2010 Cubs Picks & Signings Thread

[Outshined_One]

Aaron Kurcz -- RHP Col. of Southern Nevada.

 

6', 175 pounds, works 92-94, has a breaking ball that needs some work. Bryce Harper's teammate.

 

Righthander Aaron Kurcz came to Southern Nevada from Air Force. He's not big, standing 6 feet and 175 pounds, but has consistently pitched with good velocity. He sits 92-94 mph with a slurvy breaking ball that has some bite to it. If he doesn't sign, he'll head to Oral Roberts.

 

I'm trying not to copy-paste. :P

[Guest]

Come on Cubs, give us SOMETHING to get excited about: Austin Wilson needs to be ours, whether we have to overpay him or not. And of course we draft another guy who we won't be able to pronounce.......

 

 

Anyway, Wilson, Ficociello, Jaffe, and Duke is about all that's left, as far as what I care about.

 

I would love Ficociello or Duke. Pass on Wilson at his price tag.

[SweetZombieJesus]

I don't know why any fan would give a crap what Tyler Colvin did in AA two years ago. He's in Chicago now and playing well.

 

because what he did in AA two years ago could be indicative of how he plays in chicago. is that such a hard concept to wrap your head around?

 

So, Tyler Colvin is going to play his whole career with a shredded throwing elbow. Good to know.

[davell]

Come on Cubs, give us SOMETHING to get excited about: Austin Wilson needs to be ours, whether we have to overpay him or not. And of course we draft another guy who we won't be able to pronounce.......

 

 

Anyway, Wilson, Ficociello, Jaffe, and Duke is about all that's left, as far as what I care about.

 

I would love Ficociello or Duke. Pass on Wilson at his price tag.

 

It's not that I really think Wilson is worth his tag either, but I haven't seen the committment to the draft that I was hoping to see this year either. At least going out and grabbing someone like him would appease that some.

 

I like Jaffe alot, if he can be convinced to be a pitcher and not a hitter.

[dew1679666265]

Regression to the mean.

 

So the bad players we had in the minors before he got here were almost certain to just improve from worst in the league to average? Bad farm systems don't inevitably improve for no reason. They improve because better players are being brought in and Wilken has played a very large role in bringing those better players in.

 

If I'm misunderstanding your point here, I'm sorry.

 

Also, Snyder is in his second season in the bigs and Vitters is crapping the bed as we speak very near to where you live. It's not just who he picked it's also who he didn't pick. That's a tough one to pin on him though, lots of guys get passed over.

 

Exactly. Could he have made better picks than he has in some cases? Sure, but that'd be true for every single scouting director who's ever held that title. Passing on good players doesn't make a scouting director poor if he's selecting other good players in their place.

 

And Vitters is struggling, true, but he's only 20 and in his 3rd full season of professional baseball. I think giving him more time is perfectly reasonable. And Wieters is 24 right now, one would expect him to be further ahead of Vitters.

 

Again, the Cubs main problem are developing talent, IMO that's not on Wilken.

 

I can agree with you here.

[SweetZombieJesus]

I wouldn't. Delgado wasn't drafted either.

 

My point wasn't to split hairs though. I'm not high on Wilken and even if we can agree that your assessment is correct, that's not a good track record for a guy whose been in his job for that long.

 

You're right on Delgado. I just don't see that much to dislike about Wilken. He makes some off the wall picks at times, but he's helped turn this minor league system from one of the worst in baseball to at least middle of the road and rising. He's got a number of high potential players in the minors two of our past four first rounds pick have made the majors already and two others are in or near the top 100 prospects (I believe).

 

Questioning his picks is perfectly fine, but I don't see where he hasn't done a good job.

Regression to the mean.

 

Also, Snyder is in his second season in the bigs and Vitters is crapping the bed as we speak very near to where you live. It's not just who he picked it's also who he didn't pick. That's a tough one to pin on him though, lots of guys get passed over.

 

Again, the Cubs main problem are developing talent, IMO that's not on Wilken.

 

 

Snyder was in the Colvin draft. And has been okay but nothing great (800 or so OPS)

 

Now, if you are talking Vitters for Porcello you might have a point.

[Guancous]

Wilken is generally considered one of the best in baseball, it's not a function of a Cub fan used to mediocrity.

 

You probably should look at how other teams have done in the MLB draft over the years and you'll get a good idea of how Wilken truly does compare favorably.

 

Quoted for truth. I'd love for Outshined_One or ToonsterWu to show some stats from different systems. I don't have the numbers or the time, but I bet the Cubs score favorably in players in the Top 100 and overall value since Wilken's hiring.

 

Keep in mind that the draft also encompasses the later rounds and the entire time the player is under club control. We can't even close the book on his first draft yet.

 

It's easy to cherry pick the best players that got passed on. The Cubs don't have a $30 draft budget though. I, along with many others, complained that Wilken picked Brett Jackson with the first pick. Less than a year later, he was a top 75 player in some publications. That earned the benefit of my doubt, let alone Cashner.

