Bilbo161

Dunston, Tseng, and Skulina. Rasin could you put Trey Martin and Bruno on next time? Thanks.

Possible, although improbable. If he is as wild as he was at Kane, perhaps yes, break. (Between walks, HBP, and wild pitches, he had 45 wild things in 34 innings.) And if he carries his Boise effectiveness up through A- and A+, (ZERO HR's, G/A 2.35, K/inning, 2.15 ERA, and included a 4-game stretch with only 2 walks…), then he'll certainly be ranked way higher than #22. Make, not break. My guess is that a year from now he'll neither be made nor broken. He'll be somewhere well below the 0/10/3 HR/K/BB good dream extreme, and well above the walk-per-inning nightmare. Probably somewhere in between, still too wild and inconsistent to make top 7, but still anti-HR enough with enough speed/movement/K's to stay top 30. Certainly he's one of the guys best positioned to make a huge jump, though. Maples is a tough one to figure out. I think I read that the Cubs simpliffied his approach and cut out one pitch (think it was the change-up) when they demoted him to Boise last year. After that he was lights out for a while with the two pitch arsenal. He really needs that third pitch to stick as a starter. Hope he can show some improvement this Spring.

I understand the sentiment. But at this point, what hitter would you draft over hoffman/rodon? The one they think is the best. It's February, I'm not allowed to have an opinion on specific draft prospects. EDIT: For reference, you can copy/paste this to last year and replace the names with Appel/Manaea to get the same general sentiment. The Cubs do seem to be sticking to that mantra. Can't say I blame them considering the injury risk on the pitching side, but there has to be a pitcher good enough that they would make an exception. Maybe not in this draft but there has to be a profile that would just be too good to pass up. It will be fun watching the candidates try this year. Not sure it would be a pitcher good enough to make an exception but rather a lack of hitters good enough to justify passing up the arms. I wouldn't make it such a hard and fast rule, but something more like, when in doubt, take the bat. I take Bryant 100 times in a row with Grey or any arm on the board. You can't just arbitrarily pass on the best arm in the draft to take the 10th best bat that is clearly a step or three down from the pitcher. Sure, that makes perfect sense. We'll see how the bats perform this season. There may not be a "Bryant" this year. I wouldn't mind a lefty bookend to him but don't see any yet.

I understand the sentiment. But at this point, what hitter would you draft over hoffman/rodon? The one they think is the best. It's February, I'm not allowed to have an opinion on specific draft prospects. EDIT: For reference, you can copy/paste this to last year and replace the names with Appel/Manaea to get the same general sentiment. The Cubs do seem to be sticking to that mantra. Can't say I blame them considering the injury risk on the pitching side, but there has to be a pitcher good enough that they would make an exception. Maybe not in this draft but there has to be a profile that would just be too good to pass up. It will be fun watching the candidates try this year.

Nice to know Torres is nearly as highly thought of as Jimenez. Maybe I'll move him up my list. :-)

Agree with the logic, but I don't see Ramirez as much more than a bullpen piece with control problems and injury risk. I'm going for the upside gamble here.

Rasin, could you put Bruno and Trey Martin in soon?

Yea, its hard to differentiate here in the mid teens. Too many choices.

Really liked the conversation on Lake / Vitters. I still think Vitters deserves a shot at MLB playing time to prove his worth, to this point though Lake has earned more time with his performance last Fall. I also get a little worried about Vitters attitude being a bit too laid back. Lake is ready to go anywhere all year long to get playing time. Vitters has not performed well in Winter league action the last two years. Didn't even play at at all this year and no one wanted to play him the year before. I hope when Vitters gets his chance he does well right away because he won't be given too many chances to fail. Lake has earned his second look already.

Like those tables. Maybe I would have Trea Martin on there but his injuries probably leave him with few if any stats for 2013. Thanks for that.

I like Jackson. Obviously McLeod and those guys will need to scout and decide. But some of the stuff I've read suggests that he can stay at catcher. Heh, a guy who hits like Mike Piazza can play catcher as badly as Mike Piazza, and be awesome. (I'm not suggesting Jackson would be as bad defensively as Piazza; the scouting is much more favorable, as I read it. Only that even if you are a bottom quartile defensive catcher, if you are a great hitter you can still be a huge value, and be a 12-time all star and finish 7 times in the top-10 of MVP voting.) Jackson could be much like Bryant. A lot of people questioned Bryant's ability to play 3rd; McLeod claimed that he thinks he can play a solid 3B, and that he can be a great value while playing 3rd but still be a great value if/when/after he moves to the OF. It wouldn't shock me if they had analogous view on Jackson, that he's so good a hitter that he'll be great value if they move him to LF or RF; and if he can play catcher well, or well enough, that's just frosting. All scouting, for sure. Defense and catcher-ability, yes. But as much or more is whether he really projects as a great hitter who you'll be happy with even if does move. I don't think Jackson is my high top school bat though. I like Braxton Davidson's left handed power and hitters approach better but am not sure he should be a number 4 over-all. Jackson may be good but he is nowhere near the proven bat that Bryant was. Jackson lacks the college years Bryant had to support his going that high. I like the Idea of a stud pitcher or Trea Turner. We'll see how the season plays out though.

