MSG T

No one wants to answer these comp questions it seems. I think Justin Upton is a bad word or something. Am I missing something (I'll admit my sarcasm meter isn't as good as it once was) or did you miss something? This was already covered.

If it's not something that extreme it's a pretty crazy deal. So he'd be, what, 23 when he's arb eligible then? At this point, he's essentially like getting a top 10 draft pick, the difference being that by the time he's big league ready he'll have, what, 2 years left under team control? However, if he really does look to be a superstar by the time that rolls around, we could just try and lock him up for another 8-10 years. :banghead:

Actually, and I may very well be in the minority, but I think they'll end up better than last year. Granted, I don't think they're a .500 team, but I do see improvement happening. I could see 74-75 wins. There's that hallmark consistency of the Oakland A's. I'm hoping that the Cubs aren't consistent and actually break through that 75 win barrier next season.

Actually, and I may very well be in the minority, but I think they'll end up better than last year. Granted, I don't think they're a .500 team, but I do see improvement happening. I could see 74-75 wins.

They've pretty much been screwed since they lost all those young cheap great pitchers and the rest of baseball realized what OBP was. Yep, once the rest of baseball, minus the Cubs, decided there was value in things other than BA vs LHP with men of 2nd and 3rd, Beane lost his mojo. Others have taken what he was doing ten years ago and are now doing it far better.

And yet somehow they are always remarkably close to .500 every single year. They're doing something right. Season Wins Losses Win % Place Playoffs 2000 91 70 .565 1st in AL West Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 2–3. 2001 102 60 .630 2nd in AL West Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 2–3. 2002 103 59 .636 1st in AL West Lost ALDS to Minnesota Twins, 2–3. 2003 96 66 .593 1st in AL West Lost ALDS to Boston Red Sox, 2–3. 2004 91 71 .562 2nd in AL West 2005 88 74 .543 2nd in AL West 2006 93 69 .574 1st in AL West Won ALDS vs. Minnesota Twins, 3–0. 2007 76 86 .469 3rd in AL West 2008 75 86 .466 3rd in AL West 2009 75 87 .463 4th in AL West 2010 81 81 .500 2nd in AL West 2011 74 88 .457 3rd in AL West 10 to 14 games under .500 is remarkably close to .500? That's what their last 5 years have mostly looked like. As far as their prospects go, once they come up what are they adding them to? They'll either trade off current players or let them walk before those prospects can come up and get acclimated to the majors. We have had four 90 loss seasons in that same time. Most recently last year. They at least have consistency when they rebuild. We are probably looking at another 90 loss season this year. 74-88 is not remarkably close to .500. Neither is 75-86 or 75-87 or 76-86. That is their record 4 of the last 5 years. The Cubs have been better than them 3 times in those 5 years and only 3 games in back of them last year. The A's haven't been a very good team for 6-7 years.

Besides jackson and rizzo. our best prospects are four years away. And its not like Rizzo or Jackson are of the top ten prospect variety. I.e. no sure thing. Their minors are deeper and their prospects are much closer to the majors. And their major league roster is horrendous and they spend 8 dollars a year on major league payroll. And yet somehow they are always remarkably close to .500 every single year. They're doing something right. Season Wins Losses Win % Place Playoffs 2000 91 70 .565 1st in AL West Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 2–3. 2001 102 60 .630 2nd in AL West Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 2–3. 2002 103 59 .636 1st in AL West Lost ALDS to Minnesota Twins, 2–3. 2003 96 66 .593 1st in AL West Lost ALDS to Boston Red Sox, 2–3. 2004 91 71 .562 2nd in AL West 2005 88 74 .543 2nd in AL West 2006 93 69 .574 1st in AL West Won ALDS vs. Minnesota Twins, 3–0. 2007 76 86 .469 3rd in AL West 2008 75 86 .466 3rd in AL West 2009 75 87 .463 4th in AL West 2010 81 81 .500 2nd in AL West 2011 74 88 .457 3rd in AL West 10 to 14 games under .500 is remarkably close to .500? That's what their last 5 years have mostly looked like. As far as their prospects go, once they come up what are they adding them to? They'll either trade off current players or let them walk before those prospects can come up and get acclimated to the majors.

Right now? You're right, they don't exist. At the start of the off-season they very likely did. Or at least conditions to get them close to 90 wins.

I wasn't addressing you, more the worried tone the thread suddenly took.

I'm confused, some guy writing for a south Florida paper says the Marlins are the favorites for Cespedes and we're panicking? Wasn't there about six different teams that were close to signing Pujols and Fielder? Why should I care what that guy writes prior to most of the teams interested have had a chance to talk "officially"?

