toonsterwu

high 80's guy with a decent breaking ball, IIRC. Feels like a pick where they believe he'll fill out, as I think he's a fairly skinny kid for his size. Seems like a decent enough pivk here.

I half wonder if the loaded pitching at XST had them leaning towards filling positional holes earlier. I mean, we do have a lot of intriguing arms in XST that are poised for shortseason ball. System seems very reminiscent of the 2003 system in that way. Here's hoping more arms turn out than that group did.

Well ... it's not exactly a high floor pick, but I'm not jumping for joy for Zych. That said, he could move fast, I guess, and I could see the big league bullpen being shook up a ton sooner than later.

Being only a sophomore, I wonder how polished he is. His stats profile changed completely between freshman and sophomore year. He hit 9 HR as a freshman, with 50K/211 AB, horrible. This year his BB/K went from 29BB/50K to 57BB/30K. Total reversal, really weird. With 57 walks plus 11 HBP, that was 68 free on-bases for only 215 AB. A .151 IsoD is kind of hard to get when it's built on a .340 average. Heh, I'll guess he gets with the Cubs, they encourage him to be aggressive, and he'll loses the walking, which is the one thing that stands out. I don't think the Campana analogy works very well. If Campana had a .150 IsoD, we'd totally love the guy. Second, Campana never hit 9 HR, even with metal. Obviously not a pick that's easy to love, but I guess we'll see how it works out. Some of the 3rd round type picks I liked the least (Theriot and was Barney 3rd or 4th?) have actually had some of the most big-league starts of any of the players drafted by the Cubs lately. He's like some Frankenstein of Patterson, Thomas, and Campana. How about a cross between Super Sam fuld and Tony Campana?

I have an odd feeling that we may take a college guy that could move fast, akin to the Rusin pick. I'm hoping for more upside though.

I'm assuming this is in reference to DeVoss. I think he's got a better approach than EPatt at the plate. He understands his game is small ball. I think he is also a better base runner than EPatt. I think DeVoss is closer to a Campana, perhaps with a bit better approach at the plate and a bit better of a threat with the bat, albeit, probably not as fast.

pretty sure he was picked late 2nd.

eh ... devoss ... fits some of the past drafts of the cubs going after some more polished guys in that 3rd-7th round area to balance things out ...

so, who do folks want for the 3rd round? I wouldn't mind a pitcher, but I still would like more power and Derek Fisher stands out to me. Granted, gonna be costly to buy him out of UVA.

What an ugly video. I'm pretty sure this guy is in my softball league. Very stiff swing. I like the concept of an actual corner bat though. Any idea of signability? Goldstein says he sent a pre-draft letter wanting 1.65 million interesting if it does end up taking something near there to get it done.

Half wonder if they were waiting on someone to fall ... but this move also makes me wonder how much overslotting power Wilken will be allowed to pursue. Not bad, as it gets some legit power in there and he does have some things Wilken looks for - quick wrists, good bat speed.

eh, i'm not one to believe that since we've failed before, we should stop trying. Scouting shouldn't be overly concerned about player development. They should focus on who they think is best. As some scouts say, if the player has the talent, ability, and work ethic, it should come through irrespective of flaws in player development strategy (I guess if Baez fails, I'm also saying that there's a chance that there was a failure in some aspect of scouting, whether it was the work ethic, discipline, etceteras).

The guy I really want is Derek Fisher. Feels like a Wilken type of pick as well (athletic guy who currently plays up the middle), but more importantly, has ridiculous raw power. I don't mind the gamble - sure, he's got a high bust rate, but I want the system to add some power. Also, 2-3 million isn't that much. That said, I have my doubts the Cubs will spend like that.

From Bruce Miles blog

I am fairly happy with this pick. There were only two guys I preferred a touch more - Sonny Gray and Taylor Guerrieri, relative to what was on the board. I like Baez's chance to hit for power, and it's nice to get a good corner prospect (even if the Cubs keep him in MI for a few years, I fully expect him to move to the corner at some point).

first thing that caught my eye in KLaw's chat - he believes Houston will get someone better than Jungmann ... like Meyer. Wouldn't have even crossed my mind last year that Meyer would eventually be considered similar to Jungmann if not higher, despite Meyer's upside.

Very excited about the type of talent at Boise. Great pitching talent, but more intriguing is the fact that there is some decent power potential in Contreras, Geiger, and Golden. Positive reports on Cabezas, and curiosity on how Darvill adjusts to the swing adjustments he was supposedly working on as well as being slightly bigger physically are other things that I'm curious about. Heck, I'm curious about Amaya after a couple decent reports on him. A bit disappointed to see Jon Nagel's name languishing in AZL on the projection. Now, I understand he's rehabbing, just disappointed because I remember the intrigue I had with his name a few years back. Cuneo is off to a really nice start. I doubt he'll get a bump this year, but I hope I'm wrong.

