2009 Cubs Picks Thread

[jersey cubs fan]

Short article on the LeMahieu signing.

 

Link

 

The Cubs announced Saturday that LeMahieu, the 79th overall pick of the draft, has signed his contract and was assigned to their Rookie League team in Mesa, Ariz. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

When he’s ready, LeMahieu, who celebrated his 21st birthday on July 13, will be sent to the Cubs’ Class A team in Boise, Idaho.

 

Is "when he's ready" a euphemism for when he recovers from his hangover?

[SouthSideRyan]

D.J. LeMahieu signed (Bob Brenly & Len Kasper said it on TV). Will report to Mesa.

 

You'd think they would send him to Tennessee since he's been playing all year against AA level competition.

 

What's the MLE for a 901 OPS in AA? Maybe he could make September call ups.

[Outshined_One]

More on Dail and Pruitt via Arizona Phil:

 

The Cub Reporter[/url]"]The Cubs have signed 25 of the 50 players they selected in the June Draft, but two of the players they signed (17th round pick RHP B. J. Dail and 23rd round pick OF Jeffrey Pruitt) had their contracts voided last week and are now free-agents. (Even though their contracts were voided, Dail and Pruitt have probably lost their remaining college eligibility)

 

The exact reason for the contracts being voided has not been disclosed, but it could be because a player tested positive for a banned substance, or a pre-existing medical condition was discovered, or because the club failed to submit a contract to the MLB office in a timely manner, or failed to add a player to a minor league reserve list within 15 days after signing the player. Since the Cubs got fined a reported $500K for screwing up contracts last year, I'll put my money on a club error as the reason Dail and Pruitt have been declared free-agents.

 

As memory serves me, the fine was for the Cerda signing. Considering he got a contract from the Cubs and also considering Dail and Pruitt have not signed elsewhere yet, I'm guessing something else happened with them.

[craig]

More on Dail and Pruitt via Arizona Phil:

 

The Cub Reporter[/url]"]The Cubs have signed 25 of the 50 players they selected in the June Draft, but two of the players they signed (17th round pick RHP B. J. Dail and 23rd round pick OF Jeffrey Pruitt) had their contracts voided last week and are now free-agents. (Even though their contracts were voided, Dail and Pruitt have probably lost their remaining college eligibility)

 

The exact reason for the contracts being voided has not been disclosed, but it could be because a player tested positive for a banned substance, or a pre-existing medical condition was discovered, or because the club failed to submit a contract to the MLB office in a timely manner, or failed to add a player to a minor league reserve list within 15 days after signing the player. Since the Cubs got fined a reported $500K for screwing up contracts last year, I'll put my money on a club error as the reason Dail and Pruitt have been declared free-agents.

 

As memory serves me, the fine was for the Cerda signing. Considering he got a contract from the Cubs and also considering Dail and Pruitt have not signed elsewhere yet, I'm guessing something else happened with them.

 

I agree with you, OO.

1. Cerda did not become a FA based on the signing error, why would these guys?

2. If anything, having gotten fined last year I'd think they'd be more careful to follow procedure this year, not less. Seems unlikely that having gotten fined last year, they'd now be so happy to get fined that they'd try to do the same thing again.

3. If the Cubs drafted these boys and they wanted them, it would seem likely that they'd come to terms again even were they free agents. I don't think it's like Dail and Pruitt are likely to have scouts beating down their doors offering them 6-figure contracts.

4. Given Dail's unsavory history, it seems not out of character that he'd have some health or banned substance issue.

 

Still, it certainly doesn't reflect very favorably on the Cub scouting. Whether they are drafting banned substance guys, unhealthy guys, or breaking signing protocols, none of those explanations is exactly flattering to the scouts.

[Guest]

The Cubs were fined because they didn't officially get MLB approval for Matt Cerda's contract before he made his professional debut. Since Dail and Pruitt never got into an AZL game, this wasn't the same violation.

[jersey cubs fan]

2. If anything, having gotten fined last year I'd think they'd be more careful to follow procedure this year, not less. Seems unlikely that having gotten fined last year, they'd now be so happy to get fined that they'd try to do the same thing again.

 

I think the point is that if they were so careless to screw up last year, they could easily be careless enough to screw up again, even if it's not the same mistake.

[Guest]

BA says LeMahieu received a $508,000 bonus. I'd estimate slot to be about $457,200.

 

ETA: LeMahieu got exactly what was slot for the 79th pick last year, which means the Cubs didn't heed MLB's advice to reduce slot by 10%.

[craig]

BA says LeMahieu received a $508,000 bonus. I'd estimate slot to be about $457,200.

 

thanks for the scoop, cal. Makes sense, that he'd get a mild superslot.

 

Kirk also signed. "I’m very happy with the contract,” Kirk said. “The total package is worth more than $400,000.”

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?subjectid=225&articleid=20090721_229_0_Owasso348113&allcom=1

 

That's also somewhat superslot, I'm sure. Although "the total package", I think, implies stuff other than actual money. As in, college guarantee if he flames out and someday wants to use it (most guys don't). And, as the article mentions, a trip for his family to Wrigley this summer.

 

That guarantees that the Cubs will spend at least $2.5 million on this year's draftees. We'll see if they end up getting Raley, or do what it takes to get Walker, Burruel, or Esquivel. It's possible that we'll still end up spending only a couple million less than last year.

