Nate Spears

[biittner77]

Is he the 2nd coming of Ryan Theriot? He's making a good showing in the AFL which means practically nothing except that he's been playing some SS there. Could he perhaps be a cheap replacement for Cedeno if he does get traded?

[Guest]

He can't be the only backup SS on a roster but he certainly can be a utility guy who can play SS more than, say, Mike Fontenot.

[craig]

How much SS has he played?

 

I'd be very surprised if he was ever viewed as more than a 3rd or 4th string emergency SS in the majors.

[CubinNY]

How much SS has he played?

 

I'd be very surprised if he was ever viewed as more than a 3rd or 4th string emergency SS in the majors.

I've only seen a handful of games in which he's played but in those games I can think of more than one occasion where he made a great defensive play at 2nd. I don't know if he could handle SS or not though.

[biittner77]

How much SS has he played?

 

I'd be very surprised if he was ever viewed as more than a 3rd or 4th string emergency SS in the majors.

I've only seen a handful of games in which he's played but in those games I can think of more than one occasion where he made a great defensive play at 2nd. I don't know if he could handle SS or not though.

 

I saw him play when he was at low A Delmarva and came away with the same impression. I can say his arm is no worse than Theriot's at SS. I seem to remember him playing a little 3rd base for the Shorebirds too but I may be confusing him with that non prospect that the Cubsa signed from the O's organization that played AA either last year or 2 years ago. Brian something.

[moorecg]

Just curious...looking at his stats, why don't I ever see him as someone mentioned on the prospect list?

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Nate%20Spears&pos=2B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=460621

[Little Slide Rooter]

Looks like he could be better, or at least not worse than Aaron Miles.

[Guest]

Just curious...looking at his stats, why don't I ever see him as someone mentioned on the prospect list?

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Nate%20Spears&pos=2B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=460621

 

You should see him crop up on Cubs top 30 lists.

[videographer]

There is nothing exceptional or above average in the minor league career of Nate Spears. He doesn't hit for high average or power. He doesn't steal bases and, from what I have gathered over the years of reading this forum, his glove work is average. He has repeated High A and double A, not a good sign of a future MLB player. And, he plays a position that is considered the ugly sister in the prospect family photo album. She's family, but rarely talked about.

 

Typically, second base is for athletes that cannot make it at another position. Ryan Flaherty will wind up there. Ryan Sandberg was a shortstop in the Phillies system and played third his first year for the Cubs. Spears has been a second baseman since his career began. A highly regarded second base prospect must show some exceptional tool (usually, high batting avg.) early and repeat it on his climb up the ladder. Power is moved to third or the outfield. Fielding is tried at shortstop in the beginning. Speed (SB) is uncommon for a second baseman. Again, the ugly sister must prove herself again and again to be a legitamate prospect.

 

I believe Nate Spears is still in the system because he was part of the Cory Patterson trade. His ability is unexceptional, although consistently average. He has no future in Wrigley and is at best trade bait for another minor league player, probably a relief pitcher with a good fastball or breaking ball, but with little control.

[Guest]

I believe Nate Spears is still in the system because he was part of the Cory Patterson trade. His ability is unexceptional, although consistently average. He has no future in Wrigley and is at best trade bait for another minor league player, probably a relief pitcher with a good fastball or breaking ball, but with little control.

 

I believe Nate Spears is in the Cubs system because they value a guy who went .299/.394/.438/.832 at AA. They even sent Spears to the AFL.

[CubinNY]

I believe Nate Spears is still in the system because he was part of the Cory Patterson trade. His ability is unexceptional, although consistently average. He has no future in Wrigley and is at best trade bait for another minor league player, probably a relief pitcher with a good fastball or breaking ball, but with little control.

 

I believe Nate Spears is in the Cubs system because they value a guy who went .299/.394/.438/.832 at AA. They even sent Spears to the AFL.

His glove is much better than average.

[BigbadB]

Unless you can stick at that position as a starter in MLB, you probably don't have much of a career in the big leagues. Utility infielders need to be able to play more than 1 position.

[moorecg]

I believe Nate Spears is still in the system because he was part of the Cory Patterson trade. His ability is unexceptional, although consistently average. He has no future in Wrigley and is at best trade bait for another minor league player, probably a relief pitcher with a good fastball or breaking ball, but with little control.

 

I believe Nate Spears is in the Cubs system because they value a guy who went .299/.394/.438/.832 at AA. They even sent Spears to the AFL.

 

That line is pretty much why I brought it up...generally we foam at the mouth for a guy who hits almost .300 with an OBP of almost .400...that he hits left handed, is only 23, and is basically free...well, if he can produce like that (and was also very good in the Winter league)...and won the 2008 "Best Hustler" award.. :D ... what's not to like?

[biittner77]

I believe Nate Spears is still in the system because he was part of the Cory Patterson trade. His ability is unexceptional, although consistently average. He has no future in Wrigley and is at best trade bait for another minor league player, probably a relief pitcher with a good fastball or breaking ball, but with little control.

 

I believe Nate Spears is in the Cubs system because they value a guy who went .299/.394/.438/.832 at AA. They even sent Spears to the AFL.

 

That line is pretty much why I brought it up...generally we foam at the mouth for a guy who hits almost .300 with an OBP of almost .400...that he hits left handed, is only 23, and is basically free...well, if he can produce like that (and was also very good in the Winter league)...and won the 2008 "Best Hustler" award.. :D ... what's not to like?

 

Wasn't there already a Nate Spears thread? I saw him at Low A Delmarva. I didn't see the type of speed that people like to lead off. His defense was solid if not spectacular. He showed not much power. I seem to remember him having the type of frame where he could maybe hit for more power later on. But he didn't really stand out when I saw him. I probably saw him play about 4 times so make of that what you will.

