Named After Maddux

What I like about our pitching is the amount of intriguing arms we have this year. I was bored waiting for a session to start at the Convention so I started jotting down quick ideas about potential rotations at the different levels of the minors. It seems like everyday there's going to be someone interesting to follow. There's not TOR littered everywhere or anything but like I said "intriguing" arms to follow. I like that and it seems like a huge focus of our management to get some added star pitching next year (from the conversation with Wilken). Sorry no added scouting reports, just some random thoughts at 6am.

Oh I definitely think 3rd is future for Baez instead of 2nd, especially considering the glut of MI prospects and we added Torreyes this off season. He has the skill set to be a strong offensive/ good defensive 3rd baseman (small sample size of errors at SS in 2011 not withstanding). It is good that they haven't already decided he needs to move, even if he does in 2012.

Unfortunately not a lot of comments about specific players was brought up. Most of the questions weren't geared towards players. Szczur and Rizzo were addressed multiple times about their strong make-up. Dave Otto was on kind of an Open Mic night and got off track a little. I'll look through my notes and I'll see if there's anything I missed.

So my original post took too long and I had to retype it! Lost the info about our IFAs. Wilken spoke specifically about Malave, Hernandez, and Candelario. Not scouting info just that he was really excited about them in particular. Spoke about how impressed he was watching down in Instructs. He said that really changed his mind about what to expect in 2012. No mention about where they'd start, but again was impressed. In particular, thought it was extremely exciting Malave and Candelario could be hitting middle of the order and succeeding against much older teams at instructs.

I'll be giving a report for the Down on the Farm meeting and my interview with Tim Wilken. Feel free to message me and ask if you have a specific question. Down on the Farm: Rhee was mentioned as being back to full strength (93-95 fb and breaking pitches more consistent last year-obligatory Fleita gushing warning). They didn't talk about which breaking pitches he'd be throwing just that they had tightened up. In addition he was projected to start in the AA rotation. Whitenack is expected to be ready to start the 2012 season in Daytona at the end of spring training. I didn't think he'd be ready by then and was shocked, but it was great to hear. Jeff Beliveau has made substantial strides since he's been drafted on his control, which was apparently spotty in school. They now feel he can be a back-end of the bullpen guy (didn't specify closer or set-up, just using the term Wilken and Fleita mentioned). In addition, he was, according to Wilken, to have a bit of poor conditioning when drafted. He now has 6.5% body fat at the last time he was measured by the Cubs! The panel (in particular Wilken and Brett Jackson) was jokingly trying to get him to take his shirt off for the crowd, but he wasn't having any of it. A bit of an aside, Brett Jackson is hilarious and so at ease with the crowd. He looked very "Hollywood". Brett answered the questions well and took pressure off several of the other players, especially Junior Lake, who was very nervous. Brett was asked to translate for Junior Lake after a question about what he learned about living in the US. Here's his "translation": "Brett Jackson is the best player I've ever played with... he is also my best friend". Everyone laughed, even Lake, who can understand and speak English, but was nervous. Jackson was very confident, not in a cocky "better than everyone here" attitude, just confident in being there. They paired him with Anthony Rizzo the whole weekend, which was great because Rizzo was a little overwhelmed and they will probably be playing with each other in AAA and Chicago (hopefully soon :beg: ) Management has added a new system in which players in the minors can watch film of players throughout the minor leagues including themselves on their mobile devices. McLeod was really proud of this and discussed how it gives the players with the strongest work ethic the ability to really study up and prepare themselves for the big leagues. Javier Baez will be given a chance to play SS next year and beyond. No decision has been made and it was said that "his bat can play anywhere", although likely 2nd or 3rd if not SS. Scouts will watch two-sport players in their other sport. Wilken watched Matt Szczur play in a football game against Penn. Tim Wilken interview: Tim was nice enough to sit down and answer a few of my questions. In particular he spoke about how he and the Team hadn't found any loopholes in the new CBA (but let's be honest, would he tell me if they had?). He spoke about the only advantage would be to immensely increase the amount of exposure the scouting staff had to amateur players. In addition, I was unaware that he was the only Scouting Director strictly in charge of the Amateur and Professional side of the game. He said it put a huge strain on him and he was actually excited to just focus on what appears to be his "baby", the amateur draft. I was wondering if he bristled at McLeod being brought in. But he mentioned that he can focus on what he really loves to do. Maybe a PC answer, but it seemed genuine. Finally, the 2012 draft will be very heavy in favor of positional players. He said that management is very aware of the holes in the system, namely SP, but it won't be easy to correct in the 2012 draft. He did say that LH SP in high school appears to be quite strong and it will be an area the team will target.

