Laura

Veal crossed my mind, too. I'm not sure how far the other high-ceiling-guys-with-a-lousy-or-shortened-year drop for BA. I'm bored, too, and yeah, a lot of these are the same as O_O's. BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average Eric Patterson Best Power Hitter Ryan Harvey Best Strike-Zone Discipline I also go with Brandon Sing, but Sam Fuld fits in somewhere - not strike-zone per se, but low K - balanced BB approach Fastest Baserunner Do Not Know Best Athlete Felix Pie Best Fastball Mark Pawelek Best Curveball Rich Hill (an honorable mention to Gallagher) Best Slider Renyel Pinto (I've heard Jesus Yepez has a good one, is that true?) Best Changeup Do Not Know Best Control Should be Matt Weber Best Defensive Catcher Do Not Know (not Bernard) Best Defensive Infielder Casey McGehee Best Infield Arm Ronny Cedeno Best Defensive Outfielder Felix Pie (honorable mentions to Fuld, Harvey) (and with his name, I have high hopes for Defendis) :wink: Best Outfield Arm Ryan Harvey (I've heard great things about Pie; I've seen great throws from Harvey)

:P I was talking about the MLB's rules in regards to rookies. P.S. I posted that Serena quote first in the mod forum. :P We slapped this together pretty quickly since they're anouncing the list on Monday. Many thanks to Raisin for tracking down the BA info -- it wouldn't have been done otherwise! :)

1. Felix Pie +10 +10 2. Rich Hill +10 +6 3. Mark Pawelek +10 +8 4. Ronny Cedeno +10 +8 5. Renyel Pinto 6. Sean Marshall +10 +10 7. Sean Gallagher 8. Eric Patterson +10 +7 9. Ryan Harvey +10 +8 10. Ricky Nolasco +10 +6 143

I just asked that very question in the mod forum -- I'm not sure. I think he is; he pitched 23.2 innings. If anyone knows, please post!

Last year's BA Top Ten 1. Brian Dopirak, 1b 2. Felix Pie, of 3. Ryan Harvey, of 4. Angel Guzman, rhp 5. Billy Petrick, rhp 6. Renyel Pinto, lhp 7. Sean Marshall, lhp 8. John Leicester, rhp 9. Grant Johnson, rhp 10. Jason Dubois, of/1b BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average Matt Murton Best Power Hitter Brian Dopirak Best Strike-Zone Discipline Matt Murton Fastest Baserunner Dwaine Bacon Best Athlete Felix Pie Best Fastball Angel Guzman Best Curveball Rich Hill Best Slider Will Ohman Best Changeup Jon Connolly Best Control Bobby Brownlie Best Defensive Catcher Geovany Soto Best Defensive Infielder Carlos Rojas Best Infield Arm Ronny Cedeno Best Defensive Outfielder Felix Pie Best Outfield Arm Felix Pie

Baseball America will be releasing its list of the Top Ten Cubs prospects on Monday, November 28. This is a mini-predictions contest -- predict who those top ten prospects will be. Winner gets bragging rights -- WOO HOO! -- and, since it's football season, winner also gets a 2003 Playoff Memorabilia Ed McCaffrey game-worn jersey swatch holder with a nice etched glass image of McCaffrey. This was graciously donated by DJAXXFAN as part of his overall contributions to the Predictions Contest. Here's the deal: --list a numbered top ten list (remember, this isn't your personal list -- there will be plenty of discussion on those in the offseason -- this is your prediction on BA's list). --every name you match to BA's list = 10 points --every name + number slot you match = 10 points one slot off = 8 points two slots off = 7 points three slots off = 6 points four slots off = 5 points five slots off = 4 points six slots off = 3 points seven slots off = 2 points eight slots off = 1 points --tie goes to the person who posted his/her entry first. --post entries through 10pm Central Sunday night, November 27. You can edit as much you'd like up to the deadline. --BA doesn't use the "45 days on the big league roster" as one of their requirements like MLB does for rookies. Cedeno only had 80 ABs, which is less than the requirement for a rookie, so he should still be eligible for the list. Murton is not. Hill threw 23.2 innings, so he's still considered eligible as a prospect by BA (thanks to burnt_out for clarifying BA's rules). This contest is open to all members (premium + non-premium) If you want to list your predictions for the "best tools" list, feel free -- it won't count for the contest, but have at it.

