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I am not too enthused with the idea of Kaprielian there, even if it's on the cheap. Not too enthused with Harris either. I know there's value in valuing floor that high if we're going with an arm, but I just feel like if you are going to roll the dice on an arm, which I'm not against, I'd rather go for upside. I believe Rawnsley had us taking Buehler, and while there's a lot more risk with Buehler, I'd rather take that upside gamble if we're going to go with an arm early. Sure feels like whoever is available among Benintendi and Cameron might be our pick, which would be fine. Although, with Benintendi, I am sort of annoyed with hearing about another "next" Ellsbury.

That list, at a glance, looked alright. MLB has done better with their stuff in the past year (probably because of their recent efforts there ...namely, I tend to wonder if Callis is the impetus behind all the positive improvements on their minor league stuff). I had hoped Null would sound more intriguing than the report they have on him ... but it's still plenty solid (and in all honesty, I'd probably place him ahead of a few of the guys they have in front).

Well ... I'll be ... San Diego State won. I should be concerned about their offense, as UVA after Jones is quite shaky pitching wise ... but I like the match up a lot better than going against Jacome. Edit: Well, there goes UCSB. This looks good for UVA, but I'm guessing San Diego State and USC fans feel like this sets up well for them as well, as UVA pitching is shaky after Jones.

I can't help but feel a tiny bit ... excited ... about UVA's chances at Lake Elsinore. I was curious how O'Connor would line up the depleted UVa pitching, and having Sborz out of the pen is an interesting move. Puts him in position to be used tomorrow if necessary. Tate will be used up, and while he struggled down the stretch, and while Jacome is a good talent in his own right, I'd rather face Jacome than Tate. The UVA offense seems to be finding a rhythm. Of course, Waddell has been so inconsistent all year. The way UVA's Connor Jones is pitching, they'll have a shot if they get to Supers. Gotta get there first.

I am against protecting (as of now) Pugliese - Unless stuff has improved, he's a soft-tossing lefty with command. He's not ready for the bigs. If he is ready and works his way up, good for him and we give him a look. If a team plucks him and he succeeds, I'd tip my cap and say congrats and move on. Bruno - I want the guy to succeed, as not only was he a Wahoo, I sort of like what he "offers" - the potential to hit for a solid average, some pop, solid defense, defensive versatility. That said, injuries have hampered him, as has streakiness. I am Logan Watkins had a steadier history than him (for awhile, Watkins was hot for one half a year, and cold the other half ... usually a slow start, IIRC, but too lazy to check right now). As of now, looks like upper level utility depth. Like the guy, but if someone plucks him, OK. Candelario - Don't see the point. Corner IF who hasn't shown elite offensive ability to justify an early rostering. The chances of him making it a full year is slim. I'd roll the dice and move on from him if he gets picked. Cooper - There's a bit more debate with Cooper than the former 3, as he looks like he could cycle in and out of the bigs perhaps even right now. Still ... not an elite pen arm, not a late inning arm. With so many arms with better ceilings and performing, I'm against this as well. Martinez - Not ready to help, not a huge ceiling. tip your cap if he succeeds with someone else. Torrez - still raw. how much help can he offer a good team next year in the bigs, if he's taking a 40 man spot. ______ There's a better case to be made for the others, but it's as thin a list as I can recall. I am, we're talking about guys like PIerce Johnson and Corey Black as two of the prime candidates, and neither are high enough caliber talents (I mean, we're looking at best case mid-rotation starters, with a more realistic outcome as inconsistent end of the rotation starters/pen arms) to be really care that deeply if we lose, outside of the "bond" that gets developed by fans from following a system.

As a total aside, I really liked what the Braves did with that Kimbrel trade. If they had just gotten Matt Wisler for Kimbrel alone ... I would've liked that. To get rid of Upton's contract in that deal, even factoring the contracts sent to the Braves (uh ... Maybin's deal? and uh ... Quentin? ... ) was just a nice win. Wisler feels like a mid-rotation arm who might even get a tinge beyond that. At worst, I'd be surprised if he couldn't be a late inning pen option. All in all, a nice move on the Braves. It made sense for the Padres in the sense that they are going for it now, and to a certain minor extent, I thought their prospects were over-rated the last few years.

