davell

I don't have Castillo or Dolis in ny current top 10 either and Maples hovers right around 10 himself. But, our system currently has a ton of guys you could make the case for, to being included at the back end of the top 10. Personally, Candelario is in mine and while it's extremely early, I think he'll be in everyone's top 5 this time next year. Golden, Struck, LeMahieu, Rhee, Wells, Ha, and Flaherty could all make a top 10 list from different "experts" this offseason. But, after seeing who BA has in our top 10, I'm going to agree with Toonster and figure we're outside of the top 20 right now, system wise, by BA's rankings anyway.

Kuo would be awesome, but there's a decent chance his arm falls off soon.

Kyle probably has it right honestly. But with our 3rd base situation, I could see him vaulting Vitters and getting a call up in August, possibly getting enough at bats to lose his rookie status.

Again, Darvish falls into "paying for his prine years". Which is a great thing, other than what it looks like it'll cost for him. If his posting fee was looking like it'd be around 25 or 30 mill, with him accepting a 4 or 5 year deal at around 8 mill per, I'd be much more into going after him. But the bottom linr for me is there just hasn't been all that much success coming from Japanese pitching. Nomo was excellent at first, sucked, got decent again and overall had a very solid career. Daisuke was worth no where near his contract. Hell, the best value out of starters ever coming out of Japan is probably Kuroda, who didn't even have to be posted. I know it's wrong to lump all Japanese pitchers together, but I'm not wanting us to spend 40 or 50 mill on a posting fee and then 75 mill or so to him as well, unless we all of a sudden have a 200 mill payroll at our disposal. Out of all the big ticket guys, this is the one I want the least by far.

It'll be interesting to see how much differently Theo constructs the 40 man from how Hendry did. It seems like Hendry always kept around 8 to 10 guys he could shuttle in and out of 2 or 3 bullpen spots. And it also seemed like he'd have more pitching than hitting on the 40 man. I think we'll see a pronouned change, mainly with less bullpen guys, more upside, and probably a younger group of guys not playing in the majors.

Crud, thought it was Theo, my bad. Still part of the Braintrust though and since he's made a good impression, I figure he's still a lock to make it.

SSR, are you forgetting Antigua, or is he a flat out "no" for you?

No, but I think it was in the conference call to season ticket holders. The only 3 players he mentioned were Brett, Lake, and Szczur. For what it's worth.

Considering Theo mentioned him as a guy he could see making the team out of spring training, I'd say there's a fair shot he gets added. \:D/

I'd say there are 6 candidates to be dropped off the current 40 man. They are Caridad, Maine, Mateo, Smit, Hill, and Montanez. The last 3 seem to be almost definite to be dropped, if you ask me. Then, you have Baker and DeWitt out there and to me, I feel sure one or the other will be gone. If Guzman looks healthy, he'll take a spot. I don't think Ridling has much of a shot to make it either. The other 6 all will, unless Jay Jackson gets left off, in which he'll then get taken in the Rule % anyway. Some other guys who are very likely to get kept are Jeffry Antigua, a lefty that throws low 90's with solid control, biggest issue is size aand Marwin Gonzalez, who's likely to be kept as a future utility guy. He'll play in the majors for someone, even if it's not us. But he's made great strides over the last year and a half. Guys with a shot at being kept are Marcus Hatley, Cubs thought enough of him to send him to the AFL anyway. Ryan Searle is a big guy with an excellent sinker and showed progress this past season. He's not ready yet, but he is a guy that a team could possibly hide for a season. Marquez Smith wasn't picked last year, but the right team could pluck him away. Not a huge loss, but he's probably going to eventually find his way onto a big league bench at some point. The most intriguing guy we have on this list though is Kyler Burke. He hasn't made it out of short season ball yet, since converting to pitcher and was thought to be a guy who was going to be a LOOGY, but has shown a mid 90's fastball and solid secondary stuff as well, to where it looks like he may have a ceiling of a mid rotation starter. And we honestly don't have that many of those around. He was excellent at Instructs and probably gets his start in Daytona next year, with a solid possibility of finishing at Tennessee. He's obviously very raw and the Cubs could take a chance by leaving him off, figuring a team couldn't hide him that long, with the intent of adding him the year after, but it IS risky and his upside could very well make the Cubs add him now. Bottom line though is the Cubs have tons of flexibility right now, so there's not really a roster crunch, no one should get left off this year, if the Cubs want to add him, they'll be able to without having to be creative.

