2009 Cubs Picks Thread

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm not excited by this draft, but I think that's what happens when you go into the draft targeting particular positions such as LHP. I don't think it was a horrible draft, either. Just not a whole lot to get excited about unless some guys develop more than I expect them to.

 

Yeah, I don't understand targeting specific positions in the draft, especially that early. They seem to have tried to address organizational catching depth a little later, which is fine. But early on, why do they have to fit specific team needs?

 

 

My impression of Wilkin's picks since coming to Chicago seems to be that he likes guys with a strong chance of making the majors, but maybe not much of a chance to do anything impressive once they get there. As somebody who hates seeing them waste big money on veteran relievers and bench players, I like that kind of guy in the system (that's how I thought of Theriot before he came up). But if you end up spending multi millions on a draft pick who might become a 4th OF or lefty specialist, then you're not better off than you are signing guys like Reed Johnson and Neal Cotts.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Greg Rohan - 1B - Kent State

 

238 AB, .349/.436/.609, 15 2B, 15 HR, 29/32 BB/K

[Transmogrified Tiger]

DJ Fitzgerald - 2B - Dyersburg State Community College

[Guest]

21st round: Greg Rohan, 1B, Ken State - 5th year senior (yeesh)

 

6' 205 lbs, 5/11/1986 - 25th ranked prospect in Ohio per BA.

 

22nd round: Derrick Fitzgerald, 2B, Dyersburg State CC (TN)

 

5'11, 195 lbs, 12/20/1988

[Keener98]

Round 20: Eric Erickson, LHP, U Miami (FL)

 

6' 174 lbs / 2/17/1988

 

Missed the 2009 season with an elbow injury and had elbow reconstructive surgery: link.

 

Was he projected to be drafted before the arm injury? If so how high?

[Guest]

Round 23: Jeff Pruitt, OF, Cal State Northridge

 

Outfielder Jeff Pruitt has a pro body at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, with plus tools in his arm strength, speed (6.5 seconds in the 60) and defense. A redshirt sophomore, Pruitt has not hit enough to get scouts that interested, batting .212 this season and striking out 53 times in 179 at-bats.

 

BA ranks him the 109th best prospect in California.

[Keener98]

Greg Rohan - 1B - Kent State

 

238 AB, .349/.436/.609, 15 2B, 15 HR, 29/32 BB/K

 

Those are some nice numbers and I like the power with the almost 1:1 k to walk ratio at least.

[Keener98]

Round 23: Jeff Pruitt, OF, Cal State Northridge

 

Outfielder Jeff Pruitt has a pro body at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, with plus tools in his arm strength, speed (6.5 seconds in the 60) and defense. A redshirt sophomore, Pruitt has not hit enough to get scouts that interested, batting .212 this season and striking out 53 times in 179 at-bats.

 

BA ranks him the 109th best prospect in California.

 

yuck

[Transmogrified Tiger]

We sure do like our California college outfielders with pro bodies and K rates pushing 30%.

 

Jeff Pruitt - Cal State Northridge

Player                 AVG  GP-GS    AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD% 
20 Pruitt, Jeff.....  .212  54-53   179  30  38   2   4   0   9   48  .268  26   6  53   3  .332   0   4  24-28   140   0   4  .972

[craig]

Round 20: Eric Erickson, LHP, U Miami (FL)

 

6' 174 lbs / 2/17/1988

 

Missed the 2009 season with an elbow injury and had elbow reconstructive surgery: link.

 

Was he projected to be drafted before the arm injury? If so how high?

 

I suspect he must have been pretty well regarded. Miami is a huge program that can recruit selectively for real talent, and given the talent they have you don't make the rotation as a freshman unless you've got some talent too. He was a rotation guy right off the bat as a freshman, 13 starts 2.5 ERA, 9-1, 63K/16BB.

 

I'm guessing he's a guy who'll plan to go back to Miami, pitch next spring, and get fairly high-round draft and money next year. And I assume the Cubs will watch him this summer, see if they think his arm is sound, and then make him an offer, as with Alex Wilson last year. Probably won't sign, because whatever we offer he'll probably figure he can make more a year from now.

