Cub prospects in the news

[Guest]

How did we exactly sign or acquire Castro? Was it through the international free agency?

 

yes, signed as at age 16 out of the dominican republic. i don't think he received much of a signing bonus.

 

$50,000.

[Post Count Padder]

From a Jason Stark article:

 

• One scout's review of the best player he saw in the Arizona Fall League -- 19-year-old Cubs middle-infield stud Starlin Castro: "A young Hanley Ramirez."

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings091119&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines

I like the sound of that.

[Outshined_One]

From Ask BA this week:

 

Mets outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Cubs third baseman Josh Vitters ranked 13th and 14th on Baseball America's Florida State League Top 20 Prospects list. Nieuwenhuis wasn't ranked on BA's Mets Top 10, while Vitters ranked No. 3 on the Cubs Top 10. Is New York's system that much deeper than Chicago's? How does Nieuwenhuis' potential compare to that of Vitters?

 

Max del Rey

New Orleans

 

The important thing to remember about those lists is the context. In the Florida State League, Nieuwenhuis hit .274/.357/.467 while Vitters batted just .238/.260/.344 with just five walks in 196 plate appearances. Nieuwenhuis is two years older and doesn't have Vitters' draft pedigree, but quite frankly, FSL observers didn't know what to make of Vitters. "Wherever you rank him will be too high and too low," one scout told J.J. Cooper, who put together the FSL Top 20, explaining that he's a high-risk, high-reward prospect.

 

Nieuwenhuis greatly outperformed Vitters in the FSL, which was enough to just edge him on that list. But looking at their entire résumés, Vitters is clearly the better prospect, hence his higher ranking in a deeper farm system. He still has plate-discipline issues to address, but he's a potential .300 hitter with 25 or more homers per year. Niewuenhuis, who doesn't have the tightest strike zone either, has a ceiling as a .275 hitter with 20 homers annually. He also figures to move from center to right field as he advances, just as there are questions as to whether Vitters can stay at third base.

 

Vitters was an extreme example of a very good prospect performing poorly in a league. Of the players who saw a good deal of action in the FSL this year, Vitters probably will rank seventh when we release an updated Top 100 Prospects list next spring. Factoring in league performance, he came out as the 14th-best prospect on our FSL list. That may seem odd, but we believe that's preferable to just ranking the league lists with little or no regard to how the players fared while there.

[Gmoney08]

They dont do top 100 lists for just leagues right? So they are going to rank Vitters 7th of all prospects in the minors in the update?

 

Im not as discouraged about his 2nd half of the year struggles as others are but 7th still seems a little high for me.

[Serge]

They dont do top 100 lists for just leagues right? So they are going to rank Vitters 7th of all prospects in the minors in the update?

 

Im not as discouraged about his 2nd half of the year struggles as others are but 7th still seems a little high for me.

 

I think they mean that while on that list he was the 14th best prospect, of the guys on that list he's probably the 7th best prospect overall.

[CubColtPacer]

They dont do top 100 lists for just leagues right? So they are going to rank Vitters 7th of all prospects in the minors in the update?

 

Im not as discouraged about his 2nd half of the year struggles as others are but 7th still seems a little high for me.

 

No, he's just talking about how the FSL list translates to the overall list. Vitters might be behind 13 certain players on the FSL list, but he is only going to be behind 6 of those same players on the overall list because the ranking criteria are different.

 

But there are many other players who were not eligible for the FSL list who will also be ahead of Vitters on the overall list.

[Serge]

This isn't really news I guess but I just listened to the Baseball America NL Central podcast and Ben Badler sounds like he is a pretty big Jay Jackson fan. He went so far as to say he thinks he might take him over Shelby Miller of the Cards. Although that could possibly mean he's just really down on the Cards farm system. And both guys considered the Cubs to have the best farm system in the central, although it was pretty close between us and Cincy. Cincy has more safe guys and guys who are closer to major league ready, while we have more potential stars.

[Rob]

Anybody speak spanish?

 

http://www.escogido.com/Contents/Articulos/Noticias/20091126-Starlin-Castro-esto-es-grandioso.ashx

[TruffleShuffle]

Anybody speak spanish?

 

http://www.escogido.com/Contents/Articulos/Noticias/20091126-Starlin-Castro-esto-es-grandioso.ashx

 

here you go... i'm sure this translation is impeccable:

 

When the Lions of the Chosen you left to the land of the stadium Quisqueya on Tuesday night, the steps sign of the torpedo boat of the team did not they betray the emotions that dominated it just then.

