Outshined_One

Screw that, I say we move to four OFs full-time! Slide Theriot over to 2B and have him split time with Fontenot. Who needs a SS?

Perhaps a local executive office.

Wasn't Neifi somehow responsible for two runs scoring on a sacrifice fly at one point?

I'm scared.

When did you see him? It certainly looks like something clicked for him with the way he turned it on in the second half, especially in regards to making contact. He's got a good enough power swing that I think he could end up being a 20-25 HR guy if he continues developing. As memory serves me, he had a nice HR in Wrigley when the Chiefs played there last season. He's also selective enough at the plate that I'm not worried about his ability to make good contact. What I'm worried about is whether he'll stick in CF. He strikes me as more of a corner guy and I don't think he'll be productive enough at the plate to be more than average at best in LF or RF.

Let's try this again without going overboard, shall we?

While it would be nice to see him open the pocketbooks with the Cubs, I'm curious to see what philosophy he'll bring to the table, if any.

After Jim Rice's election, I have to ask the obvious question... Will writers see him as a feared hitter?

Pirates

Geovany Soto.

Five Sleepers who Break Out Cody Hams (Aussie who will be in his first season in the US) Casey Coleman (liked him when I saw him, has a great mentality and decent stuff) Larry Suarez (should recover from TJS and put himself back on the map) Jericho Jones (underrated, should move fast through the system) Darwin Barney (won't be a world-beater, but gets the most out of his tools and had a nice showing in the AFL) One BIG Sleeper: Jon Nagle (2008 draftee who had some injury issues, but has a very nice ceiling) Five Disappointments Tyler Colvin (I like him...but I just have a bad feeling about him next season) Jovan Rosa (still not a fan, still think he'll end up at 1B) Aaron Shafer (getting Brownlie vibes off him) Kyler Burke (grumble) Ryan Harvey (needs to be converted to P)

Barry Bonds is also an excellent example of this, as was discussed above. However, also as mentioned above, there is a difference between being aggressive and being a hacker. Vlad Guerrero is also a good example of this. Despite his reputation, Guerrero has a career IsoD of .066. He takes his swings, but he also has a good enough eye that is he is willing to let bad pitches go by and take walks. My primary concern with Vitters and the Cubs' approach to him is based on this issue. In the time I have been following prospects with great interests, I find that a player developing good plate patience later in his career tends to be the exception more than the norm. That may be an incorrect perception on my part, but I worry that, with someone like Vitters, he will develop bad habits as a result of this emphasis on aggression and that he will not be able to develop plate discipline in the way he should. That may not be the case, but I will be concerned if, next season, he does not post decent walk numbers.

Guh.

I've always wondered what caused Jerome Williams to fall off a cliff after 2005. In the last month of 2005, he was pitching pretty well and seemed like he could have been a fixture in the Cubs' rotation in 2006. Then...nothing. I'm wishing him the best and hope he can salvage his career.

I like Vitters, but let's be frank with the guy here. He has not played a full, healthy, and productive season yet. The guy has a great ceiling and is clearly the top prospect in this system, but he's a long way away from the majors. I wouldn't have a problem seeing him go if that would bring Jake Peavy back. I'm not saying the Cubs should overpay for Peavy by adding Vitters to an already loaded package, but Vitters shouldn't be an untouchable.

Not really. He was one of a number of young names down in the AZ League who were intriguing, but no one was 100% sure what scouts and coaches thought of him, such as whether he'd stick at SS, would develop power, etc. If he starts in Peoria this coming season, then you'll be hearing a lot more about him.

As a general comment on your projections, I am enormously leery of putting much weight on batting average and runs batted in as a method of measuring a player's worth. I will grant that batting average has its place, but thanks to a lower quality of pitching and opposing defense Vitters will face in Peoria/Daytona/Tenn, it will be easier for him to sustain a higher batting average than you would see at higher levels. Don't get me wrong, an especially low batting average would raise a lot of red flags with Vitters. But, in general, it might be more worthwhile to look at his batting average in the context of other stats. BABIP, Line Drive Percentage, and Fly Ball Percentage are all good examples of stats that can illustrate whether a .330 batting average was luck or whether it was legitimate. On the other hand, where I see little value in measuring a major league player based on his RBIs, I see almost no value in evaluating a minor league player based on that same stat. It is heavily team-dependent. It does not serve as an effective measure of "clutch" or any sort of situational hitting skill. I do not see it as a future predictor of a prospect's production when that prospect reaches the majors. To me, the critical stats for Vitters' future lie in his IsoD and OBP. While I am enamored with Vitters' tools and potential, I worry that his hacking tendencies could serious detract from his pitch recognition abilities; that he'll be swinging at pitches he should lay off of. From what I have seen of Vitters and read about him, his aggressive approach at the plate and excellent hand-eye coordination have served him well thus far, but as he advances through the minors, he will face better pitchers who will know how to exploit those aggressive tendencies. We've seen this story a number of times with other prospects in this system (Dopirak, Harvey, etc...) and I worry that Vitters might not develop the pitch recognition skills he will need to reach his ceiling. So, with that in mind, I think a good standard for Vitters to maintain his lofty prospect status would be to replicate what Mike Moustakas did this past season in the MWL. My gut is that Vitters would hit for more power and walk less than Moustakas, but anything around that range would be a good year for Vitters. Anything better than that, well, that'd be a really good thing. :D

This Super Bowl was going to suck no matter what, given the Championship games.

Fox loves rubbing it in with us, don't they?

Don't the Cubs have a scout with a lot of connections to Lamar? The Cubs have drafted a sizable number of guys out of there in recent years, including Micah Hoffpauir and a few current minor leaguers.

Don't worry, we'll get Jake Peavy.

Friggin' west coast. I want football on my TV in half an hour, dangit!

Which of the city's beat writers is this at the microphone? :wink: :good:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2009-01/44565258.jpg "It goes where?!"

What, no "Wild Thing" jokes? For shame, people!