Outshined_One

Word is the Mets are honing in on Justin O'Connor. BA updated their Top 10 picks to reflect this. Piliere also updates his Top 15.

*Shrug* We're only a third of the way through the minor league season. He's hit into a lot of bad luck so far in the season, plus he's getting a reputation for being a really streaky hitter. If he's still sucking wind at the end of the season, I'll be concerned. For now, I wouldn't worry too much.

Box Scores Iowa lost 10-4 Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/5, R, RBI, HR (1), K SS D. Barney 0/3, BB, R, SB (5) 3B C. Tracy 1/4, R, 3 RBI, HR (3) 1B M. Hoffpauir 0/4, 2 K LF J. Dubois 1/3, BB, K RF B. LaHair 0/4, 2 K C C. Robinson 1/4 2B M. Camp 0/4, 2 K, E (8, fielding) PH M. Smith 0/0, BB, R PH J. Adduci 0/1, K RF B. Snyder 1/1, 2B (14) SP J. Jackson 6 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HR, WP, 3-10 GO-FO RP B. Parker 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, 1-0 GO-FO RP J. Samardzija 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2/3 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP B. Schlitter 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, HR, 2-1 GO-FO Tennessee lost 8-6 Box Score CF B. Guyer 1/5, R, RBI, 3B (3), K SS M. Gonzalez 0/4, RBI, K LF T. Wright 3/4, R, K, SB (4), E (2, fielding) RF M. Spencer 3/4, 2 RBI, 3B (1) C S. Clevenger 0/4, R 3B J. Vitters 1/3, R PH T. Campana 1/1 2B T. Thomas 1/4, 2 RBI, 2B (8), K 3B R. Canzler 0/1, BB, R SP A. Bibens-Dirkx 3 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 1/3 K/BB, HR, 6-1 GO-FO RP J. Papelbon 3 scoreless, 1 H, 4/0 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO RP A. Maestri 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3-0 GO-FO RP L. Sommer 1 perfect, 3-0 GO-FO Daytona won 6-2 Box Score CF B. Jackson 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB (9), CS (6), Assist (2B) 3B DJ LeMahieu 2/5, R, 2 RBI 2B R. Flaherty 1/5, 2B (13), K 1B R. Ridling 2/4, RBI, 3B (1) RF K. Burke 0/4, Assist (3B) SS J. Lake 2/3, R, RBI, E (20, fielding) SP DE Rhee 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB, HBP, 8-3 GO-FO RP M. Perconte 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4/2 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO RP O. Martinez 1 perfect, 1-2 GO-FO Peoria won the completion of their 6/5 suspended game 8-5 Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/5, SB (16) 2B L. Watkins 2/5, R, 2 K, 2 SB (9) 3B M. Cerda 2/5, 2 R, K, E (9, fielding) LF DJ Fitzgerald 2/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (3), SB (4) 1B J. Bour 1/5, 2 RBI, K RF JH Ha 1/4, BB, 2 R, 3B (1), 2 SB (4) DH C. Thomas 1/3, BB, K, SB (1) SP K. McNutt 2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 4/1 K/BB, HBP, 0-2 GO-FO RP SM Jung 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5/1 K/BB, HBP, 4-6 GO-FO RP Y. Gonzalez 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP J. Latham .1 scoreless 1/2 K/BB, HBP RP J. Leverton .2 perfect, 2-0 GO-FO Peoria lost the second game of their double header 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/4, 2 RBI 2B L. Watkins 0/4, BB DH DJ Fitzgerald 0/3, 2 BB, SB (5) 1B G. Rohan 0/3, BB, K RF JH Ha 0/4, K 3B C. Thomas 0/4 LF N. Perez 0/3, BB, R, K C J. Mota 1/3, BB, R SP R. Searle 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6/0 K/BB, WP, 6-2 GO-FO RP L. Suarez 3 scoreless, 0 H, 2/1 K/BB, 3-4 GO-FO Both DSL teams with an off day OVERALL: 2-3

Frankie Piliere updated his Top 15 Wimmers, Vitek, Colon, and O'Connor would all fall into the Cubs' laps here. Interesting scenario.

