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It was something with the Twins where I think they thought they were getting another player (Really? [expletive] you you got Justin Jones for Mienkietwicz) The Cubs signed Henry Blanco before the arb deadline so Minnesota could get a comp pick the next year. There was a Twins incident, I think, with another organization where they traded for the wrong guy. Basically, two guys had similar names, and their scouts or someone gave the GM the wrong name.

To be fair, I do think Szczur will need to change his swing if he wants more pop, but that said, Keith Law's comparisons are still off. I have to say, though, that was as positive as Law has been about our system. His individual perspective on a few guys might not be high, but note what he said ... Cubs system isn't "weak", it's bottom heavy. Granted, Cubs fans here and elsewhere have been saying that for awhile, so it's nothing new to us.

I like Kurcz quite a bit. You missed the mini-debate we had on Kurcz in the minor league section I guess. I still think he can be a late inning arm and believe he is the best pen prospect in the system (might not have the highest upside, but I think he's the best combination of stuff, control, polish right now). That said, he's a pen arm, and he might not have elite closing stuff, so while I like him, wouldn't be too hurt if we lost him.

This is far too interesring a tidbit to be buried in nonsense. Assuming they mean A Ball and not Rookie League, and Szczur and any '11 picks are off the table, some candidates are: Beeler Kurcz Antigua DelValle Batista Loosen Peralta Liria Rosscup Kirk Rhee Serrano Lopez Silva Alcantara Watkins Less likely possibilities LaPage Burgess Crawford Cerda Hicks Bour Jones As a side note, shortseason is often considered A-, so that could be considered A ball, and in that case, guys like Wells/Golden would top the list of intriguing names. There isn't a single name above that I would be too troubled with losing. Obviously, losing guys that are intriguing hurts, but none of them will make me too upset. I'd rather not give up Rhee/Antigua, guys who will be in the AA rotation next year and are close, and the upside of Liria/Peralta is enticing (although Peralta's control seems to be a big issue) so I'd like to keep them, but no, I wouldn't be too upset about losing any of those guys. Rhee would be the closest to getting me annoyed, but even then, gotta give up something.

With the depth of upside we have in the lower levels, the relative weakness at the top, and Ricketts' commitment to spending on the draft and international signings, I'd rather give up the kids further away than McNutt. If I were unsure of how much Ricketts was going to spend on the draft, I might agree with you, but it's harder to get a highly talented near sure thing in the minors than a couple of high upside kids in low A when you spend like Ricketts is. For the most part, I agree. There is one guy, though, that I would rather hold instead of McNutt, even though he is still raw and needs a lot of development, and that is Marco Hernandez. High impact shortstops are hard to find. He may not develop, but that's a gamble I'd make over McNutt, but that's me.

Just saw the Gammons clip that I'm sure was discussed a dozen or so pages back but too lazy to check for. Interesting that he seems to think it's just A ball prospects. Considering how weak in premium talent Daytona and Peoria were this year, if it's A ball talent or lower, I am concerned that we're going to give up two high ceiling kids. That said, still worth it, but depending on who is given up, I'm not so sure I wouldn't rather give up McNutt in stead.

I don't think anyone has posted this yet. If so, I apologize, but today's chat with Keith Law at ESPN (Cubs-related). A lot Theo related stuff, a lot repetitive questions.

That's fair. We're taking 2 of their top executives, so giving the Padres comp is certainly justifiable. Considering how well they've scouted of late, they'll probably do a good job picking from our lower levels, which have a fair amount of talent to pick from.

McNutt (or Vitters) and Carpenter or Dolis.

Let's not get too overboard on the Theo love. McNutt was a consensus top 75 prospect last year who had injury issues this year. While I think he was a bit overhyped last year, his ceiling is awfully high. Asking Theo to add 5-6 better pitching prospects than what McNutt is right now in 2 years? Going to be tough. The Red Sox system he's leaving behind arguably only has 1 pitching prospect more intriguing than McNutt as of now (Ranaudo ... no way am I ranking Matt Barnes ahead of McNutt). I don't mind giving up McNutt if that's what it takes in the end, but he's a very intriguing talent and asking Theo to come up with 5-6 better guys than him ... not that easy. Even if we account for the guys he's dealt away, well, Casey Kelly isn't viewed as highly anymore and is about on par with McNutt from a talent perspective. Masterson has turned out better than hoped for, while Hagadone never was able to adjust to stay in the rotation.

If this is right, I can't imagine what it is the Cubs DID give up. How in the heck did they wear the Red Sox down that much over the course of week or so? Before we get too giddy (although I am very pleased to hear none of the three are being sent), it's possible Boston decided to go for ceiling and attack our lower levels. I mean, even if we remove draft picks and international signings from this past year, there's still a good crop of high upside talent that they can pick from. All that said, they do have low level upside talent, and what they needed, more than anything, were some upper level pieces. So, maybe it's something like Rhee/Flaherty/Dolis. Here's hoping, at least.

