Top 10 Minor League Prospects next year

[toonsterwu]

I still think a lot of folks are sleeping on Welington Castillo a bit right now. I admit, I was disappointed early, but he ran into some bad luck offensively early. Most reports I've seen have suggested that his defensive work has improved. He's not going to maintain his current torrid offensive pace, but if he's solid offensively down the stretch, on my own personal top 10 list (not the one above, which was my attempt to guess at BA), I'd definitely give him consideration.

[toonsterwu]

from what ive seen out of daytona this year

 

1 Cashner

2 Castro

3 Vitters

4 Jackson

5 Lee

6 Carpenter

7 B Jackson

8 Gaub

9 Searle

10 LeMahieu

 

i could be way off about vitters, but its my opinion, he cant field awfully good, and his bat is inconsistent.

 

also im including Gaub and Searle am i the only one that thinks this?

 

maybe also parker, coleman and flaherty are gonna get up there fairly high too

 

As good as Gaub is at his job, for me, I've got a tough time putting a LOOGY/middle reliever in my top 10. A few years ago, maybe, but I think our system is better than that now. If he showed setup potential, maybe, but despite his performance this year, I'm not sure he's a 8th inning type lefty either. Purely a philosophical reason.

[Wrigley Rat]

Hey yall! Long time reader first time poster. Love following the Cubs minor leagues and have really liked what I have seen from the farm this year. If I had to take a guess i would say the following would be the list.

 

1. Cashner (Just a great year all around)

2. Vitters (Great start not so hot since Daytona came)

3. Castro (Awesome year. He has put up better offensive numbers than Andrus did and they ranked him sooooo high)

4. Jackson, J. (I could see them taking a swipe at "makeup concerns")

5. Carpenter (Been really good. Hopefully he has a strong finish in Tennessee)

6. Jackson, B. (Will like his On base skills and hopefully he finishes off the year well in Peoria)

7. Lee (great tools and is so fast. A little more power would be nice but no reason to believe he wont be able to fill out with his frame.)

8. DJ (Good numbers since coming out of the Bayou)

9. Flaherty (Has done alright for a pitchers league. After rough start. I could be over-rating)

10. Rhee (With good instrucrts)

 

Missing cut

 

Antigua, Coleman, Burke

Welcome to the board!

[bubblesdachimp]

Hey yall! Long time reader first time poster. Love following the Cubs minor leagues and have really liked what I have seen from the farm this year. If I had to take a guess i would say the following would be the list.

 

1. Cashner (Just a great year all around)

2. Vitters (Great start not so hot since Daytona came)

3. Castro (Awesome year. He has put up better offensive numbers than Andrus did and they ranked him sooooo high)

4. Jackson, J. (I could see them taking a swipe at "makeup concerns")

5. Carpenter (Been really good. Hopefully he has a strong finish in Tennessee)

6. Jackson, B. (Will like his On base skills and hopefully he finishes off the year well in Peoria)

7. Lee (great tools and is so fast. A little more power would be nice but no reason to believe he wont be able to fill out with his frame.)

8. DJ (Good numbers since coming out of the Bayou)

9. Flaherty (Has done alright for a pitchers league. After rough start. I could be over-rating)

10. Rhee (With good instrucrts)

 

Missing cut

 

Antigua, Coleman, Burke

Welcome to the board!

 

Thank you! Plan on contributing a lot to the minors thread and my opinions on are guys... I follow are system very tight... I have been so happy about Cashner and Castro this year. Still cant believe Castro is in AA. If he finishes well get ready

[CubsWin]

Hernandez though, I will go to bat for. At 20, he is still age appropriate for the NWL and pitching well, if not great. A 3-1 strikeout to walks ratio, a K per inning and less than a hit per inning. He hasn't been dominant, and I have no idea what his stuff is like now, but those are the bench marks I look for and he's got 'em. Again, he's not in my top ten, but I think he's good enough to get mentioned. Am I way off here. Should he not even make the top 20? I don't know. I'm just going off stats and they only tell part of the story.

 

His previous suspension for steroid use gives me some pause when looking at the success he had early in his career. Moreover, while he is age-appropriate, his past production suggests that he should be pitching at a much higher level than the NWL. He's definitely an intriguing prospect and I wouldn't argue with someone for putting him in their Top 20. However, from my perspective, I'd prefer to wait and see.