[moorecg]

Eric Jokisch -- Left-Handed Pitcher, Northwester, 6'2 180 JR

[davell]

Two guys that we took in previous drafts and didn't get due to signingability are still out there in 3B Victor Sanchez from San Diego and 1B Andrew Clark from Louisville.

[CUBZ99]

The point is it's idiotic to say, well Colvin has started well, everybody was wrong about him and Wilken was right, therefore you cannot question a pick regardless of whether or not it was a huge reach.

 

Wilken seems more interested in proving people wrong than drafting the best player.

 

Well its pretty idiotic to say colvin was a bad pick when he has had limited time in the majors. When you sign as a pick it does not make you a pro. Its until you're in the majors in my book.

 

well, your book is wrong.

 

 

Please explain?

 

When you're paid to play baseball you're a professional baseball player. I'm not sure why you needed this very basic concept explained to you, but there you go.

 

I don't think there is any dispute on that point and I think anyone that was reading his post could understand what his point was.

 

The problem with piling on Colvin's minor league #'s, is that to say he has been bad, completely discounts the fact that he was not completely healthy during a substantial portion of the time. During the periods that he has been healthy, he has been productive and his major league production so far has been outstanding. As Sever82 points out, I'll take major league stats 10 times out of 10 over minor league stats.

 

The other problem I have with looking at it from Abuck's perspective, is that if you are going to place a high value on minor league stats for Colvin, don't you have to use the same measure of success for Cashner? Its dishonest to say that Colvin was a bad pick because his minor league numbers were bad, but Cashner was a bad pick because he hasn't proven anything in the majors yet. When in reality, it is likely too early to judge either player.

[moorecg]

Austin Reed RH P, Rancho Cucamonga HS 6'3 - 200lbs

[UK1679666180]

Reed is my fav. pick of the draft so far.

[CUBZ99]

Reed is my fav. pick of the draft so far.

 

Scouting report?

[XZero771679666304]

 

I don't think there is any dispute on that point and I think anyone that was reading his post could understand what his point was.

 

The problem with piling on Colvin's minor league #'s, is that to say he has been bad, completely discounts the fact that he was not completely healthy during a substantial portion of the time. During the periods that he has been healthy, he has been productive and his major league production so far has been outstanding. As Sever82 points out, I'll take major league stats 10 times out of 10 over minor league stats.

 

The other problem I have with looking at it from Abuck's perspective, is that if you are going to place a high value on minor league stats for Colvin, don't you have to use the same measure of success for Cashner? Its dishonest to say that Colvin was a bad pick because his minor league numbers were bad, but Cashner was a bad pick because he hasn't proven anything in the majors yet. When in reality, it is likely too early to judge either player.

 

I think people have been picking on Cashner because he's "just a middle reliever", which is stupid because anyone who has been paying any attention knows his future is almost certainly as a starter. Anyone who is trashing on Cashner's value because he was switched back to the pen by a desperate front office is doing so strictly to try and denigrate Wilkin and not because it makes a lick of sense.

[moorecg]

Pierre LePage, R/R 2b, U Conn 5'8 168

[davell]

The only thing I could find on Austin Reed is that he's the brother of Addison Reed, who got drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd Round.

[Guest]

Austin Reed is a fantastic pick.

 

Re: Victor Sanchez - he's not even on BA's top 200 after being in the top 125 coming out of HS and being one of the top 10 college freshmen a few years ago. He must have really fallen off.

[Guest]

We draft way too many slap hitters too early in the draft.

 

LePage: 279 PA's, .327/.383/.468, 16 BB, THREE K's, 29/35 SB

[Tim M]

I don't know why any fan would give a crap what Tyler Colvin did in AA two years ago. He's in Chicago now and playing well.

 

because what he did in AA two years ago could be indicative of how he plays in chicago. is that such a hard concept to wrap your head around?

 

Colvin became better at baseball in his early 20's. It's not that shocking.

[Guest]

Jokisch: 92.1 IP, 4.39 ERA, 107 H, 5 HR, 62/37 K/BB

 

That is....uninspiring.

[UK1679666180]

Reed is just an athletic RH'er with plenty of upside, he's committed to SDSU I believe which might it tougher but he features an 86-89FB who came strong as the year went along.

[Guest]

BTW, if the Cubs would be nice enough to draft Nick Tepesch I'd be grateful.

[moorecg]

Colin Richardson R/R RHP 6'1 180 HS Winter Haven HS

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't know why any fan would give a crap what Tyler Colvin did in AA two years ago. He's in Chicago now and playing well.

 

because what he did in AA two years ago could be indicative of how he plays in chicago. is that such a hard concept to wrap your head around?

 

Colvin became better at baseball in his early 20's. It's not that shocking.

 

In under 100 scattered PA, you absolutely do not know that.

[UK1679666180]

Little RH'er committed to Sante Fe CC, 87-90FB, CB.