2011 Cubs picks and signings thread

[craig]

Very curious quote from Wilken, IMO.

 

"Tom came out and told us we'll be more active on the amateur side," Wilken said Wednesday. "When you feel you have a shot to sign players, it changes the strategy in how you pick. It was like Christmas Day for scouts."

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110608&content_id=20203006&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

 

I find it curious because it seems to loosely confirm what many have suspected for awhile, which was that Wilken and Co. had more restrictions on money, particularly with over-slots, than was publicly acknowledged. I don't recall any statement prior to this year that seemed to suggest things in as strong a term, although maybe I missed something.

 

Anyhow, seems to bode well for our chances to land some of these kids.

 

Thanks for catching and sharing that. Yes, that's pretty significant. I wonder how exactly that all played out. I know at convention, Wilken talked similarly, that Ricketts was very committed to spending more on draft and international. I recall discussing that with dave. But I wonder if there was further reinforcement even on the fly, as he mentioned with somebody like Dunston.

 

We know that almost all of these teenage picks will require some overslot. But this is encouraging to hear that he's got some ability to pursue a fair number of them.

[davell]

Very curious quote from Wilken, IMO.

 

"Tom came out and told us we'll be more active on the amateur side," Wilken said Wednesday. "When you feel you have a shot to sign players, it changes the strategy in how you pick. It was like Christmas Day for scouts."

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110608&content_id=20203006&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

 

I find it curious because it seems to loosely confirm what many have suspected for awhile, which was that Wilken and Co. had more restrictions on money, particularly with over-slots, than was publicly acknowledged. I don't recall any statement prior to this year that seemed to suggest things in as strong a term, although maybe I missed something.

 

Anyhow, seems to bode well for our chances to land some of these kids.

 

Thanks for catching and sharing that. Yes, that's pretty significant. I wonder how exactly that all played out. I know at convention, Wilken talked similarly, that Ricketts was very committed to spending more on draft and international. I recall discussing that with dave. But I wonder if there was further reinforcement even on the fly, as he mentioned with somebody like Dunston.

 

We know that almost all of these teenage picks will require some overslot. But this is encouraging to hear that he's got some ability to pursue a fair number of them.

 

 

Progress!!!!!!! :yahoo:

 

 

Seriously though, that's a great question Craig: Perhaps with the season as far gone as it already is, they made a change on the fly and allowed even MORE spending? Maybe this was how it was supposed to be since the original Cubs Convention quote from Wilken. Who knows? But, it is definitely exciting to here and hopefully makes this summer much more bearable. Seeing some upside guys getting signed would sure be nice. IFA could be fun too, for all we know.......

 

 

Of course, this brings another question with it as well.......Is this infusion of high school talent just an evening out of the system or is it an indication that we're going to pass on bigtime guys(Pujols or Fielder) and concentrate on a major run in 3-4 seasons? I tend to think it's the first, but the second has crossed my mind anyway, with the debt issues currently and all.

[toonsterwu]

Btw, for everyone hoping for Maples, Bruce Miles gave it a better than 50-50 shot on a blog comment of his. Don't know if Bruce has inside info on that, or more of a hunch, but still ... that's a higher chance than I would've thought.

 

This was the specific exchange:

 

Maples

 

Bruce -

 

Having read the article on Maples, it says clubs are aware of the price it will take to sign him. Do you think the Cubs drafted him knowing the price and will meet that price tag to get him into the system?

Posted by mck on Wed, 06/08/2011 - 11:23

 

reply

 

I can see it

 

It goes along with their stated plan of building from within. They also shelled out money for Szczur. I'd give it better than 50-50 that they'd sign him, with all the stuff that goes along with it, like paying for the kid's schooling.

Posted by Bruce on Wed, 06/08/2011 - 11:29

 

reply

[Outshined_One]

While I'm glad to see the Cubs talk about spending to acquire talent in the draft, I'm reserving my optimism until the signing deadline. If the Cubs sign a bunch of guys and end up spending $9m-$10m, then awesome. If they only sign Baez and Vogelbach out of the likely overslots and end up spending only $5m...that'll be a problem.

[UMFan83]

I wouldn't say that they'd build for 3-4 seasons from now, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't make more than a token effort (a la Beltran in 2005) at signing Fielder and Pujols.

