Minor League Musings

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA Prospect Hot Sheet: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-hot-sheet-aug-5/#PMZ81BbbcCSBSJ8m.99

 

7. Eloy Jimenez, of, Cubs

 

Team: low Class A South Bend (Midwest)

Age: 19

Why He’s Here: .481/.500/.778 (13-for-27), 6 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 0 BB, 4 SO, 1-for-1 SB

 

The Scoop: The Dominican teenager has put all the tools together this season, culminating in star performances at the Midwest League all-star game and most prominently, the Futures Game. Jimenez has prodigious power and all his tools have shown improvement, including his English as he communicates more easily with teammates and media. (VLC)

 

11. D.J. Wilson, of, Cubs

 

Team: short-season Eugene (Northwest)

Age: 19

Why He’s Here: .625/.625/.875 (10-for-16), 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 0 BB, 1 SO

 

The Scoop: Wilson, who got $1.3 million to sign out of high school in Canton, Ohio, last year, packs a ton of athleticism into his listed 5-foot-8, 177-pound frame. He got off to a slow start for short-season Eugene but he had a brilliant three-game stretch this week with 10 hits in 13 trips, including a homer and double. Wilson has refinements to make but is starting to get his legs under him and has the impact tools the Cubs crave and should spearhead the franchise’s next wave of toolsy prospects.

[weis21]

huh, so i guess Eloy's gone from a 20 english to a 30 english?

 

i mean i guess it's somewhat interesting but it seems weird to put in that blurb

[CaliforniaRaisin]

huh, so i guess Eloy's gone from a 20 english to a 30 english?

 

i mean i guess it's somewhat interesting but it seems weird to put in that blurb

 

He's supposedly pretty fluent now and helps translate for teammates. Maybe he can replace Henry Blanco in the big leagues.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Carl Edwards Jr just graduated from prospect lists (joining Almora Jr and Contreras as 2016 graduates).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

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[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA Prospect Hot Sheet:

 

Baseball America[/url]"]15. Oscar de la Cruz, rhp, Cubs

 

Team: low Class A South Bend (Midwest)

Age: 21

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.90, 2 G, 2 GS, 10 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 HBP, 2 BB, 15 SO

 

The Scoop: Forearm soreness delayed de la Cruz from seeing his first official game this year until July. While he has made just three starts at South Bend, all three have been excellent, with the Cubs’ No. 6 prospect recording an 0.61 ERA, 22 strikeouts and three walks 15 innings. (BB)

[David]

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[David]

Jimenez also was named the most exciting prospect in the MWL by BA. Best power too IIRC

 

Ceiling on his ranking on the next set of lists?

[Cubswin11]

Jimenez also was named the most exciting prospect in the MWL by BA. Best power too IIRC

 

Ceiling on his ranking on the next set of lists?

Top 20 but not top ~12? Law had him mid season 29 I think, so factor in graduations, busts/injuries and his rise he probably moves up 9-14 spots?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

#27 in your program, #1 in your heart.

[David]

Gleyber since the trade (no idea how much whatever league he is in factors in to this)

 

.224/.321/.347 in 112 PA

[David]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MinorLeagueBall/status/769245379770650624[/tweet]

[CubsWin]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MinorLeagueBall/status/769245379770650624[/tweet]

Thanks, David. Always a fun retrospective read.

 

From that top 20 list, 3 were traded for Chapman and Montgomery. Chapman's a short term dominant asset who will definitely impact the Cubs chances of having home field throughout the playoffs and possibly winning it all. Montgomery is a long term asset. And both have been playing well since coming over. If the reason why you develop minor leaguers is to help the big league club win, this has to be considered progress of a sort.

 

3 guys (Contreras, Edwards and Almora) graduated. That's progress.

 

7 guys (Happ, Clifton, De La Cruz, Jimenez, Cease, Candelario and Caratini) either performed well and got promoted or had varying degrees of a breakout season. That's progress.

 

4 guys (Williams, Kellogg, Dewees and Hudson) did about what they were expected to do with some a little better and some little worse.

