Mephistopheles

not really...

the cubs dont seem to take toolsy high schoolers anymore. they seem to take toolsy college players who can't hit. /rant

1b? maybe...of? semi likely. *sigh*

Sounds like a Cubs' pick. I guess it's better than Tim Wheeler. Olivers gotta be the what, fourth college LHP now behind Paxton, Brothers and maybe Minor. I don't think that Oliver will fall to the Cubs, hopefully he continues to stumble....

A little. There's one glaring deficiency in his game. Power. He's also not an easy sign as he's a UNC commit. He's probably signable in the top 50 picks for slot money, but after that it becomes more of a concern. He's a guy who could fall to the 10th round on draft day. Really he is more Juan Pierre than Kenny Lofton, but you dream want you want to dream. Everett Williams is a similar player, but has more power projection and not as tough a sign. Signability, obviously, wouldn't matter if Goodwin was taken by the Cubs at 31. Goodwin's more or a second round talent than a first round one.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1242323222 Flood with Cubs questions! I asked "Have the Cubs been linked to anyone in particular? Any chance they take a prep shortstop like Jiovanni Mier, Daniel Fields or David Renfroe?" i believe this is a first round mock if anyone has access to it http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=1254

Unfortunately not the one I was going for, but that'll do. If he wants lefties only, a guy I like a lot is a Michigan HS shortstop Daniel Fields. He's the son of a former major league player slash former major league hitting coach. He's got great batspeed and is a big shortstop who projects to have solid to above average power in the long run. He has great range at shortstop and runs well for his size and has a plus throwing arm. He does all of this while hitting left-handed as a shortstop which is a nice added bonus. He's also a northern guy, so he develops late and it wouldn't shock me at all if by this time next month we're talking about Fields going in the middle of the first round to a team like Minnesota or Milwaukee. As far as raw tools go, let's compare the top shortstops in the draft who are signable. Sorry no Renfroe. First Round Talents: 1. Grant Green - college SS w/ avg discipline, contact, defense and above average power First-Supplemental Round Talents: 2. Jiovanni Mier - HS SS who projects as a line drive hitter with below average power and plus defense. 3. Daniel Fields - HS SS who projects to be an above average hitter all around with above average defense. Probably best all around tools of any SS in the draft. Second Round Talents: 4. Ryan Jackson - college SS with average tools everywhere, except pwr and speed which are in question. Above average defensive SS. 5. Mychal Givens - HS SS with below average to average bat and above average defense. Better RHP prospect than SS, probably a 3rd round SS at this point. 6. Michael Heller - HS SS with above average hitting tools and average defense, could grow out of SS and could also be a second rounder as an RHP Second to Third Round Talents 7. Chris Owings - HS SS with above average defense, though below average SPD. Should hit for average and take a walk, may not hit for any power. 8. DJ LaMehieu - college SS with above average offensive skills, average defense, but may grow out of SS. 9. Robbie Shields - college SS with average to above average tools on offense, passable at SS, but move to 2B seems likely. Third Round Talents 11. Devan Marrero - HS SS with good batspeed but average power at best. Second best defensive prep SS behind Mier. 12. Nick Franklin - HS SS who switch hits with average tools across the board. No standout tool though. 13. Billy Hamilton - HS SS with plus-plus speed and a plus arm. Below average bat and may move to CF. Should be a good defender at CF and SS. Hits both ways 14. Scooter Gennett - HS SS with good batspeed and above average power. Best present bat among prep SS, but limited projection left in the bat due to his small size and quirky swing. Can play solid average at short, could move to second if need be. Lefty hitter, so Utley and Fonte comps are warranted.

dont worry you wont have to.

Not a fan of either.

oh btw Chad James is Justin James brother.

