Outshined_One

lol This is the Cubs Yeah, true. I can dream, can't I?

Take, take, take with this guy. Up his pitch count!

Well, at least he took the first pitch... ...and swung at the next two...

Backe survived the Dreaded Tommy John Disease, so hopefully the Cubs can knock him out early and wear down the Astros' BP early in the series. Hopefully...

I have to figure out who qualifies as a rookie and who doesn't. Guys like Pie, Gallagher, and Soto will figure into matters, but if they don't qualify, I won't put them on my Top 10 Prospect list. Out of the latest crop of draftees, I expect Vitters and Donaldson to make my list with Thomas likely just missing the cut due to his defensive issues.

Thank you to everyone for your gratitude. Raisin may complain about the amount of work this is, but I enjoy it too much to do so. :D I'll contribute plenty to this thread in good time, but for the moment, I would like to address Tyler Colvin. I've done a lot of thinking about his performance this season. The guy has taken a pounding from this board pretty much from the moment he was drafted. At times, the criticism has been justified, but at other times, it's been completely overboard. I understand the Cubs have had difficulty developing good position players from their own system, but come on people, Colvin isn't nearly as bad as you've been making him out to be. He's actually...*GASP!* good! In fact, I plan on making him my #1 overall prospect for this go-round. Here are a few things about Colvin that I'd like to say in his defense... 1) When he was drafted, most people thought Colvin would end up being a LF/1B type of player because he lacks the defensive prowess to effectively patrol CF and he does not have the arm for RF. However, for most of this season, Colvin has spent significant time all over the OF, namely CF. Thus far, I've heard nothing but compliments on his abilities out there. From the sound of things, he is more than capable of being an everyday CF. 2) One of the most common criticisms about Colvin is his plate discipline. I'll get to the BB part of it in a moment, but the K part needs to be addressed. I get the sense that people see Colvin as if he's going to turn into some horrifying strikeout machine in the majors. Want to know something? His strikeout rate is comparable to, if not better than, some of the top hitting prospects right now. I'm not a fan of measuring strikeouts as a way of determining a prospect's potential success level. Hitters like Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds who have freakish K/BB numbers and are major power threats are rare. Meanwhile, guys like Brian Dopirak and Ryan Harvey have flamed out more because of the fact they can't take a walk than anything else. Look at the minor league numbers of Ryan Howard and Nick Swisher, both of whom struck out quite a noteworthy amount in their minor league careers. Yet, they've become successful major leaguers at the plate. It's not an aberration for a guy to post high strikeout numbers in the minors and go on to have a very good career. Here's my point. I'm not worried about Colvin's strikeouts. He's managed to put up reasonably decent numbers at Daytona and Tennessee against pitchers who have decent breaking balls. Stop fussing over his Ks already. 3) His BABIP in Tennessee and Daytona have not been so unreasonable to make me think he's a career .240 with a horseshoe up his rear. 4) Hey, look at that! A 77% success rate with stole bases, with a total of 17 on the season! It'd be nice to have an outfielder with some speed who isn't a complete nitwit on the basepaths for once. In essence, he has the potential to at least become a league average player. Only two things bug me about him... 1) The walk rate. This sucker has been covered ad nauseam and I really don't need to cover it any more. It's his biggest problem, but if he becomes even mediocre at it, he'll stick in the majors as a starter somewhere. If he keeps this up...it'll be interesting to see how his career goes. 2) This one you don't hear much about, but Colvin's power is something which will merit watching next season. This problem is also a distant second to problem #1. The Cubs talked about Colvin as a "late bloomer" in the power department when they drafted him, as memory serves me, and power is traditionally one of the last tools to develop. Still, if he's going to play in the OF, I'd like to see some more power output from him. So, that's my take on Colvin. If you disagree, you can just go drop the soap for all I care. :P

Lou's been wearing Bad Idea Jeans.

From Rotoworld: This has "bad idea" written all over it.

With the Tennessee's loss, the Cubs' minor league affiliates have all wrapped up their seasons. It sucks that two teams lost out on the playoffs due to tiebreakers and that Tennessee suffered some tough losses in their playoff series. That said, a huge round of applause is in order for the minor league teams giving us another great season! =D> However, now comes the fun part...talent evaluation! Let the wild predictions, vaguely ad hominem attacks, and bickering begin!

We're screwed.

:(

Well, if the Cubs are going to fake rally to end the season, it'd be nice to see them knock the Cardinals out of contention while doing so!

Is it me or is that the motto of the 2007 Cubs pitching staff?

I don't think there's any inbetween; you either think Wuertz is awesome or you despise him. It fluctuates from batter to batter!

I say we make it the new NSBB chant, kinda like opposing fans of the Colts with "CUT THAT MEAT!"

I can't wait for Eckstein to be signed to a multiyear deal with the White Sox. It'll be one of the funniest contracts since Pierre's albatross with the Dodgers.

Seriously, it's like the Cubs never miss that guy. It drives me nuts.

I wish I had a million dollars If I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars), Well, I'd buy you a fur coat

f-apostrophe-n I Dropped The Soap! Reminds me of what happened on another board I frequent. "I" was replaced with "constable norrington" for a solid week. Still remains one of the most randomly amusing things I've seen on the internet.

Can someone give me a decent reason for Depodesta being chased out of LA beyond his lack of charisma or the fact that Bill Plaschke hates all things nerd?

We're screwed.

Box Score Tennessee was eliminated from the playoffs in Game 5, 8-7 Box Score CF E. Patterson 1/4, BB, 2 R, K 3B C. McGehee 2/5, R, 3 RBI, HR (2), K RF T. Colvin 2/5, R, RBI, 2 2B (3), K PH K. Reynolds 0/1 SP M. Atkins 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HR, WP, HBP, 3-5 GO-FO RP J. Estrada .2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP S. Avery .2 perfect, 1-1 GO-FO RP R. Roquet 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3/2 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO RP G. Jones 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 4-0 GO-FO

Washington is legitimately frisky. I'm tempted to call that upset.

So, who's ready for a fake rally in the 9th?

I hate how predictable this team has become.