. Who is what 3-4 years away? Prior cost less. Obviously the Cubs aren't spending $7 million on a 19-year old if they feel he's a 4 or 5 starter. Then they are stupid because that's what he'll be. I'm pretty sure Theo, Jed and the gang are better at prospect analysis than you are.

They redid the Top 10 recently... http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2012/2612879.html OK, so I'm confused. With the current top 10 being what it is, and Goldstein saying Concepcion would land at 6 with a ceiling as a fifth starter, what is Maples projected at? They have to be around the same age, and if GC is now higher on the list, wouldn't that suggest a higher ceiling? Or are they saying Maples might have the higher ceiling, but GC is currently more polished but with a lower ceiling? Just seems kind of odd given the (relative) buildup of Maples prior to the draft.

Agreed. Not that this will apply to Coffey, but what's the problem with bringing in fringe guys on MiL contracts with ST invites? If they work out, they are cheap, only around for a year and do the bolded above. If they don't work out, in most cases they are probably released outright by the end of ST and the guys they hang on to are filler in AAA, available if injuries happen and cheap and only around for a year. It may not be a win/win, but it's far from a loss or a waste.

I live in rural Iowa and get pretty darned up-to-the-minute Cubs updates. Yep. Iowa is Cubs country. How do you do on the Dodger updates? Pretty good from national guys that have info about them. Following guys like Badler, Goldstein, Callis, Law on a national level gets you pretty good direct quotes or re-tweets. I don't follow LAs local guys or independant writers, so I get nothing from those sources, though if I did, I'd probably get just as quick info as you do. Keep in mind, we don't get instant breaking news here over the radio or TV about Cubs-related stuff any more than you do in LA. Everything I get is from web sites (here, Bleacher Nation, BA, MLB Trade Rumors etc) or from Facebook or Twitter updates. If you have the interwebs and/or a smart phone w/online access, you can get quicker info than TV or radio will give you. I don't know about LA, but rural Iowa is in the 21st century, technology wise.

None in the last few minutes, I'll let you know when I see/hear something. ;)

I live in rural Iowa and get pretty darned up-to-the-minute Cubs updates.

Tony Pena First person to pop into my mind when I saw the video.

i want that guy to play for my team. if the cubs sign cespedes and he and jackson and rizzo all start the season at aaa, i'm going to be in des moines four nights a week. you can sleep in my garage. I'll pick you guys up on my way to the park.

Keith law is reporting Dave Sappelt and Ronald Torreyes along with Wood. Sorry, can't get the link to Twitter on my phone.

Opinions and reports are separate. Unless you have an agenda. Even so, I doubt that he'd risk his professional reputation by spreading false rumors and trying to pass them as actual news because he has an agenda. Think about how certain sportswriters in Chicago have "reported" on certain members of the Cubs and post that same thing again.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2011/12/18/sources-say-the-cubs-are-talking-to-the-padres-about-first-baseman-anthony-rizzo/ I realize this is complete conjecture, is it possible they're looking at Headley and Rizzo plus others? I don't know how even things would be with that.

Isn't he essentially the same age that Daisuke was when he was posted? I believe Darvish is a year younger than Daisuke was.

That's, by far, the most worrisome part of that tweet.

In the never ending series of contradictory tweets... Retweeted by Ace

Why would they care about his strikeout issues? He's pretty consistently had an ISOd of .100. His worst at any level was .078 in 15 PAs in rookie league ball where he still had an OBP of .533. I'm not saying his strikeout rates should be ignored, but his walk rate should also be considered. I realize it isn't a direct translation but his MiL BB/K ratio is almost identical to Aramis' ML BB/K ratio. As I've said in other threads, there are quite a few hitters in the Cubs system that I worry about when it comes to strikeouts, patience and pitch recognition and Jackson isn't one of them. The fact that he strikes out that much in the minors might mean that his swing can be exploited and that his numbers won't translate well to the majors. His strikeout rate is already dangerously high and most players rates go up when they hit the majors. He still had a strong season last season because he had a .358 BABIP. That isn't likely to continue in the majors. I still have high hopes for Jackson, but that is a huge red flag. I don't completely disagree, but I'd be far more worried with the strikeout rate if he had a much lower walk rate. I mean, compared to Vitters, for example, he strikes out more, but he also has a much higher walk rate. In looking at other former prospects for the Cubs, for major league numbers, I'd guess Matt Murton-like with a little lower BA, but similar OBP and slightly higher SLG. Near as I can tell, including his full 2008 season, Murton put up .288/.354/.438 for the Cubs. I'd think Jackson would do something close to that for OPS, albeit with a somewhat lower BA. I'd take a near .800 OPS from my 24 year old CF making around $.5 mil and I truly think he could do that. Now, I wouldn't expect a lot higher than that unless his power continues to develop, but I'd bet he could settle in somewhere around a .350-.360 OBP w/13-15 HR power.