Yup. If that's all it took ... I'd go for it in a heartbeat, assuming medical reports are fine.

If they opted to bring him in as competition, okay, but I'm not all that intrigued with it. There's a lot of fringe guys that go abroad and do well, but are still fringe assets in the bigs. If they needed a LF that bad, I'm sure we can trade some assets around to make it happen, or slide someone over there (if they didn't want to put Schwarber there yet).

More than a lot of recent years, I have very little "worry" about Rule 5 this winter. A part of that is, a lot of the top talent is in the bigs now, and along with that, you simply aren't going to carry a 40 man with majority youth, so you need some veteran depth. Thus, if it's close, I understand going for the veteran depth. More importantly, this seems like a weaker lineup of potentially available guys. Very few guys intrigue me that are available, and while there are always guys with tools, some of these, you just nod your head and move on. Vogelbach will be rostered or traded, that much I feel confident on. Barring massive struggles/injury, I'd keep Pineyro around ... but even that one, I can understand if the front office decides against it. Same goes for Corey Black. I think they roster him ... but if they decide against it ... I'm okay. He's not a starter. Is he an elite pen arm that demands rostering? Perhaps ... but I won't be pissed if they decide against it. What else is there? Willson Contreras is a 6 year minor league FA. If his defense is good enough, I think they stash him on the 40 man as an upper level depth catcher. If his defense isn't good enough, I'm not going to be hurt if they let him go, even if his bat looks intriguing right now. Pierce Johnson? I've argued and defended him before, but until he makes it back healthy and pitching, I'm not too bothered if they risk it. Furthermore, it's not like his run in AA made it seem like he had a decent chance to be a big league starter. Jeimer Candelario's awful young ... but still hasn't put it together offensively (and it's awfully tough to see a likely corner IF that far away get selected). I could see PJ Francescon or Michael Jensen get plucked if they keep performing well ... then again, I wouldn't rule out Francescon/Jensen from getting a big league look from the Cubs if they decide to look internally for pen help. Either way, they doesn't feel like late inning pen arm types (Jensen has a better shot at that, I think), so I can live with another team taking them. I could honestly see guys like Daury Torrez or Carlos Penalver get considered by some teams. With the former, he's a nice young arm with arm strength and command, but he's not blowing anyone away. Would have to be a Wei-Chung Wang type of pick for another team (although that one was out of the blue) - that is, a bad team looking to steal a raw asset that they believe in. If some team liked Penalver's defense that much, I could see someone gamble and keep him as a utility guy for 2016, and move him back to the minors in 2017. In either case, you live with it if they get plucked. Schwarber's on his own timeline. Elite talent go on their own timeline and I don't think Rule 5 will impact that. I can see them keep him in the minors all year ... and I can see them deciding to call him up and put him in LF. We "know" these guys, so there's a tendency to like them more ... but this seems a relatively lean year in terms of talent available. Even the 6 year FA's - list doesn't look that troubling (granted, there's a reason why they are 6 year minor league FA's ... ). I think they'll probably make room for 3-4 new additions in addition to anyone being added midseason, and it won't be that hard to clear that space. I mean, if we're honest, there's a bevy of guys that could be cleared off without really batting an eye (doesn't mean they don't hold intrigue, but push came to shove, I can count about 15 guys on the 40 man I wouldn't be too bothered with if the Cubs lost them/swapped them out this winter). There's bound to be a few trades to clear out spots. At the end of the day, the combination of factors, as of now, just doesn't make me all that concerned about Rule 5 this winter.

Malave is being transitioned to pitching, at least, the last reports from AzPhil I checked said that. To be quite honest, unless his defense has stalled/gone backwards/is horrendous ... I've got to think he has some value now. There tends to be some leeway given to catchers and their development, and he moved to catching what, 3 years ago?

