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Cub prospects in the news

David

By David,
in Cubs Minor League Talk

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Has the front office been this candid before in saying Vizcaino is being groomed as the closer?

 

Yeah, that struck me too. This is definitely the first time they have not bothered to pay any lip service to his potential as a starter, at least that I can tell.

ctcf Cooperstown

ctcf

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Consider me pretty jazzed if he's being fully groomed as the closer.

 

That said, is there any clear idea on where he's set to start the year?

wekim81 College Ball

wekim81

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he's thrown 24 innings above AA, so i dont think its unreasonable after all the time off to think he'll start there, given the absolute GLUT of arms we've signed to MLC's this offseason.
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he's thrown 24 innings above AA, so i dont think its unreasonable after all the time off to think he'll start there, given the absolute GLUT of arms we've signed to MLC's this offseason.

 

Plus Tennessee is milder than Iowa. You don't want Vizcaino to unnecessarily risk injury in extremely cold weather when he's coming off two years on the shelf.

Rex Buckingham ACL Cubs

Rex Buckingham

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Rough top 100 for the Cubs:

 

http://www.prospectdigest.com/2014/02/16/2014-top-100-prospects/

 

14. Bryant

15. Baez

29. Edwards

77. Almora

80. Soler

96. Alcantara

 

You can immediately classify as worthless any list that has Sano ahead of Baez, much less by 10 spots.

 

Let's not forget Kyle Zimmer as the #4 prospect or Tyler Glasnow ahead of both Baez and Bryant.

 

or the laughable idea that there are 14 prospects better than Baez

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CW (Houston): Why did you place Baez in front of Correa?

Ben Badler: They’re back-to-back on my list. The edge for Baez is in the power and the more advanced track record. They should both be stars.

 

Kevin (Chicago): Who do you think has the best chance to make a big jump for the Cubs this year, similar to what Arismendy Alcantara did last year?

Ben Badler: Jeimer Candelario has the potential to make that kind of leap this year. Mature hitting approach for his age (and no age questions here), good bat speed, 20-25 homer potential.

 

Christopher (Chicago): What are your thoughts on Edwards for the Cubs? What is his ceiling?

Ben Badler: An athletic power arm with a plus breaking ball, throws strikes, misses bats, gets ground balls. Everything’s there for him to be a No. 2 starter if it all comes together.

 

Jackson (New York): Who has fallen the farthest in the rankings (obviously not including being promoted to The Show) ???

Ben Badler: Mike Olt and Bubba Starling probably had the biggest drop-offs from last year. Could throw Courtney Hawkins into that mix too.

 

Mark (Ohio): In the last 25 years there have been a lot of Cubs misses on the BA top 100. Is this class different?

Matt Eddy: I would look much more favorably on this group of Cubs prospects based on the precedent that Epstein, Hoyer and McLeod established with the Red Sox system, turning them into a player-development machine. With Chicago, that group has had access to much higher draft picks than they did in Boston. Expect good things.

 

Cal Guy (Cal): In five years, who is a major league shortstop from the group of Baez, Bogaerts, Correa, and Russell?

Matt Eddy: Research conducted by J.J. Cooper suggests that nearly three-quarters of elite minor league shortstops who face questions about their ultimate position eventually shift to another spot. A pessimist would conclude, then, that Russell would be the last shortstop standing. I’ll double that and say Correa also sticks at the position.

 

Max Fried Shut Down

 

This really belongs in the Saturday column but, as you may have noticed, that's taken a bit of a back seat with me picking up some of the slack with John out. This is an excellent reason why using high picks on pitchers is so risky. Padres top prospect Max Fried has been shut down for two weeks with soreness in his elbow. Fried was taken #7 by the Padres in 2012, one pick after Albert Almora. Obviously, an elbow issue is not something to take lightly. If this is serious, it's a major hit to the Padres system. That would make the decision to go with Almora over the talented left-hander look even better. It does make you wonder if the Cubs front office will go for Trea Turner if he's available at #4.

JeffH ACL Cubs

JeffH

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According to Muscat, Vogelbach has lost 30 pounds this winter.

 

I saw him up close at the new facility in late January. If you didn't already know that he had once been heavy, you wouldn't suspect a thing.

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http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/25733626-573/cubs-prospect-albert-almora-is-a-born-leader.html

 

MESA, Ariz. — Kris Bryant has two years, three months and six semesters of college on Albert Almora. But hanging around with his roommate and teammate at big-league camp with the Cubs this spring, Bryant often gets the feeling Almora is the older one.

 

‘‘It’s kind of weird,’’ Bryant, 22, said. ‘‘I kind of have to pinch myself.’’

 

Almora is only 19 (he’ll turn 20 in April), is in his first big-league camp and has less than two years of professional baseball experience to his name. But he already is earning a reputation in the organization that has team officials eager to see the kind of big-league impact he will have on the field and in the clubhouse one day.

 

‘‘He seems really mature beyond his years,’’ said Cubs president Theo Epstein, who made Almora the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 draft not long after he and ranking execs Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod visited Almora and his family at their home in Miami. ‘‘He carried himself like a college kid. He had a real clear idea of his goals. He thought he was the best player in the draft and wanted to get his career started and prove that.

 

‘‘I remember him looking at us in the eyes and saying: ‘I’ve won everywhere I’ve been. And not because of me, but because of the teams I’m on. And I want to do that for the Cubs.’ ’’

 

Listening to Almora, you can hear the ‘‘old soul.’’ He has an obvious passion for the game and a stoic determination that belies his age. That passion is impossible to see from a distance in the Cubs’ clubhouse, where he generally keeps to himself and keeps his head down.

 

For now, anyway. Bryant and Epstein talk about Almora as a natural leader, less loud and fiery than outgoing and inclusive in nature.

 

‘‘A high first-round pick who’s had initial success, oftentimes those guys get isolated,’’ Epstein said. ‘‘They get big money, and they get treated a little bit different. But he’s always right in the middle of the group.’’

 

He’s also the guy who had the longest lines on autograph day last year at Class A Kane County and eventually had to be pulled away from signing so they could clear the field. He was the guy who showed up to the park for work early, noticed a kids clinic going on and surprised the undermanned staff by joining in to help coach the kids.

 

He still can name the five teams who passed on him in the draft: ‘‘Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, Baltimore and Kansas City.’’

 

The next step in proving they were wrong is putting in a full pro season this year. That’s Almora’s top goal after a broken hamate bone in his left hand and a groin injury cost him 10 weeks in 2013.

 

His only other goal?

 

‘‘Win a championship somewhere,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s the point of this game — to win.’’

jersey cubs fan GOAT

jersey cubs fan

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Poor Royals.

why?

I assume:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/25733626-573/cubs-prospect-albert-almora-is-a-born-leader.html

 

 

He still can name the five teams who passed on him in the draft: ‘‘Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, Baltimore and Kansas City.’’

 

The next step in proving they were wrong is putting in a full pro season this year. That’s Almora’s top goal after a broken hamate bone in his left hand and a groin injury cost him 10 weeks in 2013.

 

His only other goal?

 

‘‘Win a championship somewhere,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s the point of this game — to win.’’

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