Top 10/11 prospects for each Cubs team

[videographer]

Here is my take on the top 10/11 prospects for each Cubs' minor league team:

 

Peoria

1. Lee

2. Watkins

3. McNutt

4. Antigua

5. Raley

6. Richard Jones

7. Su-Min Jung

8. Morla

9. Cerda

10. Bour/Whitenack

 

Daytona

1. Vitters

2. B. Jackson

3. Dae-Eun Rhee

4. Dolis

5. Lemahieu

6. Burke

7. Archer

8. Rusin

9. Huseby

10. Brenly/Cabrerra

 

Tennessee

1. Castro

2. Cashner

3. Flaherty

4. Carpenter

5. Mateo

6. Chirinos

7. Cales

8. Guyer

9. Muyco

10. Butcher/Carrillo

 

Iowa

1. J. Jackson

2. Gaub

3. Barney

4. Aducci

5. Parker

6. Castillo

7. Coleman

 

Most likely to get called up

1. Gray

2. Fuld

3. Diamond

4. Hoffpauir

5. Scales

6. Stevens

7. Camp

8. Atkins

 

Boise/Mesa/injury

1. Darvill

2. Arismendy Alcantara

3. Kirk

4. Ridling

5. Kyung-Min Na

6. Bristow

7. Burruel

8. Mincone

9. Ping-Chieh Chen

10. Suarez

 

edited 4/6 10:15am Forgot all about Adduci.

Edited April 6, 2010 by videographer

[craig]

Fun threat idea.

 

Peoria

1. Lee

2. Antigua

3. Watkins

4. McNutt

5. Su-Min Jung

6. Nick Struck

7. Morla

8. Beliveau

9. Latham

10. Whitenack

11. Morelli

12. Rohan

13. Cerda

14. Jones

15. Bour

 

 

Daytona

1. Vitters

2. B. Jackson

3. Burke

4. Dae-Eun Rhee

5. Raley

6. Dolis

7. Lemahieu

8. Archer

9. Cabrerra

10. Rusin

11. Huseby

12. Searle

13. Lake

 

Tennessee

1. Castro

2. Cashner

3. Flaherty

4. Carpenter (hard to guess without knowing the injury)

5. Chirinos

6. Cales

7. Muschko

8. Sasser

9. Buchter

10. Guyer

11. Mateo

12. Clevenger

13. Wright

14. Maestri

15. Samson

16. Chen

17. Bibens

 

Iowa

1. J. Jackson

2. Coleman

3. Diamond

4. Gaub

5. Castillo

6. Fuld

7. Gray

8. Barney

9. Parker

10. Schlitter

11. Stevens

13. Adduci

 

Going through these, I find myself listing more pitchers. Seems I think a lot of pitchers could end up being useful. Control improves, velocity somehow gets better, consistency gets adjusted, they figure out what does and doesn't work. Lots of guys have a chance to blossom into useful relievers or perhaps starting pitchers, if they improve, or if they show that their success at lower level is sustainable at higher. But a lot of the position guys, you know some of their limits and you know those won't go away.

 

I'm not sure Dustin Sasser is as talented a pitcher as Tony Thomas, for example, is as a hitter. But Sasser has a much better chance of becoming a useful pitcher.

[SouthSideRyan]

You guys like Dolis far more than I do. Daytona should be all sorts of fun this year.

[toonsterwu]

CRAAP ... I typed a whole post and lost it.

 

Rough rankings and comments

 

Peoria – Honestly, after the top 4, I think you can order the arms in a number of ways.

 

1. Hak-ju Lee – the one guy here who might have star potential. Love him, but a bit overhyped, IMO, as the bat is still more a work in progress and I want to see some physical things (how he develops, his arm strength).

 

2. Jeffry Antigua – looks like a guy who could develop into a solid mid-end of the rotation lefty.

 

3. Logan Watkins – Possible top of the order 2nd baseman type. Waiting to see how bat develops.

 

4. Trey McNutt – Stuff is excellent.

 

5. Su-min Jung – Seems like a lot of positive reports on his secondary pitches to go with a solid enough fastball.

 

6. Ronny Morla – I might have him a tad high, but I’m excited based on potential.

 

7. Nick Struck – Intrigued by athletic potential.

 

8. Robert Whitenack – The predraft reports were good. Maybe he just needed some time.

 

9. Jeff Beliveau – Has the stuff to move as a LOOGY. Can he develop a good enough 3rd pitch, and improve his command, to stick as a starter?

 

10. Jovan Rosa – Easy to forget he’s only 22 (won’t turn 23 until after the year). Cubs catching depth is rather slim. If he takes to catching and maintains his bat to a degree, he’ll be really intriguing.

 

11. Jon Nagel – Still have intrigue with the big sinkerballer. May be a Justin Berg.

 

I like guys like Jones/Bour/Rohan to a certain extent, but as of now, see them more as possible system guys than legit prospects. Until I know what they are doing with Cerda, hard for me to rank him high. I mean, Cerda at 3rd? Not intriguing. Cerda up the middle? Mildly intriguing, depending on his bat, but we have loads of MI depth. Valdez or Morelli would’ve been 12th for me. I’m fascinated with Morelli’s overall package, and Valdez’s speed garners attention, although I wonder if his approach is good enough to move up as a top of the order guy. Corey Martin’s fastball could get him up the ladder. I’ve always been intrigued with Latham, but a year away, and considering why he was away, I would like to see some performance. Much as I’d like to see him get a shot as a starter (IIRC he had a decent change once upon a time), his future is probably in the pen.

