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Cubs Convention?

craig

By craig,
in Cubs Minor League Talk

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craig First Round Pick

craig

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In the prospect rankings, there have been recurring uncertainties about how to rank guys like Wells and Whitenack, given their health uncertainties. Or rondon, who is unfamiliar to most of us. Or many of the distant low-innings pitchers (Maples-Underwood-Paniagua-Johnson-Blackburn....)

 

In past years, the minor league session at the convention has often provided some interesting info. Sometimes updates on how rehab guys are doing. Velocity input. X has been showing good progress with change, Y is adding a cutter, Z was throwing both slider and curve but this year it's going to be all curve. We'll continue to work Q as a starter for a while longer, but we probably think he'll end up in relief. P has added 20 pounds of muscle. T, U, and V showed really good progress in fall instrux.

 

Questions:

1. Will there be a minor league session again? Or might that be something that Hendry thrived in, and his successors Stockstill and Fleita continued to do, but the new guys won't?

2. It's been Fleita and Wilken for years. If they have it, I wonder who will be the management guys who represent? Hyde as the new boss, even though he hasn't gone through a season with the players yet? McLeod?

3. It used to be an hour with just Hendry, which gave him time to answer a ton of questions about a bunch of prospects. Later less articulate Wilken joined, and Fleita is so gushy that it was hard to filter through the hyperbole. Plus recently they have a handful of prospects who aren't very articulate and waste a bunch of the time that Hendry used to have. If they still have it, I wonder if they'll stick with the recent diluted format?

4. Anybody going?

 

I'm hopeful that with the new regime and it's emphasis on farm and development, that they'll consider this to be a very worthwhile section, and maintain it. I hope that, if anything, they make it better. If they canned the prospects, and just gave it to McLeod, or McLeod and Hyde, I'd love it. If they moved it up to a better spot, on Saturday instead of Sunday, or perhaps in a bigger room, that would be nice too. I'd love to have it such that WGN would record it and post it.

 

I'm also hopeful that we'll get some happy news. You know, "Our doctors have been really thorough with Ben Wells, and we don't have any concerns that his issues last summer will carry over. After the rehab program he's gone through, his arm is very strong and he's at no greater risk than any other pitcher his age." "Jose Rosario did not need surgery, he'll be 100% go when camp opens." "A couple of Latin pitchers to keep your eye on are X/Y/Z..... X was not a big-dollar signing, but he's been really progressing...." "Maples is 100% physically, and we've made some mechanical adjustments this fall, his release point is now consistent...."

 

So hopefully some guys will rise in our expectations.

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They had the Down on the Farm session last year with Fleita, McLeod, and Wilken, and also "The Scouting Formula" with those guys and Joe Bohringer. I'm not going this year, but I don't see why they wouldn't continue it.
  • 2 weeks later...
craig First Round Pick

craig

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http://vineline.mlblogs.com/2013/01/20/cubs-convention-live-down-on-the-farm/

 

Down on the farm session from the convention summarized.

 

Mostly administrative/philosophy type comments. (Vogelbach was the only guy commented on, by Hyde.) Some I found interesting were about the Kane County move; what they look for in a rotation prospect versus dropping a guy to relief; and comment on the difficulty of teaching plate discipline were interesting.

 

Of particular interest to me is that they've now installed cameras now at ALL of the parks. I think that's huge. So they can get video on every pitch, every AB. Hyde and McLeod and Johnson etc. can watch everything or anything they want from their offices without needing to travel or rely on scouts to describe it. They can keep records on how many non-strikes a guy is swinging at, etc.. I think having all of that data should be invaluable for coaching, or for nagging prospects about what they're doing wrong, or for analyzing what's different between the hot periods versus the slumps. And of course that will all be available for prospects to study their AB's. Really cool.

craig First Round Pick

craig

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A fan asks about Dan Vogelbach, a bat-first player in the low minors. Hyde says that he’s really going to hit—his performance pushed the organization to promote him to Boise, and he had a great month or so with the bat. He’s athletic and has made a commitment to improve his body. “He should be able to be a good defender. Whether we move him off first base in the next couple years remains to be seen. We’re going to let him hit and feel confident that he can be a middle-of-the-order bat.”

 

Most positive comment on his defense that I've ever seen, even if Law or Callis's scouts may not agree. Also interesting that Hyde, unprovoked, brings up the idea of trying him in a different spot later.

Edited by craig
davell Chicago Cubs

davell

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The dude at CCO said his sources(no clue if he has them or not) have told him Vogelbach has lost 40 pounds this offseason. If true, didn't he do the same last offseason? He may be 210 or so, if its true.
craig First Round Pick

craig

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Obviously the feasibility of ever actually trying him in left depends on lots of variably unlikely stuff all being true at the same time:

1. Him really hitting like a serious middle-of-the-order guy

2. Rizzo being good at 1B

3. Vogel being acceptable in left

4. LF still being open.

Tryptamine South Bend Cubs

Tryptamine

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If Vogelbach is able to play a remotely competent LF then his stock is going to skyrocket. He may end up top 50 by the end of next year. A Vogelbach/Almora/Soler outfield is unrealistic, but it's really fun to dream.
craig First Round Pick

craig

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The dude at CCO said his sources(no clue if he has them or not) have told him Vogelbach has lost 40 pounds this offseason. If true, didn't he do the same last offseason? He may be 210 or so, if its true.

 

I've heard otherwise. And he certainly doesn't look to be 210 in that Christmas picture. And frankly, I don't think 210 would be remotely desirable for him. He's got a huge barrel chest. I think 220-230 is a good target. I expect he'll be 240 or under this spring.

CubsWin Myrtle Beach Pelicans

CubsWin

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http://wiklifield.thecubreporter.com/w/images/thumb/e/e0/DanVogelbach.jpg/250px-DanVogelbach.jpghttp://www.bleachernation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/dan-vogelbach-cubs-300x295.pnghttp://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/idahopress.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/e7/ee7c6bbc-e44f-11e1-b9b0-001a4bcf887a/50275c565cdcf.preview-300.jpg

 

From these photos, you can see some progression of weight loss. Maybe it's just the angle, but the guy in the twitter photo taken a month ago looks quite a bit thinner to me than any of the above photos..

 

https://twitter.com/svoges24/status/283365011605311488/photo/1

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