1.16 C Justin O’Connor I’ve been back and forth on #16 ever since getting a director spot. The Cubs have been notorious for shying away from prep players ever since Tim Wilken took over, as they have only drafted two HS players in the first three rounds during his tenure (3B Josh Vitters and LHP Austin Kirk). But this was just a strange year. I was hoping OF Michael Choice or 2B/OF Kolbrin Viten would fall, but that wasn’t in the cards. So, this pick was basically between O’Connor, Workman, and Eibner. I don’t like the idea of drafting Eibner as a hitter this high, so he was out. I like a lot about Workman, but after getting a good look at his mechanics on Youtube, I just couldn’t pull the trigger. The Cubs have been linked to O’Connor for awhile now and I like his potential behind the dish and at the plate, so he was the logical pick. 2.15 C/OF Mike Kvasnicka He wasn’t even on my board coming into the second round. I expected him to be gone in the bottom half of the first round. When my pick came around, it was between him, SS Derek Dietrich, OF Austin Wates, and C Micah Gibbs. I’d have been torn between Dietrich and Wates (I like Wates’ potential at the plate better); I don’t like Gibbs a lot, but the Cubs have incredibly strong connections with LSU. Kvasnicka offered major league bloodlines, reasonably good switch hitting ability, and a good defensive catcher behind the dish. That made sense for the Cubs. I couldn’t pass on him for those reasons. 3.15 RHP Burch Smith I was talking with a friend of mine online during the draft. He works for a low level baseball agency, representing guys who mostly figure to be drafted in later rounds. Burch Smith was a name he recommended to me, especially since the Cubs have reportedly been keeping a close eye on him. His profile seemed quite tantalizing, as he has some projection remaining but has come along nicely. The Cubs are fine with taking JUCO guys, so that was not an issue for me. I also gave strong consideration to OF Tyler Holt and OF Todd Cunningham here. 4.15 RHP Jordan Cooper This was just a pure guess on my part. I’ve never seen him before, I didn’t do any research on him, and I only read his profile on BA’s website shortly before the 4th round began. He seemed to fit, so I figured, why not? Overall, I like to think this draft was pretty strong and also reasonably realistic for the Cubs. Following the fourth round, I’d look to take the Ricketts family up on their offer of expanding the draft budget by targeting guys who fell because of signability concerns. I’d try and snag a few guys who ask for six figure bonuses and attempt to pry HS and JUCO guys away from strong commitments. The farm system could use a boost with some high ceiling guys in the lower levels; it seems like this would be a good year to do that.

Here are the draft results: 1st Round Supplemental 1st 2nd Round 3rd Round Unofficial 4th Round Picks 1.16 Justin O’Connor, C, Cowan HS, Muncie, Ind. 2.15 Mike Kvasnicka, C/OF, University of Minnesota 3.15 Burch Smith, RHP, Howard (Texas) JC 4.15 Jordan Cooper, RHP, Wichita State (Unofficial) It's worth noting that some people are going for realism, some people are going by their own boards, and some people...well, I'm not quite sure what they're doing, haha. The fourth round was unofficial and a bunch of people had left, plus few of us had done much prep work beyond the third round, so it was a bit strange at times.