 

Daytona – Jackson and Vitters are in a tier to themselves. I’d be okay with ranking my 5-7 in any order but LeMahieu seems to have enough ceiling and seems safer than the two arms. I’m open to ranking 8-10 in any order either. The issue with Alberto Cabrera is that I simply don’t know enough. The little I know makes it seem like he could be higher, so I admit, that’s a flaw in my rankings.

 

1. Brett Jackson – 5-tool CF, strikeouts are an issue. He’ll never have great discipline, but can he find a balance?

 

2. Josh Vitters – I don’t NEED to see more walks. Just take a few more pitches. If he does, his chances improve dramatically.

 

3. Kyler Burke – Some folks are making it out to be a make-or-break year, which somewhat puzzles me. That said, a big year and he’ll move up prospect rankings fast.

 

4. Dae-Eun Rhee – Ceiling is so high. Can he stick as a starter?

 

5. DJ Lemahieu – somewhat akin to the Matt Murton situation, but he’s in the middle infield, so there should be minimal pressure to add power.

 

6. Brooks Raley – Ceiling seems higher than Rusin’s, but that’s assuming he adds velo and improves overall now that he is a FT pitcher.

 

7. Rafael Dolis – Pondered as high as 5 … but I think his future is in the pen and that impacted my placement.

 

8. Chris Rusin – Seems nice and safe as a possible end of the rotation lefty.

 

9. Chris Archer – Can he improve his command and stick in the rotation?

 

10. Ryan Searle – Can he improve his secondary offerings and take the next step?

 

11. Alberto Cabrera – Well … I’m paying attention now.

 

Chris Huseby would’ve taken 12th for me, but I still don’t love the arsenal in the pen. Sommer’s a lefty that I think could move fast. Brenly has status in the system, not because of Bob, but because our catching depth charts are relatively weak. Marwin/Junior/Nelson are all toolsy guys that could emerge, but hard for me to rank them high with their glaring issues.

 

Tennessee - Top 4 and then a jumble

 

1. Starlin Castro

 

2. Andrew Cashner - Durability and circle-change improvement would make him a starter.

 

3. Chris Carpenter - I want to know more on the injury.

 

4. Ryan Flaherty - I went from thinking he was overhyped to underhyped. Solid defensive players with some pop in the MI are nice assets. In another system, he might have a shot to move up as a SS.

 

5. Craig Muschko - Excellent control, enough pitches, and I think slightly better stuff than given credit for.

 

6. Robinson Chirinos - Possible backup backstop.

 

7. Matt Spencer - Does he have enough power to rise?

 

8. Steve Clevenger - Possible backup backstop.

 

9. David Cales - Somewhat a more consistent Maestri.

 

10. Brandon Guyer - Show me power, I'll give love.

 

11. Alessandro Maestri - The raw stuff is good and am willing to hope some control comes.

 

Buchter would've been next, over Sasser, as I think Buchter's fb is a bit better. That said, toss up, although off the top, I don't recall too much on Sasser (other than former TJ guy, fb tops out upper 80's mostly, although might be able to squeeze a 90/91 out). I am completely blanking on his secondary options. Could I see ABD as more Muschko-ish than Cales-lite-ish? It's possible. Chen was ridiculously overhyped by one site last year, but now, I think he's somewhat underhyped as I think he could be a decent rubber arm in the bigs with a good arsenal, enough sink on the fb, and solid secondary options. Still have a soft spot for Samson, but he's got to perform. Giving Campana a mention because if someone decides they need a pinch runner one day and he's in the right situation ... ta da?

 

Iowa - Jay Jackson and Co.

 

1. Jay Jackson - Mechanics and changeup improvement would make him that much better.

 

2. Thomas Diamond - The positive reports convinced me to make this move. His value as a pen arm is probably close to Gaub/Parker, and the starting value gives a tiny nudge.

 

3. Jeff Gray - Ready to help now as a power pen arm.

 

4. John Gaub - Control improvement and he could be a plus-LOOGY (don't want to call him a setup option).

 

5. Welington Castillo - Can he build on his 2nd half and overall defensive progress last year?

 

6. Casey Coleman - The cutter could help him K more, which would give him a better shot.

 

7. Blake Parker - Possible setup type.

 

8. Sam Fuld - Nice depth OF option.

 

9. Darwin Barney - Should at least get looks to be a utility guy.

 

10. James Adduci - Fuld-ish, but with a tiny more power potential, so maybe a Fuld/Murton combo is the best description.

 

11. Mike Parisi - tough race for 11th. A number of options, but Parisi is close to ready and could be a rubber arm type.

 

Maine was close, as I like his arsenal. Atkins/Schlitter/Stevens seem more middle relief (than starter (in Atkins case) or setup). I could see Robinson get a look as a backup backstop in the right situation. Hoffpauir/LaHair/Snyder/Camp/Smith are all guys that I could see getting more cups of tea/coffee (whatever your beverage of choice is).