toonsterwu

probably. I'm not exactly a big fan of Vitters, though. The optimists that I've read seem to think that he can take off once he stops focusing on defense.

I've got very little on Garcia. Cruz is roughly in that 89-92 range, but I've heard from a couple folks that when he reaches back, he has touched mid-90's. He is projected to add some more velocity in time. What I've heard is that the change-up has flashed far better potential than the breaking ball (pretty sure slider, but don't quote me on that). The breaking ball has potential, but he's had trouble locating it at times. It's his potential to add velocity that is why a lot of us have him as our top lefty arm with starting potential. Who is Santana? All I've got on Paulino is that he can run his fastball up there in the mid-90's.

As a total side note, Darvill had actually been swinging a fairly solid bat of late, after a terrible month.

Fascinated that they have Vitters listed as an OF, and not 1st (instead of 3rd). That tends to suggest that the Cubs want him to get work out there. I thought they'd move him to first. Of course, everything comes with the additional note that there will be a new regime so opinions on players may change. I guess if he doesn't hack it as a starter, getting work in the OF increases his versatility. I like Bour better than Hoilman. Bour seems a bit more well-rounded. Neither really looks like anything but a backup at the moment.

Overall great day to follow in terms of young arms. Austin Reed is coming through with arguably his best outing of the year. Thought he was a bit overhyped last year (never understood why folks had him ahead of Ben Wells), but he's pretty much meeting my expectations this year (well, I wish he was better, but in general, thought he was a young arm with a ton of work needed). Starling Peralta followed his solid outing last time with another solid start. Control is still a work in progress, but good to see two strong starts. After an awful start to AAA, Flaherty's hitting has been better. I honestly wouldn't have a big issue if they gave him a shot at a utility job in spring, but he'll probably be ticketed for another round of minor league duty as a "ready" guy in AAA. This is a totally pointless comment, but assuming Brett Jackson doesn't strike out in his AB in the 9th, he'll bring his K rate down to around 29%. I can't recall a guy with his level of solid discipline striking out at 30%, and that 30% number seems to scare a lot of people despite a fairly SSS (200 AB's isn't tiny, but itisn't huge either). I tend to think, over a long period, Brett will probably K around 25% of the time, but I think we could live with that, provided he's a well-rounded player, solid defensively, some pop, and some SB's. Wilson Contreras has been swinging a fairly solid bat of late. Seems to have quietly snuck up a bit. Justin Bour's also on a nice little run of late and may finish the season strong, like Rebel Ridling.

Much as I've never been high on Jin-Yeong Kim, I wouldn't be that quick to slap him that far behind Yao-lin Wang. Wang is more polished, but Kim has a higher upside. That said, amongst the Asian arms, it's clearly Rhee and then the rest. Furthermore, I wouldn't write of Su-min Jung just yet, although I've never been that high on him as well. As for the Latin American arms in the lower levels, in terms of potential (granted, you asked for stuff, but are you referencing current stuff or potential stuff, since some of these youngsters have a lot of physical development to go through), I'd go something like (just a rough go through) Peralta Paulino Cruz Liria Rosario Del Valle Sandoval Serrano There's a few more names, and I don't know enough on guys like Abreu and others to hazard a guess.

A lot depeneds on what they do with Greg Rohan. If they decide to see if Rohan could go up to Tennessee, then it's possible Hoilman gets a look at Daytona. My guess is that he'll be the main slugger in Peoria to start 2012, but a long ways to go. Cuneo is athletic enough to play some outfield, and he was in Peoria earlier, so between Cuneo and Hoilman, I think it's more likely that Cuneo could go up to A+.

just turned 26 late August. Seems like he's been around forever, partly due to the fact that the Dodgers rushed him up from AA that year when their 2nd baseman, name is slipping me, got hurt.

I don't really buy DeWitt's bat getting that much better. For all the talk people had about how his bat would develop at some point, it's never happened. He's 26 now. While there's still time, I'm just not sure I buy it getting that much better. I think he's a serviceable utility guy, particularly if he learns to play some corner OF as he gets older (since he really isn't all that good at 2nd), whereas, on a 2nd tier club, you could probably be fine with Darwin Barney as a starting shortstop.

