Cub prospects in the news

[illiniguy]

Don't most teams turn over their top 5 regularly though? I mean through trades, regression, and promotions I doubt this is all that rare.

[davell]

You can almost piece together an entire BA top 10 from the clues we've been given. Our first 5 probably stay what Callis just said, Paniagua is in there evidently, I can't see them leaving Candelario out, same with Vogelbach. Since Callis mentioned Johnson as a guy that could be our 2nd arm instead of Paniagua and was our highest drafted pitcher, I figure he's probably there. I doubt they drop Szczur completely out of the top 10, so it only leaves one spot, with Vitters, Alcantara, Amaya, Lake, or Maples as the 10th guy, since Callis has also said he won't have Torreyes in his.

[KingCubsFan]

You can almost piece together an entire BA top 10 from the clues we've been given. Our first 5 probably stay what Callis just said, Paniagua is in there evidently, I can't see them leaving Candelario out, same with Vogelbach. Since Callis mentioned Johnson as a guy that could be our 2nd arm instead of Paniagua and was our highest drafted pitcher, I figure he's probably there. I doubt they drop Szczur completely out of the top 10, so it only leaves one spot, with Vitters, Alcantara, Amaya, Lake, or Maples as the 10th guy, since Callis has also said he won't have Torreyes in his.

I would put Amaya, but I bet they pick Alcantara. They usually give the edge to guys in the higher levels.

[davell]

If I had to lay money on it, I'd bet they go with Vitters.

[Guest]

http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/cubs-talk/Cubs-net-five-in-MLBcoms-Top-100-prospec?blockID=769079&feedID=10336&awid=7256071378308664727-914

 

I know we don't care much about the MLB.com rankings, but what the hell.

 

 

Prior to 2012, the Cubs were represented by just Anthony Rizzo, Brett Jackson and Javier Baez on the Top 100 list. Now, five players pack the list and Rizzo is not one of them.

 

Baez (No. 24) and Jackson (74) are still on the list and they're joined by Albert Almora (52), Arodys Vizcaino (76) and Jorge Soler (77).

 

The five players on the list puts the Cubs fourth among MLB teams, behind only the Blue Jays with seven and the Pirates and Padres, who boast six each. Baez jumped up from preseason No. 62.

 

MLB.com also compiled a complete Top 20 for the Cubs:

 

1. Baez

2. Almora

3. Jackson

4. Vizcaino

5. Soler

6. Matt Szczur

7. Trey McNutt

8. Junior Lake

9. Pierce Johnson

10. Josh Vitters

11. Dillon Maples

12. Robert Whitenack

13. Dan Vogelbach

14. Ben Wells

15. Paul Blackburn

16. Jeimer Candelario

17. Gioskar Amaya

18. Tony Zych

19. Alberto Cabrera

20. Marcus Hatley

[El Duderino]

Jesus H, Trey McNutt at 7? Stopped reading.

[davell]

Good lord, that's a bad list. No Paniagua, no Alcantara, no Torreyes, no Hernandez, and somehow Zych, McNutt, and Hatley are in it? I'm not even all that apposed to Zych, but leaving out those 4 is pitiful and I don't really see Whitenack as anything more than a probale lost hope, for now, as well. Plenty of guys could and should be above him as well.

[Guest]

Good lord, that's a bad list. No Paniagua, no Alcantara, no Torreyes, no Hernandez, and somehow Zych, McNutt, and Hatley are in it? I'm not even all that apposed to Zych, but leaving out those 4 is pitiful and I don't really see Whitenack as anything more than a probale lost hope, for now, as well. Plenty of guys could and should be above him as well.

 

How did Torreyes finish out the year?

[davell]

.264/.326/.385 with 34 extra base hits in 474 at bats, 32 walks and 29 K's. Certainly not gaudy numbers, but definitely unlucky, solid for that league and especially so, considering he was 19 all season long.

