jumbo

I saw that quote and was also intrigued. There is not enough video coverage of spring training

Hopefully they can just install Kelly Pickler as the full-time seventh inning stretch singer. Make sure she's still got the implants and I'd get behind that

I only felt really strongly about my votes through the top 15 or so. After that I wasn't really adding anything since I had so many players lumped together

When I started this post the position players felt much easier to place by level than the pitchers.

I went with Loux due to proximity to majors. If Wells hadn't hurt his arm I would have voted for him

I think he's been age appropriate throughout his career 18 in Rookie league 19 in A- 20 in A 21 in A+ 22 in AA He could make the majors at 23 or 24. Not what the elite prospects do, but I wouldn't call him "not young". Just a minor quibble

In increasing order of legitimacy as an insider at PSD: ABTY JoeyBY Marlin Bistro

I think your original post referencing Golden was an ignorant and lazy response. I'm not surprised that it was received the way it was. It's like knocking over a kid's sand castle. Needlessly destructive and careless. But, this is, of course, the internet.

Loux Wells Blackburn

Does this mean that the Phillies are waiting to see if Bourn signs with a team that would then have an extra outfielder for trade, liike the Diamondbacks? There was speculation on Domonic Brown being the return for Soriano, has anyone heard anything else on this? If I think real hard, I wonder if signing Bourn would sort of bleed the market to facilitate a Soriano trade. Add in a Garza for Olt trade, as has also been speculated, and we have: Bourn DeJesus Castro Rizzo Brown Olt Castillo Barney Samardzija/Jackson/Baker/Villanueva/Wood/Feldman Marmol/Fujikawa/Camp/Russell/Rondon/Bowden/loser of #5 SP A lot of questions here, but I'll add one more: If Toronto is in the market for Garza, after their trades what type of return would be realistic?

I went with Szczur, mainly due to his proximity to the majors. If nothing else, we'll know in the next year or two if he's going to make the big league club. Underwood seems so far away that it's hard to get overly excited about him.

Not in order necessarily, but Szczur Loux Alcantara

Doesn't outrighting Concepcion take him off the 40 man?

I've been asking myself the same question. I think my excitement about him was inflated because of just how bad our pitching outlook was around that time (2010, I guess?). I remember hearing ceiling of a #3 starter, which I kind of discounted as conservative. The fact is, that was our most exciting pitching prospect. I'd like to think that even if he bounces back, he's just borderline top-10 in our much-improved system. He started throwing harder and had better success the season he was injured. A specific concern for me would be that he can't throw as hard without hurting himself.

Yes, it sucks to have 22 year olds that put up a .859 OPS in AAA. If that was an accomplishment it would be a meaningful statement. But an 859 in the PCL is not an accomplishment, especially by a guy who can't hack 3B. It's not like we're comparing him to people who have racked up accomplishments at this point. His competition in this run-off is a guy whose accomplishments are: 1) 11 innings in short-season ball 2) Being picked at No. 43 overall (a spot in the draft order that has produced just three players in 47 years with a career bWAR of 5 or higher.) Here is the full list of players who were in the PCL at 22 or younger who posted an .800 OPS or better last season (min. 143 ABs because that's what BR has it set at for some reason): Wil Myers Anthony Rizzo Josh Vitters everybody knows AAA is not stacked with prospects. The age doesn't really matter as much as seeing a 21 year old do something interesting in AA. Vitters has done very little in his 6 seasons of professional ball. He looks like garbage at first and then looks to hold his own. Then people give him a boost for being young while holding his own. I'm not interested in prospects who eventually learn to hold their own in the minor leagues. He deserves a boost for being young for his level. It's the opposite of the LaHair success that led everyone to say, "sure, but he's 29." If Vitters started repeating levels he would post better numbers. Here's Vitters numbers the first time through A-, A, A+, AA versus his second time through: G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 124 461 430 52 98 22 2 10 50 5 2 20 74 .228 .273 .358 .631 288 1173 1087 152 329 73 5 37 177 13 14 50 163 .303 .342 .481 .823 And his first time through AAA: 110 452 415 54 126 32 2 17 68 6 3 30 77 .304 .356 .513 .869

