CubsWin

This suffers from SSS, but I think we can put more weight on how a minor leaguer finishes a season, especially one at a new level, than say a major league veteran because they're still learning, adjusting and coming into form. Rhee over his last 6 starts has gone 38 IP, 32 H, 9 ER, 8 BB and 41 Ks for a 2.13 ERA and a WHIP of 1.05 while averaging just over 6 innings per start. He spent much of the season having a great game, flashing that potential, and following it with several mediocre ones. 6 games might just be a hot streak, but he never put 6 games like this together all season. I think he's figured some things out. I'm very interested to see how this carries over into the Southern League next season. Whitenack, too.

Found this tidbit on LeMahieu from Wilken back in '09. As my favorite prospect in the system (note: this doesn't mean anything but personal favorite, not top or best or highest upside or anything but favorite) I feel the need to throw it out there. 3-4 years would mean about 2012/2013, no? I expect the same. I agree with his commentary in the second paragraph, and we've seen signs of that pull power coming in this year (in that he's been more willing to pull in the first place). This guy is one of the best sleepers in the minors IMO. I legitimately believe he's got starter upside in the long run, preferably at 2B. I want LeMaheiu to remind me of Ryne Sandberg but with 10-15 HR potential. I'm just not sure he does. I like his ability to consistently hit for average. I'm waiting and seeing on the other stuff...

Congrats D-Cubs on winning the 2011 FSL Championship in decisive fashion.

Vogelbach with his first professional HR. Michael Jensen had his first professional start going 1 perfect inning with a K.

Clearly an oversight on my part, I should have at least had him in the rest of the field, but I think it's time we return Dae-Eun Rhee to prospect relevance. His August as an age appropriate starter in the FSL is looking mighty impressive. The recent reports on his off-speed stuff and fb velo back up his recent numbers. Frank Del Valle should be in the conversation as well. His August numbers suggest he's adjusted nicely to the MWL. And while recent reports of him hitting upper-90s on his fastball may be dubious, they're never a bad a thing. Pin-Chieh Chen and Zeke DeVoss are showing enough in Boise to be in the discussion as well. That's a lot of names. Clearly, I need to be more picky. Can anyone help separate the wheat from the chaff here or is it just too early to tell?

I mostly echo this sentiment, though I'm not sad to see him go. He's never been the worst or an idiot or absolutely terrible as so many have called him. But, that said, it's time for fresh blood. It's way passed time for that. Depending on who the Cubs bring in, I'm very excited for the future of this franchise. The draft spending and international signings this year only add to that excitement. Things are looking up. Way to go, Tom. If only he'd told me he was going to do this when I sat next to him in spring training this year... I truly believe he actively is against working counts and patience at the plate (e.g. in favor of an aggressive approach at the plate), and for that he IS absolutely terrible. He may have made some good moves in spite of this, but someone with such a flawed fundamental belief isn't going to have a very easy time succeeding at what he was doing. His best moves were trades, Aramis, Lee, Nomar, and Harden. His FAs were very expensive, and that's a large reason why he built a contender from '07-'09, but had he spent the money better, perhaps we could have contended for the past 2 years as well. He had a lot of money at his disposal. Also, throwing the money he did at role players like Miles, Grabow, Howry, Eyre, Neifi, Hollandsworth and a few others I can't think of at this time never sat well with me, even less so than the big money FAs. My feelings as well. It's a shame.

I mostly echo this sentiment, though I'm not sad to see him go. He's never been the worst or an idiot or absolutely terrible as so many have called him. But, that said, it's time for fresh blood. It's way passed time for that. Depending on who the Cubs bring in, I'm very excited for the future of this franchise. The draft spending and international signings this year only add to that excitement. Things are looking up. Way to go, Tom. If only he'd told me he was going to do this when I sat next to him in spring training this year...

hopefully there is one where he has to be less fat. He was looking pretty fit in the last video I saw of him.

I don't know if I can stand the rumor mill anymore. Inside of 7 hours to go before we should know for sure.

Thanks, CR. The more the merrier.

I'm excitedly cautious.

That's what got my attention. Lots of guys can throw in the mid to low 90s. Question is can they locate it and do they have something equally effective that's off-speed

Did he even throw 95 pre injury? Yeah, my recollection is that he was right around there, maybe a tick below.