[Guest]

Good lord, that's a bad list. No Paniagua, no Alcantara, no Torreyes, no Hernandez, and somehow Zych, McNutt, and Hatley are in it? I'm not even all that apposed to Zych, but leaving out those 4 is pitiful and I don't really see Whitenack as anything more than a probale lost hope, for now, as well. Plenty of guys could and should be above him as well.

No Villanueva either (though I wouldn't have him as high as Callis does).

[davell]

Geez, I completely missed that omission. I wouldn't have him THAT high either, but I can see BA possibly having him as a backend top 100 guy, since they did last year. Top 10 though for sure. I saw Mike Newman said today, that he heard he put on some weight this year, not the good kind. Newman was very high on him, but didn't see him this year, for what it's worth.

[Cubswin11]

Almora isn't 25 spots/prospects better than Soler either, nor are there 25 guys who are better than Soler in between him and Almora. Both those lists are pure horse [expletive].

[Guest]

Our entire top 5 has been added in less than 2 years.

 

and that's not even counting rizzo

[Guest]

.264/.326/.385 with 34 extra base hits in 474 at bats, 32 walks and 29 K's. Certainly not gaudy numbers, but definitely unlucky, solid for that league and especially so, considering he was 19 all season long.

 

anywhere i could find his second half splits?

[rawaction]

.264/.326/.385 with 34 extra base hits in 474 at bats, 32 walks and 29 K's. Certainly not gaudy numbers, but definitely unlucky, solid for that league and especially so, considering he was 19 all season long.

 

anywhere i could find his second half splits?

 

Yeah, milb.com

 

.297/.361/.450 after the AS break. And that's with a .235/.300/.333 August. June and July he was amazing.

[Warpticon]

.264/.326/.385 with 34 extra base hits in 474 at bats, 32 walks and 29 K's. Certainly not gaudy numbers, but definitely unlucky, solid for that league and especially so, considering he was 19 all season long.

 

anywhere i could find his second half splits?

 

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=2B&sid=t450&t=p_pbp&pid=591720

[Guest]

our favorite guy thekapman will be doing a profile piece on soler on csn tonight, for anyone not watching the game

[Guest]

Here is the segment. http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/cubs-talk/See-why-people-think-Soler-could-live-up?blockID=769229&feedID=661

[toonsterwu]

You can almost piece together an entire BA top 10 from the clues we've been given. Our first 5 probably stay what Callis just said, Paniagua is in there evidently, I can't see them leaving Candelario out, same with Vogelbach. Since Callis mentioned Johnson as a guy that could be our 2nd arm instead of Paniagua and was our highest drafted pitcher, I figure he's probably there. I doubt they drop Szczur completely out of the top 10, so it only leaves one spot, with Vitters, Alcantara, Amaya, Lake, or Maples as the 10th guy, since Callis has also said he won't have Torreyes in his.

I would put Amaya, but I bet they pick Alcantara. They usually give the edge to guys in the higher levels.

 

The tough thing with possibly ranking Amaya that high is that, as of now, he looks like a prospect where his bat will have to carry him. He's had decent reports at 2nd this year, but he's no lock to stay there. Considering how far away he is, that's a tough combination for most lists.

 

I tend to think Alcantara will be on BA's top 10. They seemed to give some positive reviews on scouting opinions of him this year.

[toonsterwu]

My 2 cents on the Mayo list -

 

Nothing personal to Mayo, but at first glance, I couldn't believe that list. I thought it would be hard this winter to make a Cubs list that would definitely leave me ... scratching my head, but that list does it. Now, they've edited the list to put Villanueva in there at 7, and I think, sliding everyone down a notch, but still. I'll even grant him the benefit of the doubt on Paniagua and that he might've just forgotten about him, but ...

 

No Alcantara?

