2025 MLB Draft Day 2 Thread: Chicago Cubs Draft on North Side Baseball

[Neuby]

With some much talent not drafted this year, could it make sense for a team to blow past all the spending limits to secure a massive haul, only punting next years picks?

[Bertz]

6 minutes ago, JBears79 said:

I wonder if this is just the first year that we are seeing the effects of NIL money on college baseball programs. It's taken a little bit to get there but teams probably have budgets now that football and basketball has been sorted out with a lot of schools.

I wonder if this combined with the time crunch means we're going to see a run of hail Mary's in the 19th/20th

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

17th round: Logan Poteet, C, UNC-Charlotte

Cubs legend's younger brother?  Or no relation?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

18th round: RHP Connor Knox, George Mason

[CaliforniaRaisin]

18 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Cubs legend's younger brother?  Or no relation?

No relation. Cody went to UCLA.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Dodgers drafted Mizzou QB Sam Horn in the 17th round. He had some top 100 rankings but he still has football eligibility and hopes of starting for Mizzou football this fall.

[Neuby]

Appenzelller to Seattle

[CaliforniaRaisin]

19th rounder: 3B Caleb Barnett, Mountain Brook HS (AL) - Alabama commit

Not ranked by Pipeline: 

Quote

Barnett is a physical 6-foot-5, 210-pounder who stands out with his power potential and exit velocities while also showing off a strong arm and playing a quality third base. He does come with some swing-and-miss concerns and some evaluators wonder if he might have more upside on the mound. There's chatter that a team or two may be willing to spend heavily to lure him away from his Alabama commitment.

Ranked 282 by BA: 

Quote

282. Caleb Barnett

3B

Ht: 6'5" | Wt: 210 | B-T: R-R

School: Mountain Brook (Ala.) HS Drafted/Committed: Alabama
Age At Draft: 18.8

Barnett is a massive-framed righthanded hitter listed at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds who still has plenty of room to layer on more strength and mass. Unsurprisingly given his size, Barnett boasts huge raw power and will put on a show in batting practice, though his long levers and below-average pure hitting ability lead to lots of swing-and-miss tendencies in game. His swing is steep and uphill with plenty of length, which will lead to eye-opening home runs to the pull side, but should also make him a power-over-hit offensive profile. He’s a definite corner profile of some capacity, with a chance to play third base but is perhaps a more likely fit in an outfield corner or first. He has above-average arm strength but is a below-average runner. Barnett could fit in the first 10 rounds for a team who wants to bet on his power. If not, he’s committed to Alabama.

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Guessing Tuscaloosa is more likely than Mesa

[Jason Ross]

7 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

19th rounder: 3B Caleb Barnett, Mountain Brook HS (AL) - Alabama commit

Not ranked by Pipeline: 

Ranked 282 by BA: 

 

Zumach has brought him up a bunch. 

 

Bertz might be right about 19/20 round hail marys.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

20th rounder: Freddy Rodriguez IV, RHP, Hawaii

[Bertz]

7 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Guessing Tuscaloosa is more likely than Mesa

Welp lol

So yeah Wing and Hartshorn each took a pretty penny.  Presuming they're each 7 figure guys.

[bukie]

Luke Mensik (LWC HS, ILL) drafted by the Giants in the 17th round.

So that makes 7 IL prep players drafted (Jaden Fauske, Conor Essenburg, Jack Wheeler, Luke Mensik, Ethan Moore, Cameron Appenzeller, Ike Young) and not Jack Bauer who was the #1 prospect most of the spring. Wild.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Quote me in 5 years when I'm proven completely wrong, but that draft blows.

[JBears79]

His signing demands must be ridiculous. Bauer will benefit from college though imo. I said it earlier but he has 1-1 potential with that fastball. Just needs to throw more strikes and develop the secondary offerings

[JBears79]

1 minute ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Quote me in 5 years when I'm proven completely wrong, but that draft blows.

The Conrad pick has grown on but yeah first impressions of this class are not positive.

[Outshined_One]

Odd draft, and not the one I expected.

[Bertz]

14 minutes ago, JBears79 said:

The Conrad pick has grown on but yeah first impressions of this class are not positive.

I mentioned this upthread but if you shake up the order it looks a lot different.  If it went

Conrad

Hartshorn

Kepley

Wing

Reid

Snell

And then went chalk from there, it'd feel like a pretty normal draft.  Though I'm still a bit surprised there wasn't a couple hundred more K in the couch cushions for someone fun in the 11th.

[Post Count Padder]

It really is so hard to judge an MLB draft immediately. These things need to simmer. My initial impression as a casual draft follower is we got some real interesting guys who will be fun to follow. 

Think back to how stoked we all were for that 2011 draft class. Mostly a big yikes in hindsight aside from Javy. 

[Outshined_One]

The one thing about this draft is, it hinges heavily on the Cubs' medical and training staff. They've had success with guys like Wiggins and Horton so far, so guys like Coppola and Jerzembeck are intriguing as guys who could follow similar paths. Pitch lab could also have some fun with Wing and Reid.

It's the hitting side that's a bit unproven. I can't think of any recent success stories this team has had with injury reclamation projects, so Conrad and Hartshorn are going to be interesting test cases.

[chibears55]

7 hours ago, Outshined_One said:

The Cubs just drafted a 6'8 245 lb pitcher.

Bring him up 😅😅😅

[chibears55]

Is there 1 or 2 guys from this draft that has a chance to make an impact on majors league roster within the next 2-3 years

[JBears79]

36 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I mentioned this upthread but if you shake up the order it looks a lot different.  If it went

Conrad

Hartshorn

Kepley

Wing

Reid

Snell

And then went chalk from there, it'd feel like a pretty normal draft.  Though I'm still a bit surprised there wasn't a couple hundred more K in the couch cushions for someone fun in the 11th.

Totally fair. I just really hate the Kepley pick. And even though Conrad has grown on me, im still extremely skeptical there.  Guess we will find out in 5 years.

[Outshined_One]

15 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Is there 1 or 2 guys from this draft that has a chance to make an impact on majors league roster within the next 2-3 years

Kepley, the 2nd rounder, is probably the closest to the majors of this crop. He's a contact-heavy speed guy and could be a really useful 4th OF/PH on a team with a stacked OF.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Outshined_One said:

The one thing about this draft is, it hinges heavily on the Cubs' medical and training staff. They've had success with guys like Wiggins and Horton so far, so guys like Coppola and Jerzembeck are intriguing as guys who could follow similar paths. Pitch lab could also have some fun with Wing and Reid.

It's the hitting side that's a bit unproven. I can't think of any recent success stories this team has had with injury reclamation projects, so Conrad and Hartshorn are going to be interesting test cases.

I think if Conrad hasn’t hurt his shoulder he wouldn’t have even been available to the Cubs. Sounds a like like the PCA situation when the Cubs traded for him. Had his shoulder not been a problem at the time of the deal thrnCubs probably couldn’t have gotten him. Hope it ends the same way. I do trust the Cubs with that one.