BA, BP, etc. Cubs Top Prospects List

[craig]

Interesting to hear someone actually note Eric Jokisch this winter somewhere.

 

The Pilere list looks interesting. Would've been nice to hear his argument for Soler at 1.

 

I have Soler #1 on my list, too. Too late for the discussion in the #1 vote. But big power, disciplined swing, good contact stroke, short quick stroke. Seems to have good personality, highly responsive to coaching and a really motivated worker.

 

Soler and Baez have things in common, but they are kind of polar opposites, too. The very controlled, anti-K, small-stride HR hitter versus the wild, undisciplined, big-leg-kick HR hitter.

 

It's been a struggle for Baez to hit .200 at Daytona and AFL, and at both stops he's been unable to get his OBP over .250. I love his potential, but I think the bust potential seems so much higher than for Soler. When a guy is whiffing so much and has so much trouble OBP'ing at or over .250, it makes me worry that he's got trouble with movement. And guys who have trouble with movement don't always adjust well to the better pitching in the majors than in A-ball. I like Baez a lot, but I think he's got so many more failure flags that I can't put him as high as a Soler who has premium power but doesn't have so many failure flags.

[SABR Gamer]

Interesting to hear someone actually note Eric Jokisch this winter somewhere.

 

The Pilere list looks interesting. Would've been nice to hear his argument for Soler at 1.

 

I have Soler #1 on my list, too. Too late for the discussion in the #1 vote. But big power, disciplined swing, good contact stroke, short quick stroke. Seems to have good personality, highly responsive to coaching and a really motivated worker.

 

Soler and Baez have things in common, but they are kind of polar opposites, too. The very controlled, anti-K, small-stride HR hitter versus the wild, undisciplined, big-leg-kick HR hitter.

 

It's been a struggle for Baez to hit .200 at Daytona and AFL, and at both stops he's been unable to get his OBP over .250. I love his potential, but I think the bust potential seems so much higher than for Soler. When a guy is whiffing so much and has so much trouble OBP'ing at or over .250, it makes me worry that he's got trouble with movement. And guys who have trouble with movement don't always adjust well to the better pitching in the majors than in A-ball. I like Baez a lot, but I think he's got so many more failure flags that I can't put him as high as a Soler who has premium power but doesn't have so many failure flags.

 

.250 at both stops?

 

 

He had a .333/.383/.596 line in A-ball.

[Guest]

He's talking AFL + Daytona

[SABR Gamer]

He's talking AFL + Daytona

 

Ahh, okay. My bad.

[CubsWin]

http://bullpenbanter.com/chicago-cubs-2013-top-15-prospects/

 

Here's a Top 15 list from Bullpen Banter. Videos and in depth discussion at the link.

 

1 Albert Almora OF

2 Javier Baez SS

3 Jorge Soler OF

4 Dan Vogelbach 1B

5 Brett Jackson OF

6 Arodyz Vizcaino RHP

7 Christian Villanueva 3B

8 Arismendy Alcantara SS

9 Pierce Johnson RHP

10 Junior Lake SS/3B

11 Duane Underwood RHP

12 Jeimer Candelario 3B

13 Gioskar Amaya 2B

14 Paul Blackburn RHP

15 Matt Szczur OF

[mul21]

Vitters not in their top 15. Is this going to be a theme we see?

[toonsterwu]

Vitters not in their top 15. Is this going to be a theme we see?

 

I really don't have a problem with that. I have a tough time slotting him into my top 15 as well. He's in that 14-18 range for me. The three more surprising things to me about their list was Paniagua not making the list, Marco Hernandez off the list, and Paul Blackburn on it. Not too big on Junior Lake at 10 either. Reese responded in the comments to my query, noting that they wanted to know more about Paniagua, that he had Marco in his top 15, and Blackburn was 17th for him.

[davell]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

[Guest]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

 

I wonder how many we might have a year from now if none of the big 3 take a major step back.

[Tryptamine]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

 

I wonder how many we might have a year from now if none of the big 3 take a major step back.

 

I think there's a very real shot that Vogelbach, Paniagua, Vizcaino and Whoever we pick at #2 are all inside the top 100. There's a couple other guys with much smaller chances like Underwood/Candelario. If I had to guess I'd put us at 6 in the top 100 next year.

[Guest]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

 

I wonder how many we might have a year from now if none of the big 3 take a major step back.

 

I think there's a very real shot that Vogelbach, Paniagua, Vizcaino and Whoever we pick at #2 are all inside the top 100. There's a couple other guys with much smaller chances like Underwood/Candelario. If I had to guess I'd put us at 6 in the top 100 next year.

 

Also the possibility of a big IFA signing.

[Guest]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

 

I wonder how many we might have a year from now if none of the big 3 take a major step back.

 

I think there's a very real shot that Vogelbach, Paniagua, Vizcaino and Whoever we pick at #2 are all inside the top 100. There's a couple other guys with much smaller chances like Underwood/Candelario. If I had to guess I'd put us at 6 in the top 100 next year.

