2011 Cubs picks and signings thread

[Guest]

He can hit and he can hit it far. Not an athlete. Odd for a Wilken pick but I like. But apparently Wilken realizes there's no power in the system. BA's #109 prospect. Has a "fairly polished approach."

 

NSBB is blocked at work so you'll have to wait till 2 CT for me to post scouting reports.

[Bruno7481]

[tfarks]

Lord is he fat and ugly. 5'11" 280?

 

From Perfect Game

 

SCOUTING PROFILE: Vogelbach is possibly the most-unique player in the 2011 high-school class, which has resulted in a wide variety of scouting opinions on his potential worth as a draft pick. Of course, some of the reasons for his uniqueness—perhaps upwards of 40 pounds of it—no longer exists, thanks to a strenuous off-season workout regimen that scouts say has noticeably transformed Vogelbach’s physique from the 288 pounds that he packed on his 6-foot frame at the East Coast Pro Showcase last August. No matter what his weight, Vogelbach may be the most-feared high-school hitter in the country. He hits balls hard as a matter of routine, and the newer, slighter model was hitting at a robust .479-14-41 clip through his first 25 games this spring for Bishop Verot High, a traditional baseball power in Fort Myers. Vogelbach is enormously strong, and along with his loose, easy wrists generates outstanding bat speed from the left side of the plate. Another factor that makes Vogelbach unique in the scouting community is that it is almost easier to break down his mental approach to hitting, rather than his physical approach, especially after granting him his raw strength and bat speed. The young man eats, sleeps and breathes swinging a bat, and is an exceptionally-confident hitter who doesn’t believe that any pitcher should ever get him out. Like oversized slugger Prince Fielder, Vogelbach is such a ferocious hitter that almost everyone in the park will stop and watch his at-bats. Scouts at East Coast Pro will remember the game when Vogelbach, already a rare 0-for-3 at the plate, hit a towering fly ball to right field that was caught on the warning track. Predictably, his teammates strained to the far edge of the dugout to watch Vogelbach’s massive drive, along with the subsequent wringing of his hands and contorting of his face in frustration as he ambled back to the dugout from rounding first base. A quarter-inch difference in contact and that ball would have travelled an easy 450 feet, but he wasn’t at all happy about his near-miss. As another burly lefthanded hitter from Florida, Vogelbach has understandably been compared to Fielder, the seventh overall pick in the 2002 draft. Yet as advanced as Vogelbach is presently, Fielder was stronger at the same age coming out of a Melbourne, Fla., high school, and hit the ball harder. Additionally, he was more athletic than Vogelbach is and had those unmistakeable major-league bloodlines. But the comparison to Fielder is a valid one—perhaps the most valid “Prince” comparison of the last decade. Any scout today, when asked about Vogelbach and the draft, automatically answers “American League,” before saying anything else, perhaps forgetting that Fielder himself is a National League all-star. The two teams that appear to have shown the most interest in Vogelbach, according to one veteran Florida scout, are the two teams that train in his back yard, Boston and Minnesota, while another scout firmly believes that Tampa Bay and its multitude of compensation-round drafts picks fits Vogelbach’s profile perfectly. Projected Draft Position: Compensation/Second Round --DAVID RAWNSLEY

[Guest]

Yes, this brings our number of legitimate 1B prospects in the system up to....one.

 

No love for sudden superstar Justin Bour? :D

 

I hope more than anyone that Bour keeps hitting home runs, but if he pans out as a prospect I'll go on an SSR-esque hat eating binge.

[Bruno7481]

Just watched video......wow. Dude is really big (sorta fat) and slow.

 

Matt Stairs?

 

"Sorta" is being kind.

[Bruno7481]

Just watched video......wow. Dude is really big (sorta fat) and slow.

 

Matt Stairs?

 

What an ugly video. I'm pretty sure this guy is in my softball league. Very stiff swing.

 

I like the concept of an actual corner bat though. Any idea of signability?

 

Goldstein says he sent a pre-draft letter wanting 1.65 million

[sweetpeteman]

Just watched video......wow. Dude is really big (sorta fat) and slow.

 

Matt Stairs?

 

"Sorta" is being kind.

 

 

Well, this is why the Cubs have Camp Colvin.

[pitchcs]

He's a beast in this video, much better than the other one:

 

[RammyFanny]

http://powershowcase.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/carousel-fl-vogelbach-508foot.jpg

[toonsterwu]

Just watched video......wow. Dude is really big (sorta fat) and slow.

 

Matt Stairs?

 

What an ugly video. I'm pretty sure this guy is in my softball league. Very stiff swing.

 

I like the concept of an actual corner bat though. Any idea of signability?

 

Goldstein says he sent a pre-draft letter wanting 1.65 million

 

interesting if it does end up taking something near there to get it done.

