2013 Draft Discussion

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Welcome aboard!

[bukie]

I'm not overly concerned about the Cubs getting the #1 pick, specifically. Especially since there isn't a Harper/Strasburg once-in-a-generation talent sitting there.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see the Cubs trade off some of their veteran assets (Soriano, Dempster, Marmol, Garza?) for youth, and even have the youth improve the team play over the last couple months of the season. If they end up with, say, 95 losses and pick 4th, it's just as good as finishing with 105 losses and picking first.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm not overly concerned about the Cubs getting the #1 pick, specifically. Especially since there isn't a Harper/Strasburg once-in-a-generation talent sitting there.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see the Cubs trade off some of their veteran assets (Soriano, Dempster, Marmol, Garza?) for youth, and even have the youth improve the team play over the last couple months of the season. If they end up with, say, 95 losses and pick 4th, it's just as good as finishing with 105 losses and picking first.

 

Historically, even if you take out a handful of generational talents, No. 1 overall picks still kick the ever-loving crap out of later picks.

 

From 1975 to 2005, No. 4 overall picks have produced 9 players who have reached 10 bWAR in their careers.

 

No. 1 overall picks had 21 reach that threshold.

 

I think people are buying too much into the hype of this year's draft and are seriously underestimating the value of getting the best domestic amateur prospect each year, even in non-Harper years.

[El Duderino]

the #1 pick is more desirable now because of getting the biggest bonus pool.

[NDNazareth]

Welcome aboard!

 

 

Thanks Kyle, I strongly prefer the #1 pick but I do want to see our young talent play well so obviously I'm conflicted. I want to trade everyone possible! Dempster (love him) but gone if he agrees, Garza (not good enough for me to want to give him huge money and we're still a few years away), LaHair (has some value, great story but Rizzo is up and I don't like Brian in OF), Soriano (pay the whole damn contract I just can't see how we can't get a few interesting prospects), DeJesus (minimal value in a trade but has value to a contender) hell even Maholm. Get whatever you can for these guys if they aren't young and gonna be around for the rebuild why not try to maximize their value and get at least a lottery ticket. With the exception of maybe Garza we can easily replace all these guys in the free agency if we really had to find another temp place holder. We are in full rebuild mode so I want to see us go all out and restock the farm as much as possible.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Welcome aboard!

 

 

Thanks Kyle, I strongly prefer the #1 pick but I do want to see our young talent play well so obviously I'm conflicted. I want to trade everyone possible! Dempster (love him) but gone if he agrees, Garza (not good enough for me to want to give him huge money and we're still a few years away), LaHair (has some value, great story but Rizzo is up and I don't like Brian in OF), Soriano (pay the whole damn contract I just can't see how we can't get a few interesting prospects), DeJesus (minimal value in a trade but has value to a contender) hell even Maholm. Get whatever you can for these guys if they aren't young and gonna be around for the rebuild why not try to maximize their value and get at least a lottery ticket. With the exception of maybe Garza we can easily replace all these guys in the free agency if we really had to find another temp place holder. We are in full rebuild mode so I want to see us go all out and restock the farm as much as possible.

 

I'm in the same boat.

 

I want somehow for the Cubs who are long-term assets to succeed, the Cubs who have trade value to improve it in the next month, and the rest of the roster-fill to just fall apart in horrific ways so we get that top pick. No more Paul Maholm shutouts, please.

[NDNazareth]

Welcome aboard!

 

 

Thanks Kyle, I strongly prefer the #1 pick but I do want to see our young talent play well so obviously I'm conflicted. I want to trade everyone possible! Dempster (love him) but gone if he agrees, Garza (not good enough for me to want to give him huge money and we're still a few years away), LaHair (has some value, great story but Rizzo is up and I don't like Brian in OF), Soriano (pay the whole damn contract I just can't see how we can't get a few interesting prospects), DeJesus (minimal value in a trade but has value to a contender) hell even Maholm. Get whatever you can for these guys if they aren't young and gonna be around for the rebuild why not try to maximize their value and get at least a lottery ticket. With the exception of maybe Garza we can easily replace all these guys in the free agency if we really had to find another temp place holder. We are in full rebuild mode so I want to see us go all out and restock the farm as much as possible.

 

I'm in the same boat.

 

I want somehow for the Cubs who are long-term assets to succeed, the Cubs who have trade value to improve it in the next month, and the rest of the roster-fill to just fall apart in horrific ways so we get that top pick. No more Paul Maholm shutouts, please.

 

 

With the pitching injuries in the majors this year he may just get us a low A player with potential!

