Outshined_One

Derrick Rose is a lucky man. http://media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/__Story_Inserts/graphics/__SPORTS/MISCELLANEOUS/skittles_machine_225.jpg

To me, that signals an attitude on ownership's part, rather than on the scouting department's part. Yes, it very well could be possible that Wilken runs his draft such that the Cubs can get the most out of guys who are unknown, slumping, injured, whatever, and are willing to sign deals for around slot. However, the more likely answer is that Wilken has been given a certain budget for the draft and has been told to draft according to it. With resources so tight, Wilken's best bet is to take the aforementioned approach. Given a $4m budget, signing a first rounder to a $3m bonus would effectively cripple the rest of the Cubs' draft. I think Wilken deserves a lot of credit...but I'm concerned about taking a scaled back approach like this. Yes, Wilken finds his share of diamonds in the rough. The problem is, there usually is a very good reason why players are unknown or slumping. That reason is: those players suck. Trey McNutt managed to slide under the scouting radar, but he was the exception, not the rule. Go back and look through Wilken's first two drafts with the Cubs; they're not pretty. When you draft players in this way, it's incredibly easy to undermine the depth in your system. Occasionally you'll hit the jackpot (see: 2008's draft), but most of the time, you'll be lucky to get one, maybe two quality prospects out of the draft. Now, the Cubs have done a reasonable job of augmenting their drafts with international signings and trades during Wilken's tenure. However, if the international signing budget also goes down...this team's farm system will be in deep trouble.

...actually, that's not true. Last year was the big haul with five six figure signings from the Pac Rim and one from Latin America. This year, there have been only two guys fitting that bill in Cuban defector RHP Juan Yasser Serrano and Korean RHP Jin-Yeong Kim (who reportedly got a $1.2m bonus). It may just be a down year in the international market, but the Cubs have spent less this year compared to last year.

Box Scores Iowa won 7-6 Box Score CF J. Adduci 0/6, 2 K 3B M. Smith 3/4, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (22), HR (12) RF B. Snyder 1/5, BB, 2 R, 2 K, E (4, throw) 1B M. Hoffpauir 3/4, 2 BB, R, RBI, 2B (34) DH J. Dubois 1/4, BB, RBI 2B B. Scales 2/5, BB, R, 2B (28), K LF B. LaHair 2/4, BB, RBI, 2 K PR/LF T. Wright 0/1 C C. Robinson 1/4 SS M. Camp 2/3, BB, R, RBI, K, SB (12) SP M. Atkins 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4/0 K/BB, HR, 4-6 GO-FO RP D. Cales 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO RP J. Gray 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 4-1 GO-FO RP J. Stevens 1 perfect, 1-2 GO-FO Tennessee lost 7-4 Box Score CF T. Campana 0/4 RF B. Jackson 2/4, R LF B. Guyer 1/3, BB, 2 R, 2B (29), SB (23) 3B R. Canzler 0/3, BB, 3 K 2B T. Thomas 0/3, K, E (15, fielding) PH S. Clevenger 1/1 SS/2B N. Samson 2/4, K PH M. Spencer 0/1 SS M. Gonzalez 1/2, 2B (10) SP C. Muschko 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5/1 K/BB, HR, HBP, 7-5 GO-FO RP RP R. Buchter 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1/3 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO RP A. Shafer 1 perfect, 0-3 GO-FO Daytona won 5-1 Box Score SS J. Lake 2/4, RBI, 2B (17), K 2B DJ LeMahieu 2/5, RBI 3B R. Flaherty 1/5, RBI, 2B (29), E (21, throw) 1B R. Ridling 1/5, K, SB (3) RF K. Burke 0/5, 2 K C M. Brenly 2/4, R, 2B (13), K LF G. Rohan 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B (6), K CF E. Crawford 0/3, BB, R, 2 K SP R. Whitenack 6.2 scoreless, 5 H, 4/0 K/BB, HBP, 7-8 GO-FO RP J. Beliveau 1.1 perfect, 3/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP M. Perconte 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, HR, 1-0 GO-FO Peoria PPD Boise lost 11-4 Box Score SS A. Alcantars 2/4, BB, SB (5) 2B P. LePage 3/4, R, RBI, 3B (2) DH R. Jones 0/5, 3 K LF J. Morelli 1/4, R, HBP 1B R. Cuneo 2/4, R, RBI, 3B (1) 3B D. Harrington 2/4, RBI C J. Vigurs 0/3, BB RF C. Huseby 1/4, RBI, E (1, fielding) CF KM Na 0/3, BB, R, K SP D. Fitzgerald 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HR, 5-1 GO-FO RP E. Jokisch .1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1/3 K/BB RP E. Rice 1 scoreless, 0 H, 3/1 K/BB DSL Cubs 1 won Game 1 of its DH 4-1 (completion of a suspended game) Box Score CF O. Zapata 2/3, BB, R, 2B (6), K SS G. Amaya 1/2, HBP 2B M. Hernandez 0/4, K RF D. Arcila 1/4, R, 3 RBI, HR (1), 2 K RP A. Colinas 4 scoreless, 3 H, 3/0 K/BB, 4-4 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 lost Game 2 of its DH 11-1 Box Score SS M. Hernandez 0/3 DH O. Zapata 0/2, BB, SB (19) DSL Cubs 2 lost 4-1 Box Score 2B J. Rodriguez 0/4, 2 K LF J. Casilla 0/4, 2 K 1B G. Jimenez 0/3, 2 K AZL Cubs with an off day OVERALL: 3-4

