Cub prospects in the news

[imb]

BA's minor league all-star team: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2013-minor-league-all-star-team/

 

DH Javier Baez • Cubs

Double-A Tennessee (Southern)

 

Baez slammed 20 homers in 54 Double-A games to catch and tie George Springer for second place in the minors with 37 bombs. Baez stands all by himself, however, with minor league-leading totals for extra-base hits (75) and RBIs (111). The 20-year-old stepped up his game with runners on base this season, hitting .325/.384/.654 with 19 homers in 231 at-bats at Tennessee and high Class A Daytona. While Baez possesses the raw tools to play a big league shortstop, he needs to clean up his fundamentals and improve his efficiency after committing 44 errors in 123 games, a performance good for a .932 fielding average.

 

SP C.J. Edwards • Cubs

High Class A Daytona (Florida State)

 

A 48th-round pick by the Rangers out of high school in Prosperity, S.C., two years ago, Edwards is the scouting and player development success story in the minors. He quickly refined his mechanics and added velocity during his 2012 debut before utterly dominating low Class A competition for the first half of 2013. Edwards didn’t allow a home run in 18 starts for Hickory prior to his July 22 trade to the Cubs as part of the bounty for Matt Garza. He breezed through another six starts afterward, finishing with a minor league-best 12 strikeouts per nine innings and ranking fourth in the ERA race at 1.86. He then added 10 shutout, one-hit innings as Daytona won the Florida State League championship.

 

Second team: SP Kyle Hendricks

 

I dont know anything about Hendricks from a stuff perspective, but his results remind me of Sean Gallagher. Any reason to think he's better than that?

[sneakypower]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=fister001dou

[davell]

Law said CJ could be a potential star in his chat today. Same dude that called out Manuel yesterday for taking CJ over Syndergaard asked Keith, who said he understands Manuel's reasoning.

[Guest]

Who is Manuel?

[davell]

Who is Manuel?

John Manuel from BA.

[Gilby]

To say the least.

 

Random thought: who starts next year at 3B in Iowa?

 

Villanueva or Baez

 

Yeah, Vitters will be moved this offseason.

 

it's an interesting logjam, for sure. You've got to keep Bryant at 3B for as long as possible, and he'll be at AA before long, so Villanueva will have to move up. Baez will before long too, but he has to stay at short stop. I imagine Olt starts the year at 3B in AAA, and gets called up to the majors when baez and villanueva are ready for AAA.

 

I'd be surprised if Baez doesn't start 2014 at Iowa. I never thought I'd say that when he was called up to AA, but I think he earned that. It's also a good opportunity for him to play in some potentially cooler weather before reaching the majors. Remember, they kept him in AZ in 2012 before going to Peoria partially to keep him in warm weather being from Puerto Rico/Florida. I also think next year is when we reach the point where he doesn't need to play SS.

 

I've got Vitters penciled in as Schierholtz's platoon partner in RF. Not sure what to expect with Olt; part of me thinks they just put him in the majors to start because he doesn't have any time to work things out in the minors with all of the infield talent.

[abuck1220]

they're not going to let him [expletive] all over himself in the majors because they can't find room for him in the minors.

[Gilby]

they're not going to let him [expletive] all over himself in the majors because they can't find room for him in the minors.

 

If they think he'll [expletive] all over himself in the majors, then yeah, he won't be up, and they'll find a way for him to get AB's in Iowa. However, I think he showed enough positive signs since the trade that I wouldn't be surprised if he got a look. And this is coming from someone who wanted no part of him.

[sneakypower]

if logic prevails, Baez is going to stay at SS in the minors until he's called up

 

if he kills it there, you just move Castro to 2B since he's been regressing anyway

if he doesn't, he can even move to 3B upon call-up; Machado played two games of 3B in the minors but now he's Brooks Robinson over there, it's not that drastic a switch- hell, look at Valbuena too

[toonsterwu]

BA's minor league all-star team: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2013-minor-league-all-star-team/

 

DH Javier Baez • Cubs

Double-A Tennessee (Southern)

 

Baez slammed 20 homers in 54 Double-A games to catch and tie George Springer for second place in the minors with 37 bombs. Baez stands all by himself, however, with minor league-leading totals for extra-base hits (75) and RBIs (111). The 20-year-old stepped up his game with runners on base this season, hitting .325/.384/.654 with 19 homers in 231 at-bats at Tennessee and high Class A Daytona. While Baez possesses the raw tools to play a big league shortstop, he needs to clean up his fundamentals and improve his efficiency after committing 44 errors in 123 games, a performance good for a .932 fielding average.

 

SP C.J. Edwards • Cubs

High Class A Daytona (Florida State)

 

A 48th-round pick by the Rangers out of high school in Prosperity, S.C., two years ago, Edwards is the scouting and player development success story in the minors. He quickly refined his mechanics and added velocity during his 2012 debut before utterly dominating low Class A competition for the first half of 2013. Edwards didn’t allow a home run in 18 starts for Hickory prior to his July 22 trade to the Cubs as part of the bounty for Matt Garza. He breezed through another six starts afterward, finishing with a minor league-best 12 strikeouts per nine innings and ranking fourth in the ERA race at 1.86. He then added 10 shutout, one-hit innings as Daytona won the Florida State League championship.

 

Second team: SP Kyle Hendricks

 

I dont know anything about Hendricks from a stuff perspective, but his results remind me of Sean Gallagher. Any reason to think he's better than that?

 

Stuff wise, at his best, and Gallagher had some injury that hampered in Oakland, his stuff was better than Hendricks by a bit. Keep in mind, when Gallagher entered the system, his stuff wasn't great, but it steadily improved. Now, Gallagher eventually had some issues commanding his improved stuff.