[davell]

Just joined the site but been reading for years. Thanks everyone for the years of informative posts and reading entertainment. I am a lifelong Cubs fan but the last few years I have struggled to find much to interest me (understandably so), I'll never waiver on the Cubs but baseball season has been more an afterthought lately. I don't like spending my time looking at the calender waiting for football season to begin so I decided lately to start tracking things outside the actual Cubs roster. I have always been aware of big time prospects like every other serious Cubs fan but now I track the minors everyday and know the majority of the prospects in the system well, with the excitement of another Cubs loser there is a silver lining and that is our placement in the 2013 draft. This is another first time interest to me, I usually know the Cubs first round pick after the fact but never explored deep into the draft pool or discussed Cubs picks before they happen. I remember wanting Mark Texiera over Prior but I'm an ND fan and that's probably what clouded my judgement, anyways I digress. I am rambling but I wanted to preface my potentially dumb post to those of you that have followed this closely for years...

 

So I have been doing all the digging I can to try and ready myself for our options potentially at #1, although Rizzo's game winning rbi's are messing with our status as worst team in baseball! Anyways I am curious what the experts on here have to say about this draft. I watched the College World series for the first time as a psuedo scout and I'm not seeing what most people are saying. That this draft (2013) is significantly stronger than 2012. Don't get me wrong I thought the 2012 draft was pretty weak up top when reading scouting reports and comparing it to recent drafts but I don't see the star power that blows this draft away. Is it natural at this point in the game that every big prospect has a big question mark somewhere in their game? Do these guys usually make that jump their draft eligible year? I ask because I am not seeing what many others are. I see solid players in Stanek, Whitson, Ficociello, Crawford, Eades, Jones, Plutko but none of those guys are the complete package that you'd expect the top pick to be. I don't see a Gerrit Cole or Trevor Bauer amongst the pitchers. I am very intrigued by Austin Wilson and he could be what Jason Heyward was supposed to be (too young to remotely close door) but he has contact issues against college pitching and is far from an ideal #1 pick. I loved what I read about Kris Bryant (never saw him play) but now I read that he has little chance to stay at 3B and will be a 1B. Those skills are greatly diminished as a 1B imo. I am very underwhelmed having watched most of those guys live and seeing their stats/scouting reports. The draft may be better overall then the 2012 draft but I don't really see more talent at the top and that's not saying much. I'm very intrigued by Austin Meadows and he would seemingly be the favorite for the first overall pick but he's a high schooler that you're projecting big time at this point. Need to see more from him his senior year but if he has the potential that everyone says he's the best pick on paper that I see but at the strongest position in our system.

 

I am a firm believer in drafting the BPA, but with Almora signed soon (hopefully) Soler, Jackson, Sczur etc do you think the Cubs potentially shy away and draft pitching? I highly doubt Hoyer and Epstein will be influenced by what we have in the system but we are so void of any pitching right now that I fear we may reach for Stanek/Whitson over a better prospect because of our deficiencies. What do you guys think is it BPA all the way or do you think it's Best Pitcher Available? I know this is a dumb question and even more stupid to question those two but our system sucks as far as pitching goes and we need a serious influx of talent.

 

Lastly how do you guys feel we should handle things if we get the #1 pick? The new draft rules create many more questions and strategies now and the Astros seemed to do very well going underslot #1. I am intrigued by that strategy, and feel that's exactly what will do if the top 5-6 players are closely lumped together like the '12 draft. If there is no player that stands above the rest I almost prefer the Cubs draft the pitcher that they feel they can sign the cheapest and then pick up another 1-2 studs later, especially if this draft is considered deep. If someone is considered the clear cut favorite, even if he isn't Harper or Strasburg I say you have to draft him regardless of position and money and figure out the rest later. That's when we have to trust our scouting department.

 

I'm sorry to ramble I'm bored as hell at work and have been thinking a lot about the '13 draft, until Rizzo came up and provided some excitement and wins. Now I'm hoping our bullpen starts blowing Rizzo's game winners! What do you guys think? Who is your preferred #1 pick?

 

 

Welcome! Personally, I want the top pick, because of the flexibility it provides. If a definitive player emerges, you get him. If not, you can do what Houston did and get a top talent, plus extra, by aggreeing to an underslot deal with someone. Of course, this strategy works no matter where you're picking honestly, but it gives you the most money to play with, if you've got the biggest allotment obviously.

 

It's still way too early to tell about this class, either way. At this time 2 years ago, Dylan Bundy was getting mocked as low as 15 or so. Bauer was in the same boat. Plenty of time for players to emerge as the clear cut overall top pick. Much like you, I'm hoping it's a pitcher. And if we play the kids next year and get a top 3-5 pick again, I'm hoping like hell for Carlos Rodon.

[jersey cubs fan]

I remember wanting Mark Texiera over Prior but I'm an ND fan and that's probably what clouded my judgement, anyways I digress.

 

Could have just been that you were smart like the rest of us that wanted the same.