Esmailin Caridad with his first outing back following his injury. He didn't do so well for the AZL Cubs, but hopefully he can regain his prospect status.

Did it say somewhere that they thought they could recall Hoff? Sullivan reported that Hoff was on his way to the airport and had to be called back. The level of incompetency in this organization has reached a new level. Oh for the love of God.

Thanks. I think Castillo/Chirinos/Clevenger/et al. could put up numbers at or slightly above that range for catcher...but, wow would that be painful for the offense.

Out of curiosity, where did you get those numbers? I'm curious about what the rate stats for catchers look like.

Did it say somewhere that they thought they could recall Hoff? The initial reports following the Lee trade said Hoffpauir would get called up. It's unclear whether those reports originated with the Cubs or were just speculation.

This article is a rather fascinating read on the money handed out in this year's draft. Towards the end of the article, the author posted a chart on signing bonuses handed out in the first five rounds. I think it'll help put the Cubs' draft into context compared to how other teams spent. Keeping in mind the number does not include Szczur's $500k bonus if he chooses baseball over football, the Cubs ranked 25th in MLB in signing bonuses in the first five rounds. Should Szczur commit, the Cubs would vault to 21st. As things stand now, all of the teams behind the Cubs signed 4 or less draft picks in the first five rounds (and the Mariners could still sign James Paxton). I'm guessing the Cubs will be in the bottom third in draft spending when all is said and done. Yuck.

This is where AZ Phil usually comes in handy, but he hasn't posted any updates on the AZL Cubs since July 28th.

You still run into the problem that there are very few worthwhile catchers in free agency this year. Soto at 1B would also hurt Soto's value substantially since his bat is premium-level for a catcher, but only somewhat above average at 1B. Even if Castillo could hit at an average level for a catcher, I don't think that would help the offense. It's better to have an average 1B and an elite catcher than two average to slightly above average players at 1B and C.

I definitely like the other options, but Rendon is the only one I think has franchise changing possibilities. Given his injury history, I worry about his future. I just have visions of the Cubs selecting him, he becomes the #1 prospect in baseball over a year and a half-long stint in the minors, he has a three month stretch with the Cubs after his callup where his OPS is over 1.000...and then he shatters a femur when an errant piano falls on him.

