Cub prospects in the news

[Tony Thomas]

Adam (Chicago)

 

 

How would you rank the top 3B (Moustakas, Vitters, Dominguez) from the '07 draft?

Jim Callis

(2:32 PM)

 

 

Vitters, Moustakas, Dominguez.

 

From Jim Callis chat on ESPN.

[Vanilla Ice]

Good news lately with the farm system.

 

I didn't realize Barney was such a good defender.

[TruffleShuffle]

Good news lately with the farm system.

 

I didn't realize Barney was such a good defender.

 

the scouting report makes him sound sort of like tulowitzki but with a worse arm. neither of them is a great athlete but they are surehanded, agile and make the right read on the ball very quickly.

 

anyway i think barney does tend to get overlooked because he has a low ceiling and he's not that good defensively, but he is a good bet to play in the majors and probably for a few years. he may not hit a whole lot, which would confine him to a utility role, but he'd have value as a cheap defensive replacement and spot starter at short (especially behind groundball-heavy starters and against LHP).

[Post Count Padder]

I wish Castro would walk a little more, but he's progressing nicely.

[Ryno12]

Kevin Goldstein on Logan Watkins on BP Minor League Update.

 

A surprising amount of polish for a diamond in the rough

 

Logan Watkins, 2B, Cubs (Short-season Boise)

Thursday's stats: 5-for-6, 2B, 3 R, RBI

The Cubs gave Watkins a $500,000 bonus last year based on the amount of athleticism he packed into his 5-foot-11 frame, but what they didn't expect was such a sound approach and smooth line drive swing. You want hot? How's 16-for-23 in his last five games and an overall batting line of .344/.415/.409?

[Jehrico]

I've paid far less attention to our minors lately than I had in the past because I thought our farm pretty much sucked outside of Vitters. Sounds like our farm is actually looking like it's taking a huge step forward this year. Outside of Colvin, it sounds like Wilken is doing a decent job at getting our farm moving back in the right direction.

[Guest]

Hak-Ju Lee, SS, Cubs (Short-season Boise)

Few teams are more aggressive scouting the Pacific Rim than the Cubs are, and Lee was seen as the big catch last year, although Tommy John surgery delayed his stateside debut. It's turning out to be well worth the wait, as the 18-year-old Korean is 13-for-29 in his last six games and batting .324/.388/.417 overall while leading the college-heavy Northwest League in stolen bases (12), and ranking third in hits (35) and second in runs (25). A plus-plus runner with a quick line-drive bat, Lee's size and athleticism separates him from most Asian signees, and he's already among the best prospects in the Cubs' system.

 

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9261

[Guest]

Northwest League

Logan Watkins, Boise

.531 (17-32), 9 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2 SB, .594 SLG

Cubs prospect Logan Watkins extended his hitting streak to 11 games this week. He collected a season-high five hits on July 16, going 5-for-6 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. Watkins raised his batting average over 70 points last week to .340, good for fourth in the league.

 

Logan Watkins was the NWL Player of the Week last week.

[Guest]

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9266

[StylesClash]

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9266

 

Can you post the full article? For the 2003 Cub draft review Goldstein stated no one questioned the Ryan Harvey selection at the time. But even back then Harvey's strengths and weaknesses were well known. He had 40+ home run potential and a cannon of an arm. But Harvey also had severe problems hitting any sort of quality breaking pitch, and was not projected to put up quality K/BB ratio's. Eventually Harvey's power turned into nothing more than batting practice moonshots and the occasional monster game (including a four home run performance a few years back).

 

Considering Ryan Harvey's huge issues with plate discipline and that he was coming off major knee surgery shouldn't taking him as early as number six overall been considered atleast somewhat of a stretch?

[jersey cubs fan]

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9266

 

Can you post the full article? For the 2003 Cub draft review Goldstein stated no one questioned the Ryan Harvey selection at the time. But even back then Harvey's strengths and weaknesses were well known. He had 40+ home run potential and a cannon of an arm. But Harvey also had severe problems hitting any sort of quality breaking pitch, and was not projected to put up quality K/BB ratio's. Eventually Harvey's power turned into nothing more than batting practice moonshots and the occasional monster game (including a four home run performance a few years back).

 

Considering Ryan Harvey's huge issues with plate discipline and that he was coming off major knee surgery shouldn't taking him as early as number six overall been considered atleast somewhat of a stretch?

 

If you have espn insider it is also there, and there is a thread about the article on the cubs discussions page.

 

He goes through the 2003 -2006 drafts, talks about how much money they wasted on guys, and how they had several toolsy players with no club about plate discipline that they put on the fast track and they all bombed.

[Guest]

It's hindsight though. Both Harvey and Pawelek had the tools/skill set/projection to go even higher than they were picked. Harvey was even considered a possibility to go #1 overall.

 

There might have been questions about the ability to hit breaking pitches but how well can you judge that against HS competition?

[jersey cubs fan]

It's hindsight though. Both Harvey and Pawelek had the tools/skill set/projection to go even higher than they were picked. Harvey was even considered a possibility to go #1 overall.

 

There might have been questions about the ability to hit breaking pitches but how well can you judge that against HS competition?