In year's past, DSL 2 was often the bad squad. This year, they were rolling along, and I remember, around early August perhaps, or late July, they started sending some of the better DSL 1 players over to DSL 2, probably in an effort to push for the playoffs, which they did. My hunch is that they just split the players they have relative to the needs of positions (for example, there was another highly touted shortstop, Daniel Sanchez, who struggled on DSL 1, so Carlos Penalver was on DSL 2) and then make a determination at midseason as to which squad is stronger and build that squad up. KK v Godzilla - which class of IFA signings are you referencing? If it's this year's, no clue. Silva - A lot of folks I know still believe that he's a prime breakout candidate once he gets out of the MWL. I still have my doubts, due to the K's, as I'd like to see that improved, but it sure is going to be interesting to see how he does in Daytona (in all likelihood) next year. I haven't checked the stats in awhile, but Kirk seemed to be having some bad luck. Of course, a grain of salt with any minor league statistical numbers. If Nate's around, maybe he could shed some light, but the general feeling I get is that, early in the season, his mediocre stuff, but solid command, was sneaking by guys, but now that guys have had more looks at him, they are catching up to stuff. Sure feels like he's headed towards a pen move unless his stuff picks up. Still fairly pleased with Golden's season. Perhaps a bit SNTS in hoping the K's will come down with experience, but at his age, we're allowed to hope. Very curious if anyone has reports on how Jay Jackson's breaking stuff looked. If he ever found his breaking stuff AND maintained his control improvement, he'd be a solid end of the rotation option for awhile. I still have my doubts that he can do both, but here's hoping. Very curious how Rosario's breaking ball develops. For some reason, I am somewhat reminded of the development of Alberto Cabrera.

I think he can end up a Marcus Thames-esque power bat off the bench. maybe ... but he's really got to change everything, imo, from his swing to his approach, to really have a shot to work his way up the ladder. Just have never been a huge fan of his (thought Graham Hicks was the most interesting piece from that trade last year, too bad he got injured, although I don't seem to recall what the injury was).

I saw him last year quite a bit more ... and I gave up on him. Just don't think he'll ever find the balance between power and average. I think the kid works hard, based off what I know, but sometimes, it just never clicks for some folks.

It's easy to forget how exciting the top two picks were at the time. Pawelek was viewed as a steal, Donnie Veal was viewed as a nice sleeper type, IIRC. My biggest problem with that draft had to do with the subsequent selections. I won't fault Stockstill for Pawelek that much (I think this is more the fault of the cross checkers for not recognizing the type of person he was, but then again, some people do change when they get money/leave HS, so it could be simply that, Pawelek was viewed as a mature HS arm), but I did not like the picks of Billek, Holliman, and a few others (one that I did sort of like at the time was Joe Simokaitis, as I thought he might've become a Todd Walker type 2nd baseman ... alas it never happened).

Castro has better lateral movement than Barney. Barney, as much as I've defended him while coming up the system, isn't an elite athlete. Castro's a poor runner, but has solid natural speed (he always had poor C-1st times, which was the reason why some folks said he was slow ... he might end up slow as he physically matures (TBD), but he has good raw quickness/speed which, IIRC, a scout had said was average to a tick above average on the scouting scale, not elite speed, but not lumbering either.) Defensively, the lateral movement is more important, imo, particularly at short (rather than raw speed), and Castro moves fine left to right. Castro's biggest problem is ... well ... put it this way, I think if he hunkered down and played short with his full focus, he'd be at least an average shortstop, if not a tick above. Arm strength is a clear advantage for Castro. Look, in time, Castro may grow out of the position (always reminded me, offensively and defensively, a bit of Robinson Cano coming up ... keep in mind the Cano coming up wasn't viewed as the power threat that he is now). I'm not debating that here. My point is this - sure, Barney's steadiness is a benefit and may get overall better defense, but how significant of a difference is this? I'm simply not sold that Barney is a much better defender than Castro over the long haul. Slightly better, perhaps, but I don't see the point of making the move for slightly better. I'd rather see them work with Castro to develop his tools. I believe he can be an average shortstop, and if he was an average shortstop, he'd be a solid top 5-7 shortstop in the bigs, IMO, as he progresses (I mean, statistically, the defensive UZR numbers are killing his fangraphs WAR).

