Quakers

because everyone is looking for some sign of life from the Cub's front office....

I will go with two seemingly unnoticed Boise middle infielders Penalver and Lockwood. Underwood will be my pitcher. Mind you I do not think they will be top 100 material next year, but they should open some eyes. I would rate Hannemann>Dunston. But that could change if Dunston develops his power.

I am eager to get going too, but I want to make sure that everyone knows that trading season has started.

When can trading start?

I know that in the AZL thread someone typed up a list of top twenty prospects from previous years and showed how many made it to MLB.

I know that in the AZL thread someone typed up a list of top twenty prospects from previous years and showed how many made it to MLB.

I liked what I saw of Underwood. A little behind Blackburn in the developmental scale, but his stuff is as good, or better. I really liked Penalver at SS. I can see why he missed the top 20 list, but I definitely think that he is a good prospect. I hope he proves me right at KC next year. Not as high on Balaguert as others. Maybe it is because of the games I saw. I saw too much of the player who was chasing after bad pitches. He is a big man, but athletic. As he matures he will definitely be limited to the corners. His bat will carry him. I liked Lockwood at 2b. Very good glove and an excellent contact hitter. I think that the core of pitchers from this year's draft did not make the list because of innings pitched. The Cubs were very conservative with them. I think we definitely had some good looking prospects, but it will be next year before anyone knows how good. Bote has some pop in his bat.

Oops I see that Juan started something already, maybe we should merge these threads?

Too early to start, but not to talk about... I thought we might want a thread with all the pertinent information. I hope it will make a newbie's life easier. Rules 10 keepers 10 minor leaguers - Can't be in the minors if, in any single season, a player has (1) 200 or more major league ABs, (2) 10 or more pitching starts, or (3) 25 or more pitching appearances. 2000 point max 3 exemption years - a player burns an exemption year if a player has (1) 50 or more PAs, (2) 5 or more pitching starts, or (3) 10 or more pitching appearances. So, for example, Kyle Seager had 50+ PAs in 2011 (1), 50+ PAs in 2012 (2), and 50+ PAs this year (3). So this is his last exempt year. I can keep him as exempt this off-season, but his point total in 2014 will have to be counted next off-season. Also, yes, players can burn an exemption without losing minor league eligibility. For example, Wong had just over 50 PAs in the majors this year, so he's used his first exemption. But he's below the 200 AB limit, so I can keep him as a prospect. Junior Lake, by contrast, cannot be kept as a prospect because he had just over 200 ABs this year. Timetable - rosters legal by??? When does trading start???? I assume we should wait until all of our owners are on board. Can someone fill in the missing pieces? Also, it looks like I may be able to take on points. Who has the stud pitcher for sale this year? I have plenty of quality exempt and low point players ...Mauer, Teixiera, Harrison, Braun, Dickerson, Gomes, Arenado, Duffy, Reed, and Ross to name a few.

Seconded Thirded:)

no wonder vancouver does so well in the NWL; opposing teams are missing half their players when they travel there. :) To be fair, Bote has played CF before.

I would disagree. The Hawks can fill the outfield void. Lockhart is nowhere as good defensively at short.

He has a great glove.

That is my understanding. All non-play-off teams cannot make any changes. Play-off teams can make changes, but once the season is over they have to return to the exact roster that they had at the start of the play-offs.

For what it is worth, Rosario was regularly at 93 or 94 tonight. But he still needs an acceptable breaking pitch.

Maples fastball was at 91-92. He didn't look that bad. What got him into trouble is that his defense let him down. He then panicked and tried to throw that perfect pitch. While defending Maples, I should point out that one of his wild pitches was at least four feet above the batters head and 6 feet outside. A curve ball that that went on a fly to the backstop. I couldn't help but think of "Wild Thing". Not a good game by Boise.

Underwood looked much more confident last night than when I saw him a month ago. Fastball at 91, but he was throwing it sparingly. Getting many outs on a 78 mph breaking pitch. He looked good. He was pitching rather than throwing. He will be ready for KC next year. BTW - This win should tie Boise with Hillsboro for the second half play-off spot.

What has happened to Gretzky since he made it to KC?

update: turns out you missed maybe the best game of the year. boise came back from an early 9-1 deficit and won 16-11. #-o We had rain last night as well. I thought the game could have been rained out.

Looks like I picked a good night to skip the Boise game.

My two cents worth is this is what good teams are supposed to have ... a logjam of talent coming up and the decision of what to keep and what to trade. We have had such a crappy minor league pipeline for so long that we do not know how to handle this:)

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130817&content_id=57227796&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

Well, that certainly begs a question. Castro's value is as a shortstop, he could move to second, but there will likely be a better option there soon, too. Trade him. Unless Castro is worse next season (unlikely), his value is about as low as it is going to get, and the Cubs wouldn't get much in return. I don't see a trade happening, at least not anytime soon. I still see a 3B-Baez, SS-Castro 2B-Alcantara infield alignment as being the likely scenario. I'm also not nearly prepared to dismiss the possibility of Olt being the 3B, perhaps as early as the second half of next year. I really think Bryant's future is in the OF. Maybe, but in listening to Boise games it seems that Bryant has a pretty good glove at third.

#2, probably. Bryant dominating the NWL doesn't top what Baez is doing in the Southern League. Advanced college bats sure are fun though. True, number one picks from a University should dominate the NWL.

:( While probably the best for Bryant and the Cubs, personally I am bummed. I really wanted the chance to see him in action. Boise does not come through the Portland area again until the end of the month.