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Until he starts to show some polish on his tools, it's hard for me to put him in the top 30. I mean, I'm not sure I'm going to have Junior Lake in my top 30, but he's far more deserving than Easterling.

I don't. He's a solid bet (bet's still a bet, so obviously no certainty) to be roughly a 3 WAR CF sooner than later. He's a possible 20/20 guy in his prime, and his defense has improved this year. An elite player? Probably not. An above average starting caliber up the middle player that might have a top season here and there, though, is a very valuable asset. Are there guys with higher ceilings? Sure, but no one in the system really has his combination of value, ceiling, and floor, IMO. Maybe Vitters develops into being a better hitter (I have my doubts), but he's going to have to significantly outhit Brett to be more valuable at the next level, particularly since his defense at 3rd is iffy (and I've defended his defense there, somewhat, but it is iffy). With Szczur's inconsistencies, I think Brett is far and away the easy choice for the top spot in the system. Szczur was the only guy that really had a chance, I think, to push Brett (for me). Baez is just too raw and too far away for me to ponder it, and McNutt's been too inconsistent.

googled this up http://www.pjstar.com/news/x2094011729/Chiefs-newcomers-Del-Valle-Klafczynski-lead-way-in-win-over-Lake-County Had his fastball peaking at 92 in July. I've got to think 98 is an aberration, or the gun was faulty. I just hadn't heard anything anywhere near that this year from anyone. Don't know the consistent quality of his slider, though. Had heard it was fairly mediocre in a game.

whoa, that's from a legitimate source as well in Bob Nightengale. That said, I'm guessing he's going by a stadium gun. The highest I had heard on Del Valle was topping out in the mid-90's, but I was under the impression he was sitting more low 90's. If he can consistently get it up into the upper 90's ... that'd be a fascinating talent, regardless of how raw his secondary stuff is.

I like his approach to leaving Hendry to know the players and make reaches (then negotiate with them) in spite of having fired him. Wilken was running the draft room, and Ricketts seemed to build a strong rapport with Wilken. Despite his history in scouting, I've been under the impression that Hendry, during his tenure as GM, has largely let his scouting directors run the draft, and particularly in recent years, due to Wilken's stature in the industry. It also might give us insight as to why Ricketts was in the war room with Wilken.

What excites me about Rhee is this - first 8 starts of the year, only once did he complete 5. Last 15 starts, only twice did he fail to complete 5, and 8 out of his last 12 starts, he's gone at least 6. One of the bigger concerns with Rhee, for me, has always been whether or not he could physically hold up as a starter, and this was concern existed pre-TJ. Add in Cooper's recent comment on him, and he's definitely getting back some of that love he had from two years ago.

Some scuffles in the 7th (2 outs, then walk, single, single (1 R), before a K to end) makes the line look a bit weaker, but I'm pleased that the Cubs are pushing his pitch counts in an effort to work him (97 pitches).

I was under the impression that Del Valle was 90/91 on the fastball, with a decent slider, decent change. Am I mixing him up with someone?

The comp I'd make is why Amaya over Watkins? I'm not ready to go that high on Amaya yet, at least as of this run through. Both likely won't stick at short. Not sold that Amaya has a better hit tool than Watkins. I also think, as of now, that I'm going to get Clevenger in my top 30. The reports on his improved defense is enough for me, I think, to get him in there as an upper level, close to ready guy.

Been dabbling with a new list ... should be done with it soon ... i think the major difference that i can quickly note is that I have Struck/Beeler/Rhee a few slots higher as of now. Still trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with the low level/high upside guys, though. Was planning on posting at Sickels, so tagging grades along, but really, after the top few, it's mostly C+'s.

Good to see him back. He had been having a decent enough season in Peoria. Better for him to get fully healthy, see if he can get stronger/fill in a bit, and give Peoria another go in his age 22 season. He's one of the few lefties in the system with some projection left. __ Fairly curious how Rubi Silva does away from the MWL. Still not a huge fan of the discipline for the skillset, but enough people speak highly of how he looks in practice that I wonder if he is a possible takeoff/breakout type of guy. __ Ryan Flaherty's been swinging a better bat of late. Gun to my head, and I still have questions if he can actually make it as a starter. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why he couldn't be a 2nd division starter, provided he settles in at a spot. I buy his ability to make enough contact (say, .250 on a bad year, .270ish on a good year), he has a solid enough approach/eye at the plate, and he has big time power. A .260/.350/.450 guy could certainly be a 2nd division starter if the right opportunity presented itself.

I definitely like this one. This one 2, considering Donaldson(along with Murton whose in Japan and Gallagher and E Patt, both of whom I've completely lost track of) netted us Rich Harden, although harden didn't quite work out as well as we would have liked. Gallagher's with the Pirates AAA club. He's been a big disappointment. I was huge on him, but he just never developed. I know some A's fans thought they ruined his arm (can't remember the specific incident) so maybe that has something to do with it. E.Patt's with the Padres AAA squad. At this stage, he is what he is, a useful depth guy in AAA who will occasionally get a look in the bigs.

pretty certain that Dickson was out with some sort of injury this year. Must have had decent reports from his first two years.

Did Hultzen really top Bell in terms of money? A bit surprised at that.

Jose Rosario has a nice live arm. I know he was occasionally hitting mid-90's, but I don't believe that was as a starter. Bit hazy on his secondary stuff, off the top.

\ I'm far more intrigued with Jensen than I am with, say, Zych, to be honest. Actually, of the arms in the draft, I'm not sure Jensen doesn't intrigue me more than Maples/Scott, but Maples has shown better stuff. I'm not all that intrigued with Dugas/Hoilman to be honest. I'd like Bradley Zimmer, and he'd be on my intriguing list if he signed (haven't seen any news on that, though).