Castro may have to move off short (still think he'll be fine through his cost-controlled years), but I don't love this idea that Barney is a significantly better defensive option out there. He has far less range and arm strength, and I wonder, over the course of a year at short, if he would be far more exposed than we're letting on. I like Barney a lot, but he's a guy that makes all the plays he can get to, but there's some limitations on how many plays he will get to.

I'm fine with giving him another year or two at short, and I don't really care about the errors. Here's the thing, though - if they feel his future is at another position, I'd move him earlier and settle him in. Furthermore, he'll likely work his way up the ladder (hopefully) with a good shortstop prospect - either Marco Hernandez (although I think a lot of us are hoping he gets jumped to full-season to start 2012) or Carlos Penalver. Who knows, maybe Daniel Sanchez can turn it around and add to that mix as well. I think you give him 2012 at shortstop, but begin to work him at other positions, and if they feel he has to definitely move, I'd hope by 2013 that they have him working primarily at another position.

I wouldn't make the decision based on who else is in the system. His greatest value to the team may end up being via trade, and if he can handle 2B that may be the right decision to make. A good hitting 2B has more cache than a similar hitting 3B. I wouldn't make the decision based on who else is in the system as well. My point was, and it might've not come out as I intended, if they feel he's better at 3rd, then move him that way and don't bother with working him at 2nd simply because. Get him settled into one spot, rather than shifting him around.

I have a list I sort of like, but am tinkering with it. I'll be honest, I've given strong consideration to Dae-Eun Rhee at 2. I was impressed with what I saw earlier this year, and with JJ Cooper's comments a week or so, it definitely has me pondering it. One big concern I had when I saw him was whether or not he could consistently work deep into games, but he's been doing that over the last few months. I just don't love McNutt that much, even though I've seen flashes of the plus fast/plus breaking ball/solid change. That said, there's very little justification for me to go with Rhee over McNutt, outside of gut feeling, so I won't do it. McNutt's at a higher level, has shown flashes of a deeper overall arsenal, and has a better physical build. One thing I'd love to do, but just can't find enough justification to do it, is to put Ben Wells top 6 (granted, I have him 7th right now, so not a significant difference). There's a ton I love about him, but I'll keep Maples ahead for now due to the expectations on Maples stuff coming out of the gate.

Darvill's really had a strong August. At the end of the day, though, he needs to show some power development to really have a shot. Amaya's got a quality ceiling, as there is, as Raisin has noted, some power potential. How much power develops will ultimately determine how good a prospect he becomes, but there's a strong enough hit tool to work with there.

I'm not sure that they need to really try him at 2nd if they feel he's better at 3rd. I'm not against it, but there's enough up the middle guys that they should be able to stopgap 2nd base with someone from the system, and maybe Castro slides that way. If they feel he's better suited at 3rd, then I'd move him there after short.

Well, not necessarily. Even for guys that the feel are destined for pen duty, the Cubs, under the current/former/whatever it is regime has always encouraged guys to work on extra pitches. It's a smart plan, but most guys destined for pen duty don't pick up that 3rd/4th pitch too well because they just don't use it that much. Kyler's a unique situation. They probably want to get some ROI on him, so my guess is that they may push him somewhat (just a guess, I'm sure chatt would know better), so it wouldn't surprise me if he saw Daytona at some point early in 2012. That said, his raw stuff is pretty unique, as he (probably) has above average velo for a lefty starter, and as a pen arm, has power lefty potential. I mean, up and down the system, there are very few power lefty's in the Cubs system, so he's special in that regards (even Jeff Beliveau and John Gaub are more low 90's guys who might occasionally ramp it up, but typically lose something when they do). Kyler looks really fascinating right now, and let's hope all goes well on the developmental front.

Kyler's definitely had a solid year. Looking forward to seeing what he can do in full-season ball as a pen lefty. With the deep repetoire, I half-wonder if they ponder him for some rotation/piggyback work.

Very good start for Ben Wells. Very bullish on him. He gets good natural sinking action on the fastball, love the frame, and the secondary pitches have shown flashes at times this year. If he tidies that up, he could be devastating.

I'm huge on Jensen. I'll be honest ... I'm more excited about Jensen than I am about Maples (the arm action of Maples concerns me). Jensen looks ... potentially dominant, stuff wise.

Been hearing more high 80's/low 90's for Liria, but he can occasionally ratchet it up. I think it's more, we hope he can get to 93/94, as he does have some physical projection left.