[RammyFanny]

A couple of the usual names frmo Law's article:

• Arkansas right-hander Ryne Stanek will have a strong case to be the top overall pick next June, or at worst to be the first college pitcher selected. His fastball sat from 93-96 mph on Saturday night, working from a higher arm slot than I'd seen from him in the past, with a plus slider at 86-87 and a hard changeup at the same velocity. Stanek's formula in SEC play was to throw a ton of sliders, but he was a little more fastball-centric on Saturday, which is a better look for pro scouts hoping to see a guy who can pitch off his fastball. He does cut himself off slightly but overall is cleaner than he was last summer.

 

• Cathedral Catholic's Stephen Gonsalves, a 6-5, 190-pound lefty from San Marcos, Calif., was one of the best prep arms on display in Durham, working at 90-91 in his inning of work with a slightly long but very easy arm swing, showing a big 73-76 mph curveball with good two-plane break that often finished out of the zone. He wasn't landing cleanly which may explain the lack of command. The projectable frame and clean arm action peg him as a guy to watch next spring -- I wouldn't be shocked to see or hear of much better velocity come April.

 

• Moving to the hitters, University of San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant only had a few at-bats over the two games, but the BP was pretty easy and I think he's the top college bat in the draft right now, even with the possibility he moves to first. He's a big kid, not a bad athlete, but possibly too big to stay at third; the swing is easy and the power is real. He didn't hit at all with wood last summer and that may be the biggest question mark on him as a prospect.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/mlb_draft/id/8123592/scouting-ryne-stanek-kris-bryant-other-usa-baseball-draft-prospects-mlb-draft

[Guest]

It's early but Austin Wilson has been killing it in the Cape - .355/.487/.968 with a wood bat.

[Little Slide Rooter]

@mlbtraderumors: Gausman Unlikely To Sign With Orioles http://t.co/GqIhjTRf #mlb

 

Sounds like it could be a last minute attempt for leverage, but if both Gausman and Appel hold out, I could end up really rooting for us in the Fecal League.

[davell]

I'm pulling for us in the Fecal League anyway, but if Appel and Gausman are both available again, it gives us a much better chance at a bigtime pitcher, as long as we're picking top 6-7.

[Guest]

I think Gausman will sign, unlike Appel, who I think is legitimately willing to not sign and go back in the 2013 draft.

[Tryptamine]

I think Gausman will sign, unlike Appel, who I think is legitimately willing to not sign and go back in the 2013 draft.

 

I just can't fathom Gausman being one of the top 2 picks next year. Is that extra year of risk really work one, maybe two slots?

[Splendid Splinter]

I think Gausman will sign, unlike Appel, who I think is legitimately willing to not sign and go back in the 2013 draft.

 

I hope Appel goes back for another year and then get picked in the teens.

[Guest]

BA's Top 10 Prospects at the 2012 PG National Showcase - Austin Meadows was #1 and here is the blurb on him:

 

The 2013 high school draft class is looking a little lighter than most years, but there were still several impressive players on display in the Metrodome at the 2012 Perfect Game National Showcase June 14-18.

 

1. Austin Meadows, of, Grayson HS, Loganville, Ga.

Standing 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Meadows looks like a better version of David Dahl, who went 10th-overall to the Rockies. Meadows doesn't have Dahl's arm strength, but he's a better runner, grading out as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale. A lefthanded hitter, Meadows shows excellent bat speed at the plate without compromising balance. The Clemson commit has a quiet setup at the plate and puts together quality at-bats, showing the ability to turn on fastballs and keep his hands back on breaking balls.

[Guest]

First Draft lottery to award 12 extra selections

[Vinestal]

First Draft lottery to award 12 extra selections

How is Tampa not eligible for oneof those picks (at least I didn't see their name in that article) and the Cardinals are? I don't see how the Cardinals are a low revenue team.

[Guest]

Those half-dozen picks will be made at the conclusion of the first round, following the compensation selections. Because there is obvious crossover between those two groups, there are 13 teams entered into the first-round lottery: the D-backs, Orioles, Indians, Royals, A's, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers and Cardinals.

[TruffleShuffle]

the cardinals have been top 3 in national league attendance for 8 years running. they have the 9th highest payroll this season. and they're lumped in with teams like the padres, pirates and rays. what a joke.

[Guest]

The competitive lottery is today:

 

@MLBDraft: Remember: The Competitive Balance Lottery is today. Results to be revealed at 2:45p ET on @MLB & @MLBNetwork | Primer: http://t.co/MPza0zIF

[Guest]

@MLBDraft: The Competitive Balance Lottery ball tumbler and board all set for action at @MLBNetwork @MLB http://t.co/yeokL24q http://t.co/uZXuMp1E

[MWV]

This has probably been discussed previously, but how does MLB define/determine the size of a team's market?

[jersey cubs fan]

This has probably been discussed previously, but how does MLB define/determine the size of a team's market?

 

measure from the base