toonsterwu

I've got a tough time buying that the Torreyes placement is .. a sign of belief that Baez will be up in Tennessee soon. It's just hard for me to buy that any organizational leadership will think like that, particularly since they put Marco Hernandez at Peoria to start last year ahead of Baez (I guess one could argue something along the lines of wanting to teach the "Cubs Way"). At the end of the day, sometimes I think the easiest answer is often the right answer. I've ... loosely championed Pin-Chieh Chen as a guy who could, offensively, do better in FSL, but he looks to repeat the MWL againl (and get stuck in a CF logjam, instead of being a step ahead) ... which shouldn't be all that shocking considering he had a fairly pedestrian line in MWL and isn't that old. Ronald Torreyes didn't exactly light it up in Daytona last year, so having him repeat it, considering his age, isn't the worst thing. I'm a big fan of Bruno and have an obvious bias as a UVA fan ... but you also draft a guy like Bruno knowing that his versatility is something you'll take advantage of as he moves his way up (off the top, I think they even said something along those lines about why they drafted him). If he hits enough to project as a starter, they'll make a place for him, or deal him off to a team that will value it. My guess is Bruno will go get most of the time at 3rd (he might be more "natural" at 3rd than 2nd, as he played that at UVA when Chris Taylor won the SS job after Bruno got hurt), with spot time at 2nd/OF (and maybe even a dash of shortstop), with Torreyes at 2nd/Baez at short, and some combination of Carhart/Geiger likely manning first. As a side note, AzPhil seems fairly harsh on Torreyes' defense in his comment, saying he has below average defensive skills and isn't particularly athletic.

Well, AzPhil gave us a new update on the A ball squads (well, he gave us a game recap and talked about the rosters in the comments section). http://www.thecubreporter.com/03312013/feldman-gets-back-track-fitch-park#more Torreyes is down in Daytona. DeVoss looks like he got CF in Daytona ahead of Chen, who was moved to Kane County, along with Vogelbach.

Uh ... I take that to be ... not exactly complementary ... Whoever Joe DelGrippo is needs to realize that Saunders isn't going to push aside Baez at short.

Sucks for Bour. He did well enough to get to AAA. He should hit well in AA (granted ... based off his 2011, Ridling should've been decent last year, and that didn't happen, so who knows). That said, eh, not that important.

Devoss is in Daytona's outfield. My guess on the Daytona IF would be something like 1st - Geiger 2nd - Saunders/Bruno perhaps SS - Baez 3rd - Bruno/Carhart perhaps Darvill, if he's around, could perhaps fight for time at 2nd. That would leave Tennessee as Torreyes/Alcantara up the middle, with Villanueva at 3rd and who knows what at first (honestly, no clue ... Lopez? )

If Geiger is at Daytona, while he won't block Vogelbach if Vogelbach is ready, my guess is that they'll start Vogelbach in Peoria, with Geiger at 1st in Daytona. Wonder who ends up nabbing first at Tennessee? Probably a demotion of someone from Iowa, but there isn't a real big need for any of the older corner guys there to go to AA.

My preference was Justin O'Connor, who hasn't exactly done squat. That said, while it was a signability pick, it wasn't the gigantic reach that people made it out to be. He was probably going to go in the supplemental, if not late first (post-draft information suggested that, IIRC). One thing needs to be remembered is that, even the most pessimistic accounts on Simpson pre-draft (stuff/velo wise ... the optimistic end had him in the mid-90's with good secondaries as a starter, the pessimistic end had him low 90's) was better than what he showed last year. Simply put, for whatever reason, he never rebounded from mono and uh, crap, what was the other thing, slipping my mind. Once the velo was gone (he was what, topping out high 80's last year?), he just wasn't the same anymore.

Well, that's another series win for UVA. Damn, this team is impressive. Derek Fisher gets hurt? No problem, Mike Papi, arguably the hottest hitter on the team, steps in. A bit worried about another inconsistent start from Waddell, so that's something to watch, but the pen is deep and versatile, and Silverstein seems to have found his prep form. Granted, the tough part of the schedule hasn't hit yet, with series' against FSU/GA Tech/Hokies on three straight weekends, along with what could be great clash with UNC to end the year.

I can't really find fault with where we are placed, considering how spotty our pitching is. It's roughly where I expected, maybe a couple spots lower, but it's fair. I also can't find a team that I think is grossly over-rated, like I felt with the Padres last year. Still think the Red Sox are a bit over-rated as a system, but they are deeper than last year and deserving of top 10 status. I don't get why the Yankees are ahead of us, in all honesty, but they are probably at a similar level so eh. I get why folks have the Twins system high, but I really have some doubts about some of those guys.