Box Scores Iowa won 7-5 Box Score CF J. Adduci 1/4, R, RBI RF T. Wright 0/4 DH J. Dubois 1/4, RBI, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 2/4, K 2B B. Scales 0/4 LF B. LaHair 1/4, R, K C R. Chirinos 1/3, BB, 3 R 3B M. Smith 2/4, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B (21) SS M. Camp 1/4, 4 RBI, 2B (14), E (15, throw) SP JR Mathes 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1/5 K/BB, HR, HBP, 9-5 GO-FO RP HW Chen 1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HR RP B. Schlitter 2 scoreless, 0 H, 1/2 K/BB, 0-5 GO-FO RP S. Maine 1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, HBP, 0-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 5-4 in the 10th Box Score LF B. Guyer 0/3, BB CF B. Jackson 0/4, BB, R, K, SB (15) 3B R. Canzler 0/4, BB, R, RBI, 2 K, 2 E (17, fielding, throw) RF M. Spencer 2/4, R, 2 RBI, 2B (13), HR (16) C S. Clevenger 0/4, K SS M. Gonzalez 0/4 PH/2B T. Thomas 1/2, R 2B N. Samson 0/2, K PH T. Campana 1/1 SP C. Rusin 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 2 WP, 4-2 GO-FO RP T. Harris 2 perfect, 3-2 GO-FO RP K. Smit 3 scoreless, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, 4-3 GO-FO Daytona lost 3-1 Box Score SS J. Lake 0/4, K 2B DJ LeMahieu 1/4, 2 K 3B R. Flaherty 0/4, 2 K 1B R. Ridling 0/3, K RF K. Burke 0/3, 2 K DH M. Brenly 0/3, 3 K LF G. Rohan 0/2, K CF E. Crawford 1/3, K, PO (2B) SP B. Raley 5.2 scoreless, 4 H, 4/2 K/BB, 7-3 GO-FO RP A. Maestri 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, WP, 1-2 GO-FO RP C. Siegfried 1 scoreless, 1 H, 3-0 GO-FO Peoria lost 7-2 Box Score SS HJ Lee 0/5 2B L. Watkins 0/3, BB, K, CS (7), E (14, throw) 3B M. Cerda 1/2, 2 BB, R, SB (4) 1B J. Bour 3/4, R, RBI, 2B (23) DH DJ Fitzgerald 0/4, K RF JH Ha 0/3, RBI, K LF N. Perez 1/4, 2 K, E (6, throw) CF A. Giansanti 1/4, 2B (4), Assist (3B) SP B. Wallach 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5/1 K/BB, Balk, 4-4 GO-FO RP D. Keefe 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0/1 K/BB, HR, 3-2 GO-FO RP M. De Leon 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO AZL Cubs won 6-3 Box Score SS W. Darvill 1/5, BB, SB (8) 2B PC Chen 2/4, BB, R, 2 RBI 3B D. Geiger 0/4, BB, R, K C C. Romero 2/4, BB, R, E (4, throw) DH V. Bieneme 0/4, BB, R, RBI, K, SB (15) SP E. Caridad .2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP A. Sosa 3.1 scoreless, 0 H, 2/0 K/BB, HBP, 7-1 GO-FO RP L. Liria 3 scoreless, 3 H, 3/0 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO RP A. Jimenez 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HBP, 1-1 GO-FO RP J. Rodriguez 1 scoreless, 1 H, 2-1 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 won 2-1 Box Score 2B G. Amaya 1/3, BB, 2 SB (18) SS M. Hernandez 0/4 CF O. Zapata 0/3 SP L. Villalba 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2/1 K/BB, WP, 4-3 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 9-5 Box Score LF J. Casilla 0/5, 2 K 1B G. Jimenez 0/3, BB, 2 K SS J. Rodriguez 1/3, BB, R, E (16, fielding) Boise with an off day OVERALL: 4-3

This sentence brings back memories of Glenallen Hill. A coatrack in LF with a hat and glove on it would have been a better defender than him. There are some truly horrific defensive corner OFs in the game. Compared to defensive nightmares like Adam Dunn and Brad Hawpe, Soriano's actually not that awful.

It's at the bottom of the scouting report in the link. Scouting the Sally is one of the better prospect blogs out there. The guy who runs it has a very nice handle on the game and periodically posts reports on players that come through Savannah. He's built up a good reputation, to boot.

Chris Carpenter's matched up against Julio Teheran. Nice. Guyer's got a HR for Tennessee and Carp's pitched pretty well to now (4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K). McNutt so far: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 K

BA's take. It's nice to see that Lorick may have a future beyond being organizational filler.

When I read something like this: I'm optimistic.

Did you look at his A ball numbers? They weren't terrible, but they weren't good. In low A. The only thing going for him is that he's 19. Only being 19 is pretty huge. As is having a 96 mph fastball. At 19.

Scouting the Sally's report. That's one of the better prospect blogs out there, by the way. Tops out at 96 with the fb, raw secondary stuff (curve and change) that could pan out pretty well. He's had some recent struggles. Still, even if his curve and change don't develop as hoped, his fb should play up in the majors in relief. Fast mover, fb (88-92)-slider (high 70s) combination at Tennessee in the rotation that looked decent. Could see the majors next year. Yep. Still, he's having a good enough year to get bumped up to High A.

Not surprising. Have you ever listened to this man speak? He's a child. These are fantastic. Cripes, the background on his twitter page is a picture of him and Michael Jordan at a freaking country club.

Probably not. The Cubs tend to re-sign or trade guys before they hit arbitration, as this deal illustrates. They haven't gotten much in the way of compensation picks in recent years (save for Kendall and Pierre) more because of a lack of arbitration-eligible players than anything else. Wood and Harden are the only two names that come to mind when it comes to the Cubs not offering arby.

According to MLBTR, Lee probably would have ended up as a Type B free agent, which would have netted the Cubs a pick in the supplemental first round had they offered him arbitration. I'm expecting something along the lines of the Lilly/Theriot trade sans DeWitt.

He didn't mention Kaplan! [-X