2011 Cubs picks and signings thread

[EhDubya]

I got to watch Easterling in the college playoffs on tv and he is quite a man. He is tall. Looks like a baseball player. Has not played that much of late, but came on as the season wore on. Looks like he can be a player, has the tools anyway. Has the body. Just has to get the rust off and put it together. Glad he signed, and I am sure he will go to Mesa and not Boise. I think he has a chance to be real good. He is definitely someone I am interested in just from seeing him play on tv one game. He is a physical specimen who goes to the top of the list of Cubs players on that list, and when you see him, you will know immediately he can be a 30 hr guy for the Cubs. Play rf and have great range, great arm, and 30 hr power. Yep, glad he signed. Keep an eye on him, and give him time to develop. Patience.

 

Tall? Isn't he like 5'10?

[Brett]

I got to watch Easterling in the college playoffs on tv and he is quite a man. He is tall. Looks like a baseball player. Has not played that much of late, but came on as the season wore on. Looks like he can be a player, has the tools anyway. Has the body. Just has to get the rust off and put it together. Glad he signed, and I am sure he will go to Mesa and not Boise. I think he has a chance to be real good. He is definitely someone I am interested in just from seeing him play on tv one game. He is a physical specimen who goes to the top of the list of Cubs players on that list, and when you see him, you will know immediately he can be a 30 hr guy for the Cubs. Play rf and have great range, great arm, and 30 hr power. Yep, glad he signed. Keep an eye on him, and give him time to develop. Patience.

 

Tall? Isn't he like 5'10?

 

I can't tell if there was some joking going on in that post, or if he really does think Easterling bleeds diamonds.

[stuy119]

He was drafted twice by the Marlins, each time in the first 10 rounds (I think). The FSU baseball coach, Mike Martin, said that if he had concentrated solely on baseball he would have likely been a 3rd round pick this year or next.

 

High praise, high ceiling - development, as always, will be the key.

[tspain]

I truly meant every word I wrote about Easterling. Just wait till you see the guy. He has a long way to go to make the major leagues, but he is a hunk of a specimen and an athlete, and only needs to work on the bat. I hope and believe his bat will come around since he is full time baseball now. Just wait till you see the guy, you will know what I am talking about. Wish everyone could have caught him on tv.

[Outshined_One]

The potential is certainly there. Given his upside, I'm really happy the Cubs managed to draft him in the 27th round and actually sign him.

 

He kind of sounds like a Szczur-type, only much more raw.

[witty alias]

He was drafted twice by the Marlins, each time in the first 10 rounds (I think). The FSU baseball coach, Mike Martin, said that if he had concentrated solely on baseball he would have likely been a 3rd round pick this year or next.

 

High praise, high ceiling - development, as always, will be the key.

 

He was drafted in the 6th round out of HS.

[craig]

The potential is certainly there. Given his upside, I'm really happy the Cubs managed to draft him in the 27th round and actually sign him.

 

He kind of sounds like a Szczur-type, only much more raw.

 

I hope so. From Tspain's comment, plus a picture I saw, he looks like he could have some strength and could hit for some power, although of course he didn't actually do so in college. Nor did he steal much.

 

Of course, Szczur was 2 years younger (Easterling is 22, Szczur was 20), and Szczur was picked 20+ rounds sooner. And Szczur we know has basestealing speed/acumen.

 

Most importantly, Szczur has a knack for hitting the ball. Easterling didn't hit much in college. Maybe he'll just show up and be a hitter as a pro. But at FSU his numbers suggest a high-K guy.

 

There are lots of football players who are fast, strong, and coordinated, so they always seem like promising baseball prospects where those same attributes would seem to work.

 

But it's very rare that they can hit. Szczur seems to be unusual in that he can. Hopefully Easterling will be another, in due time.

[thefranchise]

The potential is certainly there. Given his upside, I'm really happy the Cubs managed to draft him in the 27th round and actually sign him.

 

He kind of sounds like a Szczur-type, only much more raw.

 

I hope so. From Tspain's comment, plus a picture I saw, he looks like he could have some strength and could hit for some power, although of course he didn't actually do so in college. Nor did he steal much.

 

Of course, Szczur was 2 years younger (Easterling is 22, Szczur was 20), and Szczur was picked 20+ rounds sooner. And Szczur we know has basestealing speed/acumen.

 

Most importantly, Szczur has a knack for hitting the ball. Easterling didn't hit much in college. Maybe he'll just show up and be a hitter as a pro. But at FSU his numbers suggest a high-K guy.

 

There are lots of football players who are fast, strong, and coordinated, so they always seem like promising baseball prospects where those same attributes would seem to work.

 

But it's very rare that they can hit. Szczur seems to be unusual in that he can. Hopefully Easterling will be another, in due time.

 

Well Easterling didn't play baseball for two years and then barely played last year. This year he played more and did much better than the year before. So I'm hoping the more he plays, the more he'll get comfortable. Not expecting too much out of a 27th round pick, but he's definitely someone to keep an eye on next year.

[stuy119]

The potential is certainly there. Given his upside, I'm really happy the Cubs managed to draft him in the 27th round and actually sign him.

 

He kind of sounds like a Szczur-type, only much more raw.

 

I hope so. From Tspain's comment, plus a picture I saw, he looks like he could have some strength and could hit for some power, although of course he didn't actually do so in college. Nor did he steal much.