[jersey cubs fan]

Just watched video......wow. Dude is really big (sorta fat) and slow.

 

Matt Stairs?

 

"Sorta" is being kind.

 

 

Well, this is why the Cubs have Camp Colvin.

I thought Camp Colvin was about putting muscle on skinny kids.

[Guest]

Just watched video......wow. Dude is really big (sorta fat) and slow.

 

Matt Stairs?

 

What an ugly video. I'm pretty sure this guy is in my softball league. Very stiff swing.

 

I like the concept of an actual corner bat though. Any idea of signability?

 

He's committed to Florida which is one of the 2 best schools at keeping high profile HS kids besides the faux-Ivy League schools (Vandy, Stanford, Rice). But no mention of any signability questions in the scouting reports I saw. Fyi, he lost 40 lbs before last summer so weight might always be a concern. Make sure he and Reggie Golden don't hang out together.

[pitchcs]

For those who watch a lot of college baseball, would Vogelbach step in and start immediately for Florida?

 

Probably a dumb question, I'm assuming yes?

[Guest]

Dan Vogelbach (1B, Bishop Verot High School, Florida) - Vogelbach is a guy you just sit back and enjoy watching hit (Need a beer to enjoy during it? Check out Beer Scouting!). His tool is his power, and he knows it. Vogelbach has an easy swing, shows even easier power, and is a guy you simply just don’t want to miss up in the zone against. His swing is pretty short and direct, which is a must for a player with his body type. Vogelbach doesn’t have what one would call an ‘athletic’ body, and while he’s worked hard to get in better shape, he has to let his hands be free and clear or his body will keep them from getting through the zone. I’m sure there will be some lazy Prince Fielder comps thrown about during Vogelbach’s career, (bad body, big power) though Vogelbach lacks Fielder's hit tool. Vogelbach’s work ethic and plus-plus raw power (508 feet!) are attributes you can’t teach a player. How he learns to become a hitter for average will decide if he’s a minor league folk hero or a major league home run title contender.

 

- Project Prospect

[davell]

2 straight High Schoolers, off the normal path for us as well, by the way.

[jersey cubs fan]

He's a beast in this video, much better than the other one:

 

 

Wow that was a terrible video.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yes, this brings our number of legitimate 1B prospects in the system up to....one.

 

Not a Bourliever?

[Men in Blue]

Left handed Dave Kingman.

[Guest]

For those who watch a lot of college baseball, would Vogelbach step in and start immediately for Florida?

 

Probably a dumb question, I'm assuming yes?

 

Yes. Their normal 1B is a junior (Preston Tucker) who should go pro though in the last few weeks, they've started a defensive-minded sophomore with little bat and moved Tucker to RF.

[pitchcs]

For those who watch a lot of college baseball, would Vogelbach step in and start immediately for Florida?

 

Probably a dumb question, I'm assuming yes?

 

Yes. Their normal 1B is a junior (Preston Tucker) who should go pro though in the last few weeks, they've started a defensive-minded sophomore with little bat and moved Tucker to RF.

 

Seems to be a guy who's stock would only increase after playing in college. Doubt there's any way he wouldn't hit 20 HR's yearly.

[Rob]

Surprised we got Vogelbach in the 2nd round. I always kinda assumed he'd be more in the sandwich.

 

*rimshot*

 

*crickets*

[Guest]

BA:

 

Dan Vogelbach, 1b

Bishop Verot HS, Fort Myers

 

Vogelbach is not a good runner, but he helped Bishop Verot win the Florida 3-A championship for the first time since 1994 when he scampered home from second base with the winning run on a deflected single by Hudson Boyd—a likely top-two-rounds pick as a pitcher. Vogelbach hit 17 homers in 32 games and has some of the best lefthanded power in the draft due to excellent strength and a sound, loose swing. He put it on display last December at the annual Power Showcase—the event made famous by Bryce Harper's 502-foot homer—by launching one 508 feet with a metal bat and won the event. He is more than a masher, with solid hitting ability and a fairly polished approach. But at 6 feet, 240 pounds, Vogelbach has work to do physically and will never be thought of as athletic. He has trimmed up in the last year, particularly since last summer's East Coast Pro Showcase, when he weighed more than 280 pounds. Vogelbach is limited to first base and may be limited to the American League, but he may hit his way into the firs three rounds. He's committed to Florida.

[davell]

Some damn good guys still left on the board for us in the 3rd......

[toonsterwu]

so, who do folks want for the 3rd round? I wouldn't mind a pitcher, but I still would like more power and Derek Fisher stands out to me. Granted, gonna be costly to buy him out of UVA.

[davell]

Fisher would be great, but I want Maples now that Purke just went off the damn board. :banghead: