with not only Ceda but Maestri, Ruhlman, and Papelbon. But relievers don't make top-20's unless, like Ceda, they can throw near 100 mph, which obviously does not apply for Maestri and the lefties.

[Guest]

I thought Robert Hernandez had an ok chance but Ceda was the only guy I was sure about (but I didn't think he'd be top 10).

 

Man, what could have been with Dolis. :(

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Yeah, Peoria was a prospect wasteland this year. Hernandez was the only reason to pay attention to them for most of the year.

[Guest]

BA fixed the problem and put up Ceda's scouting report:

 

BaseballAmerica.com[/url]"]7. Jose Ceda, rhp, Peoria Chiefs (Cubs)

B-T: R-R Ht.: 6-5 Wt.: 247 Age: 20Signed:Padres '04

 

Alert scouting allowed the Cubs to steal Ceda from the Padres last year. Chicago spotted him during spring training, then plucked him out of the Rookie-level Arizona League in a July trade for Todd Walker, who lasted all of 44 games in San Diego.

 

When he wasn't sidelined for two months with shoulder stiffness, Ceda was the most overpowering pitcher in the MWL, holding opponents to a .093 average and one homer while striking out 66 in 46 innings. He works in the mid-90s and tops out at 98 mph with his fastball, and hitters can’t cheat to catch up to it because he'll make them look silly with his tight slider. His stuff and his 6-foot-5, 247-pound frame earned him comparisons to Lee Smith and Armando Benitez.

 

He's still figuring out his mechanics and his control, and it's easier to envision Ceda as a late-inning reliever and possibly a closer than as a frontline starter. But as the NL scout said, "You don't have to project him because he has big league stuff already."

 

Ceda is the second Cub who was with the Padres last season to make these top 20 lists (Kyler Burke being the other).

[rawaction]

San Diego just keeps on giving to the Cubs.

[UK1679666180]

Good to see Mark ask a question, hope everything is well with him.

 

Q: Mark L. Peel from Arlington Heights, IL asks:

Jim, did MWL managers have anything to say about Peoria starter Robert Hernandez? On the face of things, he competed pretty well despite being very young for the league (18); but he looked a bit underwhelming in person.

 

A: Jim Callis: That's an accurate assessment. He didn't light anyone up, but his age makes him a guy to keep an eye on for the future.

 

Q: John from Wheaton, IL asks:

How does Jose Ceda project, and when can he help the Cubs in a bullpen role? You have to like his line as a reliever this past season.

 

A: Jim Callis: He's a possible closer. He has two power pitches in his fastball and his slider, but he has to really improve his changeup, mechanics and command to make it as a starter. He's still somewhat raw, so I wouldn't count on seeing him in Chicago before mid-2009.

 

Q: Erik from Wisconsin asks:

Based on what the Twins have said, it sounds as if they are very high on Wilson Ramos. He isn't a big guy, but did hit for some solid power this year in the MWL. Is he adequate both offensively and defensively to be considered a legit prospect within the Twins system? Or did Drew Butera take that spot over when he was acquired? :)

 

A: Jim Callis: They are high on Ramos, and he's another guy who just missed the list. Most scouts liked him more than Parmelee or Benson, and he was easily the best all-around catcher in the league. Hank Conger was a better hitter and Wellington Castillo (Peoria) might have been a better defender, but neither had Ramos' all-around game.

[Guest]

There goes my streak of getting questions answered in these chats, of course I had a somewhat similar question to Mark's about Robert Hernandez.

[craig]

.. Q: Erik from Wisconsin asks:

Based on what the Twins have said, it sounds as if they are very high on Wilson Ramos. He isn't a big guy, but did hit for some solid power this year in the MWL. Is he adequate both offensively and defensively to be considered a legit prospect within the Twins system? Or did Drew Butera take that spot over when he was acquired? :)

 

A: Jim Callis: They are high on Ramos, and he's another guy who just missed the list. Most scouts liked him more than Parmelee or Benson, and he was easily the best all-around catcher in the league. Hank Conger was a better hitter and Wellington Castillo (Peoria) might have been a better defender, but neither had Ramos' all-around game.

 

Thanks for posting this one, Ping. This is interesting, because my understanding was that Castillo was our one real position prospect. Obviously Conger was a high-list catcher based on his bat. This answer tells us something on Castillo's status. Ramos was close but didn't make the cut; that tells us Castillo missed by more. Not sure why, actually. Castillo and Ramos are about the same age, and about the same size. They're saying they maybe prefer Castillo defensively, that obviously means they don't like him as well offensively. Actually I'm not sure why. Castillo actually had more HR's than Ramos, and his 2nd-half numbers were pretty good.

[NCCubFan]

There goes my streak of getting questions answered in these chats, of course I had a somewhat similar question to Mark's about Robert Hernandez.

You're just a Mark Peel wannabe. They don't answer your questions when the real deal is participating. :D

[imb]

Whatever happened to Peel? He was like the original Meph.

[Guest]

You know, I want to see Marmol back in the rotation next season but a back of the bullpen with Ceda and Marmol in 2009 would be so sweet.

[badnews]

I like Ceda, but what a disappointment for Sean O' Sullivan, Kiker, and Cahill to be that far down.

 

Conger and Snider were two guys I was rooting for in the 2006 draft for us to grab, I'm not surprised to see them up there, of course considering Snider's build there was no question we would pass on him. At the beginning of the year the catching situation looked as miserable as any team in baseball's. Conger I liked way more than Max Sapp (those Astros really know how to draft don't they? My God what a horrid draft they had this year, that's got to be the worst draft I've seen in years) but the Cubs look way better on catcher than they did coming into this season. Soto picked things up huge, Donaldson was drafted and hit better than expected, and if you think on it, Castillo had a really fine season, defensively and offensively - a 20 year old catcher putting up a .757 OPS in Peoria is pretty good. Peoria has been the offensive graveyard for many young careers. And then there's Carlos Perez.

 

We've come a long way from the organization outright lying to itself by putting Reyes on the 40 man and praying that Fox could stay at catcher or that Reed could hold a bat without getting it knocked out of his hand.