Outshined_One

Arizona Phil has the final numbers: Very small sample size, but it seems like he was a victim of bad luck. The peripherals are nice. Phil's not necessarily a sharp scout, but he usually has a pretty good eye for pitchers. Hitters...not so much so. I'm willing to buy what he says. Furthermore, I still have Simpson over Kim (by one spot!). However, as much credit as we give Wilken for the draft, it's worth noting that the Cubs have done a very good job of scouting and developing Pacific Rim players. What you said about the Cubs extensively doing their homework on Simpson is also true about the international scouts in the organization. As for what you said about Simpson and Wilken, I agree it is a good idea to take the Cubs' scouts judgments over what BA says. Wilken and company are entitled to deference, given their enormous body of experience. They clearly have a plan and execute it, regardless of what any other organization might think. However, I think we disagree as to the amount of deference that should be afforded them. I'm willing to be more constrained in that regard.

Mono represents a big enough question mark in my mind to knock Simpson down a notch simply because it can really cause trouble for a pitcher when it comes to recovery. It's not like he'll come back at 100% once the mono is out of his system; he still has to not only regain his weight, but also his former strength and stamina. There were already questions about Simpson's size and durability, so this sort of thing just nags at me. It's speculative on my part, but I could see Simpson needing to spend time at EXST next season in order to get back into shape. That would cut into his performance into 2011, considering he won't log as many innings and might also have trouble going deep into games. I grant you, he could be perfectly fine next year and it's all needless worrying on my part. Lots of athletes have overcome their bouts with mono and Simpson should, as well. However, 2011 might be a bit of a bumpy road for him depending on how his recovery goes. Also, for me, mono was one factor of many in why I ranked Simpson where I did (14). Had Simpson been a 3rd or 4th round pick (around where he was ranked pre-draft), I don't think anyone would have him in their Top 30s. I'm willing to give Tim Wilken credit, but I'm not going to buy into a guy just because Wilken picked him in the first round. Finally, the sheer lack of professional experience and data makes it hard for me to get a read on him, especially considering how Simpson's stuff varied over this past season. At least Jin-Yeong Kim got quality time at Instructs, you know? It just didn't feel right to rank him in the Top 10 to me. I'm rooting for the guy to break out and prove the doubters wrong. However, for now, I'm willing to be bearish on him.

As I remember, his changeup was supposedly good, but not great, when he was starting. It was mostly a matter of getting him reps, learning how and when to use it, etc. more than anything mechanical. What was worrisome about his move to the bullpen is that it seemed like his stuff had taken a step back from where it was in the minors. Hopefully he gets all of that ironed out next year, regardless of whether he's starting or in relief.

A transcript of every hockey game ever broadcast.

He was a relief pitcher for only one year as an amateur, which was his junior year at TCU. Prior to that, he was a starter in junior college and in high school.

I love the prominent roles Sergio Mitre and Clay Rapada took in this game.

This pleases me. Greatly. Anyone want to take odds on whether the Yankee jerkoff fans in the bleachers have left yet?

Bengie Molina: The other, other Molina brother

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Animated gif of the stereotypical Yankee fan, although it's huge. Link

Even when they implement replay, MLB still manages to screw it up in impressive fashion. God, I love this sport sometimes.

I'm impressed with how aggressive you are with Rusin, Lopez, and Reed.

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It's worth noting that Mike Quade was once a hotshot managerial prospect. He won minor league manager of the year twice (1991 and 1993) and was also one of the finalists for the Cubs' managerial job back in 2006. Plus, he's been with the Cubs since 2003. Considering how much time he's logged in the minors and with the Cubs, I think he has a much better claim to being "owed" this job than Sandberg. The players seemed to like him and he didn't seem like much of a bonehead with things like pitcher usage and lineups (save for how he used Koyie Hill). The Castro thing was kind of dumb, but whatever. This is better than overpaying for Girardi.

10/18 DH Josh Vitters 0/4

Ole Miss The Pedobears http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2010/10/14/PH2010101403199.jpg No grass on the field? PLAY BALL!

I hope you're right. Iowa and Michigan State have been the two biggest pains in the ass for the Badgers since I first went to Wisconsin in 2002. In a season like this, it'd figure if their two losses were to those teams.

Let's see, playing at Iowa the week after the biggest game of the year for the Badgers? Yeah, mark that down as a loss for Wisconsin.

From yesterday's game: 3B Vitters 1/4, R, RBI, HR LF Flaherty 0/4, R, 2 K, Assist RP K. Smit 2 scoreless, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB RP C. Carpenter 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, WP

He's a reformed alcoholic, so it probably won't be as much fun as you'd think.

Apparently, Instructs end Saturday. Lots of updates! 10/13 10/14 10/15 Fantastic news about Kim only having a leg cramp.

Flaherty went 1/4 and made two errors at 2B today. David Cales' struggles continued, as he pitched .2 IP with 1 H, 1 ER, and a 2-0 GO-FO.

Just thought I'd get this up in advance so we have a centralized place for various Cubs top prospect lists. NSBB will once again be doing a Top Cubs Prospects list, which will be posted and discussed at a later time. I'm also curious to see what everyone's rankings look like on NSBB. Despite a lot of big names graduating (Cashner and Castro), the Cubs made some interesting trades (Lopez and Wallach) and had an interesting draft, to say the least. So, some questions for discussion... 1) Who is the top prospect in this system? 2) Who is underrated? 3) Who is overrated?

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