 

And only 3 guys from Sickels top 20 had really bad seasons (Underwood, Johnson and Sands).

 

That's not what I remember it being like before Theo, Jed and Jason took over. If one guy graduated, we were lucky and even then that guy might not perform well in the bigs. It seemed like the top prospects would regress as they reached the upper levels quite often. And the pop up prospect from the year before often was just a flash in the pan.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Mauricio Rubio on Ian Happ: https://theathletic.com/18128/2016/08/25/real-prospects-dont-stop-ian-happ-trying-to-make-his-own-name-in-cubs-system/

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Last prospect hot sheet of the season:

 

19. Jeimer Candelario, 3b, Cubs

 

Team: Triple-A Iowa (Pacific Coast)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .385/.467/.692 (10-for-26), 7 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 BB, 3 SO

 

Candelario erased memories of a poor first half at Double-A Tennessee by annihilating the Pacific Coast League for three months. The smooth-fielding, switch-hitting third baseman has hit .325/.413/.538 with 32 extra-base hits in 72 games at Iowa. (ME)

[Cubswin11]

Last prospect hot sheet of the season:

 

19. Jeimer Candelario, 3b, Cubs

 

Team: Triple-A Iowa (Pacific Coast)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .385/.467/.692 (10-for-26), 7 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 BB, 3 SO

 

Candelario erased memories of a poor first half at Double-A Tennessee by annihilating the Pacific Coast League for three months. The smooth-fielding, switch-hitting third baseman has hit .325/.413/.538 with 32 extra-base hits in 72 games at Iowa. (ME)

Jeimer is a guy we could do a version of the Rizzo-Cashner with, couldn't we? Find a young starter who has struggled somewhat for him? Archie Bradley maybe?

[CubsWin]

Last prospect hot sheet of the season:

 

19. Jeimer Candelario, 3b, Cubs

 

Team: Triple-A Iowa (Pacific Coast)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .385/.467/.692 (10-for-26), 7 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 BB, 3 SO

 

Candelario erased memories of a poor first half at Double-A Tennessee by annihilating the Pacific Coast League for three months. The smooth-fielding, switch-hitting third baseman has hit .325/.413/.538 with 32 extra-base hits in 72 games at Iowa. (ME)

Smooth fielding? I don't know if every scout/expert agrees with that, but I'll take it from BA!

 

A 22-year-old, "smooth-fielding" 3B hitting .327/.417 /.538 in AAA with a 16.8% K rate and 12.4% walk rate ain't bad. Sure he's hot right now with an oversized BABIP, but those numbers have been compiled over almost 300 PAs. He's set career highs in HRs and doubles this season. Kudos to the Cubs developmental staff and philosophy. I highly doubt, in fact I'm certain, Candelario would not have turned out this good under the Hendry regime.

[CubsWin]

Last prospect hot sheet of the season:

 

19. Jeimer Candelario, 3b, Cubs

 

Team: Triple-A Iowa (Pacific Coast)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .385/.467/.692 (10-for-26), 7 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 4 BB, 3 SO

 

Candelario erased memories of a poor first half at Double-A Tennessee by annihilating the Pacific Coast League for three months. The smooth-fielding, switch-hitting third baseman has hit .325/.413/.538 with 32 extra-base hits in 72 games at Iowa. (ME)

Jeimer is a guy we could do a version of the Rizzo-Cashner with, couldn't we? Find a young starter who has struggled somewhat for him? Archie Bradley maybe?

Interesting idea. I'd be down for something like that. Bradley in specific probably wouldn't happen because the D-backs are set at 3B with Jake Lamb for the next 5 years or so and their pitching has been terrible. But a target like Bradley would be nice. No idea if other teams would agree, though.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Looking at teams that might have a need for a 3B, the Braves make some sense. They have Inciarte, Blair, and some pre-MLB arms that could be interesting.

 

Other than that you have the Padres(nothing to trade), the Dodgers(probably wouldn't trust 3B to Candelario), and A's(better than the Padres but no great matches).

