Who Are Your Favorite Deep Sleepers?

[CubsWin]

With the discussion of BA's top ten list, it got me thinking. Who are my favorite unheralded Cubs prospects? Someone who isn't generally ranked in the top 30 who you think might emerge in a year or two and have a markedly better shot at contributing at the major league level than they do right now. Probably shouldn't include any of the bigger money and touted 2015 IFA guys as they're a bit obvious. Paredes already surprised last season. Mid-round picks from last season like Hatch and Clark shouldn't be included either. Dig deep!

 

For me I like:

 

C - P.J. Higgins

C - Johnny Pereda

1B - Matt Rose

2B - Yeiler Peguero

SS - Zack Short

SS/3B - Christopher Morel

3B - David Bote

OF - Charcer Burks

SP - Javier Assad

SP - Yunior Perez

RP - James Norwood

RP - Enrique De Los Rios

 

You don't have to chose one for every position obviously. It's just a slow time for baseball news, so I figured what the horsefeathers. If I had to go with one guy, it would be Higgins.

[Tryptamine]

Tyson Miller is my #1 choice.

[davell]

Great question, but what counts? Do the IFA guys that got six figure bonuses get excluded? I wat to try and come up with a positional list, but Morel and Marquez both got solid bonuses....

[CubsWin]

Great question, but what counts? Do the IFA guys that got six figure bonuses get excluded? I wat to try and come up with a positional list, but Morel and Marquez both got solid bonuses....

That's true. Morel did get a solid bonus. Let's exclude him and the other big bonus guys.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Rademacher and Bloomquist

[CubsWin]

Rademacher and Bloomquist

If Rademacher goes from where he's currently at and breaks out, that would be great. He's already pretty good.

 

Preston Morrison had a breakout of sorts last season. If Bloomquist can as well, that draft class would be fairly impressive.

[Bear Cub]

Daury Torrez is my choice.

[Post Count Padder]

I'm still a believer in Corey Black being a big strikeout guy in the pen someday.

[CubsWin]

My favorite deep deep deep deep deep deep sleeper to emerge as a serious prospect is the switch hitting CF Jose Gutierrez. This is more hopeful than anything, he was 17 and good rather than great for whichever DSL Cubs roster he was on. He showed speed, defense, power, some hit tool, and basically was that roster's top playmaker.

 

I like Rademacher too. He does a lot of things right on offense (doesn't strike out, walks, hits for average, solid gap power). Plus he basically has the coolest name in the org. Seth Smith?

 

Bloomquist doesn't walk people and gets groundballs, is healthy, plus can spin the ball. Pretty sure that's what Kyle Hendricks does to survive, it can work on a smaller scale.

 

Pereda was maybe the next best player on the AZL Cubs after Paredes. Paredes should qualify as a deep sleeper here but I talk about him so much that he's pretty well known.

 

Faustino Carrera planted some seeds last year showing a wide array of potential skills. If he can get stronger and keep developing while staying healthy the Cubs might have the next in that class of smaller IFA LHP turned outstanding LHP prospect (Urias, Banuelos, Perez, Rodriguez are in that group) turned whatever each became. Those guys can be valuable trade chips as well as give the potential for a LHSP. Good athlete too, played CF for Mexico's 15U world team. I don't think this is anofher Carlos A. Rodriguez situation where the shorter guy performs early but totally lacks projection. I also like RHP Carlos Ocampo's 2016 enough.

 

I still like Kellogg enough, especially relative to what's in the org right now.

 

Fidel Mejia got hurt but he was hitting at 17 in the DSL as a switch hitter playing all non-1B/C positions. Monasterio and Sepulveda have some chops along with Peguero. Orian Nunez was another DSL who showed something.

Agree. All those dudes are worth following. I wonder about Carrera's stuff and how it will play as he moves up. Then again, his stuff could improve as he moves up. All guys with better shots than the "average guy you've never heard of". Gutierrez was a guy I was going to mention but got tired and just pressed 'submit' on the original post. You dug deep!

[craig]

Daury Torrez is my choice.

 

Yeah, nice choice.

Three other sleeper relievers: McNeil, James Farris, and Rosario. (Maybe as a now-rostered guy Rosario isn't that deep, but I don't recall him ever getting much discussion.)