 

Of course, Szczur was 2 years younger (Easterling is 22, Szczur was 20), and Szczur was picked 20+ rounds sooner. And Szczur we know has basestealing speed/acumen.

 

Most importantly, Szczur has a knack for hitting the ball. Easterling didn't hit much in college. Maybe he'll just show up and be a hitter as a pro. But at FSU his numbers suggest a high-K guy.

 

There are lots of football players who are fast, strong, and coordinated, so they always seem like promising baseball prospects where those same attributes would seem to work.

 

But it's very rare that they can hit. Szczur seems to be unusual in that he can. Hopefully Easterling will be another, in due time.

 

There's more to it that you might be aware of. Easterling didn't get to practice in fall, and didn't get much PT either. I'll leave it at that, but realize that the FSU coaching staff does multiple things that aren't good for players like Easterling.

[davell]

Zeke DeVoss flew to Chicago today and meet with the Cubs. His college coach expects he'll sign with us.

[dew1679666265]

Zeke DeVoss flew to Chicago today and meet with the Cubs. His college coach expects he'll sign with us.

 

Here's a link.

 

Also, third-round draft pick Zeke DeVoss, an outfielder out of the University of Miami, was at Wrigley this morning and taking batting practice. I’m told the Cubs are very close to signing him. DeVoss is said to be a 70 (in scout’s parlance) runner and a good on-base guy. He looks like a ballplayer, and he also looked to have a nice air of self-confidence about him.

[Outshined_One]

Unofficial report from Twitter is that Zeke DeVoss has signed:

 

Link

 

Zeke DeVoss has officially signed with the Chicago Cubs, I received a text from his father confirming. Zeke was in Chicago today and took BP

 

Waiting for confirmation from elsewhere.

[Little Slide Rooter]

DeVoss seems like an OK enough player, but I hope they didn't spend too much on him that could be used for some of the late round big fish.

[Outshined_One]

DeVoss seems like an OK enough player, but I hope they didn't spend too much on him that could be used for some of the late round big fish.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing him get an overslot. He's a sophomore who's a bit raw and only recently moved to CF. There's not much power there, but he's really fast and is still refining his game at the plate and in the field.

[craig]

OO, is it a lock that he'll play CF as opposed to the Cubs perhaps trying him at 2B? Just curious.

 

59 walks in 61 games, and 230-some AB. That's a pretty high walk-ratio. A Juan Pierre who walked like Brett Jackson or Matt Cerda could be a useful guy, even if he didn't steal a lot.

[Outshined_One]

OO, is it a lock that he'll play CF as opposed to the Cubs perhaps trying him at 2B? Just curious.

 

I believe the Cubs announced him as an outfielder. However, he has some experience in the IF in his career. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Cubs try him there, but I'm not expecting it, either.

[BeerHere]

Long thread, too lazy to read through it but here is a BA link on the singing of Mark Malave and Venezuelan third baseman Ricardo Marcano.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2011/07/cubs-agree-to-terms-with-mark-malave-ricardo-marcano/

[Shilzzz]

now that it's all i have to look forward to as a cubs fan, the time it takes for these signings is like the last three hours of the trade deadline stretched out over a period of months.

[davell]

Stuck in Kaplan's article today about the signings of Malave and Mercano was a snippet that said Baez is expected to sign soon. Vogelbach will be much later, as he's weighing his decision.

[sneakypower]

*pun intended

[stuy119]

Apparently Easterling signed for approximately $200K, according to an interview with Jimbo Fisher today.

[TruffleShuffle]

jeez really? guess they must like him quite a bit.

[stuy119]

Not sure if the Cubs thought he had leverage to go back to school or not, but he really couldn't - we're 2-3 scholarships over the limit right now, and counting on him to go to MLB to lessen the problem.

[Shilzzz]

Stuck in Kaplan's article today about the signings of Malave and Mercano was a snippet that said Baez is expected to sign soon. Vogelbach will be much later, as he's weighing his decision.

 

i'm honestly surprised that guy is literate.

[davell]

http://www.csnchicago.com/07/06/11/Kaplan-Cubs-agree-to-deals-with-intl-pro/kapman_article.html?blockID=539516&fee

 

Here's the article, by the way. And while we all know Kapman is kind of a tool, the gist of this article is basically, quite awesome, for those of us who have harped about this kind of thing for a while. If they actually spend more than DOUBLE of any amount they've EVER spent between IFA and the draft, I think we all have to get firmly behind these guys for sure.

 

I was certainly hesitant, after last year's spending in this area, but was coming around by the time we actually saw the IFA spending, since most of those guys were kept from us initially. But, you add up the types of guys we drafted, our splashes in IFA for the July 2nd period and also the Cuban guys we've inked as well, and it's proof positive we're making this a high priority, to say the least.

 

 

While this pertains to IFA's more, I do have a question I'm hoping someone can answer: Have we already started building this 10 mill complex down in the Dominican? It kind of seems like we have, just not sure......

 

 

As for the little bit of draft news here, happy Baez looks to be in the mix soon and I really hope we don't miss out on Vogelbach. And yes, I'm greedy and REALLY, REALLY want at least one, hopefully two, and preferrably all 3 of Dunston, Maples, and Jacquez signed. The funny thing though, is with the recent actions of Ricketts, I don't even know if this is all that far-fetched anymore.