Yay, UCLA with the #1 overall seed! And if UCLA advances, they host UCSB (Dillon Tate), USC or Virginia. Some tough pitching there. At least you don't have to go to the Lake Elsinore Regional (UC Santa Barbara) like Virginia will. Lake Elsinore is a high desert town 4 hours from Santa Barbara, 1 hour from San Diego and 1.5 hours from LA. Last time Virginia headed west for a regional, it turned out pretty well. My betting money is probably ... UCSB? That said, I'm mildly intrigued at UVA's chances in what looks to be a brutal regional, since Kirby supposedly could pitch a 3rd game, and Jones/Sborz is a fine 1/2 punch. UVA badly needs their SP to carry them (or for the offense to step up), as the pen has been erratic all year, and without Sborz, it's just plain thin. If UVA could squeak into Supers, it becomes a lot more interesting, because at that juncture, either Sborz/Kirby could go to a fireman role, depending on Kirby's condition. Tough to see them get there, though. A lot of good talent in their region, and a lot of good pitching.

No idea how he actually pitched, but it was nice to see a good line from Jen Ho Tseng. Seems like it's been awhile. Jeimer's on a nice little run of late, offensively. I keep thinking Gioskar Amaya is really old ... so it's still weird to think this is his age 22 season. A nice little stretch overall of late, offensively, but been there, done that so can't read too much into his MWL work. Francescon's had a nice run since moving to the pen. Jensen should be ahead of him, but with his fastball/slider, Francescon is someone to keep one eye out on if there's a need for a pen arm. Willson Contreras just keeps hitting. I expect him to cool off at some point, but he's arguably been one of the top surprises in this first half for us. ____ In non-Cubs news, looks like Marco Hernandez is scorching. Walks even less than before, though, if that was possible, and still no pop. Very glad to see Brett Jackson has found some sort of rhythm. K rate is as low as it's ever been in AAA (granted, only 100+ AB's). I don't know if he can keep it up (although who knows ... Sacramento is a pitcher's park IIRC), but I never thought he was as bad as he looked his final years here. Sort of funny, to me, how the Giants already had their own "Brett Jackson" in Jarrett Parker.

Sort of ... IIRC, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the curveball was a work in progress back in the day, but he had good life on his fastball, and I want to say, velo in that 90-93 range?

This is a fun exercise. As of right now, I would go, relative to trade value, 1. Anthony Rizzo - If he is an elite bat, like the way he is producing right now, I think he would have more general value than Bryant right now. 2. Kris Bryant - At year's end, he could, and maybe should, be ahead of Rizzo, but there's enough "unknown" right now, and combined with the projections on him, I think an elite young bat like Rizzo would edge him out. 3. Jake Arrieta - Doing it for a 2nd straight year should assuage a lot of concerns. 4. Addison Russell - Time and experience are the only things that are needed 5. Starlin Castro - If his offense turns around, even to last year's levels, I think he could be up at 3 due to the combination of history showing he can play at the MLB level, contract being friendly, and position. 6. Jorge Soler - Is he more offensively gifted than Castro? Sure, but Castro's got some track record to go on. If Soler starts blasting away like he's done before, then he could climb back up. 7. Jon Lester - Even with that contract, I think his track record would buy him enough intrigue if we shopped him. This is where it gets hard ... 8. Jason Hammel - This is a tough one, but the thing I'm thinking is ... who's going to net more for a trade right now? I really wonder, with how well extraordinarily well Hammel is pitching, plus the fact that he's only signed on for 2016, there's a chance a team not wanting to pay a premium for Cueto or that ilk might fork over something. Put it this way - we've seen folks fork over top talent for second tier arms for a playoff push. 9. Javier Baez - Thing is ... he's done it at AAA, so I think he'll really need a long extended run showing improvement in key areas, or a bump back to the majors to show himself, to erase some doubts. 10. Blake Schwarber - Baez's position and level gets him the edge. ____ As for the whole trade Baez thing ... I'm of two thoughts a) Gut feeling has always been that this is a kid who learns and adjusts, and with his bat speed and athleticism ... if he adjusts, and I think he might ... it'd be tough to bet against. I mean, I think a perfectly reasonable expectation if he shows any of bit of adjustment, would be to become an Ian Desmond type guy. Granted, Desmond never struck out as much as Baez. b) Problem is, if I'm a GM, I'm weighing risk/reward, and as much of a reward as Baez may bring, he also brings more risk than a lot of top talent out there. Perhaps there are specific scouting reports that show adjustments that we as fans don't know, so maybe there's a case to be made somewhere. That said, his offensive and defensive inconsistencies certainly make him riskier. Thus ... if a good trade came down the road (although I have no idea what right now), it'd be awful hard to say no.