I guess this means that Stevens cleared waivers? yup, couple days ago, I think.

I'm actually quite pleased that Struck's 2nd showing was decent. I thought that was a decent outing from Simpson, and pretty happy with Rhee's outing as well, as it seems like the stuff is playing up again.

The rumors have been that Washington wants a college arm to fall from that Cole/Bauer/Hultzen trio, and would pop one of them over the prep kids. They want a guy to join with Strasburg and Zimmerman, perhaps as soon as 2013. Add in that Hultzen's a local boy, and that Washington was the last time (in terms of draft order) that he met with, and I buy that. _____ For awhile I was okay with the Lindor pick, but I'm starting to lean slightly against it. I'd like the system to add a polished college shortstop with some upside, if possible, or at least a Darwin Barney level guy. That guy would slot in next year at Peoria with someone from the Marco Hernandez, Gioskar Amaya, Wes Darvill trio (or maybe Alcantara repeats Peoria). With the two kids in DSL potentially having a chance to come stateside, and with the type of talent that will be available at 9, I wouldn't hate the Lindor pick, but currently feel like it'd be better spent elsewhere. ______ Sure feels like Sonny Gray may be slipping a bit. Kid's got good stuff and I believe in his change.

On paper, Lindor is probably a slicker fielder than Barney. Much as I have defended Barney in the past, he was a guy with good enough athleticism and the ability to be consistent, whereas Lindor flashes more raw athletic ability. I'm coming around on Baez. Usually takes me forever to catch up on the baseball draft, but I really like his bat to develop enough power to eventually move to a corner spot. It'd be a gamble, though. That said, I think with the way things are shaking out, we are probably looking at Starling staring at us at 9, and if all the rumors are correct, we'll jump on that. If Seattle goes Rendon, feels like prep pitching and college pitching will dominate 3-6. If Seattle goes Lindor, then Rendon will probably slip (still think he gets past Arizona in that situation, but who knows, crazy times), which may end up freeing up an arm to slide a bit, but with Arizona/Cleveland both potentially looking at arms, it's quite possible none of the preferred guys fall to us and that Starling is the one that slips in that scenario. A long way to go, and a lot of talks/rumors to come, but I'm thinking Starling, and I'm fine with that. You gamble on stardom, and Starling, by most accounts, has the work ethic, off-field stuff to succeed, and it's a matter of learning.

Odd odd pick. HAven't heard a ton about Wilken and Fernandez. Have I missed stuff? I think I would be absolutely disappointed. Rawnsley does sort of defend Wilken, noting that he'll be proven right more often than not, but I'd be really disappointed if Fernandez was the pick.

I'd be okay with it, but I wouldn't love it. I do think Mahtook's power will develop, but there's guys with better ceilings. Basically, as others have noted, you'd be drafting another Brett Jackson, and we need better upside than that, IMO.

In that scenario, there would be a really good chance Bundy falls to the Cubs. Just playing out my hunches on that scenario for the heck of it ... 1. Pirates - Cole. 2. Mariners - Lindor. 3. Arizona - Hultzen. 4. Orioles - Rendon. They really want an impact college arm to move fast, as the system's pitching depth has thinned out tremendously due to graduations (I mean, Bobby Bundy isn't a bad talent, but when he's arguably your system's top arm, that's not good). That said, unless the medicals are bad on Rendon, I've got a hard time seeing them pass on a guy who could fill a gaping positional hole in their long term plans. 5. Royals - Bauer. 'm guessing Bauer or Bundy here, with Starling as a backup plan. I'll lean Bauer here, since I think they would like a college arm that can move fast and join their young positional core that is reaching the bigs in the next year or two. 6. Washington - This becomes a fascinating pick. The top prep arm, or the top athlete? Their top three arm preferences are off the board in this situation. My guess is they go pitching and take Bundy here, as Rizzo knows they could use more arms in the pipeline. That said, the Nationals are the one team that could really surprise. They could perhaps decide they really want a college arm and pop an Alex Meyer or perhaps a Jed Bradley or a Matt Barnes here. I think, in their dream of dreams, one of Cole/Hultzen/Bauer falls here.

My guess is that, when the next round of movement occurs, that Greg Rohan will probably get the call to go from Peoria to Daytona to take Bour's spot. That said, I really wouldn't mind seeing Cuneo get the bump. Saw Cuneo a fair amount in college and really liked him, relatively speaking (didn't think he'd be some sort of elite guy).