Outshined_One

Betteridge's Law strikes again!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome!

Admittedly, Brock appears to have given grandpa a hip replacement and a viagra prescription.

Welcome aboard!

HEY YOU GUYYYYYYYYYYYS! Welcome! And be afraid. Be very, very afraid. But don't be. Well, maybe a little.

It's no coincidence David Ross was the backup catcher on the Cubs in 2016.

Welcome!

Just wait until they discover the magic of clicking on a three page Minor League Box Score thread, only to find 2.5 pages of it dedicated to arguing about Ethan Hearn and Derniche Valdez.

Welcome!

Welcome to our weird little corner of the internet!

It's as if Jed decided to put together a team that would actively spit in the face of the BABIP gods.

Uh oh, the dreaded TBD probable pitcher.

Pete Crow-ArmstrongCade HortonMatt ShawJordan WicksMiguel AmayaBen BrownKevin AlcantaraOwen CaissieJackson FerrisMatt MervisMoises BallesterosKevin MadeJames TriantosAlexander CanarioJosh RiveraCristian HernandezDaniel PalenciaBrennan DavisRichard GallardoJefferson Rojas Roughly what I expected post-draft. As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm more bullish on pitching than hitting, but, I really like PCA, and Shaw is growing on me. All I ask for the second half is for the pitching to stay healthy and for the hitters to rebound.

I gave up when it was 3-0. What in the ever living horsefeathers?

Bowser is a guy I had pegged to go back to school to play his way into a Day 2 slot as a below slot senior signability guy with some upside. I'm impressed they signed him.

Welp, I was on team "play it out and try to extend Stroman and Bellinger", but now I'm inching closer to "burn it down". Taillon has to be tipping his pitches. I otherwise don't get how a good starter can become this bad this quickly while healthy.

I'm kinda meh on the top of this class for now. As far as tanking goes, last year was the time to do it.

The worst part about all of this is you just know the Cubs are going to rattle off a ten game winning streak after they've been eliminated.

You can live with Madrigal as a pre-arb guy who provides positive defensive contributions in the infield, but his bat actively detracts from those defensive contributions he provides. If you want him as a budget-conscious bottom of the order type whose presence lets you allocate resources elsewhere, fine, but he's basically Juan Pierre at a more valuable position with more strikeouts and significantly fewer stolen bases.

I had PTSD flashbacks to Josh Vitters reading this thread. I get that Kirilloff is his own guy, but any time I hear about a hit-first corner IF prospect suffering from a power outage and contact issues after multiple hand/wrist injuries, it brings back unpleasant memories.

I'd be more in favor of exploring this possibility in the offseason for two and a half reasons. First, I think the Cubs need to see if Brown/Horton/Wicks can hit their inning limits and end the season healthy and productive before seriously discussing if they should be in contention for the 2024 opening day rotation. I like all three, but all it takes is a forearm strain, shoulder pain, or tanking at AAA to put the brakes on their development. Second, there will be the question of options for Stroman and Hendricks (assuming they're not traded). If both exercise their options and stay, awesome, but if they're gone, those are spots that will need to be filled going into 2024. Second and a half, I think the team needs to figure out what the heck they're going to get out of Taillon going into 2024. If Taillon builds off his NYY start and gets back into positive WAR territory, great, give him a spot in the 2024 rotation. If he continues to suck butt, with Stroman and Smyly gone, then you have potentially three spots that need to be filled in the rotation. Trading Steele in a deadline deal brings way too much uncertainty for my liking for those reasons.

Rivera was in my 15-20 range with Carico and Sanders both in consideration for 19/20.

Honestly, once I reached 13, it was a complete crapshoot from there for me. Normally we like to poke fun, but this system has a ton of guys who can appeal to a wide array of prognosticators. It speaks to the depth of the farm, which is a good thing. How do you feel about former top guys who ran into bad luck with injuries/development? Davis, Howard, Canario, Mervis, and Hernandez fit the bill. Low ceiling types who are likely to see the majors and get a second contract as a bench/bullpen/swing starter type? Strumpf, Herz, and Palencia are all options. Guys with intriguing profiles who are under the radar types? See pretty much every Tom post (Gallardo, Hearn, etc.) along with guys like Triantos and Murray.

The State of the Farm is overall good, but there are some disconcerting things that give me pause. On the pitching side of things, the Cubs have lined up a number of fascinating arms who bring a variety of positive attributes. I actually really like that the Cubs have a mix of guys in AAA and AA who excel in different things and bring different attributes to the table. With the lower minors, I'm a bit skeptical of their depth, but there's enough there for guys (namely Farris and Gray) to take meaningful steps forward. My only concern is, historically, we're entering the dead arm period and we likely will see a number of these guys struggle and get shut down in the coming weeks. It's a normal part of the development process, but it can also be telling if those guys can hack it as starters long term. On the hitting side...sigh. PCA has been pretty much the lone shining star at higher levels and looks like a legitimate stud, but we also knew that coming into the season. Otherwise, it's been a series of struggles, injuries, disappointments, and that horsefeathersing pre-tacked ball in AA. The potential is still there for a lot of these guys, and I expect we'll see improvements all around in the second half of the season, but, aside from PCA, I'm really bearish on their position players to this point in the season. As for the draft, I'm overall feeling positive about the depth and potential it brings. The downside is Shaw is the only guy I'd immediately slot into my personal Top 10 (probably around 2-4 behind PCA), with Carico and Rivera likely somewhere in the 15-20 range. However, it's worth remembering how ludicrously deep this draft was, so I wouldn't discount anyone just because he was taken after the first or second round. As a result, the upside is there's a lot of breakout potential, particularly with guys like Wiggins, Sanders, and Rosario.