Hmm, assuming that no recent draft picks are involved as some sort of PTBNL, this is good news. My initial hope had been quantity of talent with maybe one or two low-level upside pieces involved. The fact that he left out Vitters name is somewhat interesting, but they have Middlebrooks already. That said, he certainly could be an option since Vitters is likely to go to 1st or corner OF.

Going to be very curious what we ended up giving up for Theo, but at the end of the day, it's time to move forward, for both sides.

I'm tempted to slide Lake back into my Top 20 thanks to his run in the AFL, but that's about it. Oh, I had Lake back inside my top 20 after the last go-around I did on it. I might slide him up a couple more notches. Every once in awhile, I get in a "I'm going to defend Junior Lake mood". Not as strong as Tim, but he does have a lot going for him. Tools wise, still one of the best packages in the system. He can hit a good fastball. Interesting how he was thought of as having little chance of sticking at short when in Arizona, but now, more people seem to think he can. Problem is, he can't hit a breaking ball. Can he correct it? Here's hoping, but he's got to show it first to move back ranking lists. On tools alone, he's still a top 10, if not higher, guy in this system.

They probably will still want compensation, but it sure sounds like things might go smoother with the Padres.

Someone (?) tweeted him the same question: jimcallisBA Jim Callis Closer to middle of pack than bottom three. @jdfisch: @pgammo said #cubs have a bottom three farm system. That cant be possibly true is it? not me ... i don't tweet.

ouch, I remember watching Joe Mahoney the last few years. Decent talent, but nothing too exceptional. Didn't think he was any better than say, a Rebel Ridling type of guy. I wish he had gone elsewhere too if their plan was to start getting him increased work at other positions. Otherwise, he's not getting that much game work at other spots.

I'm not suggesting those guys will be good btw. Was simply responding to your post. I do wonder if Rohan can be a Russ Canzler solid, versatile upper level guy who, in the right situation, could get some look sees at the big league level.

Ridling can play a decent OF. Bour and Jones are the ones that are a bit limited. Rohan can dabble at 3rd, play some corner OF, and obviously, handle first.

I sent BA an email just for the heck of it, asking about general system placement and where McNutt would rank. Since I didn't ask them for the right to post their reply, I'll simply paraphrase and say that Callis said we're more middle of the pack, and McNutt would be top 10 in the Sox system. Someone should uh ... let Gammons know.

[expletive], I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant the Cubs 5th best available prospect(i.e. not Baez) = 25 in the Red Sox system McNutt? Hilarious. What do the Red Sox even have left on the farm? Didn't they trade their top guys for A Gon? There's some pieces. I like Will Middlebrooks, don't love him. He's largely thought to be one of the top 3 guys in the Red Sox system, but I wouldn't rank him above Brett Jackson, and I'm not sure I'd rank him ahead of Szczur or McNutt to be honest. I don't know if Ryan Lavarnaway is still prospect eligible, but if he is, he would be in my top 3. He's a guy that would probably rank around Brett Jackson for many. If you love the bat, then he could be even higher. Then, there are arms like Ranaudo and Barnes, both of them very similar to McNutt in terms of stuff. Ranaudo's a better prospect than McNutt. I wouldn't rank Barnes ahead, but some might. Xander Bogaerts is well-thought of. He's ... uh ... what's a good Cubs comp ... he's perhaps a more polished Gioskar Amaya and would probably be a solid top 10 prospect in the Cubs system. I'll have to think some more about other guys. I don't love Bryce Brentz that much yet. Sean Coyle and Garin Cecchini are good, young positional guys. It's somewhat like ... well, our system. Somewhat thin at the top in terms of impact guys, but with some high ceiling pieces lower on. I'd probably rate it ahead of the Cubs system as of now, but not by much.

That's (slightly) worse than saying a top 5 guy in our system is top 25 in the Red Sox system, since McNutt is better than our 5th best prospect. I think Gammons is way off here. Even if you want to give SNTS credit to say, a Matt Barnes, McNutt isn't that far behind him while arguably having a higher ceiling.

Okay, I decided to listen to the Gammons thing. I disagree with him, but to be clear, on the whole 25th best prospect thing in the Red Sox system, he's only speaking in reference to Trey McNutt. I completely think that's ludicrous (the Red Sox system isn't all that good right now at the top ... ), but if he had been suggesting Brett Jackson was 25th ... that would've been more ridiculous.

Ha, looks like Heyman is somewhat covering his ass. Who knows, maybe the Cubs are trying to grab every person that used to be in the Red Sox organization. Next thing you know, we'll hire Ron Jackson to be a minor league hitting coach.

That's odd. Why would Hoyer make that lateral move? And if he's under contract, the Cubs would have to give compensation there as well.