toonsterwu

Interesting - I didn't realize that about Chirinos. Fortunately (or not), the Cubs will be loaded with "young players" next year. Maybe Chirinos could work with them in Chicago (along with Sandberg perhaps?)! Also, it might say something about Chirinos that if he can work with the younger players, maybe he is just a good leader. Maybe he understands the basics well and has a strong work ethic. These are things that the 2011 Cubs really need. Good info regarding Chris Robinson, Gibbs, and Burruel - thanks!!! I have a feeling you are misreading my Robinson. I meant Chirinos, not Chris Robinson. Completely my fault for flipping in a first name in there.

Cubs seem to have him on a fast-track, and I could see him get consideration as a possible coach for the next manager, whoever that is.

Agreed. Chirinos has gotten two mentions in BA the last two years as being either the top defensive catcher in the Cubs organization or the top defensive prospect in his league, this year in the Southern League. With the way he's been hitting over the last two seasons straight, that's got to be better than what Hill has given the Cubs. Let Castillo have another year in AAA. It's not like he lit it up this year. Clevenger and Brenly are intriguing but far from ready. Chirinos is the oldest of the group, he's paid his dues and he is performing like he's ready. Castillo bats right-handed just like Chirinos so there's no difference there, and I know the conventional wisdom is if you have a starting catcher who bats righty, to have a lefty back-up, but who cares. Replace Hill with Chirinos and be done with it. Next! An argument for Chirinos to stick in the minors could be that Chirinos is noted for his ability to work with young players, and that Castillo might be able to fill the role well enough as a backup backstop. It should be an interesting competition between the two. I wouldn't go so far as to say the system is stacked at catcher, though. Castillo, Chirinos, Clevenger, Brenly largely seem to project as backup backstop types. There seems to be a growing opinion that Robinson Chirinos could be a late bloomer. Gibbs is an iffy bat, and Burruel probably doesn't stick at catcher if he keeps moving up.

Smith did dabble at 2nd in Peoria. Not good at it, but he could certainly fill that Baker role. Doesn't have Baker's raw power/ability, more of a gap power guy, but enough for a bench role. I'd like them to give Smith and OF glove and see if he can dabble in corner OF as well. Like Baker, any Clemson grad (Along with Colvin). That Boise lineup is very ... eh. Alcantara has some intrigue, same with Harrington and Na, but such a very eh lineup.

I am really curious what happened with Brooks. He doesn't seem like the break the bank type based off a huge year in his senior campaign ... very curious _____________ I could see Harman as somewhat of a cross between Rusin and Raley perhaps, and I could see Harman move up the ladder fast, before having to figure out if he's a pen arm or if he can start. _____________ http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=113667&catid=56 Interview Ben Wells gave. Said he was going to instructs first, and then made a brief mark about going to A ball next spring. Not sure if that was a guess on his part, or a promise the Cubs made. Standard comments about going in and working hard an so forth.

very pleased with the deal. it's a good gamble on our parts to see if we can harness lopez. i even like harris/lorick somewhat, but lopez made the deal.

I might put Wells in my top 20. I am that excited/intrigued with him. Harman ... I might give him a back end top 30 slot. Will have to ponder that. I think he could move fast, if given the opportunity.

Hendry hasn't been in charge of the farm system in awhile, and Tim Wilken is clearly in charge of it. Wilken's philosophy has been to draft athletic, up the middle players. There is actually somewhat a lack of power arms in the system, relative to other organizations. Before Wilken, it was Stockstill. Sure, Hendry has had influence, but you'd have to go quite a bit back to get to when Hendry was last in charge of the system. The farm system isn't great, but it is clearly better than it was in the middle part of the decade under Stockstill.

All the signs seem to point to Ben Wells signing. I'd guess at least mid 6 figures number, with a shot at low 7 figures. A lot of folks thought he had a good chance to become a first round pick with another year or two (assuming positive development). I really want the kid in the org. For all the talk about how his velocity came late, I'd point to the fact that he added a couple inches and a lot of pounds over the course of his senior year. Expectations are that the boy can get bigger. He has a classic power pitcher's body, and may be only scratching the surface on his potential.

actually you are right. i'm not sure what i was thinking when i typed that. it sounded right in my head, but it definitely doesn't make sense as i look at it now.

Yeah, they're incredible. They have a great lineup plus Carpenter, Archer, Dolis, and Rusin all in the starting rotation. That's sick. Plus they barely have any fillers. Also, I'd like to see Canzler and Snyder get some starts at 1B to see how they do. I think they could both at least match Lee's production if we don't sign a good FA. get some starts in the bigs or the minors? much as i am intrigued by russ' season, probably too early for him to jump to the majors now.

Arguably Searle's best start of the year (too lazy to go through and check, but has to be up there). 6.2 shutout, 4 h, 1 bb, 8 K's, 7:5 GO/FO. Granted, the QC lineup looks fairly weak. If Nate's around, can someone check with him on what Searle's velocity for the game was? I'm very curious considering the mediocre reports that had come out this year. Brandon May with 2 hits and a double. Still seems like his best case is to develop into a utility player.

What stands out about that is that the strike zones in DSL are generally considered bigger than what it is stateside, so if the guys are taking walks, then that's showing some discipline and laying off some pitches.

