davell

I'm guessing you feel a bit better now?

I think stats are secondary to scouting reports for me. If a young guy is holding his own or performing very well, for the level he's at, then I perk up a bit. DSL/Arizona- Complex ball stats mean next to nothing, unless they're ridiculously awful. I'd much prefer reports. Short Season Ball- I don't want to see college kids struggling here. If a just drafted HS kid puts up great numbers, I'll pay attention. A Ball- If you're a college draftee and in your first full season, I expect you to do very well here. If you're out of HS or a J2 guy and you're putting up GOOD stats at 19 here, I'm happy. Average numbers? I suspect you're going to repeat a level soon. A+ Ball- First year college kid putting up good numbers here is good. HS/J2 guys 20 or under is the same for me. AA- Stats start to matter more to me. Age appropriate still counts, but once a guy hits AA for me, its close enough that anything becomes possible, at that stage. Some of the things guys may have sacrificed stats for earlier start showing up a bit more perhaps. AAA- You're one level away, one injury away. Stats matter a ton, as the Cubs aren't likely to pull a guy up, who's struggling. Odds and Ends- I don't want to see guys K rates moving up a bunch from level to level. (Shocker lol)If you're in the mid to upper 20's, at a lower level, I suspect the power numbers are going to drop as you try to put the bat on the ball later on, or you're just going to never make it to the upper levels. For pitchers, I don't want to see a bunch of walks. I don't want to see guys throwing 90+ pitches to get thru 5, if they're college pitchers, pitching in lower levels. I think HR rate is stupid, unless its insanely high. A huge K rate interests me. Not more important than limiting walks for me though. Definite personal preference and may be in the vast minority there. I also expect improvement in the 2nd half of the season. Still, I like reports much more. Contact rates for hitters aren't impressive if they're grounding out weakly a ton. K rates for pitchers may fluctuate, as the pitching coach at MB explained, as an example. I like knowing if a guy has a "go to" pitch, or two(in a perfect world) 22 and 23 year olds putting up numbers in A ball? I want to see them moved up quickly, or I don't think the org sees you as much of a prospect.

I'll guess this one gets a lot of play around here.

I hate the fact they constantly move Paredes around in the lineup. I don't have any idea if it bothers him or not, but SB isn't exactly overflowing with guys who are actual prospects. Him and Wilson should be near the top of the lineup, just to get them the most AB's they can get.

Hudson goes 6 6 1 1 2 2, with 10/3 GO/FO. He's been extremely good outside that first outing. Really wish we'd hear some sort of report on his stuff.

Are we sure Eloy hit a HR? Milb has it as EJM, who evidently replaced him in RF at some point?

Thanks UK. Different type of question, but who are a few pitchers you think the Cubs could consider in the 2nd or 3rd? If its too broad, how about just college guys?

Candelario HR(2 days in a row) and Zagunis HR

Depending on what type of pitcher we target at the deadline, if Candelario isn't involved in THAT deal, I'd love to move him to the Braves, for any number of guys. I might even take a quantity approach, if they'd be up for it. The Dodgers are expecting Buehler up as a reliever this year. And after spending 32 mill on Alvarez, I doubt they'd move him. At any rate, if they move any of there young pitching, it'd be for immediate help, which we don't have to send them. Plus, I've got a feeling Theo and Friedman(even if they weren't our biggest threat) would probably find it much easier to deal with basically ANYONE else.

I think Kellogg is a guy that may wind up getting a few starts for a tanking team with a shitty major league roster in 3-4 years. I've brought up Jokisch as a likely career path for him. Fringe stuff that gets by in the minors, just no upside at all. Jokisch didn't get a ML callup though(I don't think anyway?)despite putting up solid numbers at each stop in the minors. I figure Kellogg has a shot to make it there, but not with us. At any rate, he's far from interchangeable with guys like Clifton and De La Cruz, who are both top 50-75 pitching prospects in baseball.

