Outshined_One

A small correction, but Steve's son is Garrett Buechele. Actually, his full name is Steven Garrett Buechele. So, we're both right.

It's worth noting that Vanderbilt is absolutely loaded this year, so you might want to make an effort to catch them. In addition to the guys davell has noted, here are some other guys to keep an eye on (italicized names eligible in 2012): Vanderbilt: P David Hill, P Taylor Hill, C Drew Fann, C/1B Curt Casali, IF Sam Lind, SS Anthony Gomez, OF Mike Yastrzemski (Carl's grandson), P Sam Selman Oklahoma: P Bobby Shore, P Burch Smith (a JUCO transfer I really liked last year), IF Evan Mistich, 3B Steve Buechele (son of the former Cub), C Tyler Ogle, 1B Cam Seitzer, OF Max White Texas State: P Carson Smith LSU: OF/P Jimmy Dykstra, P Mitchell Hopkins, IF Ralph Rhymes, 2B/3B Tyler Hanover, P Kevin Gausman Mississippi State: OF Carl Bishop, RHP Devin Jones SE Missouri State: SS Kenton Parmley Florida: P Anthony Panteliodis, P Justin Poovey, P Matt Campbell, P Thomas Toledo, C Ben McMahan, P Brian Johnson, P Hudson Randall, C Michael Zunino, SS/2B Nolan Fontana Ole Miss: P Davis Goforth, OF/1B Matt Smith, 1B Matt Snyder, 1B/C Miles Hamblin, C Taylor Hightower Most of the best guys were already listed by davell, but there's at least some intrigue with the guys I listed above. The ones I listed might not end up in the first round of the 2011 draft, but they could make some noise.

Go figure.

Honestly...considering the Wilpons had their hands in scams perpetrated by the likes of Bernie Madoff, Sam Israel, and Allen Stanford, the Department of Justice and the SEC should be taking a really hard look at the Wilpons' finances. This article goes into more detail on the financial side of things. Considering their involvement with some of the biggest financial schemes that have blown up over the past few years, there comes a point where you have to wonder if this is incompetence or something worse. The words "bag men" come to mind.

McNutt's BB/9 profile is odd. He has issues with it in Peoria, then substantially cut down on them significantly after moving up to High A and AA. Miller has the overall edge and the comparative edge when looking at both pitchers during their stints in the MWL in BB/9, but some of it depends on whether you put more stock into McNutt's first half or second half. HR/9 is the third stat I'd throw in there. McNutt has a substantial edge over Miller there. Both guys do a good job of keeping the ball in the park, though. The reason I like Miller is I buy into his profile. In a loaded 2009 draft pitching-wise, he had one of the best pure arms. However, he was very raw; pretty much all fastball. Given his numbers this past season, it is abundantly clear that he has progressed substantially since being drafted. He still has his share of kinks to work out, but the guy has an impressive ceiling, especially if he continues growing like this. And I absolutely hate that he's a Cardinal. Ugh, I hope they do something stupid like trade him for Mark Buehrle.

Tough call for now. We'll see how ST shakes out. Here are a few names: Tennessee: OF Brett Jackson, 3B Josh Vitters, SP Trey McNutt Mississippi: SP Julio Teheran, SP Randall Delgado, SP Arodys Vizcaino (unlikely) Others: SP Matt Moore (Montgomery), SP Chris Archer (Montgomery), SS Dee Gordon (unlikely, Chattanooga), SP Rubby de la Rosa (Chattanooga) C Devin Mesoraco (unlikely, Carolina)

Age relative to league is a big big reason for why Miller was rated that high. He spent the whole season in Low A as a 19 year old, yet he racked up a ton of strikeouts while keeping HRs down and BBs at a reasonable level. It's incredibly rare to see a 19 year old put up those kinds of numbers in Low A over the course of a full season. Frankly, I think he's slotted in the right area and I think there's a good argument in favor of ranking him over guys ahead of him, namely Jameson Taillon.

Kind of sad that David DeJesus might end up being the best bang for the buck name on that list.

Link

There's something about Byrd that makes me wonder what the Cubs would do if they're out of it at the deadline this year. Relative to his performance last year, his contract is an absolute bargain. I could see a number of teams having interest in Byrd at the deadline this season if the Cubs are out of it and Byrd is producing near the level he was in 2010. I also could see the Cubs seriously consider trading him if Jackson is hitting the crap out of the ball in AAA.

This team needs someone who has strong fundamentals and is a leader.

Not bad. Coello could pan out as something interesting, plus he's shown the ability to strike guys out in AA and AAA. I'd like to see what he can do. Thomas has been kind of eh in his career. I was hoping a stint in AAA could help his prospect status, considering he seemed like the kind of guy who could benefit from the PCL, but he hasn't lived up to his former hype. There's a chance he could pan out and be a solid 2B, but considering the depth in the system, he was expendable.

