2012 Draft Day Thread + Cubs Picks Discussion

[BeerHere]

Excellent news:

 

Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisBA

 

#Cubs, supp 1st-rder Paul Blackburn agree on $911,700 (full value). Calif HS RHP, clean delivery, 90-94 FB, potential 3 + pitches. #mlbdraft

Confirmation from BA:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2012/06/cubs-blackburn-agree-on-911700/

[davell]

Orozco evidently has signed, not a surprise for a 23 year old.

[Guest]

Chadd Martin (rd 10) got $10,000 too. Slot for the 10th rounder is $125,000.

[davell]

Good, kind of figured that. But with Prieto getting 57,000 under slot, we're sitting at 477,200 under budget. not counting our overage ability of close to 400,000 more. From everything McNeil has said, he's wanting to sign, so hopefully there's no snag there. Maybe even a tad more underslot, if we're lucky. Not sure why Lang hasn't signed yet, he seemed pretty gung-ho about it at the draft. Again, doubt there's any actual concern there. If we can get Almora and Underwood for even the extra money we've saved, we'd still have our overage to play with and get another guy or two into the fold.

[Guest]

Press Release:

 

 

CUBS SIGN 15 PLAYERS FROM 2012 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT

RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER PAUL BLACKBURN, SELECTED 56TH OVERALL, AMONG SIGNEES

SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2012

 

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs have thus far signed 15 players selected in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, including right-handed pitcher Paul Blackburn out of Heritage High School in Brentwood, Calif., who was drafted with the 56th overall pick (compensation round).

 

In addition, the list of Cubs signees thus far includes right-handed pitcher Josh Conway (fourth round), infielder Stephen Bruno (seventh round), left-handed pitcher Michael Heesch (eighth round) and catcher Chadd Krist (ninth round).

 

Blackburn, 18, went 8-3 with a 1.27 ERA for Heritage High School in 2012. He struck out 84 batters in 77.1 innings of work, good for an average of 9.8 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched, while walking just 17 hitters. In May of this season, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Blackburn recorded his first career no-hitter, striking out eight and walking two in a 6-0 win over state-ranked Deer Valley of Antioch.

 

The players highlighted in bold below have thus far signed with the Cubs ahead of the July 13 deadline.

 

 

Rd. (pick No.) Player Pos. School Birthday B T Ht. Wt.

1 (6) Albert Almora OF Mater Academy Charter School (Fla.) 4/16/1994 R R 6-2 180

1A (43) Pierce Johnson RHP Missouri State University 5/10/1991 R R 6-3 180

1A (56) Paul Blackburn RHP Heritage High School (Calif.) 12/4/1993 R R 6-2 185

2 (67) Duane Underwood RHP Pope High School (Ga.) 7/20/1994 R R 6-2 205

3 (101) Ryan McNeil RHP Nipomo High School (Calif.) 2/1/1994 R R 6-3 210

4 (134) Josh Conway RHP Coastal Carolina University (S.C.) 4/12/1991 R R 6-1 175

5 (164) Anthony Prieto LHP Americas High School (Texas) 11/16/1993 L L 5-11 170

6 (194) Trey Lang RHP Gateway CC (Ariz.) 5/18/1992 R R 6-3 225

7 (224) Stephen Bruno INF University of Virginia 11/17/1990 R R 5-9 175

8 (254) Michael Heesch LHP Univ. of South Carolina Beaufort 5/15/1990 R L 6-5 260

9 (284) Chadd Krist C University of California, Berkeley 1/28/1990 R R 5-11 190

10 (314) Chad Martin RHP Indiana University 5/17/1990 R R 6-7 230

11 (344) Rashard Crawford OF Mundy’s Hill High School (Ga.) 10/15/1993 S R 6-3 185

12 (374) Justin Amlung RHP University of Louisville (Ky.) 5/21/1990 R R 6-1 180

13 (404) Bijan Rademacher OF Orange Coast College (Calif.) 6/15/1991 L L 6-0 200

14 (434) Corbin Hoffner RHP St. Petersburg College (Fla.) 7/30/1993 R R 6-5 235

15 (464) Carlos Escobar C University of Nevada 12/31/1990 R R 6-2 185

16 (494) Michael Hamann RHP University of Toledo (Ohio) 1/1/1991 R R 6-3 170

17 (524) Nathan Dorris LHP Southern Illinois University 12/9/1990 L L 6-3 185

18 (554) David Bote INF Neosho County CC (Kan.) 4/7/1993 R R 5-11 170

19 (584) Damek Tomscha INF Iowa Western CC 8/27/1991 R R 6-2 200

20 (614) Blake Hickman C Simeon Career Academy (Ill.) 10/29/1993 R R 6-4 190

21 (644) Stephen Perakslis RHP University of Maine – Orono 1/15/1991 R R 6-0 185

22 (674) Eduardo Orozco RHP University of California Riverside 4/11/1989 R R 6-4

23 (704) Jake Drossner LHP Council Rock North High School (Pa.) 5/16/1994 R L 6-1 189