Farris doesn't scout great, but he's continued to be very successful up through AA and AFL. Solid K/BB splits and low HR's, who knows if/when he'll finally hit his ceiling and be overwhelmed by the superior competition. Plenty of K's, so even without the velocity, he's getting K's with the breaking stuff I guess. Not yet, and only two more steps left....

 

Three obscure starters, lacking any significant fastball: Hedges, Tseng and Leal.

Tseng, has seemed to be in constant decline, but he can throw strikes. I wonder if coming back strong and healthy might not give him good results this summer? Nor likely, but if he turned into an anti-awful strike-thrower, who knows?

 

Hedges had a good season, was good at AA as well as Myrtle, and over his career has excellent WHIP and K/BB and stuff. Has been an extreme ground ball guy, low HR's. So, might be a guy who's better in reality than in a scouting report. If you locate your stuff, throw the sinker, and get the ground balls, if you don't allow HR's and don't walk many, you can do pretty well even without high velocity.

 

Leal finished pretty well, another guy without big K's but with good K/BB and low walks.

 

Sleepers.

 

May as well add Erling Moreno.

[Cubswin11]

I know he's not necessarily a sleeper but I really like Zagunis, I think he's one of those relatively unheralded prospects who has a nice MLB career. I could see him being a variation of Zobrist/Nick Swisher type offensive player with a little less power or Joe Mauer (minus the one like 30 HR year) with a little less average.

[We Got The Whole 9]

I know he's not necessarily a sleeper but I really like Zagunis, I think he's one of those relatively unheralded prospects who has a nice MLB career. I could see him being a variation of Zobrist/Nick Swisher type offensive player with a little less power or Joe Mauer (minus the one like 30 HR year) with a little less average.

I feel the same about Rademacher. I realize he's old but he puts the ball in play and gets on base a ton. He's hit at just about every stop, the power is trending up and he could very well have a big year at Iowa. There's no room for him in Chicago but I also like his potential to be a MLB player.

[davell]

C PJ Higgins- great eye at the plate, seem to have taken to C well defensively. I think there's advance he winds up making it as a backup in a few years.

1B Ian Rice- the bat may play here. Hes not a C evidently. But if he can curtail the K's, his bat could get him to the majors

2B Carlos Sepulveda- He can hit. There's no real pop and he's tiny, but he may be a Torreyes type

SS Delving Zinn- He can NOT hit. But his swing supposedly says he should. He's got a very nice glove though.

3B Wladimir Galindo- He's got serious pop. May be more than a deep sleeper, but its hard to see a 3B that fits here.

LF- Abraham Rodriguez- big pop in the bat, very raw.

CF Connor Myers- Has some tools, needs to hit more this year

RF Jeffry Baez- I think he's been around long enough to qualify for this list, despite his bonus. Definitely has pop and an arm.

 

SP Zack Hedges- Easy call here. Late round pick that's getting results and increased velo

Eric Leal- soft tosser that knows how to pitch. Has more velo in there, according to reports.

Adbert Alzolay- Easy pick. To me, he's the one guy on this list that could shoot into our top 10, after not being a top 30 guy currently.

Manuel Rondon- Throws hard as a lefty. Needs a 2nd pitch to be average, but lefties at 93-95 deserve a mention

Eury Ramos- Eh, they thought enough of him to bring him to instructs

 

RP- Ryan McNeil- throws hard, heavy sinker. Think he'll log some major league innings at some point

James Farris- keeps producing despite lack of stuff

Tommy Nance- Indy signing that I see moving quickly

Casey Bloomquist- No velo, but knows how to pitch

Enrique De los Rios- mid 90s, looked like a potential sleeper last year at instructs. Good arm for the pen and could move quick

 

I tried to exclude 100,000+ IFA signings, unless they've been in the system for more than 3 years. I think McNeil is the only top 10 round pick in here. Hedges, Rondon, Galindo, and Sepulvedo are the only ones in this group with a shot at my personal top 30.

 

The IFA's from the last class that I see vaulting up our lists(meaning they're not currently on them) are....

 

Christopher Morel- very intriguing, considering his bonus as an injured guy. Definitely expect some buzz on him

Brailyn Marquez- Has the frame, if we have a breakout pitcher, he's a great bet

Miguel Amaya- the bat may be behind, but hes got a first division profile defensively as a C, and the bat should develop some pop in a few years

 

Others worth mentioning.....

 

Michael Rucker- Won't shock me if he's a piggybacker in SB

Johnny Pereda- He may be in my top 30 now, so I didn't put him on this list.