Horrible, should've traded him the to rays. There goes money for Pujols to be sent into another guaranteed injury. Never ever sign relievers to contracts longer than 1 year. Hendry needs to go. We get the point.

We do, but that picture doesn't piss me off. It just makes me sigh wistfully.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjAiGHmky7k/TVg6AlPV61I/AAAAAAAAAHY/e2lZy3DYAuU/s320/Soto+BOS+e.jpg Now that is a handsome man.

That sounds surprisingly reasonable.

About that half a brain thing...

After reading up on how including Puerto Rico in the MLB Draft pretty much ruined baseball there, I'm solidly against a world draft. There would be all sorts of free rider problems, plus teams wouldn't want to invest in international facilities in places like the Dominican Republic if players they scout, teach, and develop end up signing elsewhere. I can buy into it more for having it include countries that have the infrastructure needed to develop baseball players on their own. Canada is a pretty good example of this, as its schools have churned out numerous quality players over the years while still maintaining a high level of interest in baseball. I don't see that argument working so well for places like Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. I think you're pretty much on the money with hard slotting, especially in early rounds. Yeah, bonuses are out of control and blah blah blah, but a hard slot would do a number on the talent from the HS ranks since a lot more kids would be inclined to choose other sports over baseball if they can't get drafted and paid accordingly. I say let teams throw as much money as they want at these players; if the players bust, oh well, that's a risk inherent in the system. If teams keep screwing up and throwing money at busts, that's their own fault. I really don't get how baseball would do a small market versus large market draft budget setup and make it work. How would they deal with a large market team with a small payroll? Wouldn't this just cause large market teams to divert their resources to the international market, effectively crowding out the small market teams? How would this work if a big market team was picking in the top 3? Would that team only be allowed to draft and sign the #1 overall player? There are well-documented issues with the international market and with the MLB Draft. Reforms are needed, especially in places like the Dominican Republic where there are clear issues with bonus skimming, fraudulent identities, and PEDs. There also are some competitive imbalances in the MLB Draft as far as spending goes. However, these measures would do more harm than good for MLB and baseball as a whole.

I'm guessing this is partly in response to that Tim Magazine article from a few months ago.

+1 Looking forward to seeing Garza in a Cubs uni, who's lost weight, who's sporting horrible facial hair, etc.

\:D/

Unfortunately, I'm not as optimistic as you in this regard. Most of the teams ahead of the Cubs have, in recent history, shown a willingness to fork over the money necessary to sign top players. If one of those guys slip to the Cubs, I'm guessing that means something went really wrong for him along the way. Otherwise, I pretty much agree with craig, although, I'd tweak OF > IF to: Corner IF > OF > C > MIF. Considering the already mentioned lack of power bats in this system, I'd prefer to see those bats come from the corner IF spots (hence the Travis Harrison question above) over the OF.

Please tell me its not forever Depends on who wins on Sunday.

Please rephrase. Honestly, I eat this stuff up and only wish it to make sense Yeah, that did look confusing the way I phrased it. :D But, TT had it right with what I was thinking. If I was ranking guys at this exact moment as to how I would pick them, I'd go like this: 1 Rendon 2 Cole 3 Purke 4 Gray 5 Springer 6 Norris 7 Starling (would have higher but think he'll want top 3 money) 8 Bradley 9 ???????(Harrison, Bundy, Bauer, Jed Bradley, Esposito, Swihart) I love this stuff, but it's almost a certainty that these guys change positioning some, maybe even a ton. Wouldn't shock me at all if at least one guy I just mentioned falls to the 2nd round even. Heck, look at someone like Rick Hague, who might have been drafted in rounds 7-10 last year if he didn't have a bounceback late in the season and got nabbed in the 3rd round. I remember he was supposed to be a surefire Top 15 guy at one point last season, but he just collapsed. As much as I love draft prognosticating, we are a long, long, long way off from the draft. If any of those guys are BPA, the Cubs should just select accordingly. Jackson could flame out or be used as trade bait or whatever. It's nice to have some diversity in the system (I'm going to be hammering home this HS position player thing for the foreseeable future), but I think it would be a mistake for the Cubs to pass on someone just because they have Brett Jackson. If the Cubs legitimately believe that guy could be as good as Jackson, if not better, then why not take him?

He's got a good eye though. If the K's are because he's selective with what he swings at, I'm OK with it. I think he's got 30/30 upside anyway. He's basically the exact type guy I want to see added to the system this year. But, it'll be interesting to see how he handles wooden bats this season. Brett Jackson comes to mind in this regard.