 

Soler at 5? I'm still intrigued enough with Brett Jackson ... and I've noted before how I'm a big Arodys fan ... but Brett's coming off a horrid minor league season (for his status) and a major league run that isn't exactly turning heads, outside of the number of K's he's accumulated. Arodys is coming off injury, and there has to be some legitimate questions on whether or not he can start (again, fully expect the Cubs to keep him in the rotation for next year, perhaps on a strict IP limit, or some piggybacking early). Soler looked excellent in his short run, as good as we could've hoped.

 

Trey McNutt in the top 10 bothers me. I figured he'd make some top 20 lists on account of his former status, but I'm still not sure McNutt is significantly better than Marcus Hatley out of the pen. Right now, I can't buy McNutt as a closing prospect, so top 10 seems shaky.

 

I've never been noted as a Vitters fan (outside of defending his defense at 3rd as potentially passable for a couple years if the bat played) ... but ranking Lake ahead of him, IMO, is a slap in the face to Vitters.

 

Never been that huge on Maples, and I'm not sure he's done anything to justify the placement there. Maybe back end top 20.

 

One thing I do sort of like, although he's probably a better fit a few spots down, was seeing Whitenack's name on the list.

 

As a small quibble, I think Cabrera should be ahead of Zych ... and it's debatable if either should be on. But I can understand putting a power pen arm with closing potential, like Cabrera, in the back end of a top 20 considering how a lot of the other options are raw guys far away.

 

Oh, no Jae-Hoon Ha? Nick Struck has a better case for top 20 than some of those that made it on. No Torreyes? No Marco Hernandez?

 

All in all, I thought this was a head-scratching list, more head-scratching than I expected out of any Cubs lists this winter.

[Guest]

For Kyle:

 

As for Almora’s defense, Tinsley’s reports are glowing.

 

“As a defender, he’s pretty polished,” Tinsley said of the Cubs’ top 2012 pick, which is something we heard going into the Draft. “[Especially] for that age, he’s got a good feel of reading the ball off the bat. He does things – he’s probably got maybe a half-step or a step into the swing [more] than most.

 

“[With] some outfielders, it’s off the bat and then they’re a little delayed with the read. But he’s gone when the ball’s off the bat. He’s already got a step.”

 

That explains how scouts concluded that, although Almora has only decent speed, he has tremendous range in center field.

 

http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/09/11/jason-mcleod-discusses-the-offseason-plan-for-jorge-soler-lee-tinsley-talks-up-soler-and-albert-almora/

[Hairyducked Idiot]

“[With] some outfielders, it’s off the bat and then they’re a little delayed with the read. But he’s gone when the ball’s off the bat. He’s already got a step.”

 

:yahoo:

 

40/80 will continue to break causality and there's not a thing any of us can do about it.

[Cubswin11]

For Kyle:

 

As for Almora’s defense, Tinsley’s reports are glowing.

 

“As a defender, he’s pretty polished,” Tinsley said of the Cubs’ top 2012 pick, which is something we heard going into the Draft. “[Especially] for that age, he’s got a good feel of reading the ball off the bat. He does things – he’s probably got maybe a half-step or a step into the swing [more] than most.

 

“[With] some outfielders, it’s off the bat and then they’re a little delayed with the read. But he’s gone when the ball’s off the bat. He’s already got a step.”

 

That explains how scouts concluded that, although Almora has only decent speed, he has tremendous range in center field.

 

http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/09/11/jason-mcleod-discusses-the-offseason-plan-for-jorge-soler-lee-tinsley-talks-up-soler-and-albert-almora/

That's great to hear. He should use some of his judgement of balls off the bat to better judge where the walls are and how close he is to them and stop crashing/running into them.

[imb]

hopefully his recent brain injury hasn't messed with his OF reads

[El Duderino]

Frank (Chicago): How would you rate Gioskar Amaya's tools on the 20-80 scale?

 

 

Jim Callis: Optimistically, you could project him as a 6 bat, 4 power, 55 run, 5 for glove & arm at 2B.