UK1679666180

Definitely worth acquiring about, just not a likely good fit as the Cubs won't likely be looking to trade future assets for current ones, especially in an open market setting which other bidders with possible better farms looking to win now like the Dodgers, Baltimore, Clev, or where I think he ends up... Anaheim.

I would rather see them get more for an overvalued LaHair than anyone else but my guess is Baker.

114 million I do like that in his last contract w/Bos, he had 2 mil worth of incentives to maintain his weight during the '08 season. Should've did that w/Garces.

His back is in bad shape, wasn't pulling the ball, etc.

He has his MLBPA pension and could likely get into broadcasting. He made well over 50 mil during his career.

I can't remember the actual #s, but I think only 15-20% who are released and have the scholly option, actually use it. Instead of school, for the kids who have no desire to step foot in the classroom again, there can be an increase in the signing bonus if they would rather have the quick cash (usually not much).

Well, tuition wouldn't hurt the Cubs bonus limits. Anybody know what can all be included in these? "Tuition" is one thing, and can be enormous. Room and board can be a whole lot more. And expenses. I just wonder how or whether the cba has any constraints on how these values can be structured when supplementing the $100K dollars. Anybody know or have any ideas? uk? It varies by organization, I know if we sign someone and it's 75% college and 75K signing bonus, that 75% will cover tuition (24K of 32K) and R & B, meals, parking, etc. is included. Paying for college really isn't an issue for MLB teams since most don't use it, you got two years to use once you're released, most bounce around other organizations until it expires.

The Cubs had basically had Campana on the roster in '09, with a cooler youtube video. As I imagine with what happened to Gathright, I suspect will happen to Campana as well.

Odd swing Looks a bit of a Soriano/Sheffield hybrid. His lower half is very similar to BJ Upton with the turning of the stride foot inward like that.

Rey Ordonez and Freddie Bynum come to mind.

You really think we'd get more for Campana than DeJesus, Maholm, or Soriano? Yea, that's kind of a head scratcher as well. Certain variables need to be applied, especially Soriano's contract and Dempster's injury. I see them trading Dempster, maybe Dejesus, and maybe a PTBNL for Johnson. Russell has a too team-friendly contact at a position where cost-effectiveness is emphasized, same with Barney. They'll find a spot for Lahair as they're already showing (similar low salary), Campana is likely viewed as a 25th man with no value (every organization has one in their system ). If they want to trade Dempster and maybe Garza, Maholm won't be traded and he's done little to add value in return besides eat innings on a 90+ loss team. Soto might have more potential value at a later date than what he'd get now (although this has been case for a couple of years now). No one will want Marmol without them eating the contract and still get little in return, Baker and Camp likely have no value for other teams.

His production/team friendly contract is worth more than the possible perception from other teams that he's a utilty player exceeding expectations. Hang onto him until he gets into year 4 on his arby years and hope he cont's to produce offensively this pace with above avg defense.

Doesn't show up on historical BA top ten, but they did list him as the 2013 starting 2B back in 2010. For some reason, I think he was rated 9th or 10th in Cleveland's system a few years back.

Valbuena never cracked the Top 100, but I don't think he's so different than Cardenas. He came up in Seattle's system, then broke into the big leagues with Cleveland. He's hit pretty much at every level, although he wasn't the .850+ OPS guy that he became once he started repeating AAA. He's 26 all year long, so he's not a bad first infielder off the bench, and if the rumors about Barney being shopped are true, we could do worse as a stopgap 2B. Agreed, he's been pretty good defensively throughout his career and has been able to hit in the minors. I think he was a top 10 prospect for Clev. a few years back. He can provide a valuable role for this team, given their lack of position players.

PG rated Correa's hit/power ahead of Buxton. That surprised me, knew Buxton has more speed, arm strength, defense but I assumed Buxton has more raw power.

It's from May 18th. UK, is that your own mock, by any chance? davell, I think that was the perfectgame mock draft. Correct, I haven't seen any of the likely top 50 picks.