24 (734) Jameson Fisher C Zachary High School (La.) 12/18/93 L R 6-2 175

25 (764) Rhett Wiseman OF Buckingham, Browne & Nichols (Mass.) 6/22/1994 L R 5-11 187

26 (794) Jasvir Rakkar RHP SUNY Stony Brook (N.Y.) 4/27/1991 R R 6-2 200

27 (824) Tyler Bremer RHP Baylor University (Texas) 12/7/1989 R R 6-2 225

28 (854) Lance Rymel C Rogers State University (Okla.) 5/2/1990 R R 6-0 195

29 (884) Austin Pentecost RHP Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) 5/27/1990 R R 6-2 195

30 (914) Izaac Garsez OF College of Idaho 1/24/1990 L L 6-1 210

31 (944) Bryan Bonnell RHP Centennial High School (Nev.) 9/28/1993 L R 6-5 190

32 (974) Timothy Saunders INF Marietta College (Ohio) 5/17/1990 R R 6-0 180

33 (1004) Thomas Pannone OF Bishop Hendricken School (R.I.) 4/28/1994 L L 6-0 180

34 (1034) Christian Botnick RHP Notre Dame Catholic SS (Ontario) 10/5/1994 R R 6-3 195

35 (1064) Ben Carhart INF Stetson University (Fla.) 1/21/1990 R R 5-8 185

36 (1094) Sly Edwards OF St. Brendan High School (Fla.) 9/22/1993 R R 5-11 168

37 (1124) Clayton Crum RHP Howard College (Texas) 1/16/1992 R R 6-1 195

38 (1154) Hassan Evans OF Herkimer County CC (N.Y.) 12/15/1991 R R 6-3 200

39 (1184) Rustin Sveum INF Desert Mountain High School (Ariz.) 3/1/1994 S R 6-0 175

40 (1214) Jacob Rogers INF Mt. Olive College (N.C.) 8/23/1989 L R 6-4 215

[CyHawk_Cub]

^^^Huh, I thought Pierce Johnson & Prieto had signed already

[Guest]

^^^Huh, I thought Pierce Johnson & Prieto had signed already

They may have come to terms but just not done official signings yet.

 

ETA - I have the feeling that the timing of this is driven by getting some of these guys assigned to Boise + AZ to start playing.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Not so much here, but in a lot of Cubs sites and with Cubs fans I know IRL, it's amazing how fast Rhett Wiseman has become severely overrated.

[RammyFanny]

Not so much here, but in a lot of Cubs sites and with Cubs fans I know IRL, it's amazing how fast Rhett Wiseman has become severely overrated.

I find it amusing how some people think we even have a shot to sign him. He's made it clear he's going to college, and if the 750k or whatever we offer him could actually sway him, he'd have told the multiple teams that called him and would have been drafted higher.

[Guest]

^^^Huh, I thought Pierce Johnson & Prieto had signed already

 

The Cubs won't announce signings until players pass their physicals. It's safe to assume Johnson and Prieto have signed since they've said so and are both in Mesa. 7 of the 15 the Cubs listed are college seniors who had no leverage and, as Tim said, would likely help fill out Boise and Mesa's roster immediately.

[Tryptamine]

The two biggest ones are still unsigned; is there any chance that the Almora negotiations are holding up the Underwood deal?

[El Duderino]

The two biggest ones are still unsigned; is there any chance that the Almora negotiations are holding up the Underwood deal?

 

Almora's not going to sign until the deadline.

[Tryptamine]

Astros signed McCullers for 2.5M. What a great draft they had.

[davell]

That's the way to use the top pick. They basically got Correa/McCullers with the top pick. They can make a serious run at Virant and/or Ruiz now too.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

That's the way to use the top pick. They basically got Correa/McCullers with the top pick. They can make a serious run at Virant and/or Ruiz now too.