Enjoy RdPicTeam Player Pos School 1 1 WAS Stephen Strasburg RHP SDSU 1 2 SEA Tanner Scheppers RHP St Paul Saints 1 3 SD Aaron Crow RHP FW Cats 1 4 PIT Kyle Gibson RHP Missouri 1 5 BAL Alex White RHP North Carolina 1 6 SF Dustin Ackley OF North Carolina 1 7 ATL Donovan Tate OF Cartersville HS (Ga) 1 8 CIN Matt Purke LHP Klein HS (Tx) 1 9 DET Tyler Matzek LHP Capistrano Valley HS (Ca) 1 10 WAS Jared Mitchell OF LSU 1 11 COL Shelby Miller RHP Brownwood HS (Tx) 1 12 KC Grant Green SS USC 1 13 OAK Mike Leake RHP Arizona State 1 14 TEX Jacob Turner RHP Westminster Academy (Mo) 1 15 CLE Bobby Borchering 3B Bishop Verot (Fl) 1 16 ARI Rex Brothers LHP Lipscomb 1 17 ARI Mike Trout OF Millville HS (NJ) 1 18 FLA Zach Wheeler RHP East Paulding HS (Ga) 1 19 STL Mike Minor LHP Vanderbilt 1 20 TOR Joe Kelly RHP UC Riverside 1 21 HOU James Paxton LHP Kentucky 1 22 MIN Chad James LHP Yukon HS (Ok) 1 23 CHW Andrew Oliver LHP Oklahoma State 1 24 LAA Tyler Skaggs LHP Santa Monica HS (Ca) 1 25 LAA Matt Davidson 3B Yupiaca HS (Ca) 1 26 MIL Trayce Thompson OF Santa Margarita HS (Ca) 1 27 SEA Everett Williams OF McCallum HS (Tx) 1 28 BOS Matt Hobgood RHP Norco HS (Ca) 1 29 NYA Jiovanni Mier SS Bonita HS (Ca) 1 30 TB Rich Poythress 1B Georgia 1 31 CHC Tim Wheeler OF Cal State Sacramento 1 32 COL Kyle Heckathorn RHP Kennesaw State 1S33 SEA Brooks Raley LHP Texas A&M 1S34 COL Tony Sanchez C Stanford 1S35 ARI Kendal Volz RHP Baylor 1S36 LAD Madison Younginer RHP Mauldin HS (SC) 1S37 TOR Chris Dominguez 3B Louisville 1S38 CHW AJ Pullock OF Notre Dame 1S39 MIL Mychal Givens RHP/SSPlant HS (FL) 1S40 LAA Kentrail Davis OF Tennessee 1S41 ARI Max Stassi C Yuba City HS (Ca) 1S42 LAA Daniel Fields SS Univ of Detroit Jesuit HS 1S43 CIN Eric Arnett RHP Indiana 1S44 TEX Brett Jackson OF California 1S45 ARI Alex Wilson RHP Texas A&M 1S46 MIN Michael Heller RHP/SSCardinal Mooney HS (Fl) 1S47 MIL Brody Colvin RHP St Thomas More (La) 1S48 LAA Brad Roxberger RHP USC 1S49 PIT Cameron Garfield C Murrieta Valley HS (Ca) Let me paint you a mental picture of Tim Wheeler. He's a 6'4" 205 lanky left handed hitting college outfielder with a well rounded tool set. He has average present power, but may be able to develop 20 home run power down the road, if he fills out his frame which has some more projection left in it. Wheeler also has above average speed, but not enough speed to play centerfield consistently. He does not have great arm strength, so left field seems like a likely destination in the future. He has a smooth sweet swing with solid bat speed and looks should hit for a decent average. He has yet to refine his plate recognition has does not show solid plate discipline at this time. While none of his tools are overly impressive he's solid average to above average in all of them, 55 or so. Jump to the conclusions you want to jump too...

I could see the Cubs being interested in Mier and Heckathorn. I don't see them taking one of the ND or Indiana boys. I really expect us to zero in on Raley.

That is the plan!

Probably...

He sure as hell hasn't been a reliever this spring either.

It might actually be true. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Nope. There's no arbitrage. If Kinsler could be traded for a better pitcher than Z, the Rangers and the other team would cut out the middle team.

Luke Bailey's going to have TJ. He's a catcher, so it isn't that big of a deal long term. I'm not sure how much this will cause his draft stock to suffer. He was a certain first round pick prior to the injury.

i probably shouldn't have laughed at that. but i did.

Blair Barbier was the 3B for that team. He was the guy who hit the home run. Guess what organization drafted him. He burned out in Double A and is a coach for LSU Baseball nowadays. Their 1B was a man by the name of Brad Hawpe. You might have heard of him.

http://tebowheisman.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/tebow-returns.jpg

I would. If the Rangers are dumb enough to do that trade, then you could send Kinsler elsewhere for a pitcher much much better than Lilly. I'd do that trade, then send Kinsler in place of Vitters in a Peavy deal not possible

Eh, OSU earned the game against UF without question...the game against LSU, probably not.

FWIW: Rich Harden is probably the second best runner on the team (behind Gathright's 75/80 speed). Harden's a 65 or 70 runner. FWIW #2: Give Guzman the start.

I just don't see the benefit in the current system to playing a team with a pulse. It sucks, but there's just not much to gain there. The benefit comes when you have an idea of what a real team looks like when you hit the bowls. When you're a BCS school, you see 4-6 of those through conference play. not in the big ten