toonsterwu

I'm not sure what Ty Wright is. Solid enough hitter, but not enough power and he's a corner OF. Is that really a backup MLB profile? I don't think so, but I could see him get looks in the right situations. I think he's the type of guy that may get a look after spending a few years in AAA.

I think a lot of people are anticipating that he'll get a shot to be a lefty in the bigs next year. Personally, I'm fine with letting Grabow go and going with 2 of Gorzelanny/Marshall/Gaub.

I've got nothing against Bradley. He's been solid in the 2nd half. That said, what I would like to see this offseason is for the Cubs to improve their OF defense. I know different metrics have Fukudome graded defensively, but overall, I think most would agree he's better in RF than CF. I'd like to see Fukudome in RF, with someone else in CF (I'd actually be fine with say, Sam Fuld/Reed Johnson). Problem is, I'm just not sure how tradeable Bradley is without eating a huge chunk of the money, and I'm not sure how I'd feel about the Cubs paying a huge chunk of that. What do I expect? What I expect is for Bradley to be back, with Fuld/Fox as bench OF options.

I really hope that they don't rush any of the top arms up until at least midway through 2010, if not later. Even if one of them seems ready, I'd rather play it safe. That's 3 good looking arms. Assuming we sign a veteran pen arm, that's FA/Guzman/Marmol with maybe Samardzija and Parker mixed in as some of the possible righties. Mid-late in the year, I won't mind as much, but I'd rather see all three get more time in AA/AAA. I have a feeling we're going to see some more pushes, but I'm just not sure who. Well, Flaherty makes sense. Would it absolutely stun me if Brett Jackson was jumped to AA? Probably not.

I have mixed feelings on Cashner being there as well. Part of me thinks he could use the work, after being protected for most of the year. Part of me thinks that he should be protected. I think Lewallyn being the pitching coach might've played into it, by getting him some more work with Dennis. As for the rest, I'm pleased to see the team sending some high level talent there.

1. I think the chances of Papelbon getting picked are probably low, but he's coming off a real solid year, has some lineage, and I can easily envision a scenario where a team decides, hey, maybe he can be a LOOGY/rubber arm for us, the last pitcher on the bench type. I don't think Dolis gets picked, and I haven't suggested that he might, unless some team falls in love with a live arm. Clevenger's chances of getting picked probably aren't high either, although I could still envision a scenario where that happens. Castillo's bat isn't nearly as bad as his general line (adjusted slash lines are .276/.319/.431) and if his defense has improved, I think he'd get snatched, but that's me, and we're discussing hypotheticals. 2. Agreed. It isn't likely. I haven't suggested any of the names are top guys. Rather, I've consistently said that they are guys that could potentially fill roles. 3. I am expecting some maneuvering as well with the 40 man. Some of the moves were made geared towards this year. I'd also point out that I have not said that it would hurt to lose any of these guys. I think guys might get plucked, but that's a part of the process and you move on. These are simply guys that could fill a role in the bigs, with only Castillo really having some starting potential. Would it be disappointing to lose a guy? Perhaps, but maybe Hendry plucks another team's guy as well. It happens. I remember several years back when we lost, I think 6-8 guys in the Rule 5 draft. 4. I don't disagree with any of that. I was just being cynical on Colvin, as I think many Cubs fans are. To be fair to Colvin, his August has been a nice sign, as he's showing better discipline while really raking the ball. I think he could probably fill a role in the big leagues, and in all honesty, I'm fine with protecting him. ____________________________________________ Again, I think people are misreading my comments. I'm not suggesting any of the players that have been discussed in this thread are quality/top prospects. Far from it. Colvin's still a better prospect than most of the guys listed (I'd put Castillo ahead in a top prospects list ... and maybe that's it, well, that's the only guy ahead for me right now). Okay, I shouldn't have made a snide comment on Colvin. What I am saying is that there are guys that can fill roles, and teams are looking every which where to add talent, and what you see some teams doing with the Rule 5 draft is finding role players, situational relievers, bench guys. I do believe that there's a chance we'll lost some guys this year if we don't protect them, but it's a part of the process.

Okay, if you follow the Rule 5 draft, you'll find that plenty of teams take guys to fill roles, either hoping for a middle reliever, a LOOGY, a long man, a 4th OF type. Not all teams do this, and many pass on the Rule 5, but some do. Again, I have in no place said any of the 6 names discussed were top prospects. What I have said is that they are guys that could fill roles, particularly Parker/Maestri/Gaub/Castillo. As noted, I think the two guys that would have the least chance to get plucked would be Papelbon/Clevenger.

thanks for the update man. Hmm ... I could've sworn I saw somewhere earlier this summer where they said he was touching the mid-90's. How did his sinker (or was it a 2-seamer) look? I'm assuming the elevated pitch was his 4-seamer? Do you know if he was still throwing curve and slider, or has he junked one of them on moving to the pen? ________ do you know what Pina was registering? I thought I read 92-94 in the past, but wasn't certain right now.

