John Sickels 2011 Mock Draft

[Guancous]

http://mobile.minorleagueball.com/2011/5/9/2159387/2011-baseball-mock-draft-first-round

 

9) Cubs: Francisco Lindor, SS, Florida HS: The Cubs do unusual things, and they already have Starlin Castro. But you can't have too many middle infielders with strong bats and slick gloves, and Lindor is too good to pass up.

[Guest]

I would legitimately be pissed if Dylan Bundy is available and the Cubs go with Lindor.

[Outshined_One]

When I keep reading reports like this on Lindor:

 

I don’t think Lindor has the power potential to warrant the hype he’s gotten. He’s a little guy that isn’t going to grow any more. I’ve seen Lindor play showcases and for Team USA and he is probably about 5’9", 150 pounds (despite being listed at 5’11", 170). I have stood right next to him and the kid appears almost a half a foot shorter than me (I’m 6’2"). I have also seen his father and he is about the same height as Francisco is so its not like a growth spurt can be expected.

 

So, in my mind, what you have is a kid that is very athletic, can handle SS defensively, but will not hit more than 5-10 HR annually. His lack of power will expose his bat and the walks he draws leaving him to be a 280/330/420 type.

 

It worries me. The idea of getting a guy whose potential ceiling is Elvis Andrus with slightly more power with the #9 pick doesn't do it for me.

 

In that scenario, I'd be torn between Springer and Bundy. Swihart is also intriguing, but I keep getting visions of Kyle Skipworth any time I see a HS catcher rated so high.

[Guest]

Yeah, a lot of reports make it seem like Lindor is a slick fielding shortstop whose ceiling is 10 HRs. Not what you want in a top 10 pick. I wonder how reliable those other reports that he started to hit for more power actually are.

[davell]

I think him winning that home run contest contributed to his "power" potential, at least some. I think that the power IS there, it just may not translate over to game power, by what we're hearing. SS is obviously a premium position and while I'm not going to be TOO pissed if he was our pick with this board available, I'd rather have quite a few guys.

 

Bundy, Jungmann, Springer, Swihart, Guerrieri, Josh Bell, Meyer, Cron(especially if we use money saved here later on), A Bradley, Norris, J Bradley, and Purke(who I'd still have quite a bit higher than this, if his situation changes positively before the draft in any way). Considering I'd also take all 8 of the guys listed ahead of him as well in this draft, I guess I've got Lindor somewhere around the 20th best talent or so. With the draft being so deep this year, I'd find a way to reason it out if he were out top pick, IF we do excellent in rounds 2-10. If not, then the 1st pick matters alot more and we better take someone with the potential to be elite, which I just don't see out of Lindor.

[kylescubs23]

I think thats a worse case scenario for the Cubs...Bradley, Starling, Bauer and Barnes all gone. I would be ticked if we took Lindor with Springer and Bundy available. I would rather have Jungmann or Guerrieri as well over Lindor.

[kylescubs23]

Hope Cron somehow slips to the 2nd round for us as well.

[davell]

Hope Cron somehow slips to the 2nd round for us as well.

 

 

That'd be absolute best case scenario. My guess is a team like Tampa uses an early pick on him, so they can spend overslot money on some high schoolers later on.

[Guest]

I can't see Wilken taking Cron though.

[davell]

I can't see Wilken taking Cron though.

 

 

The whole "up the middle, athletic guy" thing? I don't see Cron dropping to us, but for some reason, I DO see us taking a corner guy relatively early this year. Maybe an Eddie Oropesa in the 3rd or 4th round. Since power seems to be the biggest need from a hitting standpoint in our system and our general weakness at the corners as well, I just figure(hope) it's addressed before the typical Cub middle round college 3-4 year big school guy they always seem to take that ends up as an organizational guy inevitably.(hopefully Bour proves this theory wrong obviously)

[Guest]

I can't see Wilken taking Cron though.

 

 

The whole "up the middle, athletic guy" thing? I don't see Cron dropping to us, but for some reason, I DO see us taking a corner guy relatively early this year. Maybe an Eddie Oropesa in the 3rd or 4th round. Since power seems to be the biggest need from a hitting standpoint in our system and our general weakness at the corners as well, I just figure(hope) it's addressed before the typical Cub middle round college 3-4 year big school guy they always seem to take that ends up as an organizational guy inevitably.(hopefully Bour proves this theory wrong obviously)

 

Yeah, the whole up the middle, athletic guy. I do hope they address power early in the draft.

[illiniguy]

His newest version has us landing Starling.

[pitchcs]

How would Lindor compare to the Luis Montanez pick?

[Proven Veteran]

His newest version has us landing Starling.

 

As does Keith Law.

[toonsterwu]

I've got a tough time seeing the Cubs fork over the necessary money for Starling. Just hard to see, IMO.

 

If there is a "reach" pick, I half wonder if Mahtook could be the reach pick guy. On talent, not deserving to go at 9 ... but it really wouldn't surprise me if that was the pick, due to the relationships, filling a positional void, and so forth.

 

I don't really see a pick that I dislike that badly, similar to how I didn't want guys like AJ Pollock, Alex Wimmers, and to a lesser degree, Kolbrin Vitek over the last few years. Of course, if there's a deep sleeper of a pick, then that blows the equation wide open.

[Guest]

I've got a tough time seeing the Cubs fork over the necessary money for Starling. Just hard to see, IMO.

 

If there is a "reach" pick, I half wonder if Mahtook could be the reach pick guy. On talent, not deserving to go at 9 ... but it really wouldn't surprise me if that was the pick, due to the relationships, filling a positional void, and so forth.

 

I don't really see a pick that I dislike that badly, similar to how I didn't want guys like AJ Pollock, Alex Wimmers, and to a lesser degree, Kolbrin Vitek over the last few years. Of course, if there's a deep sleeper of a pick, then that blows the equation wide open.

 

Center field is probably the deepest position in the org.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If they really feel that Starling is the real deal, I could definitely see them shelling out for him. Everyone knows they have the money.

 

The last think I want to see is him falling 2 spots down to the Brewers. If not, the Mets would surely grab him up.

[davell]

With all the guys available, if I'm going to be mad at us picking someone, it's going to be Lindor or Meyer. I won't be too upset, but with what else will be available, I won't be happy and will want us to do extremely well later on in order for me to at least think we had a good draft. Here's my current order of preference.

 

Rendon

Bundy

Bauer

Hultzen

Cole

Starling

Jungmann

Springer

Jed Bradley

Barnes

Gray

Swihart

Josh Bell

Guerrieri

Norris

Cron

Purke(could move all the way up to 2-3 overall for me if he shows alot between now and draft)

Archie Bradley

 

 

As long as we wind up with one of THESE guys, I'm not going to be upset at all with our 1st round pick.

[toonsterwu]

sorry, for some reason i've grown accustomed to think of mahtook as a corner of prospect. I'm not really a believer that he'll stick in CF, despite some of the glowing reports out there. I think he's a notch below Brett Jackson defensively, and I already think that, regardless of other players development, that Jackson will eventually shift to a corner role, but it's more a matter of when. Mahtook does have the power to fill a corner role, IMO.

[TruffleShuffle]

The last think I want to see is him falling 2 spots down to the Brewers. If not, the Mets would surely grab him up.

 

the mets have money problems, and the teams you think would spend wildly on the amateur draft often do not. the pirates and royals have been spending pretty heavily in recent years, while many teams with larger payrolls (like the mets) tend to stay closer to slot money with the vast majority of their picks.