What happened to Searle? The reports on his stuff are pretty bad. I half wonder if there's an injury. The velocity seems down, the movement seems down. Too early to put Gibbs in a list like this, and I agree with Raisin on Antigua. One of the bigger disappointments for me this year, and for, say, the past 2 years, was Jovan Rosa, but he's already been cut. Big Larry Suarez and Jordan Latham have both been disappointing this year. That said, overall expectations weren't huge. I think Flaherty can be considered a disappointment in some respects, but hard to put him down in a list like this. I'm not sure what would comprise my top 9 disappointments this year in regards to performance. I really don't think there's been that many big disappointments this year, outside of the guys listed. My biggest disappointment, actually, was the fact that Justin Bristow was injured for the majority of the year.

That'd be my guess, that Ben Wells is a significant overslot. I wouldn't be surprised if he got 7 figures/1st round money. Heck, wouldn't be surprised if he got higher than Kim or Simpson. I really hope the Cubs get this done. I'm fascinated with him. He's growing into his stuff. There's a chance he'll add a couple more ticks on the fb. This is a legitimate power prospect, something this system needs. Most of the talk seems to be that, assuming good performance, some time in college could make him a first rounder. I'd love to get him now.

from what i recall right now on jung, it's something like 90-92 fb with good downward action, solid curve, decent change.

Kendall Rogers says Ben Wells is a longer shot (than Ryan Stanek) to make it to Arkansas. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/baseball/news?slug=kr-draftscoop080410

McNutt's numbers have been interesting in A+ - much better control, but flyball rate has gone up. May simply be a sample size concern. Still needs more work and I'm not sure he's a top 50 guy, but I could see him as top 100, and maybe top 80ish. Rebel Ridling has been on a nice run of late. I keep waiting for when the Cubs move Dolis to the pen ... still think that is his future, but he's been decent as a starter in AA. Jay Jackson got hammered in the end for 5 runs on 3 HR's. There's a part of me that wonders if he's better off in the pen, but I still think he could be a 3/4 type starter. Maybe that's wishful thinking. Do we have any new velo reports on Struck from earlier in the season, that is touching low 90's, sitting more high 80's? He has been having a solid 2nd half, though.

Archer's velo has gotten better this year. Last year, unless memory is failing me, he was sitting more 91-92.

Little over $150K more than slot. Not bad. ETA: Just posted video of Golden taking BP. He's got some nice pop in his bat. Also posted reports on Loosen and Geiger after getting some questions answered on Andy Seiler's site. Seiler's info on Zeller conflicts with toonster's, so I may tweak that report a bit. Sorry haven't checked this thread in ages and I don't read Andy Seiler's page all that much, so went over and skimmed it right now. Unless I am forgetting a post, I don't think there's any difference in what he's saying and what I had heard on Zeller. I'm pretty sure what I said was that Zeller was a guy who was running his fastball into the mid-90's, which i had heard from numerous people (granted, accuracy of college guns is a fair question). If I suggested he had good stuff, I apologize, but I never meant to suggest that. In fact, the reports I've had on him has always said that his fastball was very flat. If there's anything I have slightly different from Seiler from that post, it was Loosen, but Seiler probably saw him this year, and I'm getting 2nd hand stuff. I have a tick better fb velo than 88-90, but it's negligible, but I had down pre-draft that his breaking balls (slider and curve) were both decent. Granted, it's another small difference, as I could see calling his stuff as fringe-average. Best case scenario for Loosen for me is a Mitch Atkins type arm.

Ronny Morla is having himself a fairly solid season. I still wish the Cubs would give him a spin in the rotation. He is eligible for Rule 5, and it seems fairly unlikely that he'll get protected at this moment, IMO.

Another homer for Canzler. The ISOP has to be fairly ridiculous - gotta be around .280 or something right now. Brett's having a decent day - 1/2, 1 R, 1 BB so far. 2/3 for Campana so far. Muschko his usual self - good control, give up a couple runs. I still like him enough as an end of the rotation arm. Not surprising, but Rhee runs into trouble in the 4th. 10 game hit streak for Lee. Sczcur is having a great day - double/triple, run, rbi

Hopefully to convert to pitcher. I'd like that. With some work, it's easy to envision mid-upper 90's heat from him, assuming nothing's changed. The best part is, this was a kid that expressed that he was okay with pitching, and simply wanted to have a shot.

It is a mildly surprising move to see Mota in AA with Chirinos and Clevenger healthy. Maybe it means that Chirinos will be moving soon. I know the Cubs like Mota's glovework, but he needs PT. Disappointing to see Latham's season tumble. I had high hopes for him when we signed him, and he was an intriguing power arm pre-DUI stuff. Gotta think that this doesn't bode well for his future with us.

I believe the reports on his defense were similar to what they were before - passable at 3rd, but not good. The plus side to Vitters injury is that maybe it allows him to sit back and maybe relax a bit, but I agree with jcf - he should spend most, if not all, of 2011 at AA, unless he is simply that dominant. There's no rush. Aramis will be here in 2011, and he may be here a bit longer. Well, the other plus to the Vitters injury is that Canzler will likely get a lot of time at 3rd.