 

I still don't consider that all that great. I guess it depends on which set of scouting reports to believe on Correa. But most years, getting the 5th and 15th best prospects, or however you want to rank those two, is less desirable to me than getting the best one. I'd have rather just had Buxton.

[davell]

By the time the draft rolled around, my honest guess is it was divided evenly, as far as Correa vs Buxton went. It's not close for me, if I'm choosing Buxton or Correa and McCullers. Especially in a year where the top 8-9 could have went in just about any order as it was.

[Named After Maddux]

That's the way to use the top pick. They basically got Correa/McCullers with the top pick. They can make a serious run at Virant and/or Ruiz now too.

 

I still don't consider that all that great. I guess it depends on which set of scouting reports to believe on Correa. But most years, getting the 5th and 15th best prospects, or however you want to rank those two, is less desirable to me than getting the best one. I'd have rather just had Buxton.

 

I think you make a good point, but I guess it depends on the disparity between the top ranked player and who you pick. If next year plays off like this year I'd be fine with going in the same direction. If it turns out to be a draft with a standout number one ranked player then I agree: you don't want to settle just to pick up an extra prospect. I guess when comparing between Buxton and Correa, they both have high upside. I can totally see just depending an argument for either player.

[Guest]

That's the way to use the top pick. They basically got Correa/McCullers with the top pick. They can make a serious run at Virant and/or Ruiz now too.

 

I still don't consider that all that great. I guess it depends on which set of scouting reports to believe on Correa. But most years, getting the 5th and 15th best prospects, or however you want to rank those two, is less desirable to me than getting the best one. I'd have rather just had Buxton.

 

Correa was arguably the best prospect in the draft. BP had him rated #1 and ESPN had him rated #2 (Buxton was #1). BA's final rankings have to be taken with a grain of salt since their final rankings come out in May - they admitted if they re-did their top prospects list, Correa would be higher than #6.

[TruffleShuffle]

That's the way to use the top pick. They basically got Correa/McCullers with the top pick. They can make a serious run at Virant and/or Ruiz now too.

 

certainly the way to do it in a year when there's no standout #1 overall pick. if there's a strasburg or harper you have to go that way, but if there's a pile of very good players but no elite prospect, then you grab one who will sign below slot and then go above slot for some later picks.

[Guest]

Some Theo comments on the draft:

 

“Obviously, we went pitching heavy,” Epstein said recently. “There’s a pretty big void of pitching in our system, so beginning to address that issue with quantity, as well as quality, was something that was attractive to us, because there’s so much attrition pitching-wise.

 

“Blackburn is a more advanced, sort of polished high school pitcher who also has a chance to have three average-to-above pitches.

 

“You need to draft numbers in order to withstand all the attrition that happens. We needed to stock the system with pitching, and we feel like we did.”

 

“Pierce Johnson is somebody that we watched closely all year,” Epstein said. “We didn’t think we were going to have a chance at him. The little forearm strain that he had probably played to our advantage, because he doesn’t get out of the first round if he had stayed healthy the entire year.

 

“He threw great right before the draft and looked really healthy and we were real happy to be in a position to choose him. He’s got a plus fastball and gets swings-and-misses and groundballs with it, and has a plus breaking ball as well. He’s a real competitor on the mound.”

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/cubs-talk/Waiting-on-Almora-Cubs-draft-class-takes?blockID=725972

[Guest]

That's the way to use the top pick. They basically got Correa/McCullers with the top pick. They can make a serious run at Virant and/or Ruiz now too.

 

Did this exercise on a UCLA message board. I don't see any way they don't get Ruiz AND Virant unless one of them has outlandish bonus demands.

 

Assuming they sign Fontana, Tucker and Heinman to slot after Florida and UCLA are done with the CWS (they probably get Tucker for less than slot), they'll have about $2.2 million for Ruiz and Virant (assuming they go all the way to the limit of their 5% overage). When push comes to shove, I think both will be willing to sign for 7 figures even though they originally wanted north of $1.5 million. If Ruiz doesn't sign, they still have about $1.85 million to work with for Virant and Hinajosa.

[Cubswin11]

Smoral signed with the Blue Jays for $2m

[davell]

Trey Lang is in Arizona and had blood drawn this morning. Got to think he's agreed to a contract.

[Guest]

Yikes, kind of creepy.

 

Also, Trey Lang was drafted out of an Arizona JC, so it doesn't necessarily mean it's for the Cubs.

[davell]

Rakkar tweeted that he signed.