Maybe I wasn't clear, or maybe you haven't read the thread - we were discussing the top names eligible for the Rule 5 draft, and I was saying that, of the top names being discussed, I think they would be plucked if they were unprotected (I thought that was fairly obvious from my statement, and that it didn't need to be spelled out, but my bad). What does a team's organizational ranking last year have to do with ... well, the Rule 5 draft coming up? There's no relevancy there. Actually, a few years back, I think it was Pittsburgh or KC had a lot of people plucked in the Rule 5 ... and their organizational ranking was horrible the year before. We've seen some teams take middle relievers as Rule 5 picks. Would it be that inconceivable to see a team, searching for pitching help, pluck Blake Parker or Alessandro Maestri, both righties that have some late inning ability in them (late inning - not suggesting either has closing potential, more 7th/8th type). Witness, well, David Patton (and I believe, potential wise, Parker and Maestri have better late inning potential than Patton). Teams are always looking for lefties - John Gaub and Jeremy Papelbon are both having solid years and close to the bigs. Heck, Ed Campusano was picked. Another focus for teams is often on tough positions, such as catcher. Again, we're talking about the Rule 5 draft. What that has to do with organizational rankings, I'm not sure. You do understand that most high level prospects, if not all, are protected, right? Meaning the cream of the crop is usually not there, and you have teams looking for a diamond in the rough (an Everth Cabrera/Joakim Soria type pick) or you have teams looking to fill a role with a mid-level prospect. Again, let me finish on this - what exactly are you disagreeing with in my original point? You basically acknowledge my point in your response to SouthSideRyan by acknowledging that we have some guys that are likely to be plucked if they are unprotected ... which is exactly the same thing I said outside of spelling out the common sense point about said players needing to be available (unprotected) to be plucked away.

As interesting as he is, I'm not sure ABD is going to register all that highly. Heck, I'm not sure if he'd even get picked.

Brandon May sort of reminds me of Jake Opitz, for some obvious reasons. Anyone know how McNutt's secondary pitches are looking? Seems like a very fascinating arm that hasn't gotten as much discussion.

Couple years back, there were some folks that thought Ian Bladergroen had a shot to be intriguing, but it hasn't panned out that way.

yeah 1908 put the specific rule in a post above for the Japanese League. I've been trying to search to see if there was something for the Korean League, or even some loose discussions on it, but maybe I'm mistaken. If I get a chance, I'll ask some Korean friends to perhaps do a quick google search in Korean news.

Valdez makes me think of a comment someone made recently about how the Cubs system lacked guys with speed. Sure, we don't have a ton of guys with elite speed (what system does ... ) but we have enough speed in the system, with a few top end guys. Of course, whether or not that speed can translate into a useful asset is a question, but speed we have.

I knew about that blurb ... I thought I read something more specific somewhere else, but maybe not. I'll try to take a look around later this evening, but I thought there was something about working to put a policy together of some sort.

In that society, that's definitely going to play a role. Wasn't the Korean League pondering a similar thing as well? Maybe not a ban, but I thought I recalled hearing something similar this past winter. Maybe I'm mistaken. About the only league that wouldn't care is the CPBL. Used to be a decent league, but mismanagement, corruption, and so forth have really brought it down. I think most Taiwanese people are ecstatic when Taiwanese kids sign abroad, particularly, the US.

Weren't they trying to reach an agreement last year loosely covering this, post-Tazawa signing? I distinctly thought that the J-League approached MLB about trying to work out an agreement. Could be wrong.

Another Colvin late season push plus his "status" probably means he does get protected. Wonder who gets left out, as someone's going to get left out. Of the top names being discussed, I think a lot of them get plucked. The two with the least chance of getting plucked might be Clevenger/Papelbon, and I can envision a scenario where a team wants a lefty and gambles on Jeremy, or a team is looking for a young backup catcher. I can see a bad team plucking Clevenger/Castillo and hoping to develop them in the bigs.

hey sandberg, when you get a chance, can you give me a thought on Dan McDaniel's 2nd half? Every time I go over to minorleaguesplits to look at his numbers, I'm always baffled, in some respects, and curious to find out what was going on. Big fan of his potential, and I think it's easy to forget that he was also pushed as well, but he struggled some in the 2nd half and there was that move to the pen.

What's the pitch count on Rhee right now? Or is it an innings limit?

Two moves I really want to see 1) The obvious one - send JJ back to Tennessee. 2) Robert Hernandez to Peoria. As a fan, I'm just not sure what to read into his Boise performances. It's nice, but let me see him in Peoria. Heck, they are in the playoff race.

he was the return in that wonderful Neifi trade. Solid defensively, he probably isn't going to hit for that much. He's in a bit of a jam, as I expect the Cubs to keep Koyie and Clevenger/Castillo are in the upper levels, and let's not leave out Chirinos, who could be a late bloomer at the spot (although betting money is still against ...)

If Kikuchi leaves for MLB, Japanese teams are going to have a cow. I bet there's going to be pressure put from all areas, to make sure that the Japanese League doesn't get it's feathers ruffled. That said, at the end of the day, it's the kids decision. The most fascinating guy to me is still Tzu-An Wang. At that size, considering how raw he is to the game and physically, there's a lot that could be molded.

Ridling at first in Tennessee? Maybe, but he's had such an up and down, streaky season that I think he's better off headed to Daytona. I imagine first base at Tennessee could be Russ Canzler. Maybe Blake Lalli is there again.

If Gregg is offered arbitration and is Type A, I'll be surprised if any team steps in and offers a deal. If he's Type B, maybe. Haven't checked to see what Eddie Bajek is listing these days.