So I missed the first comment from this post http://www.thecubreporter.com/03262013/ha-gets-last-laugh-fitch-park#more by AzPhil on possible cuts Three interesting names stand out. Jay Jackson - I expect organizations will come calling and he'll get a high minors shot. I wonder if another organization can find a better, more consistent breaking ball. He did show some flashes out of the pen last year. That said, at age 25, and not extraordinary out of the pen, it's an understandable cut with all the downward push of pen arms. Paul Hoilman - Okay, Hoilman's stands out for two reasons. One, he had that hot stretch last year and there were certainly some Cubs fans that talked about him as someone to watch, which befuddled me a bit. Two ... our 2nd base depth chart is really thin. It's not something we talk about, but ... does cutting Hoilman increase Vogelbach's chances at starting in Daytona? I think Vogelbach probably still starts in Kane County, but ... I wonder. Bour or someone like Nelson will likely man 1st at AAA on a semi-regular basis. There's a big question mark in AA, which Geiger could fill, but even if Geiger gets pushed down, he's not that intriguing of a name to hold off Vogelbach if they deem Vogelbach ready. Carlos Martinez - Only because Phil Rogers had that ridiculously glowing write-up on him a year ago. Guess not ... Edit: Just noticed that this was being discussed in transactions. My bad.

I'm not really on-board with a Torreyes promotion (he had 2 hot months and 2 cold months, along with one horrid month that I'll toss aside because it was so extreme ... I think people forget that Torreyes struggled in August), but I obviously can see that happening and wouldn't necessarily be against it. Only reason I suggest AA is because Logan Watkins will likely be the guy at 2nd in AAA, and if two guys are close, teams tend to give their homegrown guy the nod for the higher level. That said, they could have Logan handle some short along with 2nd, and move Adams to multiple spots. Anyhow, I don't really anticipate us adding Adams, just a random thought.

A total random comment out of LF, but the Yankees just released David Adams. While we have absolutely zero need at 2nd base, I wouldn't mind adding him, putting him in AA, and just giving it a twirl. He's a good hitter with some pop. Then you could keep Torreyes in A+, and DeVoss can just be ... another guy somewhere.

Any news on who was cut? Only thing I see is Baseball America's transaction sheet showing Ryan Hartman and Su-Min Jung getting cut - neither guy really being surprises.

Wasn't paying attention but is Trea Turner back for the Wolfpack? I think he came in briefly in one game, but I'd have to double-check.

Is Rusin's left-handedness, readiness, and strike-throwing ability enough of an advantage for the lack of stuff? I don't see it. It's not like Loosen has great stuff, but he has a much better fastball and I'll gamble on that.

Sort of a lazy comparison, IMO. I've seen those (BA had one a few weeks back), but the comparison is sort of the "hey, there was a good lefty here a couple years ago, and he's a lefty" comparison. I think Waddell's 3 pitches are better than Hultzen's as a freshman. Hultzen's velocity was a bit better at a younger age. I mean, I can understand why the comparisons are made, but then, you can make vaguely similar comparisons for any lefty with velocity that reaches into the 90's. Anyhow, awesome sweep for UVA. Damn impressed with this team.

Not to drag this out, but Hrubes, where do I know you from? I vaguely thought we've interacted before somewhere, and I don't post on psd. Uh, since I feel like I should make some useful comment on the 2013 draft ... Shipley had a fairly mediocre outing on Friday.

Man ... can't believe UVA swept the doubleheader. Rodon was erratic (but also shows how good he is ... as erratic as he was, he still only gave up 2 h and 2 r's). Really loving what Waddell is showing. As he gets bigger and stronger, more velocity could come. It isn't hard to envision him as a possible first rounder in 2015. Hope we can get the sweep. This UVA team is looking much better than I anticipated. Wonder if UVA could end up hosting a regional again.

This is sort of a off-the-beaten path comparison, but I sort of think of Jonathan Papelbon when I think of Gray. Papelbon could've been a very solid starter if he wanted to stay in that role.

Definitely wouldn't be surprising if some of the older and/or fringy arms were trimmed from the group he's working with.

