davell

I think he'll be in Peoria next year. He's probably too raw to try to push higher than that.

This makes last year's draft look better now anyway, as Szczur is now the highest paid out bonus from last year's draft for the Cubs. I'm very happy about this, but this should be EXPECTED to be done by the Cubs. We need to do alot more to the farm this year, but this is a decent start at least. I hope this doesn't count into the budget of this year's spending though.

Awesome. So he's getting 1.5 mill now? I guess that shows the Cubs think VERY highly of him anyway.

If I remember, the reason we didn't get him is because we wouldn't go 5 years for him.

I don't see much to get excited about looking up Coleman's minor league history. What is it that projects him to be a major league starter? Bloodlines for one. His dad and grandfather were both major league pitchers. He's also got good control and knows how to pitch with what he has. His repertoire isn't anything special by any stretch and he doesn't even hit 90 all that often(probably rarely actually). His best pitch is his changeup, but he also throws a cutter and a sinker. He's also got very solid mechanics. He tends to get a little too fine with some of his pitches, which can lead to trouble, but he knows the little things that most guys his age don't. He's not all that talented, but he is a decent athlete and while I definitely don't see him as a starter for the Cubs, he could be the swingman possibly. But, I think he's probably a guy that eventually gets included in a trade to a small market team, where he'll be OK as a back end starter.

Bruce seemed to indicate they're working on both. Whether that means they'll sign him then go to work on a multi-year deal or use the one year deal as a backup plan, I'm not sure. Marmol filed for arbitration today. Levine speculated Cubs could come in at 4-4.5 mill while Marmol may want 5 or slightly more. My guess is they're working on a longer deal personally.

In the grand scheme of things, the Cubs will have to decide whether or not they value Reed's right handed bat against lefties versus Perez' speed when it comes to the 25th spot. Since Perez is a switch hitter, will actually come a tad cheaper and is younger as well, I kind of figure he'll win the last spot. Unless Reed just totally kills it in ST and Perez sucks.

I wonder if we're working on a one year deal with Marmol or if we're looking at locking him up for the next 3-4 seasons?

So, during the Cub Convention, Wilken said if he had his druthers, he'd like a hitter, but basically said he'd take whatever falls to him. To me, there just aren't that many hitters(right now anyway) that make sense to take in the 1st for us. You've got Rendon, who ain't making it to us. Probably not even if he's not healthy. After that, I'm not sure there's a consensus 2nd best hitter even. Is it George Springer? He's got lots of power anyway, kind of fits what our system needs. Is it Travis Harrison? Same as Springer, but may not fit the mold of Wilken "athletic" type picks. Then, you have Jackie Bradley and Brian Goodwin, who both appear to be alot like Brett Jackson, so they're probably not someone we'd go after. You do have Bubba Starling, but what's it going to take to sign him? If it's a Zack Lee type commitment, is it worth it for the Cubs to do that or to use that extra money for more players? I think we'll wind up taking a pitcher in the 1st round because of this in the end. Between Purke and Cole, it wouldn't totally shock me to see one of them fall, due to what type of money they may want. Sonny Gray has already been drafted by us once already and may be there if one of those 1st two guys aren't. I'd like him much more than any hitter not named Rendon. Taylor Jungmann seems like a very "safe" pick, as a guy who will almost definitely be a 3ish type starter in the majors. If he's willing to sign for slot, I think he'd be a decent guy for us. Daniel Norris appears to be the top HS pitcher at this point and since he's a lefty and throws serious heat, I can't say I'd be diappointed with him either. The other 2 guys who appear to be top HS pitchers with the ability to go top 10 are Archie Bradley, who like Starling could be swayed by football and Dylan Bundy, a shorter righty. Kind of like Gray coming out of HS possibly. Anyway, for now, my top 9 as far as who I'd want the Cubs to take when it comes time in order are as follows...... 1 Rendon 2 Purke 3 Cole 4 Norris 5 Gray 6 Starling 7 Jungmann 8 Harrison 9 Springer

Heyman tweeted Garza agreed to 5.95 mill today I think anyway......Kind of odd wording in it.

Probably not, but if you're going to include Shark in the list, you have to include Diamond. He could well get some starts this year to fill for injuries. At what point does Shark not make a run for the NFL? This is his last year under contract, so if he doesn't make it happen this year in baseball, my guess is he'd make an attempt at the NFl next year.

Blake Griffin has 28 at the half against the Pacers.

Darvin Adams turned pro.

Morris has a heavy 93-95 MPH sinker as well, by the way, according to Callis. Whoever the 3rd guy is(I guess they know), he didn't make the Nats top 30, according to them.

Funniest thing about this: Burgess is going to be ranked 19th in BA's top 30 that's coming out for the Nats. Morris? 18th. No idea what Burgess did to decrease his value THAT much over the course of a season that looks, on paper, to have been solid at least.

According to Keith Law, Burgess doesn't recognize breaking pitches at all. Won't be a regular unless that changes. Projects him as a backup because of that.

Kevin Goldstein of BP says Morris has an average FB, plus slider, and plus command. Thinks he's a big league reliever, but not back end of pen.

I was wrong. He was much better BEFORE they switched him to the pen.

True, but he's a 3 year college pitcher that was a 4th rounder and is actually one of their top 20 prospects most likely. They switched him to relief and he appeared to do better in that role.

This also potentially gives the Cubs more money to do other things. Spend on the draft or Int FA, add something at the deadline, etc......Which is nice. Especially for someone who's very easily replaceable, if you ask me. I don't think that we HAVE to have a lefty in the rotation for it to be a strength. It'd be nice, but it's not a necessity. Does this mean Russell may have a better shot than before at making the rotation? Probably, but he may be able to do what Gorz did anyway. A 1.50ish WHIP isn't anything great obviously and we can probably get that out of alot of guys. I had to go back and look what we gave up for Grabow and Gorzelanny, because I couldn't remember. It was Josh Harrison, Jose Ascanio, and Kevin Hart. Hendry sold high on Gorz and deserves a little praise on this move anyway.

Golden is really unknown right now. At this point, I'd say Golden has more POTENTIAL power than Burgess, but as far as guys in the upper levels of our system, I'd think Burgess is right there with Brett Jackson and Vitters for having the most possible thump. And our system sorely lacks guys like this too, making this an even better pickup.

Damn, when I brought him up, I didn't really have alot of hope to actually get him. He'll probably start off in AA and I'd say this puts Kyler Burke's OF career on a very short notice. And if one of the pitchers we get back has some upside, this makes this even better. But, as someone else just said, I'm happy with Burgess.

I think their system gets a huge bump for having Harper. I like Espinosa quite a bit, but that's all they have that really appeals to me, other than what they drafted this past year. Cole and Solis are both potential frontline starters.

No doubt in my mind. Seriously though, I'm hoping for Michael Burgess.

Certainly possible, but I don't think that Wells is even assured of a spot. I'll go ahead and say I expect Cashner to make it personally.