 

"This is magnificent. Always I wanted to play here, with this team", expressed Starlin Fort upon speaking on its début in the Dominican ball.

 

The career of Fort in the country initiated on a good foot upon hitting a simple one in three shifts in the triumph of the Lions 4 for 3 on the Bulls of the east. The super prospect of the Cubs of Chicago was the first selection of the Chosen in the drawing of novices of the Dominican League of Baseball.

 

"My family is Escogidista and always i he have liked this team", he declared the benjamín of the red, who barely counts on 19 years and is native of Mount Cristi.

 

I neuter he showed confidence and ease to the defense and his unstoppable one of the fifth entrance before the opener of the Bulls, Raúl Valdez, he was a rolled hardly to the left of the intermedista Víctor Mercy, that this he could not handle in spite of a great effort. I neuter he made a mistake in shot in the third one inning, but his concentration to the defense did not vary and then lit up in each batazo connected by its territory.

 

"Never I thought that would be here this same year and when they sent me to Arizona I believed that the Cubs would send me to rest upon returning from there", Fort in allusion to its recent participation in the Autumnal League said of Arizona, where batted. 376 with the team Solar Table Sox.

 

"Was a strong league with many players that have been in Triple TO and Large you Tie. Many of them played little in the summer but they are experienced", explained.

 

I neuter batted. 329 with three home runs, 49 trailers and 28 robberies among the levels Class TO advanced and Double TO in the season 2009 and is projected to rise to the greater in some moment of the pr? óxima station.

[ctcf]

Anybody speak spanish?

 

http://www.escogido.com/Contents/Articulos/Noticias/20091126-Starlin-Castro-esto-es-grandioso.ashx

 

here you go... i'm sure this translation is impeccable:

 

When the Lions of the Chosen you left to the land of the stadium Quisqueya on Tuesday night, the steps sign of the torpedo boat of the team did not they betray the emotions that dominated it just then.

 

"This is magnificent. Always I wanted to play here, with this team", expressed Starlin Fort upon speaking on its début in the Dominican ball.

 

The career of Fort in the country initiated on a good foot upon hitting a simple one in three shifts in the triumph of the Lions 4 for 3 on the Bulls of the east. The super prospect of the Cubs of Chicago was the first selection of the Chosen in the drawing of novices of the Dominican League of Baseball.

 

"My family is Escogidista and always i he have liked this team", he declared the benjamín of the red, who barely counts on 19 years and is native of Mount Cristi.

 

I neuter he showed confidence and ease to the defense and his unstoppable one of the fifth entrance before the opener of the Bulls, Raúl Valdez, he was a rolled hardly to the left of the intermedista Víctor Mercy, that this he could not handle in spite of a great effort. I neuter he made a mistake in shot in the third one inning, but his concentration to the defense did not vary and then lit up in each batazo connected by its territory.

 

"Never I thought that would be here this same year and when they sent me to Arizona I believed that the Cubs would send me to rest upon returning from there", Fort in allusion to its recent participation in the Autumnal League said of Arizona, where batted. 376 with the team Solar Table Sox.

 

"Was a strong league with many players that have been in Triple TO and Large you Tie. Many of them played little in the summer but they are experienced", explained.

 

I neuter batted. 329 with three home runs, 49 trailers and 28 robberies among the levels Class TO advanced and Double TO in the season 2009 and is projected to rise to the greater in some moment of the pr? óxima station.

 

That's a hell of a neuter batting average. 28 robberies though? Sounds like he should be playing on the South side.

[Not Sure]

 

. . . in allusion to its recent participation in the Autumnal League said of Arizona, where batted. 376 with the team Solar Table Sox.

 

I don't mean to criticize your translation b/c I couldn't have done it but this part made me laugh, especially the Solar Table Sox part.

[TruffleShuffle]

 

. . . in allusion to its recent participation in the Autumnal League said of Arizona, where batted. 376 with the team Solar Table Sox.

 

I don't mean to criticize your translation b/c I couldn't have done it but this part made me laugh, especially the Solar Table Sox part.

 

actually as long as you can access the website freetranslation.com i'm quite sure you could have done it.

[Wrigley Rat]

According to BA, Vince Perkins was re-signed. Another arm for Iowa. Below average peripherals (high walk rate, low strikeouts, a hit per inning pitched), but good execution. He will be 28 this season, but did well for his first year in AAA. Back when he was with the Blue Jays, he had a 93-95 mph fastball and an 87-89 mph slider.