Right, but if his previous success was aided by the use of PEDs, then we can't use it as an accurate bar-setter. I just wiped the slate clean with him after the suspension and looked at what he's done since. I'm not saying he should be in the top ten right now, just that he exists in the group who might possibly get there next year or the year after. I guess I would put players like Logan Watkins and Jeffrey Beliveau in that group as well. No one seems to be talking about them for top ten this season, but they've both put up noteworthy numbers and still have time left on their clocks.

 

Hey, here's a question. How seriously should we be taking Chris Huseby right now?

[Outshined_One]

Hey, here's a question. How seriously should we be taking Chris Huseby right now?

 

Happy for his numbers, skeptical of his continued success at higher levels. His stuff isn't particularly noteworthy, including a fastball that sits in the high 80s/low 90s. He's topped out at 91/92 when I've seen him.

[Little Slide Rooter]

-I know he hasnt so much as been fitted for a uniform yet, but if Brooks Raley lives up to his mega hype early on, is there a chance he could be on the list, or will he have to wait until 2011?

 

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B? Aside from Tony Thomas, we dont seem to have a top 2B prospect floating around.

[JeffH]

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B?

 

Not if they can all handle shortstop.

[Guest]

-I know he hasnt so much as been fitted for a uniform yet, but if Brooks Raley lives up to his mega hype early on, is there a chance he could be on the list, or will he have to wait until 2011?

 

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B? Aside from Tony Thomas, we dont seem to have a top 2B prospect floating around.

Brooks doesn't really have mega-hype. He's a good prospect, but should be considered about the equivalent to an early second rounder in terms of talent. We're all just happy to have him because if we don't add a few of those guys we will consider it a disappointing draft.

 

If they are at different levels, you develop each as a shortstop as long as they can stay there. BTW, I'd make it five by throwing Watkins and Lake into the picture. Obviously, each of those guys shared a level with another prospect this year and had to move off the position as a result.

 

Also, I consider Flaherty a strong 2B prospect at this point.

[toonsterwu]

Hernandez though, I will go to bat for. At 20, he is still age appropriate for the NWL and pitching well, if not great. A 3-1 strikeout to walks ratio, a K per inning and less than a hit per inning. He hasn't been dominant, and I have no idea what his stuff is like now, but those are the bench marks I look for and he's got 'em. Again, he's not in my top ten, but I think he's good enough to get mentioned. Am I way off here. Should he not even make the top 20? I don't know. I'm just going off stats and they only tell part of the story.

 

His previous suspension for steroid use gives me some pause when looking at the success he had early in his career. Moreover, while he is age-appropriate, his past production suggests that he should be pitching at a much higher level than the NWL. He's definitely an intriguing prospect and I wouldn't argue with someone for putting him in their Top 20. However, from my perspective, I'd prefer to wait and see.

Right, but if his previous success was aided by the use of PEDs, then we can't use it as an accurate bar-setter. I just wiped the slate clean with him after the suspension and looked at what he's done since. I'm not saying he should be in the top ten right now, just that he exists in the group who might possibly get there next year or the year after. I guess I would put players like Logan Watkins and Jeffrey Beliveau in that group as well. No one seems to be talking about them for top ten this season, but they've both put up noteworthy numbers and still have time left on their clocks.

 

Hey, here's a question. How seriously should we be taking Chris Huseby right now?

 

Here's the problem for me in looking at Huseby - his ceiling as a pen arm is ... Jon Rauch? Short of it is, as a pen arm, he doesn't, imo, profile as a late inning guy, and his value, imo, is lessened. I understood and agreed with the decision to slow play things this year on Chris, and to be careful with him, but I hope he is tried as a starter again.

[toonsterwu]

-I know he hasnt so much as been fitted for a uniform yet, but if Brooks Raley lives up to his mega hype early on, is there a chance he could be on the list, or will he have to wait until 2011?

 

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B? Aside from Tony Thomas, we dont seem to have a top 2B prospect floating around.

 

Just to be clear on my take on Raley - I'm very excited, but he isn't a top end guy. Best case scenario as a pitcher is that he develops into your solid mid-late inning lefty, IMO. And right now, most reports suggest that he doesn't have that plus breaker (either with his slider or curve), so there's work to do. That said, after the top 7 or so, we're looking at C+, borderline B- type guys, so depending on who's grading, I could see someone place Raley as a top 10. I probably wouldn't yet, but people judge differently.