Box Scores Iowa won 10-4 Box Score CF J. Adduci 2/4, BB, 2 R, RBI SS D. Barney 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI LF J. Dubois 0/4, K, HBP 1B B. LaHair 2/5, R, 3 RBI, 2B (12), K 2B B. Scales 1/4, BB, R, RBI, 3B (2), 2 K, E (7, fielding) RF B. Snyder 0/3, BB, R, RBI, 2 K, 2 SB (8) C W. Castillo 1/2, 3 BB, 2 R 3B M. Smith 1/4, 2 K PH C. Tracy 1/1, R, 2 RBI, 2B (7) SP M. Atkins 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6/2 K/BB, 8-4 GO-FO RP J. Berg 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2/1 K/BB, WP, 4-0 GO-FO RP J. Gaub 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3/0 K/BB, WP Tennessee won 8-5 Box Score CF T. Campana 2/5, 2 SB (17), E (3, fielding) SS M. Gonzalez 2/5, R, RBI, 2B (3) LF T. Wright 1/5, R, RBI, K C R. Chirinos 0/3, BB, R, HBP, E (5, missed catch) RF M. Spencer 2/5, R, 2 SB (4), CS (1) 3B J. Vitters 0/3, R, 2 K, HBP 2B T. Thomas 2/4, R, RBI PH R. Canzler 1/1, R, 2 RBI, HR (5) PH S. Clevenger 1/1, 2 RBI SP A. Cabrera 5.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 5/4 K/BB, WP, 11-1 GO-FO RP D. Sasser .1 perfect, 0-1 GO-FO RP R. Buchter 1 scoreless, 0 H, 0/1 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP D. Cales 2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/1 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO Daytona lost 9-5 Box Score CF B. Jackson 0/4, BB, R, RBI 2B DJ LeMahieu 2/5, RBI, 2B (8) 3B R. Flaherty 1/3, 2 BB, 2B (12), K 1B R. Ridling 1/3, HBP RF K. Burke 1/3, BB, RBI, 2B (13), E (5, fielding) DH J. Opitz 1/4, R, K C M. Brenly 0/3, BB, R SS J. Lake 1/3, BB, R, RBI, K SP B. Raley 4.2 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 0/1 K/BB, HR, WP, Balk, 5-7 GO-FO RP D. Patton 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0/1 K/BB, HR, 2-5 GO-FO RP J. Beliveau 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Peoria suspended in the 3rd Box Score DSL Cubs 1 no-hit the DSL Padres and won 6-0 Box Score DSL Cubs 2 won 9-7 Box Score OVERALL: 4-1

Looks like Brett Jackson got ejected in the 11th in tonight's Daytona game after striking out looking. I'm guessing he argued balls and strikes, said a few choice words, and got the heave-ho.

Please no. :doh:

1st round and supplemental 1st round are going to be on June 7th. June 8th and June 9th will cover the remaining rounds, although I can't find anything on how the rounds will be split on those days.

Probably educated guesswork. BA has DeShields going to the Blue Jays at 11 in their latest mock, so maybe he's managed to vault himself into consideration for teams in the first half of the first round?

Latest BA mock: BA also mentioned that Grandal's bonus demand rumors might be a ploy by the Red Sox to get him to drop to them. Whoops.

I'm surprised I didn't think that he would be going that early in the top 10 especially with the bonus demands he made. Didn't he want more money than Posey? I read somewhere that Grandal denied those rumors. I want to say it was Frankie Piliere's twitter account, but I could be wrong.

Jonathan Mayo published his mock recently. Not much to argue with since Woj features a fastball-slider combo that's pretty effective, although he's got more work to do in terms of becoming a dependable rotation arm than Cashner did out of TCU. As for DeShields, I like him, although he might be a bit of a reach a 16. He could have four above average to plus tools (with a fringy arm), but he needs a good deal of polish. If the Cubs are thinking of nabbing a guy out of Georgia with baseball bloodlines, I also like Cam Bedrosian and Aaron Shipman as second round options.