Chris Pieters- I hope they put him in the OF to take advantage of his athleticism

 

Top 5 guys that didn't make BA's top 10, with a SHOT at turning into top 100 prospects....(obviously a very slim shot)

 

Donnie DeWees, Eddy Julio Martinez, Justin Steele, Thomas Hatch, Bryan Hudson

 

I could see DeWees having a big year with the bat. Top of the order type with pop. EJM has tools. After a year of adjusting, its time to show them more often. Steele has the athleticism that if he starts repeating his delivery, it could come together quickly for him. Ditto for Hudson. Hatch is easily the singular guy here with the best shot at making that type of jump.

[toonsterwu]

Almost everyone possible has been mentioned, so I'll go off the board a bit to throw two names out there ... two names I'm not even certain will be with the Cubs when the season starts.

 

Jesse Hodges - I remember reading about him being signed way back ago, and it feels like he's been around forever. Solid enough athlete, could probably be developed into a utility player if need be (good arm should play in the corner OF's if necessary, could probably move to 2nd in a pinch). Of course, it's the bat that's the issue, but he showed some positive signs at South Bend, and there was some raw pop, IIRC, when they signed him. I'm also curious if he'll get a run as a pitcher before the Cubs close the book, but I think he should be given another run at Myrtle Beach first.

 

Kevonte Mitchell - He was really raw, and seems to slowly be improving step by step. It seems like his name has been there forever, but this is his age 21 season. He needs to improve his strike zone discipline and see if he can tap into that raw power.

 

Of the two, I think Mitchell should make it to a roster, although I guess you never know. Hodges seems like a borderline chance to still be here. (and it's not impossible that I missed some minor league activity that would make this post sound foolish, but a quick googling doesn't show anything)

[jersey cubs fan]

My favorite deep sleepers are my two daughters who spent the entire night in their beds last night allowing me to get my first decent night's sleep in several weeks.

 

 

 

As for bottom of the barrel prospects I could not care less. The time for caring about the desperation rankings passed long ago.

[Little Slide Rooter]

1. Snow White

2. Rip Van Winkle

3. Princess Aurora

4. Lazy Smurf

 

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

[Little Slide Rooter]

As for bottom of the barrel prospects I could not care less. The time for caring about the desperation rankings passed long ago.

 

This. I, for one, do not miss the days of desperate hopes of guys like Eric Jokisch, Wes Darvill, Jae Hoon Ha, and Robert Whitenack could blossom into serviceable-ish big leaguers.

[jumbo]

As for bottom of the barrel prospects I could not care less. The time for caring about the desperation rankings passed long ago.

 

This. I, for one, do not miss the days of desperate hopes of guys like Eric Jokisch, Wes Darvill, Jae Hoon Ha, and Robert Whitenack could blossom into serviceable-ish big leaguers.

 

Damn, I remember being legitimately geeked up over Robert Whitenack. Didn't he have an amazing High A or Double A out of nowhere, then injury the next year, and gone forever?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

As for bottom of the barrel prospects I could not care less. The time for caring about the desperation rankings passed long ago.

 

This. I, for one, do not miss the days of desperate hopes of guys like Eric Jokisch, Wes Darvill, Jae Hoon Ha, and Robert Whitenack could blossom into serviceable-ish big leaguers.

 

Damn, I remember being legitimately geeked up over Robert Whitenack. Didn't he have an amazing High A or Double A out of nowhere, then injury the next year, and gone forever?

 

The breakout year and TJS were in the same season. Was working mid-90s all of a sudden, then couldn't hit 90 after the surgery.

[David]

1. Snow White

2. Rip Van Winkle

3. Princess Aurora

4. Lazy Smurf

 

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

 

This is probably the best post you've ever made

[imb]

I'll tell you who's not my favorite deep sleeper: My daughter!

[imb]

because that little bitch always wakes up in the middle of the night

[Sammy Sofa]

Ice Cube's dick.

[Sammy Sofa]

How is that not my most popular post ever.

[CubInOK]

As for bottom of the barrel prospects I could not care less. The time for caring about the desperation rankings passed long ago.

 

This. I, for one, do not miss the days of desperate hopes of guys like Eric Jokisch, Wes Darvill, Jae Hoon Ha, and Robert Whitenack could blossom into serviceable-ish big leaguers.

Did another team take a flyer on your fandom?