 

Also the possibility of a big IFA signing.

 

16-year old IFA signings *rarely* make top 100 lists the first offseason after they sign since they're so far away and don't play that summer (obviously if there's a guy like Soler or Puig out there, that would be different).

[Tryptamine]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

 

I wonder how many we might have a year from now if none of the big 3 take a major step back.

 

I think there's a very real shot that Vogelbach, Paniagua, Vizcaino and Whoever we pick at #2 are all inside the top 100. There's a couple other guys with much smaller chances like Underwood/Candelario. If I had to guess I'd put us at 6 in the top 100 next year.

 

Also the possibility of a big IFA signing.

 

16-year old IFA signings *rarely* make top 100 lists the first offseason after they sign since they're so far away and don't play that summer (obviously if there's a guy like Soler or Puig out there, that would be different).

 

Speaking of which, any news on the 2 Cuban players that became available like a week or two ago?

[Guest]

I asked Parks, after a comment on his latest top 101 run thru, how many Cubs were on it and he said 4, 3 in the top 40.

 

I wonder how many we might have a year from now if none of the big 3 take a major step back.

 

I think there's a very real shot that Vogelbach, Paniagua, Vizcaino and Whoever we pick at #2 are all inside the top 100. There's a couple other guys with much smaller chances like Underwood/Candelario. If I had to guess I'd put us at 6 in the top 100 next year.

 

Also the possibility of a big IFA signing.

 

16-year old IFA signings *rarely* make top 100 lists the first offseason after they sign since they're so far away and don't play that summer (obviously if there's a guy like Soler or Puig out there, that would be different).

 

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking of. Or someone like Otani.

 

Those guys always come out of nowhere for me so I honestly have no idea if there are any on the horizon.

[davell]

Callis has our system 12th, slightly higher than the rest of the BA crew.

[KingCubsFan]

Callis has our system 12th, slightly higher than the rest of the BA crew.

Some things never change.

[craig]

Callis has our system 12th, slightly higher than the rest of the BA crew.

Some things never change.

 

Wow, surprisingly high. Heh, Callis always has them too high, so I guess this is no different.

 

Always hard for me to analyze. I think the year ahead could vary heavily. Obviously, Baez/Almora/Soler/Vogel could shoot us way up, if they all rock, or if Baez flops and the other three aren't that great, it could be a big letdown too.

 

But I think a lot will ride on the pitchers. We don't have a lot of reputation for having very good pitching, and what we've got is primarily on the "potential" side, very unproven. Vizcaino will presumably be a nonfactor, because either he'll be no good or he'll have graduated. Otherwise, Paniagua, Maples, Johnson, Underwood, Blackburn, none of them have pitched hardly at all. Arias and Scott haven't gotten to A. Whitenack was rehab, so he's like a totally unknown now. Wells pitched only a few innings in A, and with his rehab, he's another totally unknown. Jensen and Zych have pitched only a season, and Burke essentially the same. That's a significant volume of guys with variably interesting potential. They could all be blah, but there's a chance that several of them could break out this year, or else could validate interest that was previously scouting only. If so, they could help elevate the reputation of the system.

 

One other factor that could elevate the ranking a year out: few of the top guys will graduate. Usually when a team is ranked really high, it's because it has some big-ticket prospects that are valued really highly because they're both gifted and already advanced. Usually an advanced guy either graduates (so he's a non-factor next year) or he flops (in which case he's also a non factor next year. For us that Vizcaino, Jackson, and Vitters. But otherwise, there's hardly anybody else in out top 30 who should be graduating if they develop well.

[Guest]

I'd argue that if Szczur or Lake is going to show themselves as having any impact potential in the majors, they'd better rake at Iowa this year.

[davell]

BA's list should be out this morning. I'll predict they go Baez, Almora, Soler, Vizcaino, Villanueva, Jackson, Vogelbach, Johnson, Candelario, and Paniagua.

[craig]

I'd argue that if Szczur or Lake is going to show themselves as having any impact potential in the majors, they'd better rake at Iowa this year.

 

Agree. You can go with scouting potential and youth for only so long. Time to produce.

[Post Count Padder]

And..... interesting:

 

1. Javier Baez, ss

2. Albert Almora, of

3. Jorge Soler, of

4. Arodys Vizcaino, rhp

5. Brett Jackson, of

6. Pierce Johnson, rhp

7. Dan Vogelbach, 1b

8. Jeimer Candelario, 3b

9. Kyuji Fujikawa, rhp

10. Arismendy Alcantara, ss

 

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614527.html

 

Fujikawa included in the top 10.

[craig]

Thanks!

[UMFan83]

Not very high on Villenueva?

[Guest]

I tried telling you chuckleheads about Johnson. You'll see, you'll all see.

[Cubswin11]

Not very high on Villenueva?

Guessing his lack of a high ceiling/stand out tool(s) is why he isn't there.