Cerda was originally drafted as a catcher, but the Cubs seem to have given up on that. He's moved between 2B and 3B quite a bit this season. He hasn't played 1B at all this season to my knowledge, so I wouldn't worry about that. As for other Peoria players to keep an eye on, Baseball America had IF/OF Logan Watkins on their Cubs' Top 10 prospect list in the offseason. He's had some struggles at the plate this year, but he could end up being a 2B who hits for average and a bit of power. OF Jae-Hoon Ha got a substantial signing bonus from the Cubs out of Korea; I've heard good reports on his defense and his bat has been pretty good in the early going. With Peoria's pitchers, the top guy on the team right now is RHP Trey McNutt, who features a potential power arsenal with a plus breaking pitch. Other intriguing guys in the rotation include Su-Min Jung, a RHP who received a large bonus out of Korea, and LHP Jeff Antigua, who's still a work in progress, but young enough to dream on. The bullpen also features guys like Ronny Morla, James Leverton, Larry Suarez, and Jordan Latham, and Frank Batista, who all have some potential down the road as relief pitchers and have performed well to this point. On West Michigan, bar none their best prospect is RHP Jacob Turner, who received a massive signing bonus in last year's draft and has ace potential. There's not much else beyond him and Soto, from the looks of it. Any reports you can make would be welcome!

The 1985 St. Louis Cardinals make me disagree.

Box Scores Iowa lost 6-4 Box Score CF S. Fuld 1/5, CS (2) SS D. Barney 0/4 3B C. Tracy 0/4, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 2/4, 2 R, 2B (11), E (4, fielding) RF B. Snyder 1/4, RBI LF J. Adduci 1/4, R C W. Castillo 1/3, BB, R, 2 RBI, 2B (7) 2B M. Camp 2/4, RBI PH B. Scales 0/1 PH B. LaHair 0/1 SP C. Coleman 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0/3 K/BB, 10-3 GO-FO RP J. Samardzija 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 3-2 Box Score CF T. Campana 3/4, R, RBI, K SS N. Samson 3/4, R, RBI LF T. Wright 1/4 1B M. Spencer 1/4 C S. Clevenger 0/4, R RF B. Guyer 2/4, PO (1B) 3B J. Vitters 0/3, BB 2B T. Thomas 1/4, K, CS (1) SP HW Chen 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4/1 K/BB, WP, 10-6 GO-FO RP J. Muyco .1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB RP L. Sommer 1.2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO Daytona lost 1-0 in the 12th Box Score CF B. Jackson 2/5, 2B (9), 2 K, Ejected in 11th inning SS/3B DJ LeMahieu 0/4, BB, K 2B R. Flaherty 1/4, BB, K DH R. Ridling 0/4, 3 K, HBP, CS (3) RF K. Burke 0/5, 3 K 1B J. Opitz 0/5, 2 K PH/C M. Brenly 1/1 SP C. Rusin 6 scoreless, 4 H, 3/0 K/BB, 13-2 GO-FO RP C. Siegfried 1 scoreless, 1 H, 0-3 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 2.2 scoreless, 3 H, 3/1 K/BB, 2-3 GO-FO RP A. Shafer 1.1 perfect, 1-3 GO-FO RP O. Martinez 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, HR, 1-2 GO-FO Peoria lost 9-4 Box Score SS HJ Lee 0/4, BB, R, 2 K 2B M. Cerda 3/5, R, 2 2B (8), K DH DJ Fitzgerald 2/5, RBI, K, SB (3) 1B J. Bour 2/4, BB, RBI RF JH Ha 1/5, 3 K LF N. Perez 0/1, K, Ejected in 2nd for arguing balls and strikes LF G. Rohan 2/3, BB, R C J. Mota 2/5, R, 2B (2), PB (5) 3B C. Thomas 1/3, BB, RBI, 2B (1) SP N. Struck 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 5/2 K/BB, WP, HBP, 1-4 GO-FO RP F. Batista 3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3/0 K/BB, 2 HR, 5-2 GO-FO RP J. Leverton .1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB DSL Cubs 1 won 10-3 Box Score DSL Cubs 2 won 10-6 Box Score OVERALL: 3-3

Intrigued, but iffy. He sounds like he has the tools to be a very good RF, possibly even a CF, but as a hitter, I'm a bit concerned with the reports about his pitch recognition and discipline. My impression is that he has more polish as a pitcher and a higher ceiling compared to the OF. Depending on who's available, I'd probably pass on Eibner if he refused to pitch. Bryce Brentz would be a better pick if the Cubs are searching for a corner OF, imo.