 

I'm still not sold LeMahieu stays at short. Watched him off and on at LSU, and he just isn't the smoothest guy at short. I think his future is at 2nd or 3rd (if he somehow develops the power many were expecting this past season at LSU). Btw, we still have Flaherty/Lake in that MI mix, and Samson has superb plate discipline that if the bat develops a tiny bit more, he could be a Theriot type guy that slowly chugs his way up. There's also Logan Watkins, Dwayne Kemp, if Cerda can't stay at C then his next option is 2nd, and a couple more guys. Short of it is, I'm not too concerned about 2nd base, a position that I think we have enough system options, and a position that I think can be "found" in some respects.

[toonsterwu]

-I know he hasnt so much as been fitted for a uniform yet, but if Brooks Raley lives up to his mega hype early on, is there a chance he could be on the list, or will he have to wait until 2011?

 

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B? Aside from Tony Thomas, we dont seem to have a top 2B prospect floating around.

Brooks doesn't really have mega-hype. He's a good prospect, but should be considered about the equivalent to an early second rounder in terms of talent. We're all just happy to have him because if we don't add a few of those guys we will consider it a disappointing draft.

 

If they are at different levels, you develop each as a shortstop as long as they can stay there. BTW, I'd make it five by throwing Watkins and Lake into the picture. Obviously, each of those guys shared a level with another prospect this year and had to move off the position as a result.

 

Also, I consider Flaherty a strong 2B prospect at this point.

 

To be honest, I wasn't disappointed with the draft. I wasn't excited about it initially, but the more I looked at the guys we got, the more okay I was with the draft.

[Guest]

-I know he hasnt so much as been fitted for a uniform yet, but if Brooks Raley lives up to his mega hype early on, is there a chance he could be on the list, or will he have to wait until 2011?

 

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B? Aside from Tony Thomas, we dont seem to have a top 2B prospect floating around.

Brooks doesn't really have mega-hype. He's a good prospect, but should be considered about the equivalent to an early second rounder in terms of talent. We're all just happy to have him because if we don't add a few of those guys we will consider it a disappointing draft.

 

If they are at different levels, you develop each as a shortstop as long as they can stay there. BTW, I'd make it five by throwing Watkins and Lake into the picture. Obviously, each of those guys shared a level with another prospect this year and had to move off the position as a result.

 

Also, I consider Flaherty a strong 2B prospect at this point.

 

To be honest, I wasn't disappointed with the draft. I wasn't excited about it initially, but the more I looked at the guys we got, the more okay I was with the draft.

Impressions of the draft are rightfully dominated by the first selection, just as impressions of a farm as a whole are set by the top prospects. I like Brett Jackson as he's a fun guy to watch play. I just don't see him becoming an impact guy in the majors, though I'm a little more hopeful for him becoming a solid contributor than I was immediately after the draft.

 

If LeMahieu ends up staying at SS, that's a big plus.

 

I hope Kirk proves me wrong, but I don't see much there.

 

And I was really hoping for more upside / over slot guys later in the draft. So far we really only have Raley.

[toonsterwu]

-I know he hasnt so much as been fitted for a uniform yet, but if Brooks Raley lives up to his mega hype early on, is there a chance he could be on the list, or will he have to wait until 2011?

 

-considering LeMahieu, Castro, and Lee are all SS and similar in age, wouldnt it be wise to try and covert 1 of the 3 to 2B? Aside from Tony Thomas, we dont seem to have a top 2B prospect floating around.

Brooks doesn't really have mega-hype. He's a good prospect, but should be considered about the equivalent to an early second rounder in terms of talent. We're all just happy to have him because if we don't add a few of those guys we will consider it a disappointing draft.

 

If they are at different levels, you develop each as a shortstop as long as they can stay there. BTW, I'd make it five by throwing Watkins and Lake into the picture. Obviously, each of those guys shared a level with another prospect this year and had to move off the position as a result.

 

Also, I consider Flaherty a strong 2B prospect at this point.

 

To be honest, I wasn't disappointed with the draft. I wasn't excited about it initially, but the more I looked at the guys we got, the more okay I was with the draft.

Impressions of the draft are rightfully dominated by the first selection, just as impressions of a farm as a whole are set by the top prospects. I like Brett Jackson as he's a fun guy to watch play. I just don't see him becoming an impact guy in the majors, though I'm a little more hopeful for him becoming a solid contributor than I was immediately after the draft.

 

If LeMahieu ends up staying at SS, that's a big plus.

 

I hope Kirk proves me wrong, but I don't see much there.

 

And I was really hoping for more upside / over slot guys later in the draft. So far we really only have Raley.