[craig]

Round 23: Jeff Pruitt, OF, Cal State Northridge

 

Outfielder Jeff Pruitt has a pro body at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, with plus tools in his arm strength, speed (6.5 seconds in the 60) and defense. A redshirt sophomore, Pruitt has not hit enough to get scouts that interested, batting .212 this season and striking out 53 times in 179 at-bats.

 

BA ranks him the 109th best prospect in California.

 

Sounds like a guy drafted to pitch.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Cubs took a pitcher from the De La Salle Institute in Chicago, Escovel(?) was his last name.

[SouthSideRyan]

We sure do like our California college outfielders with pro bodies and K rates pushing 30%.

 

Jeff Pruitt - Cal State Northridge

Player                 AVG  GP-GS    AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD% 
20 Pruitt, Jeff.....  .212  54-53   179  30  38   2   4   0   9   48  .268  26   6  53   3  .332   0   4  24-28   140   0   4  .972

 

And an inability to hit for power.

[Guest]

Round 24, Pick 740: Gerardo Esquivel, RHP, De La Salle Institute (IL)

 

26th best prospect in Illinois per BA.

 

6'1 170 lbs. 4/28/1991

[Guest]

25th rounder: Justin Bour, 1B, George Mason

 

6'4 / 250 lb 5/28/1988

 

7th best prospect in Virginia per BA. Huge power guy.

 

Bour shows the ability to hit for average and power. He's a strapping 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and has drawn physical comparisons to Brett Wallace. Power will be his calling card, though he has the tools to be a good defensive first baseman.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Justin Bour - 1B - George Mason

Player                 AVG  GP-GS    AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD% 
Bour, Justin........  .339  55-55   221  48  75  14   0  17  66  140  .633  24   9  33   6  .420   3   0   0-0    435  21   7  .985 

[Guest]

26th round: Steve Grife, rhp, Mercyhurst

 

Steve Grife, generously listed at 6 feet, 170 pounds, has plenty of effort in his delivery, but he has handled a starter's workload the last few years. He ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Coastal Plain League last summer and went 5-1, 3.24 with 73 strikeouts in 67 innings this spring. Grife pitches off a plus fastball that he can run up to 94 mph. While his secondary stuff has improved since last year, his curveball and slider are still below-average at best. He has feel for a changeup, but he often slows down his arm when he throws it. He profiles as a reliever in pro ball, and it's unlikely a club will buy him out of his senior year at Mercyhurst.

 

BA has him as the 5th best prospect in Pennsylvania.

 

6' 177 lbs, 11/4/1986

 

BA's top 10 Coastal Plain League from last summer:

 

3. Steve Grife, rhp, Florence (Jr., Mercyhurst College, Pa.)

 

Grife led Division II Mercyhurst in ERA (2.50), wins (six), complete games (seven), innings (68) and strikeouts (78) this spring, and he emerged as the ace of league runner-up Florence's staff this summer. Grife struck out 12 in a no-hitter against Fayetteville on June 8, and he finished 4-1, 1.65 with a 55-22 strikeout-walk ratio in 49 innings. Grife is generously listed at 6-foot, 170 pounds, but he had one of the quickest arms in the CPL, running his fastball up to 94 mph and pitching in the 91-93 range. He complements it with a very good changeup that he uses against both lefthanded and righthanded hitters, and a hard curveball that can be an out pitch at times and a show pitch at others. Grife is not physical and has plenty of effort in his delivery, which he tends to come out of too early. He projects as a power reliever at the next level.

[Guest]

Round 27: Corey Martin, RHP, Western Carolina

 

6'3, 195 lbs - 5/1/1987

 

The Catamounts also should send out a pair of senior pitchers in righthander Corey Martin, who has good velocity (up to 94 mph) as a starter but little else.

 

BA has him as the 32nd best prospect in North Carolina.

[craig]

26th round: Steve Grife, rhp, Mercyhurst

 

Steve Grife, ... profiles as a reliever in pro ball, and it's unlikely a club will buy him out of his senior year at Mercyhurst.

11/4/1986

 

If he throws 91-93 and tops at 94, would seem like a nice pick in the 9th round, much less the 26th. This is the area in the draft where the "unlikely a club will but him out" applies. I assume we'll offer him $0.1 or something, he'll decline, then we'll watch him pitch in another summer league, and decide whether he's worth any more than that.

 

Would seem a classic case of a summer draft-and-follow, much like Erickson. (Although Grife would seem certain to be pitching in a summer league; whether Erickson is rehabbed enough to do so, I don't know.)