 

It's good Ricketts is putting the money where his mouth is. He's gotta improve somehow, and if the draft pans out, our system gets a lot better because of the decision to spend more.

[Guest]

Very curious quote from Wilken, IMO.

 

"Tom came out and told us we'll be more active on the amateur side," Wilken said Wednesday. "When you feel you have a shot to sign players, it changes the strategy in how you pick. It was like Christmas Day for scouts."

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110608&content_id=20203006&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

 

I find it curious because it seems to loosely confirm what many have suspected for awhile, which was that Wilken and Co. had more restrictions on money, particularly with over-slots, than was publicly acknowledged. I don't recall any statement prior to this year that seemed to suggest things in as strong a term, although maybe I missed something.

 

Anyhow, seems to bode well for our chances to land some of these kids.

That also makes me hopeful that the money will be there to land a bunch of these guys.

[Outshined_One]

Sounds like we got our first signing.

 

42nd Rounder SS Brad Zapenas

[Guest]

• The most interesting pick in the 39th round was the Cubs selection of Franklin High righthander Ricky Jacquez from El Paso, Texas. Nobody questions Jacquez's stuff—he sits 92-94 mph with his fastball and touches 97, also mixing in a hammer curveball. It's his size that has teams shying away. Jacquez is listed at a generous 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds. He is committed to Texas.

 

46th rounder:

 

Righthander Scott Weisman was expected to be a fixture in Clemson's rotation after he led the team with nine victories in 2010. He didn't meet expectations, though he wasn't hurt, just ineffective. He's stocky at 6 feet, 190 pounds, and he was much more effective out of the bullpen, limiting opponents to a .128 average entering the ACC tournament. Weisman's sinker reaches 93, and his slider helps him get groundballs, but neither pitch gets a ton of swings and misses. He added a cutter this year that gave him a different look.

 

47th rounder:

 

David Ernst capped his high school career by throwing a no-hitter in the North Dakota Class A championship game. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound righthander usually pitches at 85-88 mph, though he did touch 91 in his first outing this spring. His parents are wealthy and he's a good student, so there's virtually no chance he can be lured away from attending North Dakota State.

[NCCubFan]

Round 32: RHP Pete Levitt Mount - Olive College

I taught at Mount Olive a little over a decade ago. They're a Division II power (national champions in 2008; final four in the DII World Series this year). Two years ago the Cubs drafted another Mount Olive pitcher, B.J. Dail, but they terminated his contract for some disciplinary reason. He started at UNC-Chapel Hill but was dismissed from the team for violating a team rule.

 

Unfortunately I don't know anything about Levitt other than he's not their number one pitcher. That would be Carter Capps (DII national player of the year), who was drafted by the Mariners as a compensation pick at the end of the 3rd round.

[toonsterwu]

In terms of stuff, Levitt, from what I know, is a low 90's sinkerballer with a decent change, decent slider. Heard his control has to tighten up some more for him to have a legitimate shot. Feels like a ... Matt Loosen type arm. Big fella ...

[ctcf]

When is the signing deadline for picks?

[Scotti]

Very curious quote from Wilken, IMO.

 

"Tom came out and told us we'll be more active on the amateur side," Wilken said Wednesday. "When you feel you have a shot to sign players, it changes the strategy in how you pick. It was like Christmas Day for scouts."

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110608&content_id=20203006&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

 

I find it curious because it seems to loosely confirm what many have suspected for awhile, which was that Wilken and Co. had more restrictions on money, particularly with over-slots, than was publicly acknowledged. I don't recall any statement prior to this year that seemed to suggest things in as strong a term, although maybe I missed something.

 

Anyhow, seems to bode well for our chances to land some of these kids.

That also makes me hopeful that the money will be there to land a bunch of these guys.

 

The MLB article mentioned that Ricketts was in the draft room (Mesa). I read that somewhere else (about a week prior to the draft). The gist was that he was attending "to see how it's done." Seemed that if he wanted "to see how it was done" he could have done so last year.

 

Obviously the Cubs won't sign all of the kids they want to sign but I'm sure that Wilken had a rough figure to work from (between X and Y million) and TR was there to give thumbs up or down on some of those special players who slid to the Cubs.

 

Still, as in years past, some of the juicier guys could just be insurance in case the team has difficulty coming to terms with one of the top picks. Baez refuses to sign at what the team believes is fair? Give that to Mapples or even spread it around to some of those future Sonny Grays and Tim Lincecums (both drafted by the Cubs out of high school in the late rounds).

