Mephistopheles

Never said Gomez was a better hitting prospect, the guy posted a 707 OPS in the Sally League last season and somehow got promoted to Binghamton (wow). He's got solid tools, but little power and patience. I was just making an out of the blue comparison. Alberto Alburquerque got the start for Mesa and gave up a run, hit, and walk in his two innings, but damn that names gotta make him an elite prospect. Hernandez is in now.

I kind find guys I love outside of Price and Main. Justin Jackson (NC HS) a great guy to take. - Plus bat speed - Plus defensive arm at SS (90+ MPH) - Plus hands - above average power potential The only question with him might be plate discipline but judging stuff like that on high school hitters is a crapshoot for the most part. I haven't read anything that says this guy has bad plate discipline. He's got tools that rate above average across the board and he's a kid with a great attitude and makeup. No love for Matt Weiters? If he plays to his potential he could be one of the best college hitters since Mark Teixeira. He might not be a catcher due to his size, but he has an advanced approach, nice athleticism, plus power, plus average hitting and a plus arm. Given his arm he might be able to make the transition to right or third, where his bat plays nicely. Yeah there is a dropoff after Price and Main, but are Justin Jackson and Matt Weiters as good as any last year? Probably. There is a lot of time to go between now and the draft. Either Main, Price or Weiters should be there for the Cubs. Just hope Price decides to be advised by Scott Boras. Even if he's not a Boras Boy he could fall like Miller if he has high demands. Right now it looks like the draft could be: 1. Kansas City 2. Pittsburgh 3. Chicago 4. Tampa Bay Tampa and the Cubs are tied, but given the Cubs' depth of rookies in their rotation, I like their chances of playing like crap more the rest of the season. Both the Royals and the Pirates took college arms this time around, but both teams balked at the bonus demands that Miller floated around. Price is going to want just as much - at the minimum. The Royals will probably shy away from Weiters considering they have enough guys at the corners and have little depth in pitching in their system. A guy like Sean Doolittle or Joe Savery (if he's healthy) are advanced college prospects who could easily sit right behind Price and not be overshadowed. Dolittle and Savery could want less on the bonus end than Price, making them attractive. The X factor among college corps is Andrew Brackman. The 6'10" RHP from NC State missed much of the season witha strained oblique and doubled as a power forward on the basketball team. He had a fabulous freshman season but struggled last season. However, he has been tremendous this summer. On the Cape he's touched 99 sitting 94-97 with a great downward plane. He was just added to Team USA and is going to Cuba with Price, Doolittle and Nick Schmidt. Just like this season it looks like there will be plenty of comparable college arms behind a standout that could shy away the Royals from dishing out a big bonus. However, I don't see the Royals getting burned on another HS arm. Do you think the Pirates could cough up a bonus that big? Traditionally they've been a toolsy HS organization, save Lincoln. They will probably be all over Justin Jackson and Michael Main. Tampa might take him, but again they passed on Miller for a cheaper and comparable guy. The difference between Price and the rest of the crop is no larger than the difference between Miller and the rest of the crop - I actually liked Lincoln more. So if the Cubs fall no further than 4th in the draft, they've got a great shot at him, but I do think Wilken would have to think twice on Price's arm if Weiter's bat plays well this Spring, ditto for Jackson. Going by wins: 38 Royals 41 Pirates 45 Cubs 45 Rays 47 Indians 48 Nationals 49 Orioles The only team there who I would think would give out the bonus would be the O's. For kicks and giggles I like matching guys to who they may take: 38 Royals - Sean Doolittle, LHP 41 Pirates - Michael Main, RHP 45 Cubs - David Price, LHP 45 Rays - Justin Jackson, SS 47 Indians - Nick Schmidt, LHP 48 Nationals - Matt Weiters, C 49 Orioles - Andrew Brackman, RHP Anyways to go back to the fact of losing draft picks. This draft is one of the deepest in recent memory, I think. So losing DPs would really hurt. Given the deadline deals, Hendry didn't learn from Theo's or Billy's Theory of Acquiring A Good Farm System Quickly = Stockpile. In case you haven't noticed, I love following the draft and minors.

Nice to see Ryan Harvey hit another HR. He and Carlos Gomez have hit well since June 1st. Neither guys can walk, of course. Gomez has 1 the last two months. The Cubs should trade for him, he fits the system.

Damn, all the recap on Iowas game says this about Guzman: Click

You jinxed him! Though with the rainout in Chicago I wouldn't be shocked if he's called up for the pen or something.

Click Me!

SInce we all love BA: http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/majors/features/262105.html Callis on Ceda: "He has a live arm and the body scouts look for, but right now he's in Rookie ball trying to figure out his mechanics."

I was making a point with that question. It's hard to put a guy with a limited ceiling over a guy who has put up similar numbers and has a higher ceiling.

Maestri had another article on him.

Luke Hagerty had like 36 walks in 6 innings last season.

According to this the Cubs had scouts at a tryout of four Cubans. A couple of them expect to receive a bonus over one mil. Kill me for not making a new thread.

Maestri was featured in a Baseball America article last week too.

Stuff on Dolis Click me Fleita likes the swing of 17 y/o Marwin Gonzalez. He's hitting .190/.264/.266. Also Robert Hernandez is 17 and should develop into a hard thrower. He's got a sub 2 ERA, but lack of Ks.

Slowey's a righty whose fastball rarely top 90. He's got good secondary stuff, but what's his upside going to be? Rogers is definitely going to be somewhere in the top 20, but he's gotten hit hard. I guess he's the pitching version of Ryan Harvey to a certain extent.

I want to say it was 50 innings, or 10 GS. Something like that. Lemme dig it up. So that's at least 45 innings in the league and Veal passed that tonight. He also just passed a third of the season in the league with today's start. He and Gallagher should finish eligible for two leagues.

Yeah Rogers is close. Anthony Swarzak is close too.

Top 20 prospects for BA? Just thinking this myself today. I was trying to draw it up with some minimum PT of 40 innings. So far Im something like this: 1. Garza 2. Bailey 3. Gallardo 4. Elbert 5. Veal 6. Slowey 7. Braun 8. Dewitt 9. Gallagher 10. Hernandez With Ricky Romero right out there. I dunno about DeWitt. He's really struggled outside of Vero. Still he's got left handed Jeff Kent potential at second.

Harvey was also mentioned in this week's Monday Morning Ten Pack on Baseball Prospectus. That's not they said, but cough up cash to read the rest. Jeff Samardzija also made the list and Goldstein says that Cubs' fans should hope Samardzija play football well so the Cubs don't have to shell out the full amount of the deal.

Ooh Lincecum vs Pawly? That's a nice game to watch.

Not really anything one can do about it. A few years ago Sidney Ponson was traded from the Orioles to the Giants because he would be an FA at the end of the season. Everone knew he'd re-sign with the Orioles the next winter - and he did.

Jesus.... They get an ace, a GG SS and a 3B who is good every other year with next year being good.

Sweet, that article didn't mention LaRoche, not that it means anything though.

His ERA/RA really isn't everything. The guy has the stuff and is one of the best pitching prospects in the minors. An ERA in the low fours for a NINETEEN year old in the CALIFORNIA league is impressive.

Maybe we can send a prospect to LA to get LaRoche if we think we're trading Ramirez. Given the Dodgers love for guys with big arms the Cubs could surely put something together.

Okay, that's what I thought just making sure.