[craig]

There is nothing exceptional or above average in the minor league career of Nate Spears. He doesn't hit for high average or power. He doesn't steal bases and, from what I have gathered over the years of reading this forum, his glove work is average. He has repeated High A and double A, not a good sign of a future MLB player. And, he plays a position that is considered the ugly sister in the prospect family ...

 

Typically, second base is for athletes that cannot make it at another position. .... Again, the ugly sister must prove herself again and again to be a legitamate prospect.

 

I believe Nate Spears is still in the system because he was part of the Cory Patterson trade. His ability is unexceptional, although consistently average. He has no future in Wrigley and is at best trade bait for another minor league player, probably a relief pitcher with a good fastball or breaking ball, but with little control.

 

Despite the strident tone, and the conclusion which I don't share, I think video makes a bunch of accurate points. Spears doesn't have anything exceptional in four of the five traditional "tool" areas: power, speed, arm, or defense. Clearly he has no star power, and as noted most guys with a chance start out at SS even if they end at 2B, so his 2B history is suspicious.

 

That said, he may perhaps score well in the most important tool: he can hit, and he can walk and get on base. There is sometimes a place in the major leaguers for middle infielders who can OBP at .380+ in the Southern League at age 23.

 

I think the defensive aptitude issue is crucial for him. SS demands a lot; there are other utility players who have useful and money-making big-league careers who can't play SS. Maybe video is correct and the fact that he was moved off of SS so quickly is clear proof that he is inadequately tooled defensively. If not SS, then why not 3B? Has he played so little 3rd because he's got a noodle-arm? If she's limited to 2B/DH/PH/LF, he's going to have a hard time finding a big league spot. But often minor-league 3B is given to bigger guys who look like they might develop some power, whether or not they ever do. At 5'11", that was never Spears. So perhaps he does have a shot to be a decent 2B/3B utility guy? If he has the ability to play a competent 3B in addition to a competent 2B, then he's got a shot.

 

"Again, the ugly sister must prove herself again and again to be a legitamate prospect."

 

If Spears is ugly defensively, he's not a prospect. But ugly and average are different. When looking for a utility/bench/platoon player, you aren't looking for a star; you are often satisfied with somebody without any 'anti-tools", somebody who is anti-awful. If you aren't awful at anything, and you keep putting up .380+ OBP's, you can play in the major leagues even if you aren't exceptionally fast or strong or rocket-armed or SS-caliber. And yes, he'd need to prove himself again and again, in terms of being the good OBP-guy. With no eye-catching tools, an average defensive guy better keep getting hits and getting on base.

[videographer]

The hardest part about following minor league ball players of my favorite ML team is accepting the propect ceiling of the those players. I have been following Cub propects since I heard about Karl Pagel in 1979. He was a AAA Cubs outfielder who hit .316/39 HR/109 RBI. I couldn't wait for the Cubs next superstar outfielder to play in Wrigley in 1980.

 

I was wrong. Karl didn't have the tools to stay in the majors. How about Carl Hamilton. He was a hard throwing lefty with a great season at Quad Cities in 1984. I remember reading about the next great Cub pitcher in the Trib. He blew out his arm the next year and the Tribune did a story years later about the once promising phenom while he was busing tables. The list of Cub prospect hopefuls that don't pan out is long, long, long. (This would make a great thread, remembering uber prospects that missed).

 

A few years ago, I started to take a more pragmatic approach to my enthusiasm for my own sanity. With all the available resources available today and my own experience of following minor leaguers, I have developed a callus to understandable hype of unproven players. We all want to see propects pan out, make the Cubs and contribute. The hardest part is accepting when a prospect has become suspect. Most of the signs are there, but acceptance is hard. Occasionally, a Theriot or Soto make monumental strides in one year and break their suspectability. However and unfortunately, they are the exception.

 

I would like to see Nate Spears make it to MLB. When the Cubs aquired him 3 years ago, I was hopeful as he had specs of a prospect, i.e., left hitting middle infielder that advanced to high A at a young age. He hit .294 with 30 doubles and the arrow was pointing up. On paper (or the internet) he looked good. But, signs of his limited prospect status started to show. He repeated high A twice. And he continually has shown the ability to be statisically average for a 2B, yes the ugly sister in the family photo album. 2008 was his best year. However, .299 at AA is not .299 or (for that matter) .250 in the bigs. He played well in the AFL, but he is not on the 40 man roster (bad sign). In the latest BA, there is an article on player development. BA put the Cubs minor league talent in the bottom four of all teams. For their 2009 Cubs top ten prospect list, BA chose to put Starlin Castro, a short-season prospect, at #7, not a good sign of system depth and another bad sign for the talent level of Nate Spears.

 

I know we want to follow talent as it progresses so our hope can be reinforced. Unfortunately, the Cubs minor league talent at this time is diminished and looking for nuggets of hope is strained. Maybe Nate Spears can be a Theriot in his development cycle. Most signs point to a 4A minor leaguer or at best a MLB utility player on a bottom-half club. I would be happy to be proven wrong. I also know there is little to do in January with daily updates of progress months away.

[BigbadB]

The reason I'm okay with Spears not making it is because I know he'll never possess the talent that Ty Griffin has. I fully expect Griffin to man 2nd base for the next 15 years for the Cubs. The Cubs need to hurry up and call him up. Time is a wastin'.

[videographer]

I think Ty is staying at Earl Cunningham's house. Jayson Peterson and Todd Noel know the address.

[Brett]

Thanks for those thorough thoughts, video. I guess 2009 will be an interesting year to watch Spears. Not so much make or break, but moreso just watching to see if it's worth, you know, watching.

[Post Count Padder]

Is Pat Cline coming up next year?