I don't have a problem with acquiring Pierre. Cubs still need a big bat in RF, but I'll be happy to go into the season with Pierre in CF. That's where I differ. I'm undoubtedly overvaluing Pinto, since the minor league gurus (whose opinions I respect) don't rank him that highly among the pitchers, and since he has sucked in his two AAA appearances. Still, I would have tried to include just about any other eligible minor league pitcher in the deal other than Pinto. Maybe it wasn't possible; maybe the Marlins were adament about Pinto. I just don't like trading flamethrowing lefties even with control problems if there's another choice. Maybe there wasn't another choice. Like I said, I'm probably overvaluing Pinto. I just wish it were another name.

Hopefully this means they're wrong about the Pierre deal. Pinto may be our best pitching commodity in the minors, as he's got great stuff, isn't constantly injured (a la Guzman), and is relatively close to the bigs. To give him AND two other prospects up for an overpriced, potentially awful Juan Pierre coming off of a bad season for 1 year is absolutely ridiculous. It still depends on who they are. I'd hate to give Pinto up, because he is close and healthy, but I still rate Hill and Marshall higher from the left side. But if the Cubs give up a couple of players with no future, it's a decent deal, depending on Pierre getting back to 2004 numbers. A lot depends on who the hypothetical two other players are, but trading Pinto to the Marlins gives me heartburn.

More circle ... circular discussion about whether Howry is actually ever going to be a Cub.

I'll never forget where I was when Kap broke the news that Valdez signed. :)

More Manny drama.

Not sure if this has been posted yet ... from the notoriously unreliable Newark Star-Ledger. Also

I wonder how many prospects take part in that every year. I can't imagine it's too many, which would indicate the organization is very happy with Sean right now. Then again, they are sending him to Peoria. I don't think it's very common. He was a popular Chiefs player; I'm sure the local fundraising group is glad he'll be there. Any chance he'll be at the Minor League session ("Down on the Farm") they have at the Cubs Convention? They usually have it on Sunday mornings. Hope he has better luck than last year, when a blizzard blew into town the Friday night of the Convention and stranded people all over the place!

Welcome! I went to a lot of Chiefs games last year and had the chance to see Sean pitch several times -- I was one of the highly impressed people. :) Glad to hear he's having a productive off-season. I'll be following the 'net updates/broadcasts on him next season.

I wonder if the NSBB emergency site has enough bandwith? :wink: Sounds like an Emergency to me! **JK I am in no way supporting the continuation of the hot chick polls on any NSBB affiliated site** It took me 5 minutes to set up the emergency site. Someone smarter and with a better CPU could probably set one up in 2.5 minutes. Go Figure!

If US fans don't care, it's no surprise that it was bounced from the Olympics. Fun game, though.

Team USA squeaked out a win over Mexico today, 5-4. MiLB.com Link It's a good read.

Hendry has to BE the GM. If he signs Neifi! again, it's all on him. Just like hiring -- and not firing -- Dusty is all on him.

I actually read his Louisiana Lightening biography when I was a kid. That may be the first time I ever heard about Cajuns!

Is now a bad time to mention that Ofman also reported today that the Cubs would be pursuing Burnett? I don't have any idea who reported it first ... I want no part of THAT catfight. :kitty:

Brandon Sing just got tossed from today's game by the home plate umpire. Tie game, bottom of the 9th. Mesa Top 9th Pitcher Change: Ryan Basner replaces Shawn Kohn. Brandon Sing strikes out swinging. Mesa Solar Sox third baseman Brandon Sing ejected by HP umpire Kevin Causey. Sing was playing 1B all game; the 3B reference in the PBP is a mistake.

They have contacted Epstein about being the new GM. It sounds like Epstein is taking his time deciding on his next step.

Isn't this the last time baseball will be an Olympic sport?