 

The article pushed the "Cubs haven't spent on the draft" angle without factoring in the 10M to Jeff Samardzija or the extra 1.5M to sign Matt Szczur. One and a half million here, ten million there and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

[Scotti]

When is the signing deadline for picks?

 

August 15th.

[Scotti]

BTW, thanks for everyone who kept this topic going. Made for a nice, smooth recap of the Cubs draft.

[ctcf]

BTW, thanks for everyone who kept this topic going. Made for a nice, smooth recap of the Cubs draft.

 

Seconded.

 

Also, thanks for the signing deadline date.

[Scotti]

Ran across this awesome Dunston, Jr article. Q and A format:

 

http://yankees.scout.com/2/1046336.html

 

Talks about hamstring surgery, working out, changing his throwing arm, philosophy on hitting, fielding, base running, etc.

[Guest]

The MLB article mentioned that Ricketts was in the draft room (Mesa). I read that somewhere else (about a week prior to the draft). The gist was that he was attending "to see how it's done." Seemed that if he wanted "to see how it was done" he could have done so last year.

 

Too busy on safari, IMO.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I would very much like to see them spring for 1,2,4,11,14, and 38. To a lesser extent, 5,8,and 12, and just for fun, 7.

[davell]

The guys I'd want in a perfect world are 1(Baez) 2(Vogelbach) 4(Zych) 5(Scott) 6(Rosario)7(Gretzky)11(Dunston Jr) 14(Maples)15(Marra)25(Shoulders)30(Garcia)31(Richardson)39(Jacquez)

 

On a different note though, I could see us changing our strategy of signing around 30 guys this year. Our teams at Boise and Mesa look relatively decent right now, so maybe we go for quality over quantity this year for that reason?

[craig]

Kevin Levine-Flandrup: How much have you thought of the draft? Speaking with guys some say that they think about it all the time, others say that they are not thinking about it at all. Where do you stand in that spectrum?

 

Shawon Dunston, Jr: I’m not going to lie – I think about it just about every day. It’s a hard process. Right now I’m excited about being committed to Vanderbilt, but if the situation is right for my family and me, and everything goes right and I feel comfortable signing, then I’ll sign. However, if it’s not I'm not going to be mad or upset because I’m going to be attending a great university and playing in one of the best conferences in college baseball, for one of the best teams in the country. So when I think about it now I view it as a win-win situation. If I get drafted and sign I get my career started early – that’s fine. If not, I get to go to school for three years, develop, mature, get bigger and stronger, and live the college life experience which is something I want to do. So I think about the draft, but I also think about going to school, and I’m ready for either one.

 

--------

 

Doesn't sound ridiculously unsignable to me.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The guys I'd want in a perfect world are 1(Baez) 2(Vogelbach) 4(Zych) 5(Scott) 6(Rosario)7(Gretzky)11(Dunston Jr) 14(Maples)15(Marra)25(Shoulders)30(Garcia)31(Richardson)39(Jacquez)

 

On a different note though, I could see us changing our strategy of signing around 30 guys this year. Our teams at Boise and Mesa look relatively decent right now, so maybe we go for quality over quantity this year for that reason?

That's whay I think too. If we could get like 12 quality guys, that's what really matters. Whatever other late rounders come aboard for cheap is gravy.

[toonsterwu]

I'd love to get Michael Jensen in. Won't get the attention some of the others will get, but mid-90's fastball and a good curveball is sure enticing.

[Guest]

BTW, thanks for everyone who kept this topic going. Made for a nice, smooth recap of the Cubs draft.

 

I've said this before but I'm glad you're more active here.

[Rob]

I'd like to take a moment to thank everybody who posted here during the draft. Whether it was pages upon pages of tasty information (Most of you) or a few scattered comments containing mostly uninformed tripe (like me). It was a very enjoyable experience. Edited June 9, 2011 by Rob

[davell]

Yeah, thanks a bunch. Everyone in here has been great. Best place to go for info, without a doubt.

 

 

 

By the way, Rock Shoulders evidently has his employer listed as the Chicago Cubs and his Facebook pic has him in a Cubs hat. Doubt he's signed yet, but love the attitude almost as much as the name.......