MOD #3

Because the odds of that continuing are most decidedly not in the Flyers' favor?

Box Scores Iowa won Game 1 of their DH 4-3 Box Score SS D. Barney 0/3, RBI CF S. Fuld 0/3, 2 Assists (2B, Home) LF J. Dubois 0/3, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 1/3, K C W. Castillo 1/3, 2B (6), E (3, pickoff) PR/LF J. Adduci 0/0, R RF B. Snyder 2/3, 2 R, RBI, HR (8) 2B B. Scales 1/2, R, RBI 3B M. Camp 1/3 PH C. Tracy 0/1 SP JR Mathes 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 9-2 GO-FO RP J. Gaub 1 scoreless, 2 H, 2/1 K/BB RP B. Schlitter 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO Iowa lost Game 2 of their DH 5-3 Box Score CF J. Adduci 0/3, K SS D. Barney 0/3 3B C. Tracy 0/3, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 2/3, R, 2B (10), K RF B. Snyder 1/3, R, K LF B. LaHair 1/3, R, 3 RBI, HR (5) C C. Robinson 1/2 2B M. Camp 0/2, E (7, fielding) PH J. Dubois 0/1, K SP T. Diamond 4 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 7/3 K/BB, 2 HR, WP, HBP, 1-3 GO-FO RP B. Parker 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 3-3 GO-FO Tennessee won 5-2 Box Score CF B. Guyer 0/5, 3 K 3B M. Smith 0/5, 4 K LF T. Wright 2/3, 2 BB, R, SB (3), Assist (Home) C R. Chirinos 0/4, BB, R, RBI RF M. Spencer 0/3, 2 BB, R, 2 K DH R. Canzler 4/5, 2 R SS M. Gonzalez 1/4, 3 RBI, 3B (1), K, SB (3), E (6, fielding) 2B T. Thomas 2/4, RBI, 2 K, 2 SB (4), E (8, fielding) SP C. Carpenter 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 4-6 GO-FO RP J. Papelbon 3 scoreless, 0 H, 2/1 K/BB, 3-4 GO-FO Daytona won 6-3 Box Score CF B. Jackson 1/4, R, 3 K 3B DJ LeMahieu 0/3, RBI, K 1B R. Ridling 0/3, BB, R RF K. Burke 2/4, R, RBI, K, PO (1B) C M. Brenly 1/3, R, RBI, K SS J. Lake 0/2, BB, 2 E (19, fielding, throw) SP C. Archer 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6/1 K/BB, 7-1 GO-FO RP J. Beliveau 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 3/1 K/BB RP M. Perconte 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, 4-0 GO-FO RP A. Shafer 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Peoria lost 10-4 Box Score SS HJ Lee 2/5, 2 K CF L. Watkins 0/4, BB, R, 3 K 2B M. Cerda 4/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3B (3) DH G. Rohan 1/4, BB, K 1B J. Bour 1/5, K LF DJ Fitzgerald 0/5, Assist (2B) RF JH Ha 2/4 3B C. Thomas 1/4, R, K SP R. Whitenack 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3/3 K/BB, 9-2 GO-FO RP L. Suarez .2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1/2 K/BB, WP, 0-1 GO-FO RP R. Morla 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO RP J. Latham 1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 2 WP, 1-1 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 PPD DSL Cubs 2 PPD OVERALL: 3-2

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7844/jumpingbridge.jpg

Somewhere, Bruce Froemming smiles while Milt Pappas throws a chair at his TV.

I'll go ahead and predict a Jason Donald BB followed by a Trevor Crowe HR.

Done.