CubsWin

Badler has linked another top 20 IFA prospect to the Cubs, SS Kevin Made. I don't have a BA subscription, but here's Michael Cerami's write up about it over at Bleacher Nation... https://www.bleachernation.com/2019/02/14/cubs-already-tied-to-two-big-time-international-free-agent-prospects/https://www.bleachernation.com/2019/02/14/cubs-already-tied-to-two-big-time-international-free-agent-prospects/

Yeah, they'd be dumb not to. If that's not video from a Cubs workout, that's a good sign though...

Thats bleepin' hilarious. And, ouch. (I was at the Bartman game..)

Is he wearing a Cubs uniform in that video?

ICYMI, here's an excellent, in depth article on Luke Hagerty's comeback. No subscription needed. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25893836/inside-37-year-old-pitcher-luke-hagerty-improbable-comeback-story

The latest reactions to prospects at instructs from AZ Phil:

No. Willy has better overall tools and is a much better athlete. Better arm, more power, more speed, more batspeed, etc. I wouldn't use Willy as a comp for Amaya. I like Amaya, but his high ceiling will be achieved if he becomes a better receiver/defender than Contreras. I seriously doubt he'll develop a better bat, and I think the second-half of last season was a fluke for Willy. I agree with you on Amaya's offensive ceiling being lower than Willy's and that he's not the athlete Willy is, but he may already be a better receiver/framer and his arm isn't far behind.

MLB.com had 6 Cubs in the top 100 (top 72, really) and 4 in the top 50 at the end of '14. 3rd Bryant 5th Russell 36th Almora 48th Soler 53rd Edwards 72nd Schwarber

I'd love to see Young get some time at 2B where he played in college, but it looks like the Cubs may have moved on from that as he only played 2 games there last season.

AZ Phil has posted the 2019 Instructs Roster. Interesting to note, the only 2018 DSL player to get invited was OF Carlos Morfa. No 2018 IFA guys are participating.

Meh. He’s 19 and was in A-ball so his ranking amongst the best catchers throughout the minors is pretty meaningless. He can easily skyrocket towards the top of the list after anothe season or two with the hope he’s an all-star caliber catcher or he’ll end up being a defense-first backup catcher. Too many variables when you’re that far away at that position to be meaningfully compared to fellow minor leaguers. He's also the youngest catcher listed on that top ten. Only Keibert Ruiz, 20, who's ranked 39th overall by MLB and MJ Melendez, 20, a 2017 2nd rounder (52nd overall) are even close.

Other than being able to get rid of cancer, there is nothing good about chemotherapy. Tulo still projects as an above average player. Bring him to camp, hope that a Zobrist type workload keeps him vaguely healthy, and if it fails go grab a more typical backup SS like Adeiny Hechavarria in June. There's literally no downside here. You and other Cubswin aren’t wrong and I’m being reactionary. I’m just upset it seems more likely we aren’t getting Bryce and horsefeathering Tulo, Descalso and a underwhelming RP (Soria) and maybe a backup C will be all we do because we are poor. Even though those moves keep as us as good as or better than the 95 win team we were last year, in all likelihood. LOL, I feel you, 11.

Tulo costs the league minimum and lets us fire Russell into the sun. He would be a phenomenal signing. Other than being able to get rid of Russell there’s nothing good about this move. Tulo is washed up, but I guess he’s a name who use to be good so will get fans excited when we don’t spend on Bryce or anyone else good. Jeez, cynical much? The main reason to sign Tulo is that it costs you nothing except at 40-man roster spot and the league minimum salary if kept. He's had a lot of time off to heal. He used to be really good defensively at SS, and you get to evaluate him during spring training to see what he has left. If he does turn out to be completely washed up, you cut him and it costs you nothing. If he shows he can still play SS effectively then he can likely play 3B and 2B as well, and you've got a veteran back-up infielder at the league minimum (Steamer has him projected for 1.3 fWAR with limited playing time). What if he shows he can still play decent defense in the spring and Bote or someone like that gets injured, you've at least got an option to evaluate for no cost. It's a very minor move that allows you to cover your bases (heh, literally). It's likely that Tulo is washed up. I'd much prefer the Cubs sign Descalso so long as the price is right, and I'd much rather retain and rehabilitate Russell. But since it costs you nothing to find out what he's got left, and you've got a possible need for a back up SS, why not find out? It sure as hell won't be to cynically get fans excited...

