Chat with Oneri Fleita

[Tim]

Oneri Fleita, the Cubs' Director of Player Development and Director of Latin American Operations, has played a large part in building the team into a contender. Mr. Fleita took some time recently to answer questions posed by the readers of NorthsideBaseball.com; here are his replies.

 

Interview with Oneri Fleita

[Diffusion]

Excellent. Once again, thanks Tim and Mark for setting this up.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Yeah, that's some good stuff. Thanks again for the work that you guys put in. You may not hear it enough but it is definitely evident in the growth that this site has seen in the last two years.

[rawaction]

Nice. He didn't back down from any questions and gave pretty good information on all the players asked about. You can really tell which guys the organization likes. Good to hear more positives on Angel's health. I'm ready for this season to start on all levels!

[CUBZ99]

Thank you for the wonderful interview. =D>

[Roast]

Today, Oneri Fleita. Tomorrow, Jim Hendry.

[Outshined_One]

Awesome guys! Thanks for setting this up. :D

 

It's nice to get some more info on Gallagher, Puello, and Santana. Granted, it wasn't an in-depth scouting report, but it's nice to know we have some good guys coming down the chute for Boise and Peoria!

 

Also, this Brownlie thing is starting to become just weird.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

That was an excellent interview and another reason why I think this is the best site to get information on the Cubs, especially the minor leaguers.

 

Kudos to you Mark!

 

I'm going to have to re-read the interview tomorrow when I can concentrate on it better. The baby is a bit fussy right now.

[JohnCub1]

Thank you to everyone who made this possible! I'm most excited for Sean Marshall and Billy Petrick this year. I can't wait for spring training and then the minor league season!

[mlpeel]

It's nice to get some more info on Gallagher, Puello, and Santana. Granted, it wasn't an in-depth scouting report, but it's nice to know we have some good guys coming down the chute for Boise and Peoria!

 

I was running out of time by then, so I stopped posing followup questions to elicit more detail. Still didn't get through all the questions...

 

Also, this Brownlie thing is starting to become just weird.

 

Would you have been happier if he'd said Brownlie had shoulder damage?

[shnsajax]

Glad to see Pie is on Zambrano's old diet.

[HerbalK]

Q [Tinkers2evers and craig]: What is the ceiling of Matt Murton and where does he rate among the Cubs outfield prospects? Does he use all fields, and do you project significantly more HRs down the road?

 

A: Above everyone; he has the strike zone judgment everyone wants, he's more mature than our other outfielders.

 

Yes and yes. He's a corner outfielder and he should hit like one; power usually comes later.

 

Did he just say he rated Murton above Dubois, Pie, Harvey? WOW. I wonder if he knows this site has people in the media writing it, thus resulting in them talking up Murton and building his trade value.

[Outshined_One]

Would you have been happier if he'd said Brownlie had shoulder damage?

 

I wasn't being negative! :lol:

 

But I mean, I just find it really curious that they can't find anything wrong with him. I would have been happier if Fleita said something to the effect of how they wanted to reduce wear and tear on Brownlie's shoulder by slowly building up his endurance and getting his velocity back as his arm strengthens, yes.

 

However, the fact that they can't find anything physically wrong and there isn't much in terms of reports on the why of his velocity dropping really is just puzzling to me. If he's regularly hitting the low 90s with his fastball next season, and makes it through fully healthy, then it'll all be moot, imo.

 

Still, I wouldn't worry about not getting to every question. You covered PLENTY of ground and this was one of the more informative chats I've read in quite some time!

 

My hat is off to you.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Thanks for the great interview Mark and Tim.

[mlpeel]

Q [Tinkers2evers and craig]: What is the ceiling of Matt Murton and where does he rate among the Cubs outfield prospects? Does he use all fields, and do you project significantly more HRs down the road?

 

A: Above everyone; he has the strike zone judgment everyone wants, he's more mature than our other outfielders.

 

Yes and yes. He's a corner outfielder and he should hit like one; power usually comes later.

 

Did he just say he rated Murton above Dubois, Pie, Harvey? WOW. I wonder if he knows this site has people in the media writing it, thus resulting in them talking up Murton and building his trade value.

 

Fleita also referred to Pie and Harvey as high ceiling guys and praised BA's Cubs prospect list -- in which Murton didn't make the Top 10. I interpreted his remarks to mean Murton was above everyone in strike zone judgement and maturity, not that he was the top outfield prospect. I probably should have asked him to clarify a little, but we were more than half an hour along and less than halfway through the list of questions.

[mlpeel]

Glad to see Pie is on Zambrano's old diet.

 

Let's hope not: cheeseburgers played some part in Carlos's move from 220 to 250... Fortunately, his wife made him cut that stuff out.

[Jon]

Glad to see Pie is on Zambrano's old diet.

 

Let's hope not: cheeseburgers played some part in Carlos's move from 220 to 250... Fortunately, his wife made him cut that stuff out.

I may not like cottage cheese, but I now respect it.

 

Great interview, Mark. Thanks a bunch for doing that.

[NCCubFan]

I really enjoyed reading the interview. I'm especially glad that it seems like Guzman is back on track and fully healthy. Hopefully that will continue.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Thanks for the great interview, Mark. That was an excellent read. :)

[CubsWin]

As the Guiness guys say...

 

"Brilliant!"

 

That chat transcript was like a tall glass of ice-cold water in the baseball information desert that is the off-season.

 

Thank you Mark and Tim...

[CuseCubFan69]

Two gloves up ML! Thanks!

[Chris]

Excellent read to say the least. Just another reason why NSBB is the greatest!

[craig]

That was a tremendous chat. Thanks a ton, Mark. Fleita is so positive about everybody, it's hard not to filter everything accordingly, but I thought he was as direct and informative as possible. Really packed a lot of info into relatively concise answers.

 

thanks a million mark for polishing/compacting the questions so nicely.

 

Question: Had you mailed him these questions in advance, or was he just responding on the fly? Assuming the latter, he's really good at giving pretty good concise info in 1-3 sentences.

 

Really informative.

 

I was struck by his relative honesty regarding the speculative nature of projecting guys. How much power will Pie or Murton or Reed have down the line? Who knows, any could have excellent power but who really knows? How fast will Marshall or Atkins or Hunton or Brownlie or Ryu throw? Seems like a lot of positive hopes, but who knows?

 

The aptitude of scouts to project down the line is remarkable. But I think we sometimes think they're almost prescient. I think Fleita's comments reflect that there is a lot of educated guessing regarding what's possible, but that it's really hard to know.

[USSoccer]

Great interview Mark...thanks for taking the time to transcribe it!

[Tim]

A few things I remember being surprised by:

 

1) Alberto Albequerque will only be 18 this year. The fact that Oneri seems certain he'll start above Mesa and move quickly seems to be a very good sign. Add another positive catching prospect to the ranks.

 

2) I was a bit surprised to hear that Ryu was throwing 95 in the fall league. As Craig always questions, I wonder if that meant that he was touching 95 once or twice an appearance, or if he was working at that velocity?

 

3) I really enjoyed the emphasis on the fact that Greenberg *will* make the majors. :thumleft:

 

There was more, but those are the things that are standing out to me at the moment.