With what Theo has said about paying guys on future and not past production, I'm starting to think Cespedes and Chen could both be very big on our radar. If it's conceivably going to take 30ish mill or so for Cespedes and Chen wants a 4 year 20 mill type deal, getting a potential superstar bat and a solid mid rotation lefty for those type of figures in their primes makes a ton of sense. And it could leave us money to make one major acquisition as well and keep the payroll in line with where it's been.

On another note, I'd love a Braintrust tee shirt with pics of our main front office guys and Ricketts on it. But, I guess it'll have to wait until we're done hiring all these guys.

I honestly think we'll be a top 10 system after just one Theo draft and IFA signing period personally. Especially with this past year's draft class getting their first real dose of pro ball. Not counting anyone that comes into the system from here on out, I think we have 4 guys currently in the system that have a shot at being BA top 100 guys after their upcoming season. Those being Matt Szczur. Javier Baez, Jeimer Candelario, and Marco Hernandez. Some will certainly argue me putting this much emphasis on Candelario and Hernandez, but I see Candelario at Peoria to start next season, same with Hernandez, who I see spending half the year at Daytona as well. I really think both will pick up lots of steam next year. I didn't put guys like McNutt, Vitters, or Brett on this list, either because I figure they'll lose their eligibility or because I could see them traded between now and then. I'm starting to think Lake could lose his eligibility as well, or I'd have included him on here. Others I see an argument for that COULD break out would include Ben Wellx. Reggie Golden, Maples, Vogelbach, and Penalver. Although I think all of these guys will need an extra year before they truly become elite possibilities. Although I can see BA falling in love with Vogelbach, especially if he plays in Peoria next year. Anyway, what's everyone's thoughts on where we'll be next year?

If anything, I'd think having 11 position players that could technically be considered "starters" would be what we need. Have 4 starting OFers, 3 starting MINFs and 3 starting CINFs. Just to keep everyone well rested. Athleticism is probably key here, as it's not like there are plenty of super utility guys roaming around. But, if you could keep your starters from much over 130ish games or so, I'd think everyone should still be extremely fresh for October.

No, there's not a posting fee involved. Only up front money would come in a signing bonus. If he signs a 6 year 36 mill contract, for instance, it's paid out however it's structured. Cuba doesn't get any money, unlike Japanese teams.

He's a hell of a value if he even becomes an Alexei Ramirez type talent.

I kind of hate we're in an either/or situation and can't really go get Cespedes and Sizemore both. At least not without making moves to accommodate them.

Awesome to see the hiring of another bigtime stat guy. Who in the hell would have thought that when we started our GM search, we'd wind up with 2 current GM's, including arguably the best in baseball AND 2 more guys that conceivably could have been legitimate GM candidates in their own right. Unbelievable.

Cespedes won't need to be posted.

Z is in a walk year. If he's ever going to get back to where he was, it'd be this upcoming seasob, because he'd like another bigtime contract. No, I don't think he will have a GREAT season, but throwing up a 3 WAR year is very plausible for him. So, unless you either get something substantial or lots of salary relief, you keep him. As far as Kerry Wood goes, I don't see how anyone would be complaining about having a veteran presence and a class act around on a smaller than the market would dictate type of contract. We may not truly need bullpen help, depending on what they do with Shark and Cashner, but who cares? Wood has value at 2 mill or less per year and we'll find ways to use him.

I have read more than one scouting observation that a lot of people think Buehrle is one of those guys that could pitch into his 40's. His delivery is easy and he's never thrown hard to begin with. His motivation is evidently the thing some could see holding him back. Either way, he's not really on my radar, because I think someone WILL give him a 4 or 5 year deal, just too long for me, even if he does look like a guy who can pitch forever.

I want to say a Boston writer made a prediction that Crawford would get dealt to the Cubs during the season. In other words, pure speculation.

I don't think we have to worry about this kind of scenario. Boras will hold Fielder out, until Pujols signs and sets the market. Leaving the Pujols' "losers" more desperate and willing to up the ante for Prince. I see no way Prince signs first here, it's typical Boras and what makes him so effective usually: he waits for the market to develop and holds out for every last penny. In this case, it means waiting out Pujols before dropping his client down into a bidding free for all that's probably going to ensue, once Albert is off the table. To answer your question though, I'd sign whichever one was willing to commit first, because it's better to get one than to mess around and miss out on both.

Oops, I meant how long a Japanese team has players under control, not American, if it came off that way........

Darvish only has ONE more year? I thought Japanese players had to wait 10 years before they could come over without their team controlling the process?