It's from May 18th.

Here's a mock draft:

What's the scouting report on Firth? I haven't seen him since HS and he was undersized but 88-92 and can throw 4 pitches for strikes, very polished, likely wouldn't get much better.

I doubt they'll end up with it, but I wouldn't mind them tanking for the top pick. "Tank for Prior"

Hopefully they'll give him another day off tomorrow as well. Why do you think that? El Duderino already mentioned it... He sat out a couple days because of back injury recently and IMO it's bothering him more than he's letting on and his game suffers as a result. Just give him a couple days to rest up and get his mind off of the Ks/slump/etc... Jackson struck out a ton in college and many questioned whether his lack of contact would be his eventual downfall. You have no clue on whether or not an injury is bothering him. This isn't some shocking evaluation - he strikes out a ton - always has. Wilken has whiffed on pretty much every first round pick he chose here -- paint me pessimistic until proven otherwise. I mean just off the top of my head - Colvin (garbage), Cashner (struggling - but projects well IMO), Simpson (complete joke), Vitters (close to chalking this one up as a loss), etc. Not to defend Wilken b/c his tenure overall is looking poor at best, but given what they paid Samardzija (espec. compared to Colvin), he was basically a 1st rounder.

See if Lahair can be Glenallen Hill-like in LF and put Rizzo at 1B. Campana likely isn't going to keep it up, not enough bat speed nor ability to take walks to make up for his lack of power. Hopefully, Jackson can start hitting again and pushes Campana into a 5th OF/pinch-runner type role.

i'd opt to use a 6 hitter. Assume Soto/Clevenger/Lalli/Wrona/Castillo/(Cubs version) Benito Santiago are hitting 6th.

That was a money thing. Is it wrong to wonder why a bad offensive team would just give up on a 24 year old former 1st round pick? I don't know. Maybe it was options, maybe he had a bonus coming. Maybe he slept with someones wife. It just makes me wonder, which I think is pretty sensible. It doesn't mean I thinks it's dumb, It doesn't mean I think it's a sure failure, just gives me cause to question it- not the pick up but why they would cut him. Nothing wrong to question it as I wonder why as well, but it also not wrong for the other side of the coin as far as why would the Cubs sign him given his numbers as well as what Baseball America seen/heard about in him in prior to the start of '11. It's also not wrong to question whether or not he'd be more productive than Barney based on those factors. that i can agree with, but couldn't the same be said for the underperforming Stewart at third, which is listed as another of his positions, as is left field. I look at it as we have many problems. too many to list. Barney isn't a problem, not necessarily a strength but not a problem. So why are we not looking at one of the more problematic areas? We have no young 3b that is to close to being ready. If Cardenas is better offensively than barney, then you have to say he'd probably be better than stewart. it would be nice if he could catch! I'm setting myself to start the circular argument and upset all those tired of beating the dead horse but... It comes down to ceilings and potential output. Stewart has hit the ball fairly hard and shown a better contact ratio at the plate, it hasn't translated yet given his raw power to hit the ball hard despite the results, there's optimism he'll improve his numbers the rest of the way. I'm not sold on him, I do want to see him elevated the ball more. He probably has more raw power than LaHair/everyone not named Rizzo and while he has made strides with contact, it might be at the expense of uppercut in his swing. To me, Stewart, Barney, and Cardenas are probably all stop-gaps and to discuss one over the other is a very small point. But I feel Cardenas and Stewart are more likely to hit for a higher OPS than Barney, but don't know enough about Cardenas' defense to guarantee it would be a better move over Barney. Considering the state of the team, it has little bearing for the overall goal.

Of course, if I was the Cubs (luckily for everyone I'm not) I'd hit the pitcher 8th, Barney 7th and Campana 9th, DeJesus 1, Castro 2nd, Lahair 3, Soriano 4th, and Stewart 5th. It'll look much better once Jackson and Rizzo arrive.