With many of the Cubs better prospects being under 20 and in the lower levels, this will undoubtedly be a highly subjective discussion, but it's not like we've got a lot of other things to discuss right now, so... Which of the Cubs prospects has the highest ceiling in your estimation? Is it a guy who hasn't thrown a single professional inning - Richard Gallardo? Is it a kid who's just scratched the surface in the AZL - Cole Roederer? Or do you think the more athletic and toolsy Brennen Davis has the higher ceiling? Does Amaya have the upside of a 1st division starter or possibly an all-star? If Brailyn Marquez hits his ceiling will he be a TOR starter? Remember, we're not talking likelihood of reaching their ceiling, just the ceiling itself. So, who ya got?

Apparently my spidey senses aren't so "spidey" in this case because they're picking up that which has been heavily rumored for 18 months now, but every comment by Boras, Theo or reporting on another team's interest in Bryce seems to fit with my spidey senses that Harper wants to sign with the Cubs, and that Theo is working to find a way to make that happen while staying under $246 million total payroll if possible. My brain keeps telling me doing so is not all that likely. Logic keeps c-blocking my excitement...

Interesting to note that Duncan Robinson was not even listed in the "Other Prospects of Note" section and was also left off MLB's top 30 list. Sorry, davell...

I like seeing the disparity between different outlet's lists. I respect FG's more than the rest on the whole. MLB's list was weird in a lot of places with Uelman and Thompson at 11 & 12, Little at 7 and Underwood and De La Cruz still in the top 10 (9 & 10). It's an interesting insight as to what each outlet values and perhaps the info they bother gathering. The velocity readings FG listed all match up with what I saw while watching games last season with the possible exception of Abbot who I think I remember hitting 94 a few times while MLB inexplicably had Uelman and Little with a 60 fastball. (Granted 20-80 FB grades aren't exclusively about velocity.) Gallardo at 10, Garcia at 11 and Estrada at 14 are encouraging. Benjamin Rodriguez at 30 is a lot higher than I had him (and I got criticized for even mentioning him in an unranked list of U20 prospects last summer.) Speaking of U20 guys, 13 of the 31 names listed by FG are under 20 with 4 more at 20.2 or 20.1. That's 17 in total, over half of the Cubs top 31. By contrast, of the other NL Central teams, the Reds have 6 in their top 31, Milwaukee has 13, the Pirates have 7 and the Cardinals have 5. As expected, the Reds are the most top heavy with two 60 FV prospects and 5 at 50. No other NL Central team comes close. The Cards are the deepest with 37 prospects listed at 40 FV or higher (the Cubs are 2nd with 31). But that's to be expected with their college draft strategy and (at a glance without doing all the math) the oldest group of players. The narrative of the Cubs system lacking in high-end talent, having some high-end potential among U20 players (six players under 20 in their top 11 & eight 20.2 or younger in their top 14) along with good depth throughout is backed up by this Fangraphs list.

It was in the comment section of an article, I believe in response to a question I had asked him about velocity readings, during spring training or extended spring.

The Cubs released their list of AAA and AA protected players. These lists posted by AZ Phil are always an interesting insight as to how the Cubs think of some lesser known "prospects" within their system. Guys who are on the AAA list can only be selected in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. There are some interesting names on the AAA list. Obvious ones who didn't make the 40-man like Trevor Clifton and Craig Brooks are expected. The list is mostly populated with guys who are solid minor leaguers that the Cubs would like to retain for depth purposes, but it's the names you don't recognize that interest me. Eury Ramos debuted his mid-90s FB in Eugene this season. I hadn't heard he had velocity like that until AZ Phil made a comment about it last spring. He's on the list as expected, but there are a few names, that I've bolded, that we haven't had reports on. It likely means they have some upside the Cubs see that the rest of us aren't privy to. Being named on the AA list is less important, but the few bolded on the AAA list are intriguing.