Mine is the same guys in different order. Blackburn, Zastryzny, Black. I guess Viscaino is going to go a bit before I have him. I have to know he is pitching to put him before these guys.

I think I am moving him up with all the posts I'm reading, just not ahead of Hendricks for now. That could change of course, just not yet for me either.

Yeah I can see that take on Hendricks. It's just not for me. The guy has delivered results. How often have we salivated over some guys stuff only to watch him get lit up in the majors? I think he has earned it where it counts. That said, we still have to see what he does when he gets his cup of Joe. That is no insult to Blackburn or Black. Arguello over at Cubs Den had the same take on Blackburn CubsWin put up here. He also mentioned that whenever he talked to scouts about him the label "stud" was being mentioned. Can't get too much better for a kid his age. And Law having Black in the top ten has given me confidence to move him up in my estimation too. Hard to pick wrong here with any of those guys. Can't wait for spring training to start. This season will be fun.

I went with Hendricks and Zastryzny. Can't decide between Black, Blackburn and Ramirez for the third.

I went Olt, Hendricks, Zastryzny. Could have listed Ramirez Black and Blackburn as well with no real order. Maples started to look interesting last year too once he simplified things by cutting back to just throwing two pitches. Hopefully he can get comfortable and work that change up back into the repetuare(sp?)

I heard a lot of good things about Blackburn last season. One guy I respect said he kept hearing "stud" mentioned when Blackburn's name came up. I probably will put him in the next 6 picks or so, but not because I'm a scout or anything. Just what I've heard others saying.

It just seems to me that every guy at this point has a, "well, that's nice but he's 25" or "he's been good but his stuff is unimpressive", or "he's got some upside but has not done anything yet", or "but he's probably still injured/handicapped/dying". There's not a guy on the list that I think has to be voted here. Yea, I get it. Hard for me too. I get influenced pretty easy at this point 'cause I'm not sure who goes next either. Next season some of these guys will pull away from the others though and that will be the real fun.

Bummer for you jersey. I kind-of think it is getting more interesting because the top guys were so well covered that there is a bit of a consensus. I really like getting opinions on the guys...oh lets say from 10-30 because those are the ones I haven't heard as much about and for me (not being a scout or wannabe scout) this is how I form my opinions on the rest of the guys in the system. What can I say, guess I need a real life. :roll:

Olt, Candelario, Hendricks. The first two I've been pretty sure of and I really like Hendricks but am not sure if he belongs here. I just couldn't bring myself to rank Viscaino ahead of him. That may change if V shows he is over the injury this spring and recovering his old stuff. I also was tempted to put Zastryzny there but just not comfortable with the short season of info on him last year. Can't wait to see how last years draft class does with a full season of work.

Agree but who? is the question. Kolek and Beede could be guys to watch I suppose. Kolek already has hit 100 and Beede looks like he may put it all together this season if some of the scouting I have read is true indicating he may have improved his control. Any others? But I also like Turner and Braxton Davidson, though I have not seen the latter this high yet. So much can happen between now and June. It'll be fun.

I know I'll be way out of the norm with Hendricks. 1. I value pitching a lot, and teams need five (plus) starters. A position can't afford many holes in his game, but a 5th starter can be far from perfect. 2. According to Theo and Johnson, Hendricks can get significantly better than he's been. He was already very effective, but he's not necessarily beyond getting better yet. A number of other sources, while all noting that he's not TOR and that he's not as good as his stats, seem to project him as a capable #4-5 starter. 3. I know his stuff doesn't scout great, but a career K/BB of 5:1, with an 0.4 HR rate, those are some beautiful ratios. Maybe they aren't all mirage. 4. Reading some of Maddux's ideas, particularly the Boswell article, made me think optimistically about Hendricks. Yea, I like Hendricks too. He is the kind of guy that might just surprise everyone and be a good pitcher without the best "stuff". Just the kind of guy you love to root for.

For me it's Olt at 9 though that's giving him the benefit of the doubt that the injury/eye issues are behind him. After that I go back and forth between Villanueva and Candelario, Right now the Candyman gets the nod for his better plate approach and switch hitting, but Villanueva's defense made the choice close.

I went Vogelbach, Olt, Candelario. It was close for me. Vogs seems to have more potential at the plate due to the power from the left side. If Kruk could play 1st base so can Vogelbach. He is a fail safe for Rizzo or some real good trade bait. Olt? I'm giving the benefit o the doubt on the injury recovery. Candelario needs to start showing more power but the potential is still there. Great plate approach.

I went Johnson, Vogelbach, Candelario. Is it silly to have two more 3B men after that? Wasn't sure which one to call number 9. I just love Candy mans approach at the plate and pitch selection that put him above Olt and Villanueva, but that is no knock on them.