 

Sure, I buy that drafts are often initially judged on the early picks. I wasn't on the board then, although O_O and Raisin know my thoughts on Jackson. Basically it was this - going in, there were certain guys I did not want (AJ Pollock for example, nothing personal against him). Brett Jackson wasn't a guy I didn't want. There were other guys I preferred when our pick was up, but I was fine with Jackson. As for LeMahieu, I don't care if he sticks at short. What I want to see is if his bat develops, because despite the numbers, most people felt he had a disappointing year at LSU where he didn't progress offensively and sort of leveled off. Were there other options I probably preferred? I'd probably have to go back and check, but I'd probably guess yes, but that is often based on pre-draft expectations of where guys were going to go. I like LeMahieu's talent for the round.

 

As for Kirk, was he slightly early? Perhaps, but lefties were something we were targeting, and lefties with some velocity often go a tad higher. I'm fine with adding lefty depth. I am fairly excited/intrigued about Wesley Darvill. Plus raw speed, plus footwork/quickness, a good smooth stroke. I think he can stick at short and be a very intriguing guy. Certainly, work to do, but I like his upside.

 

I'm not saying this was a home run draft ... I'm just saying I wasn't disappointed. On a side note, it could be argued that 4 of the first 5 picks were upside/"hope for potential" picks (certainly the one out is Rusin).

[UK1679666180]

Hey, here's a question. How seriously should we be taking Chris Huseby right now?

 

Happy for his numbers, skeptical of his continued success at higher levels. His stuff isn't particularly noteworthy, including a fastball that sits in the high 80s/low 90s. He's topped out at 91/92 when I've seen him.

 

86-90 last night with a plus slider.

[TruffleShuffle]

that must be a really good slider with the K rate that he's got.

[UK1679666180]

that must be a really good slider with the K rate that he's got.

 

He's extremely deceptive.

[Guest]

I've heard he can ramp the 4-seamer up to 95 when he wants or needs to from various eyewitness reports, but operates 88-92 with a "dominant" cutter and that plus slider.

[CubsWin]

I've heard he can ramp the 4-seamer up to 95 when he wants or needs to from various eyewitness reports, but operates 88-92 with a "dominant" cutter and that plus slider.

If that's the case, might it be that Cubs management wants him to work on other stuff and not push that 95 mph fastball this season due to his recent injury history? Can throwing a harder fastball cause enough stress on a player's arm to injury it? Or would throwing a fastball 5 mph less, but still 88-90 mph cause the same stress?

[inari]

As I've said here a couple times, I'm no minor league expert. So my question is, is Vitters' stock falling? I had never thought of him as anything but the Cubs consensus number one prospect.

[UK1679666180]

As I've said here a couple times, I'm no minor league expert. So my question is, is Vitters' stock falling? I had never thought of him as anything but the Cubs consensus number one prospect.

 

It's a serious concern w/his hand injury, I don't know if it's falling as right now, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be the #1 prospect in the system. But the injuries are a concern for someone that young.

[CubColtPacer]

As I've said here a couple times, I'm no minor league expert. So my question is, is Vitters' stock falling? I had never thought of him as anything but the Cubs consensus number one prospect.

 

Is it falling? Yes, I would say it's falling a little bit. The struggles so far in Daytona aren't that concerning. The hand injury coming back though really causes some questions about him.

 

But I would say that if Vitters is no longer the consensus #1 product it's more because the two people below him are raising their value than it is the value for Vitters falling, although both are true to an extent.

[inari]

Ah, okay. Hopefully Vitters' injury doesn't prove to be a huge problem.

 

And maybe I'm not properly evaluating his numbers, but what Castro has done doesn't look overly impressive. Is he playing at an advanced level for his age?

[bubblesdachimp]

As I've said here a couple times, I'm no minor league expert. So my question is, is Vitters' stock falling? I had never thought of him as anything but the Cubs consensus number one prospect.

 

I dont think it is falling. I jsut think that he is hurt.

[UK1679666180]

Ah, okay. Hopefully Vitters' injury doesn't prove to be a huge problem.

 

And maybe I'm not properly evaluating his numbers, but what Castro has done doesn't look overly impressive. Is he playing at an advanced level for his age?

 

 

Very much so and also at a premium position (SS). He's at AA at the age of 19. The avg. age of the player in the Midwest League (Low-A) is 21.9yo. He would be considered young for short-season. the avg. age for a guy at AA is just over 23 I believe.