Ha! I was answering that in the edited post above as you wrote this. #wavelength Ah, I neither value AAA nor MLB experience nearly as much for this spot. The primary role here is a defensive one, and there’s no reason to believe defense will actually get better with an arbitrary amount of AAA experience or even previous ML experience. By all accounts going back to his amateur days Martin is a superlative defender with the skillset to play any IF spot. For the minimum salary v 5-6+ times that, especially if that means even better positioned for Harper... I agree every win matters. I don’t get how just plain old experience (for millions of dollars) adds to the Cubs’ win total right now. Or how Martin negatively impacts the team’s sense of urgency. Or how Martin, likely instantly the team’s best infield defender, actually hurts their on field flexibility just by not being some undefined amount of experienced. If a guy like Mercer or Galvis or whoever is the new Cliff Pennington in baseball wants to take a vet min or better a MiL deal, that would be ideal. It is much easier to value experience for a role that does not require it when all the options are in the same Harper friendly price range I actually think salary is a less talked about part of why not to expect Russell back next year. Beyond him having his own unnecessary issues I just don’t believe this FO is motivated to blow millions on a backup glove while pursuing Harper under this gross luxury tax nonsense. Got it. We disagree, but all good.

What do you believe the roster uniquely gains by paying an experienced backup SS? I don’t think that improves defense or anything, so there must be something of significance gained that can only be had through experience that I am missing. Ha! I was answering that in the edited post above as you wrote this. #wavelength

I see this job as one a young, unproven player can do as it requires young player skills (defense, more pinch running than pinch hitting probably, yeah mostly defense). The qualifications I’m looking for: - Play really good IF defense including SS - Be extremely cheap - Not completely incompetent at the plate (in Martin’s case there’s contact, patience, and some speed) The value just isn’t there spending even a couple million more to get the same light hitting glove heavy profile from someone a half decade+ older over some experience. I also don’t see the value of paying a premium to add nebulous experience to a group of 20somethings with 4 straight playoffs and a WS under their belts. Can’t say I’m really concerned whether the backup SS has demonstrated an ability to hit AAA pitching either as the starters will handle the offense. The job may not even end up with 200 PAs barring some unlucky sequencing or (preferably) a pleasant surprise from the new guy. I’m either for this route - lowest possible price glove first backup so that Baez/Zobrist MIF isn’t a 9+ inning 162 game affair - or a starting SS that can also hit. I’m pretty open minded on the starting SS route - Machado, Andrus, Jose Iglesias are three names mentioned I don’t hate depending on the scenario. I’m a little less open minded on the sub route since it’s easy to overspend unnecessarily there. Far and away my most preferred options are the ones that make Harper most feasible like spending the bare minimum to definitely upgrade the infield defense. I hear ya on the money considerations, and well thought out. How much money they have to spend definitely impacts how they handle back-up SS. I disagree mainly because of the situation with Addy and the fact that the Cubs are in their championship window. If they keep Addy, there's no need for a player like Martin unless he's in AAA (which obviously means he'd have to fall to the Cubs in the minor league portion of the draft). If they don't keep Addy, there's no way I'm going with a guy who has never played above AA to be the primary back-up SS on a team in their championship window. As it stands now, assuming Addy's not on the roster, the Cubs have no one capable of handling SS if Baez were to get hurt. As we learned last year every win matters in an increasingly competitive division. Theo emphasized as much in his post-season presser saying the Cubs must play with urgency to win early in the season and throughout. Given that mindset, I just can't see the Cubs not having someone with major league experience able to fill in in case Baez goes down for any length of time. And we all know Javy plays with reckless abandon. And it's not just in case Javy gets hurt. We all know how Joe likes to play the match ups and values positional flexibility. If they have someone who can legit play major league SS, then if someone else gets injured (and match ups suggest the best chance for the Cubs to win doesn't include someone else starting), Baez who is also the best defensive 3B and 2B on the team can move to one of those spots. Even if it's an OFer who goes down, Bryant or Zo moves out there and Joe has his pick of who best matches up. If Richie Martin is the primary back-up SS, none of that is possible.

Nah, I'd much rather have a back-up SS with major league experience for a team like this. Now is not the time to try to develop a AA guy in the majors. Martin hasn't even seen time in AAA yet.

Good finds, Tom. If both those guys make it to the minor league portion of the draft, they'd be interesting as roster fillers with a chance.

You mean Reinheimer?