Random Cubs Musings: Minor League Edition

[rawaction]

What exactly is the A-exempt thing about?

 

I want to say it's there for advanced draft picks who are playing in lower levels to get used to pro ball and they're almost ready for High-A/AA when the season ends?

 

 

My guess is Almora, Soler, Alcantara, Villanueva, Zych, Rosscup, and Neil Ramirez, if he's the PTBNL and he's healthy.

 

No Baez? Considering he could make an impact in the majors as soon as next season, I want him facing as much high level pitching as possible before then.

He went last year and got hurt there. He's faced plenty of high level pitching so far in AA. Will get plenty of work in spring training and AAA next year. He's had a full year also, and I don't think u want to risk burning the kid out.

 

 

I don't get what the part in bold has to do with anything.

 

 

Anyway, I want him there too. I guess the not wanting him to burn out argument is valid, but I think the value of the experience (especially now that he's more advanced than last year) outweighs that. What would he be doing if he didn't go?

 

I didn't point out that he got hurt in the AFL to point out any kind of injury risk by sending him there. Merely to point out that he was sent thete before and it didn't work out. He could go again , but he's going to have 600 milb ABs this year. A full spring with the ML team (I assume) next year. I think its more important to rest him and keep an eye on him all winter with instructs, workouts ot otherwise.

[Guest]

That's fair. I just want to see Javy do whatever the [expletive] he wants a little longer.

[Guest]

@GDubCub Theo: Soler (leg fracture) still enough healing that return to Daytona unlikely. Ariz Fall League on the table.

[KaiserCesar]

Looking at baseball reference today, I discovered that Vogelbach got exactly 500 plate appearances at KC. Makes BB and K% pretty easy to calculate on the fly.

[EhDubya]

Say we packaged Vogelbach and Alcantara together this offseason, what kind of return should we expect?

[Guest]

Say we packaged Vogelbach and Alcantara together this offseason, what kind of return should we expect?

 

Difficult to say because there's ever fewer teams that are interested in trading guys for prospects unless they're right up against free agency. Setting aside any irrationality like Towers getting fed up with Upton and Bauer and going solely on guys that teams would want to trade for financial/service time reasons, you get names like Bud Norris, Chase Headley if you think he'll bounce back, maybe Iwakuma if Seattle wants to start over, maybe Reddick if Oakland really likes Alcantara/Vogelbach (doubtful), or maybe Hellickson if Tampa doesn't have crazy demands (doubtful).

 

EDIT: Basically you'd hope for someone in the vein of Travis Wood, a guy in their arbitration years who you expect to be a ~3 win player.

[pitchcs]

Eww, those sound gross except for maybe Iwakuma and Hellickson.

[Guest]

If you're feeling greedy, convince the White Sox they need a true rebuild, and/or toss in Villanueva/Grimm as a sweetener to try to get Quintana.

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/19241/baez-creating-a-buzz-again

 

Those numbers brought on the question about next year. Baez is targeted for Triple-A Iowa, but Cubs manager Dale Sveum left the door open for more.

 

“You don’t count any of that out because we’ve seen it happen before,” Sveum said. “When you do have those kinds of numbers and power sometimes you do force the issue but it’s not in the plans right now. But we’ve all seen it happen.”

 

Though his home run rate has increased -– presumably against better pitching at Double-A -– it’s his walk rate that has the Cubs and Sveum excited. In Class A he walked once every 16 plate appearances; at Double-A he’s doing it once every 11 times. That’s a huge jump, and one the Cubs want him to continue.

 

“Sounds like he’s laying off a lot more stuff,” Sveum said. “A lot more calmer and in control. The numbers off this past week are pretty impressive. … Watching him now he’s toned down a lot of his movement. His leg lift is a lot more slow and calmer.”

 

Baez is 10 for his last 22 over the past six games with three home runs and seven RBI to go along with two stolen bases and three walks. Sveum says laying off the “strike the ball sliders” are what will make the difference.

 

“That’s the million-dollar pitch,” he said. “It’s not about hitting it, it’s about learning how to lay off it and recognize it early enough not to swing.”

 

....“How quick you can swing your bat with just your hands, the guys that can do that are the more successful ones,” Sveum said of Baez swing. “You can’t teach that.”

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Trevor Gretzky ‏@TrevorGretzky 43m

@albertalmora #focus #consentrate

[EhDubya]

What's a guy like Dunston got to do to move up into top 20 lists? If you had to rank our top 5 or so OF prospects based on ceiling, how would it look (assuming guys like Bryant stay INF)?