 

Hendricks has a chance to be better than that, and I'm not huge on Hendricks and I was pretty big on Gallagher. But Hendricks ability to throw strikes with slightly above average stuff gives him a better shot to find a role in the bigs as a starter.

[toonsterwu]

Personally, I would keep Baez at AA to start 2014. I would want to see if the improvement in his approach in the 2nd month in AA was legitimate. It was a very positive sign, but one can't be too confident on 2 month samples. That said, fall ball could shape their perspective on things, as well as next spring.

 

My hunch is that he'll be given a NRI to big league camp, but won't be given a realistic shot, and have a clear shot at starting in AAA, but I still like the idea of seeing him in AA for one more month, to see how his approach holds and to see how AA managers do against him now that there's a longer "book" on him.

[davell]

My guess is if Olt has a solid spring, he's in the majors, Alcantara, Baez, and Villanueva at 2b, SS, and 3B for Iowa, with Bryant at 3B in Tennessee. Vitters is dealt and Watkins is in Iowa as a utility guy, learning to play OF.

[davell]

Not sure where to put this, but Tim Dierkes says Javy recently changed agents. Unsure who he was with, but now he's with an unknown guy.

[XZero771679666304]

My guess is if Olt has a solid spring, he's in the majors, Alcantara, Baez, and Villanueva at 2b, SS, and 3B for Iowa, with Bryant at 3B in Tennessee. Vitters is dealt and Watkins is in Iowa as a utility guy, learning to play OF.

 

If those three are in Iowa when they travel to Albuquerque, it'll give me a good excuse to attend some Isotopes games.

[rawaction]

If Olt isn't in the majors, its really going to create a logjam at Iowa. I think Baez and Alcantara start there. I'd put Villanueva there too and keep him at 3B. That leaves Olt, maybe Justin Bour, and maybe even Vitters in the mix for 1b, DH, LF (without an everyday DH).

[Guest]

Jeimer Candelario was the 6th pick in the Dominican Winter League draft. The guys who went ahead of him were Raul Mondesi Jr, Rosell Herrera, Jorge Polanco, Ronald Guzman and Dorsyss Paulino.

[davell]

Jeimer Candelario was the 6th pick in the Dominican Winter League draft. The guys who went ahead of him were Raul Mondesi Jr, Rosell Herrera, Jorge Polanco, Ronald Guzman and Dorsyss Paulino.

My first inclination when I saw that was to see who went behind him, but I couldn't find any results.

[TruffleShuffle]

i assume mondesi jr was first because of name recognition and wanting to sell tickets, since candelario (and probably a lot of other guys) are better than him right now.

[Guest]

i assume mondesi jr was first because of name recognition and wanting to sell tickets, since candelario (and probably a lot of other guys) are better than him right now.

 

It's basically a keeper league draft - these kids will probably play in the DWL minor leagues until they're ready for actual DWL games.

 

FYI, Mondesi is pretty well regarded. Jason Parks rated him as the 38th best prospect in baseball in his midseason list.

[TruffleShuffle]

i assume mondesi jr was first because of name recognition and wanting to sell tickets, since candelario (and probably a lot of other guys) are better than him right now.

 

It's basically a keeper league draft - these kids will probably play in the DWL minor leagues until they're ready for actual DWL games.

 

FYI, Mondesi is pretty well regarded. Jason Parks rated him as the 38th best prospect in baseball in his midseason list.

 

yeah i know he's a good prospect, but that's predicated on him having held his own at age 17 in a full season league. present moment, candelario is a better player. but it makes a lot more sense drafting him first since you said that it's basically a keeper format.

[Guest]

No surprises here:

 

@Cubs: #Cubs today named IF Javier Baez and RHP Kyle Hendricks the organization’s Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.

[Jax Teller]

Tennessee Smokies ‏@smokiesbaseball 6m

Baez & Hendricks named #Cubs Minor League Player & Pitcher of the Year, respectively. @MiLB http://tennessee.smokies.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130913&content_id=60464076&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t553&sid=t553 … pic.twitter.com/P8ALE3oTGP

[BeerHere]

Replying to a question about where Jimenez and Torres will fall in the Cubs top 30...

 

The two international prospects the Cubs signed this year who should make their Top 30 are Dominican outfielder Eloy Jimenez and Venezuelan shortstop Gleyber Torres. There wasn’t a clear-cut No. 1 prospect on the international market this year, but Jimenez and Torres were either at or near the top of the boards for several teams, and we ranked them as the top two international prospects available for July 2. Neither one of them should be Top 10 prospects in that organization, but they should both fit comfortably in the 11-30 range.

 

All of the players who become eligible to sign for the first time on July 2 are signing 2014 contracts, so they will make their pro debuts next season. Domincan righthander Jefferson Mejia signed when he was 18, so he was able to make a pair of starts this season in the Dominican Summer League. Jimenez and Torres are advanced enough that they should skip the DSL and head straight to the Rookie-level Arizona League next year.

Edited September 16, 2013 by BeerHere

[burnt out cubbie fan]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130916&content_id=60459426&c_id=

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130916&content_id=60387430&c_id=

 

Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo all prospect teams, both had Vogelbach and Callis had Baez.

 

Biggest Fall: Mike Olt, Cubs

 

Blurry vision, caused by an incident in winter ball, caused Olt to get off to an awful start. It appeared like he was turning things around for a bit, but he never could get himself going in quite the same way as he did in 2012, even after the trade to the Cubs. Olt still has outstanding power potential and can play a good defensive third base, but his stock has dropped tremendously and, at age, 25, the prospect clock is ticking.

 

[Clem Fandango]

So does that means they both feel that Vogelbach is the best 1B prospect in the minors? Or just that he had the best season?