 

Probably not all that well, which brings us to the notion that drafting high schoolers is very risky. It's all well and good to talk about hindsight, but those people get paid to make the right decisions with these players and they repeatedly failed. You can't just chalk it up to "aw shucks, who woulda thunk it" mistakes.

 

But just because somebody somewhere claimed they thought a guy like Harvey was possibly worth the #1 pick doesn't make it so.

[Guest]

But just because somebody somewhere claimed they thought a guy like Harvey was possibly worth the #1 pick doesn't make it so.

It was a lot of people in a lot of places. Tampa (who you'd have to say has done a hell of a job with its picks this decade) had their selection narrowed to Harvey and Young for that pick. They had each in for extensive workouts and the decision supposedly went down to the wire.

[Gmoney08]

But just because somebody somewhere claimed they thought a guy like Harvey was possibly worth the #1 pick doesn't make it so.

It was a lot of people in a lot of places. Tampa (who you'd have to say has done a hell of a job with its picks this decade) had their selection narrowed to Harvey and Young for that pick. They had each in for extensive workouts and the decision supposedly went down to the wire.

 

touche

[Ryno is God 23]

Cashner was Baseball Americas Prospect Pitcher of the day for 7/21........

[CUBZ99]

Cashner was Baseball Americas Prospect Pitcher of the day for 7/21........

 

Pitcher of the day? :-))

[Guest]

Stretching the arm out

 

Andrew Cashner, RHP, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee)

Tuesday's stats: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Cashner was the best college reliever in last year's draft, but the Cubs saw a 6-foot-6 frame and three quality pitches, and decided to slowly convert him back to a starting role. They've done so incredibly cautiously, as even in late July his pitch count is still at 80, but last night was the best start of his career, as the former Texas Christian star faced just 19 batters in six innings. While he's not getting up to 98 mph as he did in shorter stints, he's sitting at 92-94 and featuring a plus slider and solid change.

 

BP's Minor League Update

[nick23]

Stretching the arm out

 

Andrew Cashner, RHP, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee)

Tuesday's stats: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Cashner was the best college reliever in last year's draft, but the Cubs saw a 6-foot-6 frame and three quality pitches, and decided to slowly convert him back to a starting role. They've done so incredibly cautiously, as even in late July his pitch count is still at 80, but last night was the best start of his career, as the former Texas Christian star faced just 19 batters in six innings. While he's not getting up to 98 mph as he did in shorter stints, he's sitting at 92-94 and featuring a plus slider and solid change.

 

BP's Minor League Update

I'm very excited about Cashner at this point and absolutely hated the pick at the time.

[Guest]

charlie (dc) The Cubs really seem to have some exciting SS prospects now in the system, Hak-Ju Lee, Junior Lake and Starlin Castro have all performed quite well this year. What's your take on the what type of prospects they are?

 

Jim Callis (2:16 PM) I'd rank them Castro, Lee, Lake in that order. They're all intriguing guys. Castro has done a nice job of handling the jump from Rookie ball to high Class A at age 19, while Lee has bounced back nicely from Tommy John surgery.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/majors/espn-chat/2009/268580.html

[Ryno is God 23]

Which out of those 3 is the best bet to change positions?

[Outshined_One]

Which out of those 3 is the best bet to change positions?

 

Probably Lake. Lee and Castro have pretty much been used exclusively at SS this season, but Lake's been all around the infield. Plus, when I saw him it looked like he still had some growing/filling out to do, which could merit a move to 2B or 3B full-time.

[Guest]

Which out of those 3 is the best bet to change positions?

 

Probably Lake. Lee and Castro have pretty much been used exclusively at SS this season, but Lake's been all around the infield. Plus, when I saw him it looked like he still had some growing/filling out to do, which could merit a move to 2B or 3B full-time.

 

To be fair, Lake is the only one who has played on a team with another guy who deserves some time at shortstop in Flaherty.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Which out of those 3 is the best bet to change positions?

 

Probably Lake. Lee and Castro have pretty much been used exclusively at SS this season, but Lake's been all around the infield. Plus, when I saw him it looked like he still had some growing/filling out to do, which could merit a move to 2B or 3B full-time.

 

To be fair, Lake is the only one who has played on a team with another guy who deserves some time at shortstop in Flaherty.

 

Watkins is probably a legitimate shortstop.

[Guest]

HELIUM WATCH

 

If it wasn't for injuries, Chris Carpenter would be a household name for Baseball America readers by now. He was a solid high school prospect who spurned the Tigers as a seventh-round pick in 2004 to head to Kent State. But he blew out his elbow as a freshman, missed his sophomore season because of Tommy John surgery and then had a second operation to clear out scar tissue. He fell from being a potential first-round pick to the 18th round as a draft-eligible sophomore in '07. Teams were concerned about his arm, in part because he left the Cape Cod League that summer with a tired arm after only two outings. The Cubs finally brought him to pro ball as a third-round pick last year, and he's shown a 93-94 mph fastball with excellent life. Since being promoted to high Class A Daytona on July 2, Carpenter has allowed only 12 hits and eight walks while striking out 30 in 21 innings. He allowed only one hit while striking out nine in five innings in his last start. But the 23-year-old then had to skip his start scheduled for Thursday night because of elbow soreness, which is another reminder that health will be Carpenter's biggest hurdle in making it to the big leagues.

 

Baseball America's 7/24 Hot Sheet