Hey haven't posted in awhile. Finishing up my pharmacy degree by working in an ICU in Chicago so I've been insanely busy, but I'll have a report when I get back home in an hour or so. I also got to talk to Tim Wilken on the side. He gave me a little bit of info on 2012 draft strengths and weaknesses and what the Cubs would be looking at.

The more and more I listen to or read material Doug Glanville writes, the more impressed with him I become. I knew he was well educated of course, but I really feel like he is just so underrated, as far as analysts go. That will be an interesting read.

Great season everyone! Thanks O_O and Raisin (and everyone else). The depth and quality of minor league info you bring up for discussion is why I first started reading this forum and why I joined. Look forward to some interesting topics in the future (and some more home grown talent on the ML team of course!)

And Del Valle finishes with 6 innings 2 hits, 0 R, 8 K and a walk. Also Szczur currently 3/3 with a double and 2 SB.

Smokies close it out, winning 10-4. Martinez (5 K's, no walks, 3 innings), Rhoderick, Berlind, and Hatley throw 7 shutout innings with only 2 hits in relief of Searle. I guess the Smokies have an MO this year in the playoffs. Here's hoping they can close it out tomorrow night in Chattanooga.

The thing I like best about Beliveau is his combination of strikeouts with control. He had a 5.3 K/BB ratio in about 60 innings in Tennessee this year and greater than a 3 K/BB at every level since the beginning of 2010. Couple that with the fact that he's had a >10 K/9 at every level in the minors, he still is 24, and he has a smattering of closing experience, I would be a very big proponent on making him a key person to add to the 40 man.

Hopefully Searle can continue his really solid run since returning as a starter this year (11 starts, 3.08 ERA, 2.13 GO/FO, .238 BAA). It's weird thinking that he's just 22 this year. I remember when he was pushed to Daytona when he was 19 in 2009. It'll be interesting to see whether he ends up starting next season in Tennessee or Iowa or going back to his relief role where he was very good in Daytona. I hope they give him a shot to start again next year. It always seemed like his issue was on the mental aspects of the game. Maybe he's grown up a bit.

Which is too bad because it also could eliminate any possibility of seeing Ben Wells in another big game this year. I'm so interested in seeing what he will do next year. His record might not seem gaudy, but for a 18 year old (19 on 9/10) in shortseason, I'll take 4-4 4.66 ERA and a roughly 3 GO/AO any day.

Good point on Beeler earlier. I got to the game a little early today and actually got to talk to Dallas as he was sitting in the bullpen. I asked him how his arm was feeling and he said that it felt great. He was on a 4 inning or 60pitch max yesterday (which ever came first) and he only threw 36 pitches through 4 yesterday before being taken out. We talked (ironically that you brought up the change) about what he liked to throw and what his repertoire was. He loves his 2-seam fastball. He's comfortable with the Curve and likes how that pitch is progressing. He did say that when talking to the organization, they told him he needs to make serious effort with the change and he'll be throwing that a lot more next year just to get the feel of the pitch. He did say he threw a couple yesterday, but next year will start using it more often. As far as Silva, he surprised me with how the ball really jumps off his bat. Not that he has a ton of power, per se, but he did strike the ball really well at times. I didn't get to see him in bp so I'm not sure. It'll be interesting to see if he can improve the plate discipline, because as you brought up, that's an issue. He had some swings that were not pretty today (and 2 more K's). Wallach transitioning to a power reliever would be intriguing. Basically anything we could get out of him would be nice. Hopefully he can focus just on the fastball/curve, improve the command, and develop some consistency.