 

Perkins had his contract purchased last offseason by the Cubs from the Joilet JackHammers, an independent league team. Perkins spent three years on the Blue Jays 40 man roster until he had Tommy John surgery. Last offseason, Perkins played winter ball in the Dominican Republic, where he was 4-2 with a 2.74 ERA in 10 starts.

 

I haven't seen Perkins on any winter ball rosters this off-season. Last I heard, Perkins was throwing in the mid-90's. If he throws anything else, he could be someone to watch.

[toonsterwu]

I like Perkins. IIRC, he still had some bite with the slider. Obviously, there were control problems, although I think his bigger problem is that lefties can tee off on him. He probably needs some sort of change or something to balance things out, and I don't recall that he ever developed that pitch enough. He is sort of in a jam in our system - enough young righty arms in the upper levels, and a lot of arms pushing up the ranks that could get looks ahead of him.

[Wrigley Rat]

According to a report from Buster Olney (in his blog), pitcher Danny Rodriguez of the Tomateros de Culiacan is "expected to sign with the Chicago Cubs soon." Rodriguez is 3-0 in six starts with a 1.25 ERA this winter. In 36 innings the southpaw has struck out 22, walked 13 and surrendered 19 hits (0.88 WHIP). Rodriguez will turn 25 on December 11 and was 7-9 in 26 games, 20 starts, in Mexico in 2009 with a 5.98 ERA.

[Outshined_One]

BA put Starlin Castro at #9 on their Top 10 Arizona Fall League prospects list. Considering he's keeping company on this list with guys like Strasberg, Posey, Ackley, and Freeman, that's a very good thing for him. Link (Subscribers only)

 

9. Starlin Castro, ss, Cubs

 

Castro continued his skyrocketing pace through the minor leagues with an impressive showing in the AFL. With an athletic, projectable body, Castro has a short, compact swing with good bat speed. He stays inside the ball well and has a good two-strike approach with good feel for the barrel, putting the ball in play and letting his speed take over. Castro is athletic and fields his position well, showing good range and a strong, accurate arm.

 

Castro has well below-average present power, though with his frame and bat speed he should grow into more pop in time. He still needs to work the count better—he drew three walks in 106 trips to the plate in the AFL—but this season was his first facing competition above rookie ball.

[Sever82]

I guess you can put Keith Law as a believer when it comes to Castro

 

 

Burt (LA)

 

 

Are you on the Starlin Castro bandwagon or under one if its wheels as it careens over the road?

 

Klaw (1:40 PM)

 

 

On it, and belted in.

[toonsterwu]

Law loves him. In some ways, Law was responsible for the sudden surge in Castro interest due to that piece he wrote about him when he went to see him in the AFL.

 

On a side note, very pleased to add a good, raw arm like Ronny Morla. I mean, he's probably not top 30 (not that I've really pondered it), but he's a good, young lanky arm that throws in the low 90's with a decent-solid change. Throws a healthy amount of strikes as well. There's some room for projection.

 

I don't think much of Spencer, but overall, I like the Morla addition.

[CubsWin]

Law loves him. In some ways, Law was responsible for the sudden surge in Castro interest due to that piece he wrote about him when he went to see him in the AFL.

 

On a side note, very pleased to add a good, raw arm like Ronny Morla. I mean, he's probably not top 30 (not that I've really pondered it), but he's a good, young lanky arm that throws in the low 90's with a decent-solid change. Throws a healthy amount of strikes as well. There's some room for projection.

 

I don't think much of Spencer, but overall, I like the Morla addition.

I read one report that Morla had a good slider as well. Any confirmation on that?

[Guest]

Law loves him. In some ways, Law was responsible for the sudden surge in Castro interest due to that piece he wrote about him when he went to see him in the AFL.

 

On a side note, very pleased to add a good, raw arm like Ronny Morla. I mean, he's probably not top 30 (not that I've really pondered it), but he's a good, young lanky arm that throws in the low 90's with a decent-solid change. Throws a healthy amount of strikes as well. There's some room for projection.

 

I don't think much of Spencer, but overall, I like the Morla addition.

I read one report that Morla had a good slider as well. Any confirmation on that?

 

BA:

 

Morla's size and loose arm action could translate into an increase on his present 91-92 mph velocity. His changeup would seem to have a bit more potential than his slider, but if he commands at least one of them he could find success as a reliever. The A's had not exhausted his starter possibilities, despite an ugly 4.87 ERA over the course of 139 short-season innings.