He's not really been old for his level yet, his arm could potentially bounce back to what it was, and he's advanced enough in his career that if he puts it together for any period of time in the minors he could be called up (even if it's just to the pen). Considering that filling out a bullpen with in house arms can save millions per year it's not a completely worthless player even if he doesn't end up being a long term solution. Just my opinion. I have him in a clump of guys that could rank anywhere in the second half of the top 30. Then I have another clump of other guys that deserve a mention. I'm not really sure how to rank them inside each group. Any comments on that would be welcome. Since I'm at it, here are my votes and clumps. 12 Candelario 13-23 Szczur/Wells/Lake/Loux/McNutt/Alcantara/Underwood/Blackburn/Torreyes/Hernandez/Amaya 24-39 Cabrera/Watkins/Struck/Martin/Zych/Whitenack/Antigua/Ha/Jensen/Arias/Rosario/Scott/Carreno/Hendricks/Bruno/McNeil

Vitters for reasons previously stated PJ's floor is career ending arm injury

I definitely find Vitters to be underrated, whether it's just by Cubs fans or by the FO as well. He seems like a guy who's guaranteed to be a good hitter with at least around average power. I think he'll eventually be at least an okay defender at 3B. I just hear so much negativity surrounding the guy that it starts to affect my view of him. I've been voting for him and like him, but I'm probably more optimistic that most fans. Also, I tend to favor two things in prospects, age relative to competition and proximity to the majors, so Vitters is on the right side of the continuum for both of those.

If so, I think the voting for #12 could be held simultaneously

i understand what you mean. but it's hard to get my heart behind something like this, i don't see how we're that much better and i definitely don't see how we're getting close to .500. a .500 often generates some buzz, i look at our roster and i see a mess and all of our minor league talent still years away. i'm not trying to go all meatball, but it's going to take a move or two (and not nate [expletive] schierholtz) to steal my attention from the low minors discussions. I got curious about how much worse the team was after the trade deadline. Record by month: April: 8-15 .347% May: 10-17 .370 June: 10-17 .370 July: 15-10 .600 August: 8-21 .276 Sept/Oct: 10-21 .323

I was pretty high on Torreyes when we got him. I looked up some of his stats and compared them to Castro and he obviously has an incredible hit tool. Of course he'll need more than that, but he's still got a chance due to how good that tool is. I don't think he'll manage to repeat his heroics from the rookie league and A ball next season at AA, but if he bounces back this season he should post at least a line of 280/320/400 and at best a line of 300/360/440. Really just guessing here, maybe somebody else has a better take on it

Candelario is absolutely an upside pick. I never tried to comp him, but I could see him being an Aramis type 3B - solid hitter with discipline and 30 HR power, defensive limitations that he can improve on over time. Yes, he is far away and all the risks are there, but the Cubs system is loaded with average type players, so he stands out a bit to me on his immense ceiling. As an aside, I looked up Aramis on BR while typing this and never realized that he skipped AA. He had 47 games in AAA and then went to the Pirates at 20. Interesting how reckless that seems today, and how amazing it was for the Cubs to pick him up before he had six straight 900 OPS seasons.

I didn't vote yet since it's only set up for one vote instead of three, but my three are: Candelario Johnson Vitters I've commented on Candelario and Johnson in previous votes. I've always held out hope for Vitters longer than most for a few reasons. He's always been young for his level, he's got a great hitting stroke and he takes a bit of time to make adjustments, though this is most likely related to his age relative to competition. He's the type of player who I think you can't dictate a particular hitting style to very quickly and expect immediate results. I think you just let the guy hit, kind of like Castro, and then let him build on success instead of trying to change him before he makes it. He'll eventually be able to play a passable third. When he was up last year he made a bunch of nice plays but sort of choked on the routing plays. I chalk it up to being young, though he seems to have limited range, which isn't likely to improve. Bottom line is the guy will eventually hit, and if he can pass at third that's very valuable.

So Villanueva is #8 and Maples is #9? Added this: Potential upcoming picks...not really in order Candelario Johnson Wells Szczur Vitters Lake Loux McNutt Alcantara Underwood Blackburn Torreyes

I think leaking that the Cubs were ready to sign your player would be effective. It's certainly not necessary, but with the stakes this high I suppose an agent could do worse things than this.