 

Odd thing with Grife is that he'll turn 23 this fall. Seems odd that he'd be putting up won't-sign signals at that age. He's that eager to go back into the draft next year, when as an old 23-going-on-24-year old he'll have no leverage? Very strange. If the Cubs give him a decent offer, he'd be wise to sign now and get on with his career.

[Guest]

The Cubs just took Jordan Petraitis, 3B, Miami (OH) in the 28th round. They took him in the 41st round last year. First re-draft I've seen this year.

 

He's the 11th rated prospect in Ohio per BA. 8/30/1986 / 6'2, 210 lbs.

 

MLB Scouting Video: http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_id=4961152&content_id=4846659

 

He was rated the 12th best prospect in Ohio last year so he's ever so slowly getting better (or the state of Ohio is getting worse in baseball).

[Guest]

29th round: Timothy Clubb, RHP, Missouri St

 

6'2, 195. 9/4/1986

 

The Rays drafted righthander Tim Clubb in the 42nd round as a sophomore-eligible last year and monitored him closely in the Cape Cod League, but ultimately couldn't sign him. After leading Missouri State in wins his first two seasons and capturing the Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the year award in 2008, Clubb wasn't as effective this spring and wound up in the bullpen. That will probably be his role in pro ball. His 83-86 mph cutter/slider remains his best pitch, but the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder lost command and velocity on his fastball (down to 87-88).

 

BA rates him as the 11th best prospect in Missouri.

 

His scouting report going into last year was much better:

 

The first pitcher in Missouri State history to go 11-0, righthander Tim Clubb was Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the year. He's a redshirt sophomore after sitting out 2006 following surgery to repair the ulnar nerve in his elbow, and teams may not want to gamble on his signability. He'll touch 90-91 mph in the first inning, but he usually operates at 86-88 mph later in games. His slider is his best pitch and he also can backdoor his curveball for strikes against lefthanders. He hooks his arm in the back of his delivery, though it doesn't hamper his command.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Cubs just took Jordan Petraitis, 3B, Miami (OH) in the 28th round. They took him in the 41st round last year. First re-draft I've seen this year.

 

He's the 11th rated prospect in Ohio per BA. 8/30/1986 / 6'2, 210 lbs.

 

MLB Scouting Video: http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_id=4961152&content_id=4846659

 

He was rated the 12th best prospect in Ohio last year so he's ever so slowly getting better (or the state of Ohio is getting worse in baseball).

 

Player                 AVG  GP-GS    AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD%
7 Petraitis, Jordan  .364  54-54   217  57  79  14   3   8  54  123  .567  33  12  40   3  .463   6   0   8-13    50 144  16  .924

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Round 27: Corey Martin, RHP, Western Carolina

 

6'3, 195 lbs - 5/1/1987

 

The Catamounts also should send out a pair of senior pitchers in righthander Corey Martin, who has good velocity (up to 94 mph) as a starter but little else.

 

BA has him as the 32nd best prospect in North Carolina.

 

Player                 ERA   W-L   APP  GS  CG SHO/CBO SV    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  2B  3B  HR   AB B/Avg   WP HBP  BK  SFA SHA
16 Corey Martin.....  5.56   7-4    16  13   0   0/0    0  68.0  75  50  42  29  55   9   0   4  265  .283    6  16   4    1   9

[nick23]

Round 23: Jeff Pruitt, OF, Cal State Northridge

 

Outfielder Jeff Pruitt has a pro body at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, with plus tools in his arm strength, speed (6.5 seconds in the 60) and defense. A redshirt sophomore, Pruitt has not hit enough to get scouts that interested, batting .212 this season and striking out 53 times in 179 at-bats.

 

BA ranks him the 109th best prospect in California.

Sounds like a keeper. .212?

[Guest]

25th rounder: Justin Bour, 1B, George Mason

 

6'4 / 250 lb 5/28/1988

 

7th best prospect in Virginia per BA. Huge power guy.

 

Bour shows the ability to hit for average and power. He's a strapping 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and has drawn physical comparisons to Brett Wallace. Power will be his calling card, though he has the tools to be a good defensive first baseman.

Isn't VA a pretty fertile baseball state? What are the Cubs chances of signing this guy?