[Guest]

What's a guy like Dunston got to do to move up into top 20 lists? If you had to rank our top 5 or so OF prospects based on ceiling, how would it look (assuming guys like Bryant stay INF)?

Dunston has to show some power before moving up too much.

[TruffleShuffle]

What's a guy like Dunston got to do to move up into top 20 lists?

 

move to the white sox organization.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

And stay on the field. He's in the top 30 though.

[Guest]

A buddy of mine works for the AFL.

 

Doesn't mean much, and not really a surprise, but says I'm going to [expletive] (defecate) when I see the rosters. Lots of good Cubs names going.

[Guest]

Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales 18s

Cubs 2013 second round pick Rob Zastryzny on DL at Class-A Kane County. Zastryzny 1 ER in 9 2/3 innings (3 games)

 

[expletive].

[Vinestal]

Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales 18s

Cubs 2013 second round pick Rob Zastryzny on DL at Class-A Kane County. Zastryzny 1 ER in 9 2/3 innings (3 games)

 

[expletive].

 

 

Sahadev Sharma ‏@sahadevsharma 5m

Both Rob Zastryzny & Tyler Skulina have been placed on the 7-day DL.

[pitchcs]

What's a guy like Dunston got to do to move up into top 20 lists? If you had to rank our top 5 or so OF prospects based on ceiling, how would it look (assuming guys like Bryant stay INF)?

 

As far as ceiling goes -- for me:

 

1) Soler

2) Almora

3) Dunston Jr.

4) Ha

5) Szczur

6) BJax

[Vinestal]

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 1m

Oscar RT @TracyFay2012 Javier Baez or Oscar Tavares? Better offensive prospect?

 

Who the [expletive] is Oscar Tavares? lol

[Guest]

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 1m

Oscar RT @TracyFay2012 Javier Baez or Oscar Tavares? Better offensive prospect?

 

Who the [expletive] is Oscar Tavares? lol

 

Not sure if you're serious or if you're just making a joke about the misspelled name.

[Guest]

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 1m

Oscar RT @TracyFay2012 Javier Baez or Oscar Tavares? Better offensive prospect?

 

Who the [expletive] is Oscar Tavares? lol

 

Not sure if you're serious or if you're just making a joke about the misspelled name.

 

I'm pretty sure he can't spell his own name

[Gilby]

A buddy of mine works for the AFL.

 

Doesn't mean much, and not really a surprise, but says I'm going to [expletive] (defecate) when I see the rosters. Lots of good Cubs names going.

 

That's fun to see. I'm putting Bryant and Soler as locks to be playing. Baez, though much more MLB ready than I thought he'd be at this point, will probably go somewhere to get reps at other positions. Almora could have sneaked on the roster, and Vizcaino was mentioned as a possibility by the FO.

 

That would be a lot of position players when five different organizations send players to one team, but box scores will still be pretty fun to follow well into November for Cubs fans.

[Cubswin11]

Would Pierce be a AFL candidate? With missing out on some innings with the rain in Daytona.

[Clem Fandango]

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 1m

Oscar RT @TracyFay2012 Javier Baez or Oscar Tavares? Better offensive prospect?

 

Who the [expletive] is Oscar Tavares? lol

 

Jokes aside...

 

Taveras in AA as a 20 year old OF: 124 G .321/.380/.572/.953 23 HR 94 RBI 10 SB 42 BB 56 K

Baez in AA as a 20 year old SS : 43 G .307/.366/.659/1.025 16 HR 43 RBI 7 SB 17 BB 54 K

 

I think I'll take the SS whose on a pace to dwarf the production numbers of the other guy. And unless my math is fuzzy (it might be), Baez's walk totals extrapolated out to a 124 game season come out more than Taveras'. Only thing Taveras has offensively that Baez will never match as far as I can tell is better contact rate. Javy is proving he can hit for average, power, and has improving patience and K discipline, and if I recall Brett's article correctly his defense has been loads better since the first handful of games he was in AA when he accrued a good chunk of the errors he's made.

 

Taveras is a stud, no doubt, but Javy looks so much more valuable at this point to me given his elite power and ability to play SS. It kind of pisses me off that so many evaluators still don't appear to be buying into Baez's ability being better than previously touted prospects that he's clearly outperforming

[WrigleyField 22]

Would Pierce be a AFL candidate? With missing out on some innings with the rain in Daytona.

He could, but I don't think we need to worry too much about innings yet. He's still had plenty to the point where he can work his way up to MLB regular without seeing big jumps.