 

I'm with toonsterwu on Morla. Always nice to get a young arm with potential who is in the low minors.

[bubblesdachimp]

Baseball America had their NL team that didnt make the top ten lists.

 

Kyler Burke RF

Antigua LHS

Gaub LHP

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/column/2009/269248.html

 

Kyler Burke, rf, Cubs: Barely a year after making Burke the 35th overall pick in the 2006 draft, the Padres sent him to the Cubs in a trade for Michael Barrett. Burke finally got his bat going in 2009. Still just 21, he can hit for average with solid power while showing one of the best outfield arms in the minors.

 

Just 19, Antigua is poised for a breakout season after easily handling older hitters last summer. He has advanced feel for his age, not to mention three pitches that should be average or better. He can make his 89-91 mph fastball run to either side of the plate, and his changeup is even more effective.

 

One scout calls Gaub the best lefthanded reliever in the minors and predicts he'll be an asset in Chicago's bullpen next season. Part of the Indians' payment for Mark DeRosa, Gaub can devastate lefties and righties with his 91-96 mph fastball and 84-90 mph slider. He just needs to refine his command a bit more.

 

How did we get Antigua again?

[Wrigley Rat]

Baseball America had their NL team that didnt make the top ten lists.

 

Kyler Burke RF

Antigua LHS

Gaub LHP

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/column/2009/269248.html

 

Kyler Burke, rf, Cubs: Barely a year after making Burke the 35th overall pick in the 2006 draft, the Padres sent him to the Cubs in a trade for Michael Barrett. Burke finally got his bat going in 2009. Still just 21, he can hit for average with solid power while showing one of the best outfield arms in the minors.

 

Just 19, Antigua is poised for a breakout season after easily handling older hitters last summer. He has advanced feel for his age, not to mention three pitches that should be average or better. He can make his 89-91 mph fastball run to either side of the plate, and his changeup is even more effective.

 

One scout calls Gaub the best lefthanded reliever in the minors and predicts he'll be an asset in Chicago's bullpen next season. Part of the Indians' payment for Mark DeRosa, Gaub can devastate lefties and righties with his 91-96 mph fastball and 84-90 mph slider. He just needs to refine his command a bit more.

 

How did we get Antigua again?

Undrafted free agent

[Shilzzz]

Cubs' Draft Review is up on Fangraphs

 

2009 1st Round: Brett Jackson, OF, U of California

2. D.J. LeMahieu, 2B, Louisiana State

3. Austin Kirk, LHP, Oklahoma HS

6x – Brooks Raley, LHP, Texas A&M

 

Jackson was a bit of a surprise pick where the Cubs selected him, but the early results have been promising. The outfielder flew through three levels in his debut and ended the year in low-A ball where he hit .295/.382/.545 in 112 at-bats. If Jackson continues to hit with power (.250 ISO) and speed (11 steals in 12 attempts, 30 runs scored in 26 games), the organization could have a real steal here. However, his walk rate did diminish with each promotion, and his strikeout rate was quite high (28.6% in low-A). Still, you can’t sneeze at a .436 wOBA.

 

[videographer]

From ESPN chat with Jim Callis:

 

rayg (burlington, nj)

 

 

Better career-Dee Gordon or Starlin Castro?

 

Jim Callis (2:49 PM)

 

 

Castro.

 

Dale (Calvert City KY)

 

 

Take on Esmailin(sp?) Caridad? Decent reliever, potential closer, other?

 

Jim Callis (2:52 PM)

 

 

Decent to solid reliever but not a closer.

 

Dillon Tung (Pasadena, CA)

 

 

Jay Jackson or Aaron Miller?

 

Jim Callis (2:54 PM)

 

 

Tough one. I'll say Jackson.

 

Dale (Calvert City KY)

 

 

Samardzija or Cashner? and where do they end up?

 

Jim Callis (2:55 PM)

 

 

Cashner. Bullpen for both.

 

Joseph (Bozeman, MT)

 

 

Jake Fox and Oakland. A perfect fit, right?

 

Jim Callis (2:55 PM)

 

 

Yep. Though I'm not sure I would have eaten $1.7 million of Aaron Miles' contract to make that fit.

[toonsterwu]

mildly surprised that callis took jay jackson over aaron miller. i had been under the impression that he was quite high on miller and that he was a bit lukewarm on jay jackson. Edited December 10, 2009 by toonsterwu