Hey guys, I've been reading this forum (specifically the Minor League section) for awhile now and figured the first time I post I'd actually have something interesting to share. :D I went to the Peoria Chiefs game today (and going tomorrow). Here's a recap of several players I made notes of throughout the game: Dallas Beeler: Really in control the entire 4 innings he pitched. His fb ranged 90-93 and touched 94 twice that I saw. As the game progressed (~ 3-4th innings in) he broke off several nice curves, which ranged 73-78. He never seemed to be in any trouble and cruised through his outing. I was very impressed. Brett Wallach: Piggybacked with Beeler and came in to start the 5th inning. Brett was all over the place, but that seemed to be a product of him throwing much harder than I thought-consistently 92-95 and touching 97 several times. This was a 97 that actually seemed legit and not a “Del Valle 98”, although who knows. He blew through multiple hitters with his fb and a curve ball that was erratic, but flashed some pretty impressive break at times. It also seemed like he had a two-seamer that he used a couple times. I know it’s been brought up about Wallach as a power reliever and I didn’t believe it at first until I saw him today. He kept hitters off balance and flashed some plus stuff in his fb and curve. Again, very erratic and some control issues, but when on was lights out. He unfortunately gave up three runs in the 9th, but how those were all earned is beyond me. There was a pop-up to left that was dropped and somehow ruled a hit, which opened the floodgates. He should have gotten out of the inning (and the game) giving up 1-2 runs. He did appear to tire in the 9th, which definitely contributed to his erratic control. Dustin Geiger: Long-lanky kid that reminds me a little of Hunter Pence in stature. Struck a couple singles right on the screws. Played ok defense (nothing remarkable was hit to 3rd base, but showed decent range and a couple good throws). I was surprised that he was not a quicker base runner. Appeared to be very slow and deliberate out there and didn’t have a thicker frame like Gibbs so it was a bit confusing. Gibbs: Looks like a future major-league backstop. Maybe as a back-up, but looks the part of a major leaguer. He is a heads up base runner (twice in key situations-including his GW slide into home), had good strong throws to the guy covering second, and good game manager. He was adept at blocking balls in the dirt (Wallach was all over the place during the 9th inning). He seemed over matched in a couple of his at bats but showed solid power in the 12th with his opposite field blast that hit the very top of the wall (half the stadium thought he won on a GW homer- it was that close). Also showed a good balanced swing from both sides of the plate. Rubi Silva: Really good speed and kind of glided to the ball in center. He featured a great running catch in left center and a solid sacrifice bunt that he obviously beat the throw, but was called out on a horrible call. We had a really good angle and even the Cardinal fans behind me mentioned the botched call. He lost a ball in the sun, but it was a challenge to fielders all day. Every pop-up was an adventure. I was really looking forward to see him play 2b, but with Easterling moved up to Daytona, Silva played cf. Overall, there are some solid pieces, Beeler and Wallach could be good in their own right and flashed some potential, but have some issues. Beeler is recovering from an injury and Wallach has some control problems and needs a new role IMO. Gibbs appears to be a future major league catcher in some capacity. Also, Silva is an interesting prospect with a lot of athletic talent, but appears to be caught in a logjam with outfielders in the system. It would be better if he consistently played second (and even that might be an issue with DeVoss, who isn’t too far away from him). Geiger is obviously challenged at this level, but hopefully that speaks to how highly the organization views him. He struck a couple solid hits pretty well and I’ll be interested to see how he performs next year. If anyone has any questions about anyone in particular I might be able to answer it. I'll have a recap of tomorrow's (I guess today's now that I see how late I'm posting!) game so If you have anyone in particular you want me to make notes of let me know!