[davell]

I like Folty, as far as Braves guys go. I doubt he'd be available straight up for Jeimer though. Blair and Wisler are interesting enough. But we're set up to trade with them as well as anyone in the league.

 

OTOH, packaging Jeimer with a Soler or Almora likely moves us into a different category of arm, maybe the Walker level guys.

[davell]

I picture him being the second piece in a deal, more so than trading him in a straight up deal for pitching. Depends though on if we decide to take a quantity or quality approach. Which I could see us doing either honestly. Especially with us in need of multiple arms pretty soon.

 

Teams that Candelario could appeal to, on his own? I'd guess the Indians and Yankees would be possible. I'd say the Braves, Marlins, Angels, and A's are good fits to allow him to be an everyday major leaguer immediately upon acquisition. The Twins and Padres are teams that could probably shuffle things up and fit him in too.

[TruffleShuffle]

eloy made the BA minor league all-star team.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/minor-league-star-team-2016/#FI1oE02clJwi2dCV.97

 

Jimenez took another giant step forward in his development in 2016, when the 19-year-old took home Midwest League MVP honors in a season in which the left fielder ranked third in the league batting race (.329) while leading the circuit in doubles (40) and slugging (.532). Jimenez, the top international talent available in 2013, doesn’t walk much and his long levers create holes in his swing, but the righthanded-hitting Dominican makes enough hard contact to thrive.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA's end of the year Cubs report: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/eloy-jimenez-steps-outside-torres-shadow/#K6tLqGBq5JAydXPG.97

 

Best player: Eloy Jimenez

 

“It’s hard to believe when you look at him sometimes that he’s 19, when you see how advanced he is at the plate with his approach,” farm director Jaron Madison, who considers the 6-foot-4 Jimenez’s ability to stay healthy all year a major step in his development, said. “He still swings and misses, but he’s made adjustments.”

 

Pitcher of the Year: Trevor Clifton. Also of note was Oscar de la Cruz and BA mentioned his offseason plans:

 

The Cubs have him scheduled for instructional league and possibly some Dominican League play to accumulate innings. If all goes well, he should start 2017 at high Class A.

 

Keep An Eye On: Righthander Jose Albertos, 17, is another potential power starter in the mold of De La Cruz, with a fastball that touched 97 mph early in the season before the Cubs shut him down after one Rookie-level start because of forearm soreness.

 

Despite no report of structural damage, the Cubs shut him down before slowly working him back into pitching shape, and Albertos will build up some instructional league innings before going into next spring.

 

The 6-foot-1 build is mature for his age, and Madison calls him a “stuff guy,” who “commands both sides of the plate with a breaking ball and a 70 changeup.”

[craig]

..Best player: Eloy Jimenez

“It’s hard to believe when you look at him sometimes that he’s 19, when you see how advanced he is at the plate with his approach,” ....

 

...Jose Albertos, 17, ..... Albertos will build up some instructional league innings before going into next spring.

 

The 6-foot-1 build is mature for his age, and Madison calls him a “stuff guy,” who “commands both sides of the plate with a breaking ball [highlight=yellow]and a 70 changeup[/highlight].”

 

I like the "advanced" reference to Eloy.

 

Also very encouraged at the Albertos input.

*70-changeup. Hadn't appreciated that before. If a guy throws 97 but his better pitch is a change, that's a lot of possibility.

*"Stuff guy".

*"Will build up some instructional innings". That doesn't suggest there is a presently serious arm injury, or that any surgery has been done or anything.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

..Best player: Eloy Jimenez

“It’s hard to believe when you look at him sometimes that he’s 19, when you see how advanced he is at the plate with his approach,” ....

 

 

I like the "advanced" reference to Eloy.

 

Also very encouraged at the Albertos input.

*70-changeup. Hadn't appreciated that before. If a guy throws 97 but his better pitch is a change, that's a lot of possibility.

*"Stuff guy".

*"Will build up some instructional innings". That doesn't suggest there is a presently serious arm injury, or that any surgery has been done or anything.

 

The Cubs made it clear a month ago that Albertos didn't have surgery.