I think Romero will be there. Law thinks he'll go 2nd or 3rd round now. Personally, I've got a feeling Hiura goes early, top 15. Kendall does seem to be sliding, but I doubt he falls outside the top 20. Adell falling in BA's latest mock really intrigues me, but I'm guessing that's a monetary thing and I don't think I'd be comfortable blowing most of the budget for BOTH those picks on him. I think my group for 27 and 30 is Little, Pearson, and Schmidt(screw it, I'll roll the dice)for pitching. With Allen, Ramos, Holmes, and maybe Warmoth, for position guys. If Hiura or Kendall fall, I'd be all over them. Same with Peterson and probably Canning, on the pitching side. Doesn't seem as if any of those 4 are there though. In the 2nd, I'd love to nab Romero, Crowe, or Beck.

NM, didn't see TT's post at the bottom of the last page.

Yeah, we started an IFA Thread for the upcoming year, but its probably a page or two back, since this guy is all we've got to talk about. Still, VERY cool to get a top 30 guy in a year we're still penalized. Hoping we find more bargains out of Mexico. As for Mendoza, his showcases have been uneven. Teams have seemingly paused on him for now. Don't know if its the asking price, performance, or both.

Heres a look at it.

Seriously, its going to be hard to even pull for his kid, who seems normal.

That's disappointing. I wonder if he got hurt or if his one outing was enough to show he wasn't ready for full season ball? At any rate, i 'm glad he's pitching, but was hoping for more. Hopefully Clark can build on his end of the year and get to SB quick.

No. If he's on the mound, then cool. But, they're looking at other guys for the most part. Might as well take a few notes. But, he's not even a top 30 prospect in a middling system. If there was ANY buzz whatsoever on him, BA, BP, FG, or Law would have actually ranked him. Sickels, has him inside his list, but hes a stats guy and had actually pegged him to break out. He didnt, not a shock. No ones clamoring to get him into their system. He can be a Rashad Crawford type of 4th piece in a deal, as can 15-20 other guys we've got in that 25-45ish area of our system.

UK, what can you give us on Logan Warmoth?

[tweet] [/tweet] Awesome

Let's be real, he's INFINITELY more talented than Tebow or Manziel.

That's kind of the point though, the only 3/4 type future starters in our system are Clifton and De La Cruz. Cease may be that, or possibly better than that. Who knows about Albertos obviously. Realistically, where do you go from there, when talking about Cubs pitching prospects? Hudson? Who's a gigantic question obviously. From there, its a bunch of guys you hope can turn into 5's.....Hedges, Tseng, Alzolay, Steele, Hatch(unless he shows much more at some point) And again, I'm not concerned with De La Cruz' K rate, because of what the pitching coach said. Hell, he didn't throw as great of a percentage of strikes yesterday and his K rate went UP, because he was forced into situations where it made sense to go for the K, just as his PC had said. Clifton and him are both borderline top 100 prospects. That's not super exciting, but its better than we've had in a very long time, especially when you add Cease(and hopefully Albertos) to that.

De La Cruz has been pretty damn good this year. He's easily the most exciting pitching prospect we've got outside of Cease and maybe Albertos, depending on what he looks like in real game action. He's still learning to pitch, he's not got that many innings under his belt and he's got excellent scouting reports and size too. The fact he's been consistently over or around the plate, with his stuff, is good enough at this stage. He's more than held his own in High A, despite very limited exposure to full season ball. If he stays healthy and logs innings all year this year, he'll probably see a few starts in Tennessee.

He's the one now going down for J-Hey, right? I could see him and Pena getting swapped out. Figure its Seal Boy for Heyward.

Damn, they aren't even pretending to give a horsefeathers about Pierce's arm.

Well, it helped that Hendricks was Maddux reborn, Lackey found the fountain of youth and Jake wasn't garbage for the entire season. You have your seasons confused because none of that happened in 2015 The point is we need more than a 5th starter.