[Wrigley Rat]

Cal has already updated the first page, but 3rd round pick Austin Kirk has signed with the Cubs.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?subjectid=225&articleid=20090721_229_0_Owasso348113&allcom=1

[shnsajax]

Cal has already updated the first page, but 3rd round pick Austin Kirk has signed with the Cubs.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?subjectid=225&articleid=20090721_229_0_Owasso348113&allcom=1

 

Glad to see him signed on.

[Tryptamine]

Have there been any reports that hint at how the Brooks Raley negotiations are going?

[Outshined_One]

Have there been any reports that hint at how the Brooks Raley negotiations are going?

 

Google News Search turns up nothing.

 

Also, as is expected, 43rd round pick Colin Kaepernick will not be signing with the Cubs and will instead return as The University of Nevada's QB. Link (Need ESPN Insider Access to read full article)

[Guest]

BA has Austin Kirk at $320,000. It looks like Kirk signed at least year's slot (this year, slot was supposed to be 10% lower across the board so that would mean Kirk actually signed over slot). This is the exact same thing that happened to DJ LeMahieu.

[craig]

BA shows Burruel as having signed. Fantastic, he caught my interest.

 

Maybe he's a 19th round talent and will never make it to full-season. But I got the impression that against Phoenix area HS teams, which I would think ought to be pretty competitive, that he was a strong power hitter and had knockout contact/BB/K profile. So I've had my eye on him as a superslot guy. I'm really pleased that we got him in, he was one of the guys I was most interested in getting signed. Just turned 18, so he's plenty young. Excellent news.

[Guest]

BA shows Burruel as having signed. Fantastic, he caught my interest.

 

Maybe he's a 19th round talent and will never make it to full-season. But I got the impression that against Phoenix area HS teams, which I would think ought to be pretty competitive, that he was a strong power hitter and had knockout contact/BB/K profile. So I've had my eye on him as a superslot guy. I'm really pleased that we got him in, he was one of the guys I was most interested in getting signed. Just turned 18, so he's plenty young. Excellent news.

 

BA's scouting report had this:

 

He's thrown around some bonus figures that scouts think are too high, but has been crosschecked and could go in the top 10 rounds.

 

As of now, there's no bonus figure. After the first 10 rounds, BA only lists a bonus if it's over $100,000. That doesn't mean he didn't go over slot: he could have gotten less than $100k and still gotten significan over slot money (a la Casey Coleman last year) and sometimes BA is slow to update the bonus figures too.

 

Glad to see him signed though.

[Outshined_One]

Get Raley and one of Walker, Sheppard, or Whaley signed and I'll be a happy man. Burruel is an excellent signing.

[Tony Thomas]

I was reading on the Jim Callis chat that some of the teams have deals in place with players but wont be able to announce them for at least a week. There has only been one way over slot signing announced, so there is a good chance the Cubs have already got deals in place with some of the people.

[Guest]

According to BA, DJ LeMahieu's bonus exceeded slot by the highest percentage of anyone signed in the first four rounds until the Rangers signed their third rounder yesterday.

 

Baseball America[/url]"]Erlin’s bonus exceeded his slot by 15.2 percent. The previous high had been 11.1 percent by Cubs second-rounder D.J. LeMahieu.

[Guest]

Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com's college baseball lead editor, says the Cubs have signed 6th rounder LHP Brooks Raley:

 

Rivals.com College Baseball Forum[/url]"]Raley did in fact sign with the Cubs...... A&M is going to have a tough time putting together a very good rotation without Raley and possibly Ross Hales, who will be out the first couple of months of the season with a rotator cuff injury.

[Outshined_One]

Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com's college baseball lead editor, says the Cubs have signed 6th rounder LHP Brooks Raley:

 

Rivals.com College Baseball Forum[/url]"]Raley did in fact sign with the Cubs...... A&M is going to have a tough time putting together a very good rotation without Raley and possibly Ross Hales, who will be out the first couple of months of the season with a rotator cuff injury.

 

*Fist pump!*

[Tony Thomas]

Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com's college baseball lead editor, says the Cubs have signed 6th rounder LHP Brooks Raley:

 

Rivals.com College Baseball Forum[/url]"]Raley did in fact sign with the Cubs...... A&M is going to have a tough time putting together a very good rotation without Raley and possibly Ross Hales, who will be out the first couple of months of the season with a rotator cuff injury.

:yahoo: Now I hope we can sign Keenyn Walker and i will be happy.

[Guest]

Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com's college baseball lead editor, says the Cubs have signed 6th rounder LHP Brooks Raley:

 

Rivals.com College Baseball Forum[/url]"]Raley did in fact sign with the Cubs...... A&M is going to have a tough time putting together a very good rotation without Raley and possibly Ross Hales, who will be out the first couple of months of the season with a rotator cuff injury.

Brooks IS here

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Oh, this is awesome news. I was getting resigned to the fact that Raley would go the way of Alex Wilson.

[RedFlash]

Brooks IS here

 

 

:clapping:

[Tryptamine]

Really happy to hear this; I didn't think the Cubs would pay him what he wanted. If they can sign Eric Whaley, I'll be pretty thrilled with how things have gone.