Who is the Cubs #6 Prospect?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

You can vote for up to three players. The poll will be open for 48 hours.

 

Results so far:

 

1. Javier Baez

2. Kris Bryant

3. Albert Almora

4. Jorge Soler

5. CJ Edwards

[davell]

I'm still just voting for one. Alcantara at 6, Pierce at 7....Then it gets interesting, in my opinion.

[A New Era]

It's gonna be Alcantara #6, Johnson #7. Yeah still gonna vote just one for awhile. Might be more interesting in the 10-20 realm.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'd be tempted to put Vogelbach 7. Seems like there's been a lot of good reports about him lately.

[rawaction]

Johnson 6, Alcantara 7, Vogelbach 8 is the order I have them in, but I can be persuaded any way with these 3. If Vogelbach had a position, he'd easily be ahead of these 2. And I've think I've gone from overrating Alcantara to underrating him. I think I had him at 7 last year also. Nothing really against him. But he's not better than the big 4. And I like both arms over him. CJ's numbers + fastball and curve. Johnson was very good down the stretch this year and seemed to get stronger as the season went on.

[Cubswin11]

Alcantara

Jeimer

Vogelbach

[wekim81]

Alcantara

Pierce

Vogelwalk

 

Also Jacob Hannemann sucks. Dunston >> Hannemann

[Guest]

Alcantara might be the most sneaky good prospect in the system. He gets lumped in as a 2B(which is his better position) but he's still capable of playing SS. He walked in 10% of his PAs. He hit 15 HRs and had a .180 Iso. He stole 31 bases at an 84% clip. And he did so at AA at 21. Any other system and people would be clamoring for him to be getting MLB at bats at 2B as soon as possible(look at how eager Cardinals fans were to get Wong to MLB), but in this one there's at least 2 superior prospects(maybe a 3rd if Olt gets straightened out) keeping the buzz down. He's the guy that (with some others) takes this system from having just a couple high end guys to an embarrassment of position player riches.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Alcantara might be the most sneaky good prospect in the system. He gets lumped in as a 2B(which is his better position) but he's still capable of playing SS. He walked in 10% of his PAs. He hit 15 HRs and had a .180 Iso. He stole 31 bases at an 84% clip. And he did so at AA at 21. Any other system and people would be clamoring for him to be getting MLB at bats at 2B as soon as possible(look at how eager Cardinals fans were to get Wong to MLB), but in this one there's at least 2 superior prospects(maybe a 3rd if Olt gets straightened out) keeping the buzz down. He's the guy that (with some others) takes this system from having just a couple high end guys to an embarrassment of position player riches.

 

I'm super curious about Alcantara's season, just because of the logjam he can create. If he gets a late-season tryout and forces his way into a 2015 job, then the infield is suddenly overcrowded (assuming Baez and Bryant get their shots in 2015, which is pretty much guaranteed at this point barring injury).

 

Either Alcantara or Olt could shove Bryant to the outfield or force a trade (Castro?).

[Cubswin11]

Alcantara would probably outproduce Barney offensively if he was the starting 2B from day 1 this year. I hope they are aggressive with him, and if he gets off to a good start in Iowa after 100-200 ab's they aren't shy to move him up and let him play 2B everyday.

[Guest]

I've got my top players in the system broken out this way:

 

Baez

 

Bryant

 

Soler

CJ

Almora

 

Alcantara

Johnson

Vogelbach

 

I could really go any order on the two groups of three guys. Arismendy still strikes out a bit too much for a guy with his profile. Pierce gets my generic pitcher discount and hasn't really dominated (though he's been consistently very good). Vogelbach has his defensive questions that make me yearn for the DH in the NL. A right handed Billy Butler that has significantly more raw power and more patience has a lot of value, though.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I've got Alcantara, Johnson, Vogelbach, Candelario as 6, 7, 8, 9.

 

Then it gets hairy.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Tangled Up in Plaid

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Also Jacob Hannemann sucks. Dunston >> Hannemann

 

Balaguert as well.

[davell]

Where this is going to go haywire is with Olt and Vizcaino, coming off injuries and with Jimenez and Torres, who some could rank fairly soon.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Am I the only one not even considering Jimenez and Torres for the top 30? Really don't care how much money 16-year old kids got, I've got to see some actual baseball first.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Am I the only one not even considering Jimenez and Torres for the top 30? Really don't care how much money 16-year old kids got, I've got to see some actual baseball first.