It's also pretty clear to me that Z wanted out of that game. He threw inside twice in a row. It was intentional. He didn't want to hurt Chipper, he just wanted to get thrown out. When the ump gave him the heave-ho, he didn't protest at all. He didn't even seem surprised. He just calmly walked off the field. In fact, he seemed very calm while in the dugout afterwards when some of the Braves came out onto the field. He even broke a smile and appeared to be joking with a fan in the stands. It doesn't mean that his pride wasn't bruised by giving up 5 HRs. I'm just saying the he may have been telling himself on the mound that he sucked. That he had lost it. That he was no longer the type of pitcher he wanted to be. So he effectively took himself out of the game, and, as is the way with bi polar II disorder sufferers, he overreacted to his embarrassing performance and did the dramatic thing which is to retire. Most bp II sufferers would reconsider after calming down. But I suspect Carlos has a larger than normal helping of pride in his personality and that may keep him from returning to the field. While I have compassion for him and what is likely a chemical imbalance that he is not to blame for, I hope he stays retired. The Cubs could use the salary flexibility.

Carlos's brain chemistry is likely off. Seriously, I'm speaking medically here. There's a condition called bi-polar II disorder in which the brain is missing a chemical that helps it control emotional reactions. Typically, a person with bi-polar II disorder will have uncontrollable outbursts of anger and larger, more dramatic reactions to adversity/frustration than others. They will also be moody. He certainly fits the bill. It's possible that he was diagnosed last season during his time off and given meds at that time. He certainly performed well after coming back. Whether his good performance at the end of last season was coincidence or he has stopped taking the meds he was prescribed back then. I don't know. Mental health issues are very real. Just like high cholesterol. Unfortunately, they come with a stigma. It is very likely that Carlos Zambrano has succeeded in his life while suffering from a medical condition in which his body simply fails to produce enough of a certain chemical in his brain. With the proper medication and out-patient therapy, he could easily even out his emotional reactions. Whether that would make him a better pitcher, I have no idea about. But I doubt it would.

19-year-old SS Arismendy Alcantara has been hitting better of late. I'd want to see how he looks at the plate. I'd love to see what Rubi Silva's batting eye is like. Does he get fooled often and if so by what? And how is Silva's defense? That what I'd be looking for if I was there.

Okay, that's kinda what I figured. And I agree, he's impressed with his numbers, but he should only be considered a prospect when he's able to do this at the higher levels.

I thought about Marwin mainly because he's had some success this year, certainly a lot of improvement over previous seasons, but I primarily considered him because he's just 22 years old and playing decently at AAA. His OBP is still rather pedestrian and that's an improvement over horrible in many of his previous seasons. I guess because of his previous inability to get on base, I want to see him do it again next year. One guy who probably should be on this list is Eric Jokisch. He's seemingly mastered Low A ball. In July and August combined, the dude's started 8 games, pitched 45.2 innings, allowed 34 hits, 8 earned (9 total) runs, 1 HR with 45 strikeouts and 7 walks. That's an ERA of 1.58 and a WHIP of 0.90. He just turned 22 a couple of weeks ago, so he's age appropriate for his level. But what's his scouting report like? Does he have decent stuff?

So check me on this. According to articles linked to in this thread, and assuming Baez and Vogelbach sign, this is the list of confirmed guys as it stands now. 1. Javier Baez - SS 2. Dan Vogelbach - 1B 3. Zeke DeVoss - CF/2B 5. Taylor Scott - RHP 6. Neftali Rosario - C 7. Trevor Gretzky - 1B 9. Garrett Schlecht - OF 10. Daniel Lockhart - SS 13. Darien Martin - OF 15. Justin Marra - C 16. Rafael Lopez - C 17. John Andreoli - OF 18. James Pugilese - RHP 19. Paul Hoilman - 1B 20. Ben Klafczynski - OF 21. Andrew McKirahan - LHP 22. Ethan Elias - RHP 25. Rock Shoulders - 1B 26. Michael Jensen - RHP 27. Taiwan Easterling - OF 30. Arturo Maltos-Garcia - RHP 32. Pete Levitt - RHP 33. Sheldon McDonald - LHP 36. Travis Garcia - 3B 38. Casey Lucchese - RHP 40. P.J. Francescon - RHP 42. Brad Zapenas - SS 44. Kenny Socorro - SS 46. Steve Weismann - RHP That's 29 signees with Dunston, Jr., Maples, Jacquez and Zych still out there. Am I including someone I shouldn't? Have I left anyone out?

Crawford is still striking out way too much for his skill set and Rohan is old for a prospect and a really old for his level.

Tranny? Seriously? Come on, admit it Raisin, you thanked him just so you could call him that.