Chris Husby? Big 6'7" righty. IIRC, junior year, was considered a top prospect, but had surgery (TJ?) that kept him off the radar senior year. Cubs kept tabs on him. Showed some flashes early in his minor league career (solid season in Peoria's pen in 2009), but control/mechanic issues eventually got to him, and last year, asked to move to the OF (or Cubs moved him, don't recall off the top), as he just couldn't handle pitching last year.

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the Marlins/Loria decided to shop Morrison around. Now, their front office is relatively shrewd when making deals, so they'd want a bundle, and I'm not sure the Cubs have said bundle to entice them. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they shipped him off, though. The one thing that may hold them back is the desire to have a competitive squad to move into the new stadium.

He looked really good at KC last time. Sitting behind some scouts Got gun times anywhere from 89-92. They said his change is his best pitch. Whoa ... 89-92? Sitting there? That's higher than I had heard from this year. It'd be a nice positive, if he had picked up velo as the season progressed. Change is good, though.

SNTS? I don't want to be too hard on the kid, but showing up to ST out of shape is pretty bad. When you become a pro, baseball becomes what you do. By showing up out of shape he's basically saying he doesn't care. He can certainly change, maybe he has already I don't know. I hope he pans out but I need to see more. SNTS (Shiny New Toy Snydrome) And yeah, showing up out of shape was a bad sign, but he looks alright right now and seems to be playing well. Maybe he's learned his lesson. Again, a possible SNTS hope perhaps (that he's learned his lesson ... or it could be a sign of things to come).

Rock Shoulders just passed Rebel Ridling for most awesome name in the system. Congrats Rock! Nah, I still prefer Rebel as it's a given name, to the best of my knowledge. Rock is close, but saying Roderick Shoulders takes some steam out of the name.

They've got some guys in the system that they would probably prefer ahead of Vitters as options for 3rd baseman of the future. In the interim, Prado would get more time at 3rd (probably) if Chipper retired. I'd guess they might have interest in Vitters, but more as a 2nd/3rd chip in a trade.

I would love to fill the hole at 1B with Fielder or Pujols as long as we can do it without signing either of them for 6+ years, but I don't know if that's very realistic. I was perusing a list of 2012 free agents, and saw some interesting names besides the turds you listed. I would welcome guys like Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer as cheaper offensive options assuming the Colvin experiment doesn't work out. I've seen a lot of talk about C.J. Wilson on here. He's a great pitcher, but since he's one of the bigger names available, he's going to get paid. Paul Maholm's overall numbers actually compare pretty similarly to Wilson's (minus the strikeouts) and I would assume he could be had much cheaper. Although, I would expect Wilson's numbers to improve with a move to the NL. I guess I'm just saying I don't think it's an absolute necessity to sign the sexy names this offseason in order to improve the team. It seems perfectly reasonable to me for the FO to have concerns about sinking big bucks into one player. Basically, the Olney tweet is pretty damn obvious. By the way, here's the list I was using. http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2001/04/potential-free-agents-for-2012.html If it's incorrect, or if I'm missing something, I apologize. To me, keeping Ramirez around for next season should be the top priority. 3B will be a [expletive] otherwise. I like Maholm enough. I think the Pirates will likely keep him. That said ... the strikeouts are gigantic factor. I just found it interesting that you would say they are similar minus the strikeouts. CJ's ability to get people to whiff is why folks consider him a solid mid-rotation starter, a 2, 2/3 type of guy. Maholm's more of a 4th starter type on a good squad, maybe a 3rd starter. It's not a gigantic difference, but there is a significant enough difference because of the strikeouts.

I tend to view it slightly different than that. If they pass on them because they feel that there is a chance that Fielder's contract will be an albatross and that he will be on his decline by the time their next core is ready (and let's be realistic, we really don't have a chance of having a next core in place until, say, 2013 at earliest, and perhaps even later than that, doesn't mean we can't have good seasons or luck our way into a situation, but speaking specifically of a core to build around), then I don't have a problem if they pass on it. Now, if they pass on making a deal because they are gun-shy or being budget oriented, then I have a problem. That said, Ricketts kept payroll somewhat similar while increasing our draft/international budget. Don't get me wrong, overall, I'm for adding Fielder (with limitations). I'm just not against it if they feel that the next core won't be ready for a few years and the contract isn't worth it . All this leaves behind a simple thing that hasn't been discussed in the optimistic hopes for a big addition. Would Fielder (or Pujols, but I've never believed he'd leave) come to an organization without some additional significant moves made in the offseason? Even then, we need roughly three big moves (SP, 2 big bats) to look intriguing on paper, and there are organizations that have money to spend that are in a similar boat. It's hard to imagine that, say, Fielder, would want to come unless these moves are made beforehand. Are we prepared to make long term financial commitments that may simply lead to a similar dynamic that we are going through now and/or strip away the rebuilding farm system (and there's very limited capabilities to make a big trade this offseason, maybe 1 big trade at best)?

I'm fairly pleased with Reggie Golden's season. He seems to be somewhat ... under-discussed? Considering a) How raw he was out of HS b) The weight issues in spring I'm fairly pleased with his overall offensive and defensive performance on the season and am quite hopeful. He's showing the ability to drive the ball and take walks. The K's had to be anticipated somewhat, considering the background. Is there a bit of SNTS in hoping that the K's will come down a bit (somewhat akin to some hope that BJax would bring his K rate down a bit)? Perhaps, but considering age and level, I think it's a fair hope right now.