Utterly picking the wrong day to praise him, since he blew the save, but Michael Jensen's had a really strong year and there hasn't been anything to suggest that he isn't the same guy as before, a guy who can hit mid-90's with a good breaking ball. Feels like if we are in need of a righty, non-closer arm, I'd almost prefer giving him a look than some veterans. A part of me still wonders what might've been with Jensen as a starter had he not lost a season. That said, he might've been destined to the BP anyways.

That wording on Zagunis being "in over his head" seems oddly ... specific. Didn't realize he looked that bad in less than a year to make that decision. Guess if he was that bad, then it was definitely prudent to shift him out and try to get offensive development going faster.

I admit, it is somewhat fascinating to see how well Batista is doing as a starter. Don't get me wrong, definitely filler unless there's some report on newfound velocity and/or stuff, but it is somewhat fascinating. Furthermore, his K rate is roughly the same as the last 2 years out of the pen in AA. Makes me think about situation/opportunity - here's a guy who never had a great fastball (best report I ever heard was low 90's, and seems a lot had him in the high 80's), and had a good slider. There's enough starters that worked up to AAA with that loose, generic profile, but he was shifted to pen duty early. Would like to see Underwood striking out more guys, although I wonder if they have him on any specific regimen. Hope to see him pitch in a few weeks.

This is definitely the year to do that. There's a decent chance a former top talent is going to be there in the 2nd round for us. Someone like Nate Kirby perhaps (it's also quite possible we just miss out as I can see a run on some of the former big names going in that late first-early 2nd range). Even if that happens, there should be a fair quantity of somewhat intriguing arms in that mid-round range this year. I'm clearly not against going an arm in the first, but this year is somewhat tailor-made to play it safe early and try and load up on some arm gambles mid-rounds. Klaw's comments on Benintendi makes me think of Cory Spangenberg for some reason, a guy I thought was ridiculously over-hyped for a year or two.

I think Zagunis moving to the OF was a mild surprise. He certainly wasn't a lock to stick as a catcher, and perhaps was a likely bet to move off of it sooner than later, but it wouldn't have hurt to keep him there. The flip side is it's not implausible to buy the idea that the Cubs really liked the bat and believed he would add power, so they figured they'd spur the bat development along. There's a remote possibility that having Caratini at the same level, another conversion guy who needed regular work, might've impacted the decision. Despite Zagunis hitting well in Myrtle Beach, I really wouldn't have had a huge issue with them keeping him at SB and working on catching, though. The die's been cast (although I still wonder if they work him in catcher in the 2nd half).

I'm a bit surprised Randolph has moved all the way up from late first consideration, but I really like the little I've seen about him, and wouldn't mind that gamble at all.

I don't expect much from Paulino, Medina, and Schlereth, but I care a bit. After all, if we are a legitimate threat at the trade deadline, the pen may be one area of concern. It's not implausible that these three could perhaps provide some pen help. Paulino has always had a big fastball, and back in the day, Schlereth had a good fastball/breaking ball combination. Perhaps the Cubs catch Schlereth at the right time and make some adjustments for him. Realistically, I don't expect much, but it's not like these additions can't be potentially useful assets. They provide critical system depth, and we have a lot of star power on hand.

Um ... can you explain what you mean by iffy? There have been enough notable guys that developed but were sub-500K signings. I can think of one particular Cubs example, but there are others. I mean, it means they aren't the well-known, "expected" studs, but ISB's are a gauge, and they really shouldn't be used as the sole factor to judge the intrigue of a player. These are kids ... a lot of them grow and mature differently. For every Gleyber Torres example, there are multiple top ISB guys who flamed out (off the top, Angel Villalona comes to mind).