I'd let Clevenger and Castillo battle it out (and Clevenger might have a shot to win that, as he's just ... steadier, but it feels like certain key organizational guys are high on Welington). I think the thing that has really moved Clevenger forward, in my opinion, is the fact that this year, his defensive work has largely been viewed as above average, whereas before, he was viewed more as a steady catcher behind the plate. There's catchers that are getting regular time in the bigs that have a far worse profile than Clevenger (above average receiving work, average arm, solid contact ability), and I am starting to wonder, if the right opportunity presented itself, if Clevenger would be a passable-decent starter in the bigs. I'd send the loser of Clevenger/Castillo to AAA, and perhaps bring back Chris Robinson. I'd let Flores/Brenly act as the duo in Tennessee. What's the value of trading Soto during the off season. Of course, it depends on what the Cubs get back, but, assuming it was a good return and no catchers came back, would the Cubs be okay with what they have between those two?

The minor league season is now 4 months old, and the short-season teams have been in action for almost 2 months now. It's time to take another look at the Cubs top ten emerging prospects. As expected, there's lots of changes from the original list: 1. Robert Whitenack, RHP, 22 (AA) 2. Jae-Hoon Ha, OF, 20 (A+) 3. Austin Kirk, LHP, 20 (A-) 4. Micah Gibbs, C, 22 (A-) 5. Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, 22 (AA) 6. Justin Bour, 1B, 22 (A+) 7. Nick Struck, RHP, 21 (A+) 8. Dallas Beeler, RHP, 21 (A-) 9. Brett Wallach, RHP, 22 (A+) 10. Frank Batista, RHP, 22 (A+) Whereas Whitenack and Beeler might still be considered emerging prospects, we really need to see how they are when they return, so let's table them for the time being. Gibbs' and Bour's bats have really fallen off and Wallach has been demoted back to Peoria, so I'm dropping them from this top 10 list. Rhoderick and Batista have been okay, but not great and I think have been passed over by some of the younger talent in the system. That leaves Ha, Kirk and Struck still deserving from the original list. So there's 7 open spots and a lot of worthy candidates. For me, the cream of the crop performance-wise right now are: -Larry Suarez has put together a very good season moving from Peoria to Tennessee and producing all the way. -Jeimer Candelario's numbers as a 17 year old in the DSL are mighty impressive. -Oliver Zapata's plate discipline as an 18 year old is encouraging, plus he just got promoted to Boise. -As a 17 year old, Marco Hernandez put up pretty good numbers in the DSL. As an 18 year old in Mesa, he's OPSing over .900. Did I mention he plays shortstop? -20 year old, right-hander, Roderik Pichardo has risen from the DSL to the MWL in one season. His numbers on the year meet my criteria of less than a hit per inning, more than a strikeout per inning with a decent K/BB ratio. And he's been putting up stats like that for several years now. -20 year old, Taiwanese bonus baby, Yao-Lin Wang has put together somewhat of a breakout season and also meets the above criteria. -Reggie Golden has battled through some injuries this season, but as a 19 year old in Boise, he's shown better than expected plate discipline (IsoD of 0.89) and decent pop for someone his age. The fact that he was drafted so high (2nd round last year) already put him on the radar, so his status as "an emerging" prospect is in question, but it's nice to see the early returns aren't terrible. -Jeffry Antigua has returned to relevance as a left-handed pitching prospect with his performance in the FSL as a 21 year old. -Arismendy Alcantara is hitting just enough to keep himself in the conversation. Of course, it helps that he is doing it as a 19 year old in Peoria. -Aaron Kurcz just turned 21 two days ago and he's put up solid numbers at Daytona especially after moving to the pen. 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 18 H, 36 Ks, 9 BB, .188 BAA. He produced similar numbers last year at Boise. So that's two in a row. Then there's the rest of the field... Casey Harman, Ben Wells, Wilson Contreras, Dustin Geiger, Kyung-Min Na, Gioskar Amaya, Luis Liria, Justin Bour, Willengton Cruz, Sterling Peralta, Carlos Penalver, Jeffrey Baez, Hunter Ackerman, Jose Arias, Alexander Santana, Pedro Araujo, Fransisco Sanchez, Wes Darvill, Victor Garcia and others. These mentions are largely based on performance. Who is on the radar due to tools/stuff that I'm missing? Who makes your top ten emerging Cubs prospect list?

His debut was back on the 6th, but tonight was a nice outing. That said, it's time to sit up and take notice of Suarez's entire season. He's 21. 6'4", 245 lbs. Was a highly touted Latin American signing in '06 who had yet to live up to his hype until now. Moving from Peoria (where he was age appropriate) to Tennessee in one season, his line on the year reads 1.41 ERA, 32 IP, 28 H, 8 BB, 40 Ks. He's officially back on my radar.

He hasn't hit well lately but this is his 3rd straight game with an XBH and 4th in 5 games. Did he ever get into better shape since showing up in the spring so overweight? Yes.