 

I'd consider them for the back of the top-30, but I would also consider leaving them off. Way too much variance.

[craig]

I voted for 3, but am completely conventional with the AA-Johnson-Vogelbach sequence which seems pretty obvious for the 6-7-8.

 

I was behind the curve on Alcantara in past. (I recall writing that he might be best off to start at Daytona this past spring in order to show that his hitting emergence in 2012 wasn't a fluke….) And his errors, K's, and bad splits versus LHP remain issues. But he looks to be an easy #6 here. Whether it's at 2B, 3B, utility, or perhaps as a platoon player versus RHP, he's got a chance to be a really nice all-around player. Lots of competition in the infield with Castro, Baez, and Bryant, so he'll need to have another productive year to stay in the mix as a potential every-day starter.

 

He's not that good hitting RH, but on a roster where most of the good prospects are RH (Castro, Almora, Soler, Baez, Castillo, Olt…), his LH-hitting might be a very welcome factor.

 

Will be nice to see if he can reduce his errors and emerge as a premium defensive 2B this season.

[craig]

Am I the only one not even considering Jimenez and Torres for the top 30? Really don't care how much money 16-year old kids got, I've got to see some actual baseball first.

 

I'm sure there will be a lot of variance in how different posters place them. I've got Jiminez at 22 for now. Probably says more about the uselessness of rankings than about how good he is or will become that we don't know where to place him. I'd be fine to leave guys like that off. But, it's fun, too.

 

With Soler-like physique coming, he just has so much power potential. I value him ahead of guys who will show up in the 24-30 range.

[wekim81]

Also Jacob Hannemann sucks. Dunston >> Hannemann

 

Balaguert as well.

yep

[CubsWin]

Also Jacob Hannemann sucks. Dunston >> Hannemann

 

Balaguert as well.

yep

I don't get the Hannemann sucks thing. What's your reasoning?

[wekim81]

Also Jacob Hannemann sucks. Dunston >> Hannemann

 

Balaguert as well.

yep

I don't get the Hannemann sucks thing. What's your reasoning?

I just don't think he's very good. Didnt like the draft pick. He couldn't stay healthy late this summer, which isnt good for a guy who's already in dire need of game action. He'll be 23 in April...

 

Every positive writeup on him has been based on projection, and i'm not really feeling it. I dont think he belongs anywhere near the top 25 in a system as deep as ours. I've got Dunston and Balaguert ahead of him in my rankings.

[Guest]

I could really go any order on the two groups of three guys. Arismendy still strikes out a bit too much for a guy with his profile. Pierce gets my generic pitcher discount and hasn't really dominated (though he's been consistently very good). Vogelbach has his defensive questions that make me yearn for the DH in the NL. A right handed Billy Butler that has significantly more raw power and more patience has a lot of value, though.

 

 

Assuming you mean a left handed Billy Butler?

[Cubswin11]

Safe to go to #9 after this poll closes? Pretty clear it's Alcantara, Pierce, Vogelbach at 6, 7, 8

[davell]

I agree with wekim on Hannemann, for the most part. I definitely have Balaguert and Dunston ahead of him, with Hannemann looking outside my personal top 40. Doesn't mean he's not a prospect, but he's got to get moving quick obviously. I'm all about taking shots on toolsy types, but a raw 22 year old draft pick? That's pushing it for me, but we'll find out a lot pretty soon with him. If he produces well in Kane County, then he's just going to be an older prospect that never gets ranked highly by the pundits, due to the age vs level thing. Doesn't mean he can't become a useful piece for us though. Just that his clock started ticking much quicker than most others does.

 

But until he DOES produce, I'm going to have Skulina, Masek, and Frazier ahead of him from this past draft, even though they were drafted behind him.

[Guest]

I could really go any order on the two groups of three guys. Arismendy still strikes out a bit too much for a guy with his profile. Pierce gets my generic pitcher discount and hasn't really dominated (though he's been consistently very good). Vogelbach has his defensive questions that make me yearn for the DH in the NL. A right handed Billy Butler that has significantly more raw power and more patience has a lot of value, though.

 

 

Assuming you mean a left handed Billy Butler?

:-"