This seemed like the best thread to go with this for now ... A totally off the wall crazy idea that briefly crossed my mind was whether or not the Cubs could ... trade for a shortstop. Before I go any further, I think the chances of this are quite minimal. Let's say, though, that the Cubs a) Bullpen solidifies with Ramirez returning, such that they have the ex-Rangers (Ramirez/Strop/Grimm) as good setup options to Rondon. Maybe they add a spare piece here or there, but nothing costly. b) Several lineup pieces kick it up a notch. c) They are satisfied, short and long term with Kris Bryant at 3rd. d) They find an improvement for LF offense, internally or externally. Then, the major issue we'd be looking at is the rotation. Say the Cubs went the route I would probably go at this point - trading 2nd tier pieces for an impending FA starter, not an elite guy, but a solid 3rd piece to Lester/Arrieta and slotting in front of Hammel (thus allowing us to go after a top FA starter in the winter and keep our elite pieces). They are "in the race", and believe they could perhaps go for it all. What else could be an important upgrade? On paper, upgrading shortstop defense would come to mind. Now, let me be clear, don't think they would sell low on Castro, particularly not in-season. If he was hitting well (which would make it that much tougher to move him) ... could they pull a complex dynamic off where they ship Castro off for top young talent, get a short term defensive upgrade at shortstop (it's not like I've contemplated who, or even said option would exist ... ), open up shortstop for Russell in 2016, and keep the pipeline super-stocked? Again ... this is probably a less than 1% chance of happening, as it requires so many things to go our way, but I was bored this morning.

It's possible. My thought was twofold: a) that with his age, reputation, and declining fastball, teams may concerned enough to decide not to fork over top tier money b) If he's a confident guy, as he seems to be, he may decide that 13 million in 2016 and then trying for a 2 year, Joe Nathan type deal might be a better, more lucrative avenue, compared to say a 3 year 27-33 million type deal. (Nathan's a decent comp situationally, as his fastball was declining when Detroit snapped him up) I guess I could see him decide that maybe forgoing that 13 million and going after a 2 year deal would be best, but it's hard for me to see anyone give him a 3 year deal, and even if he had a poor 2016, I think he could still net enough on a one year offer to make a 2 year deal in 2015 somewhat similar to what he could get with the option and a one year deal. Either way, my original note on this line was that I don't think Papelbon would be the closer, if we traded for him, unless Rondon stunk it up.

Kiley put Connor Jones at 8, I think, but if you only take his 2nd half of this season ... he'd be up there top 5. He's gotten that much better, particularly once the pressure shifted to him when Nate Kirby got hurt. If he goes like this all of 2016, I wouldn't be surprised if Jones is 1-1. The breaking ball's gotten better. He's got the frame, and the changeup is still quality, while still able to generate groundballs. I have enough concerns on Hansen and Puk that I don't think they are locks to stay there, and a good, top college arm likely tops most prep guys, unless prep guy is some super-elite level talent. Of course, Jones scuffled in the first half a bit, so he really needs a dominant 2016 to solidify his case as a top 5-10 guy. Decided to go look at Kiley's list ... Has the elite up to 7 now. As for 2017, it's obviously way early to tell, but I have my doubts Bukauskus stays that high. He's ... normal human height, but really undersized for a pitcher. There's some effort as well. A long way to go. Pavin Smith that high is a bit ... odd. I love the bat. The bat is really good, and he's going to get a lot stronger with a lot more pop, but he's a 1st/LF guy. Not Vogelbach, but as he gets bigger/stronger, likely becomes below average in the OF. Hard to see that type staying that high. If there is one UVA guy that I'd be curious about, it'd be Adam Haseley, but there's a lot of work to do. Derek Casey (who the Cubs were reportedly interested in) will likely slot as a Saturday or Sunday starter next year, and could take big steps after showing signs this year as a weekday starter, then getting hurt. Really too far off to assess 2017. ___ That said, we should be way down this list, so only way we got any of the top guys is if some 2015 dynamic occurred where a bunch of guys get hurt/struggle and slide.