Torreyes did really well from June on last year. His awful start just kept his overall numbers down. I think he, out of the group listed originally, is easily the right choice for Tennessee. I'd be stunned if DeVoss skipped Daytona. He wasn't all that great at Peoria last year to the point that I wouldn't hesitate to send him back unless a better prospect needed to start there. Well, I don't want to go back to a discussion on his numbers, so I'll just note that Torreyes' numbers dipped again in August. What he really had was roughly a good 7/8 weeks - a really hot June, and a very good July. Thus, he had 2 very similar hot months, and 2 very similar cold months (let's leave May aside, as the numbers were far more extreme than April/August)), numbers wise. That said, I don't want to beat that horse again on the numbers, so I'll argue it another way as to why I'd rather have DeVoss at AA. Who is more important? Torreyes or DeVoss. It's Torreyes. DeVoss' best case seems is ... ? I'm not real sure. You probably don't want him manning 2nd year long, and his offense is limited, so his best case seems to be that of a pinch runner/depth IF. While I still don't have huge expectations for Torreyes, his best case is a very solid starting 2nd baseman. Torreyes is 20 turning 21 this season. He's not coming off a great season, so why not be careful with him and let him master A+ for an extended stretch, playing alongside other potential future pieces in Baez/Soler. I'm not a huge believer in the idea that guys need to play together ... but it doesn't hurt. The short of it is, Torreyes' future is better, so why not be a bit careful with him? DeVoss' future is very limited, so push him up and see if he can stick. If he can't, then Torreyes or Bruno could replace him in a month or two, whoever shows to be more capable.

Yeah, I'm with Raisin. I think Alcantara should start the year at AA. If he's even remotely in consideration to start in A+, I'll be disappointed. I think he did enough offensively last year to get the bump up, and defensively, while, Daytona's field isn't the best anyways, and I think he can still work on things in AA. Kane County and Iowa should be the easy ones as it relates to starting MI. Iowa is Watkiins and ... well, someone at short. Kane should be Amaya/Hernandez. Tennessee would be tough. I don't think Torreyes deserves to go up, but maybe he does enough to convince them. Personally, I think the sink or swim guy should be Zeke DeVoss. Move him up to AA and see how he does. I don't love the idea of moving DeVoss to the OF in Daytona - Chen is a similar player who likely has CF to start Daytona in 2013, and DeVoss doesn't make a ton of sense on the corner. If Torreyes and Bruno are at Daytona (as I would have it), there's need for DeVoss as a util 2nd/OF guy. I like DeVoss enough to think that sucks for him, but Torreyes is a bit more intriguing. At short, I'd have Alcantara as the main option. Daytona, for me, would have Baez at short and Torreyes as the main 2nd baseman. Bruno played 3rd at UVA, and he probably could handle corner OF (I actually think he got some spot time in the OF in Boise, but am too lazy to check), so he could rove around and get "regular" starts, including giving Baez a day off at short (or Torreyes could go to short with Bruno at 2nd). The other competitor at 3rd for Daytona would probably be Dustin Geiger, who may be a better fit at 1st/corner OF. A lot of movable, semi-versatile guys could start at Daytona. As for Saunders, well ... this isn't fair to him, but in my mind, he should fill gaps wherever there is a need, unless he proves something. That might mean starting at Peoria and waiting for a spot.

I like Gray. I had him 2nd behind Manaea as my preferences right now, ahead of Appel. It's just, I'll take the gamble on the lefty with plus stuff versus the righty with plus stuff.

Isn't that exactly what he is doing now, though? Perhaps. Maybe this holds up through the year, but he didn't dominate against his one really good opponent this year in Rice. Maybe there was a reason, as admittedly, I haven't followed all that closely this year. Texas baseball is really slid a bit (actually all major Longhorn sports have slid a bit). Fresno State, to the best of my knowledge, isn't that dangerous. I admittedly don't know much about UNLV baseball, and maybe they are a quality squad (did sweep Stanford). This doesn't mean I don't think he's any good. Just ... I've been wary of him in the past, and I guess I want to see him dominate his quality opponents. Maybe he's turned the corner and the Rice game was just ... a game. The guy he's always reminded me a bit of is Chris Tillman, a guy with excellent stuff, stuff that makes you think he should just dominate, but he doesn't. I think Appel's probably better than Tillman, but I don't know by how much.

I love Derek Fisher, but I still wonder if he goes that high. His bat does seem to be that good, though, and could carry him there. Two UVA guys I wouldn't sleep on (the sophomore class is very good ... ) - Brandon Downes - I believe the Red Sox drafted him late in 2011, so Theo should have some information on him. Tall, lanky kid with above average speed and a chance to stick in CF, and there's some developing power. Approach is fairly solid. He doubles as the backup catcher at times, but his future is in the OF. May have to move to the corner long run, but through his pre-prime, should have enough to be considered in CF. Nick Howard - Perhaps UVA's most fascinating prospect in that, I really don't know if his future is best as a starter or as a 3rd baseman. He's that solid in both areas. I guess we'll see how his stuff holds through ACC season, but I wonder if doing both things hurts him a bit. I just wonder if he might push forward a lot more as a pitcher if he focused just on that. As a 3rd baseman, seems to have the range and action to stick, along with the power potential. (to be clear, I don't really think Howard will emerge as a top 2 round type selection ... Downes, on the other hand, I think has the ability to potentially go in the top 2 rounds)