RichHillIsABeast

Nice start. Soriano is raking lately.

I find it noteworthy that Colvin wasn't heralded for his plate discipline. Maybe Lou is having a rather large impact on player procurement.

He's not safe financially, I just think he's a relatively safe bet in the way that a lot of people have talked about him being a likely reliever. Not caring about his k/bb is foolish. It matters, no matter whether the Cubs have told him to work on it (which probably isn't the case). I never said I wanted Harveys and Dopiraks. I said it looks like Wilken is drafting guys who are good bets to make the majors, but not necessarily good bets to be stars. I haven't graded this draft. I wasn't pining for some high school kid with huge batting practice power. If anything I want to stay clear of that type of high risk high reward player. What I was doing is analyzing Wilken's picks. No, you were ragging on the picks from one draft one year ago. Look at Wilken's draft record. He takes high reward players. You haven't mentioned one of Wilken's picks other than in connection with the Cubs. Good bets to be stars? And which picks were available at the Cubs spots that are these surefire studs? And how are we supposed to sign them if we're restricted to slot money?

Interesting. In other words, the clubhouse is not fine. Just because he feels it's unwarrented complaining doesn't mean there isn't complaining. How many teams that are 5+ games below .500 aren't going to have a few complainers? It's probably idiots like Jones and Izturis doing the whining. You know, guys who really shouldn't feel entitled to starting roles anyway. That's all fine and dandy. But just because they shouldn't feel entitled doesn't mean they aren't. If guys are getting pissed, and fights are breaking out, there are issues. What fights? Barrett and Z duked it out. I doubt playing time was the catalyst there. :lol: Just b/c there's a little smoke doesn't mean there's a forest fire.

I'm not judging a draft. I'm characterizing the type of pick. It looks safe to me, rather than extremely high upside. And I'm not saying I hate the idea. It just appears to be part of the strategy. But Samardzija has been a lot worse than just "not lights out". And Colvin's pathetic k/bb suggests trouble. How is Samardzija a safe pick? Large ML contract for an extremely raw player is a huge risk. Wilken had the money last year (and doesn't this year - grrrrrr). Colvin's hitting for average consistently. I have no idea if he's been told to boost his walk totals. Until he tries and fails at that, I could care less about his k/bb ratio. You want us to draft more Ryan Harveys and Brian Dopiraks? There are some high ceiling picks for you.

You mean guys like Vernon Wells and Michael Young? Oh, and not to mention Nomar, who he wanted but was overruled on at the last minute. Nope, Wilken can't identify special talent. I'm talking about his strategy with the Cubs. The 2 guys he drafted last year weren't really thought of as likely stars, and neither is off to a start that suggests star potential. And both of today's picks are of the non-star caliber. I never said he couldn't identify special talent. Identifying it, and drafting it aren't the same thing though. Wilken had Shark as the best pitcher in the draft, and it certainly wasn't on polish, lol. It was all projected ceiling. Come on man, they've played less than a full season of pro ball so far. The list of good/excellent ML players who sucked it up during their first taste of pro ball is long and distinguished. It's no surprise that Shark isn't lights out as a starter, considering he hasn't been pitching long (not going to have great command) and has undeveloped offspeed stuff. He's raw, big time. Colvin is looking pretty good, IMO, and he has tons of projectability left with that lanky frame of his. He's proven he can add muscle in the offseason. It's just going to take time. You're judging a draft ONE YEAR later. Not good. Wilken usually turns out 4-5 ML players every draft. That's pretty good. Let's just hope Hendry doesn't trade those guys away before they hit the bigs.

Whew. Getting away from depressing scouting reports, here's his line: .349/.444/.591/1.036, 17/20 SB, 38/27 BB/K. He caught 38.7% of 31 baserunners stealing. There may be holes in his swing, but that's a pretty impressive line. His conference line: .313/.389/.446/.835, 46.7% of 15 baserunners caught stealing. Wieters was at .358/.480/.592/1.072 in his senior season for all you stat hounds out there. * I'm not saying our pick is better than Wieters. There's a big difference with lumber - which Wieters has shown he can handle very well.

You mean guys like Vernon Wells and Michael Young? Oh, and not to mention Nomar, who he wanted but was overruled on at the last minute. Nope, Wilken can't identify special talent.

Interesting. In other words, the clubhouse is not fine. Just because he feels it's unwarrented complaining doesn't mean there isn't complaining. How many teams that are 5+ games below .500 aren't going to have a few complainers? It's probably idiots like Jones and Izturis doing the whining. You know, guys who really shouldn't feel entitled to starting roles anyway.

Have you guys been following Tejada this season? .431 SLG. Not a good sign - especially when scouts are doubting whether or not it will come back.

No, it would be Cubbish for both to flop. :lol:

.100 IsoD this season.

So with potential high ceiling guys like Harvey and Burgess, we take a guy who might make a good "back-up" catcher. WTF is up with the Cubs! :evil: These types of "scouting reports" were unflattering towards Colvin last season. I also think money/signability is a huge factor this season for the Cubs. The Trib just isn't going to pony up and PO Selig, who has to approve the sale of the club.

Any idea how big of a factor slot money was for our first round selection?

Woooo!!! Just who I wanted. *refers to sig*

:lol: Whatever position player we take is going to learn how to K on the high fastball. It's a right of passage in this system.

It's pretty awesome that we're in a great spot to nab premium talent and Selig pulls his nazi routine over slot money with the MLB approval of the club's sale as leverage. No Porcello. No Wieters. L A M E.

Weren't Pawelak's numbers similar to that his senior year in highschool? I'm not trying to compare the two just don't want to get burned again. He was also pitching in Utah. Utah!

Pie is awesome. He really cranked it up when he was sent back to Iowa. I was pretty impressed with how he battled the lefties he's faced since his latest call up. His numbers vs. LHP don't look good, but he hung in there.

DLee :(

pie up to .275.

He's not going to get more playing time with ABs like that.

oh get up, estrada.

Whew.

It's the walk just before Fielder came up that was stupid. Given how he's been pitching lately, I think this is a solid outing and great for Z to build on. I agree. I'm just on a Z hating rampage right now.