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Nate Roberts...

It should be like this for all the picks...

His track record is a little better than that.

Very toolsy, production didn't match tools as he swung and missed far too often at the JUCO level which is scary given the rise in competition and wood bats.

Why? They have every intention of trying to sign him but they know it'll be difficult as he's a 2 sport athlete going to LSU to also play QB. If they can't reach that agreement, they get a similar pick next year. If you're signing a kid who hopes to play MLB (or at least is strongly considering it), but you draft him with no intention of signing him (your original position), then that's a lousy thing to do to a kid. You're stealing his dream for at least a year and potentially longer. I have to believe they have every intention of signing him, it might have to be at their price though rather than caving to his advisor's demands.

Why? They have every intention of trying to sign him but they know it'll be difficult as he's a 2 sport athlete going to LSU to also play QB. If they can't reach that agreement, they get a similar pick next year. I honestly don't think the Dodgers have any interest in signing Lee personally. With the divorce thing happening, it seems like a relatively sneaky way to avoid spending money to me. We'll see, worse case scenario they get a pick a little later in a likely stronger draft and the kids gets a free ride to play sports at LSU and have a 1st rd. tag on his resume.

Why? They have every intention of trying to sign him but they know it'll be difficult as he's a 2 sport athlete going to LSU to also play QB. If they can't reach that agreement, they get a similar pick next year.

. That's one of the 1st thing a scout will do when analyzing a player is to look for a MLB comparison, now combine with a player that he likes and drafted in the 1st rd. and you'll see the best of the bunch which happen to be Oswalt and Lincecum. Many fast slap hitters get compared to Juan Pierre in a similar manner as many little righties with his velos get compared to those two. It's easy to see why he would he compare them as everyone knows Oswalt and Lincecum and when dealing with the media it's common to be more fluffy when hyping up a guy. He'll have to prove he has the ability/health/toughness to prove he'll be able to reach near his ceiling to come close to matching those names and having the size, velo, and potential to spin a breaking ball is still a very long ways away from being mentioned with Lincecum/Oswalt.

You never know but if that was the case, there are players rated higher by most (O'Connor) that would likely sign at slot. Time will tell with these next picks and with new ownership, who knows what type of budget they've been put under? Of course if it was monetary, they could've pulled what the Dodgers are likely doing and not sign their 1st rounder and get the comp. pick next year, which would be wiser than drafting and signing a reach at this point.

Nice little draft by TB so far.

This brings up a fascinating question. Do the Cubs spend any time evaluating where other teams are rating draft prospects? Do all teams? Even if Wilken and co liked this guy better than everyone else left on the board, a critical question is if they could have gotten him later. How much resources do they expend on this question? Teams talk, this secret stuff between teams isn't much of a secret at all. The guy even to BA was a top 200 guy (top 5 rounds), Simpson has been seen by almost every scouting director and midwest cross-checker around. Simpson has had scouts at every game from all 30 teams, so they know when the Cubs have Wilken, Hendry, and the area scout at almost all of his starts and know they are very high on him. They might not know, they had him in the 1st, but I doubt the other teams are very surprised about this although they're probably saying they didn't have him nearly as high. Obviously they're not concerned with whether or not they could've gotten him later, they graded him very highly (likely higher than everyone else, Wilken has the balls to not care about what teams or any publication thinks) and felt he was worth the pick with whatever intentions they have the rest of the way.

CH 213 if you have DirecTV. Congrats to Folty, he definitely deserves this.

CH 213 if you have DirecTV. Congrats to Folty, he definitely deserves this.

Wilken seems to do this every year, basically expect the unexpected. Him and his cross-checkers have their own evaluation skills, it also shows how subjective it really is, whether or BA, BP, or PG rate a player it doesn't translate with someone like Wilken.

DECK McGUIRE, rhp, Georgia Tech SCOUTING PROFILE (3/1):McGuire has emerged as an elite prospect for the 2010 draft a little more quietly than some of his higher-profile peers, but could end up making a run at becoming the first college arm drafted when it’s all said and done. He positioned himself as a significant first-round candidate with an outstanding sophomore season at Georgia Tech, earning Atlantic Coast Conference pitcher-of-the-year honors for an 11-2, 3.50 campaign, with 118 strikeouts in 100 innings. He only enhanced his status with a fast start to the 2010 season, going 4-1, 1.17 with 49 strikeouts in his first 46 innings, and out-dueling the more acclaimed Matt Harvey, 2-1, in a key ACC showdown between Georgia Tech and North Carolina in late March. Even at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, McGuire is one of the more polished pitchers in the country. He relies equally on raw stuff and advanced pitchability for his success. He has three quality big-league pitches, including a fastball that is consistently in the 89-92 mph range, and approaches the mid-90s on occasion. While his velocity isn't overpowering, especially for a pitcher his size, he gets good sinking and running action on his fastball. His high-70s breaking ball, a cross between a slider and curve, is one of the best around, and his changeup is above average. He gets high marks for his deceptive delivery, impressive command and excellent mound presence. For all the success McGuire has enjoyed at Georgia Tech, acclaim has been relatively slow in coming. Despite a celebrated baseball and football career at Virginia’s Deep Run High, where as a senior he went 10-1, 1.35 with 129 strikeouts, and also set school career records for homers and RBIs while hitting .479-5-31, McGuire went undrafted. Even as he went 8-1 as a freshman at Georgia Tech, he didn’t earn his due as he was used mainly in a mid-week role. Unlike most other top college arms, McGuire also never pitched during the summer for Team USA or in the high-profile Cape Cod League, further adding to his anonymity. But he firmly established his credentials in the summer of 2008, pitching for his hometown Peninsula team in the Coastal Plain League. He was a no-brainer choice as the league’s top prospect by going 8-0, 1.28 in 11 starts and allowing just 35 hits in 56 innings while striking out 65. He quickly assumed the Friday role the next spring at Georgia Tech, based on that performance, and hasn’t slowed down since.—ALLAN SIMPSON UPDATE (5/15): McGuire has had a few rough outings late in the spring, but has held his draft value as his stuff has seen a slight late-season uptick. His velocity has bumped to a steady 92-94 early in games, settling at 90-93, up a bit from early in the year, and he has developed a distinction between his two breaking pitches, a mid- to upper-70s curveball and a hard, 83-86 mph slider that is now his best pitch. His numbers are still excellent (7-3, 2.91 with 99 strikeouts in 93 innings), and a strong May 14 outing against Miami confirmed that he is still one of the top college pitchers available in this class.—ANDY SEILER

I think McGuire would be a solid pick at that spot and minus someone like Allie falling, there aren't too many better I see at that spot.

If you want any larger scouting reports on these guys, I'll prob. do the 1st 5 rounds or so... But if there's anyone you want to know about, I'm here till 6.

His velo has gone up this year (sits around 92) and now flashes two solid breaking balls instead of one slurve. With his spike in velo and obvious size, he has more of an upside than Wimmers and still pretty polished.

Patrick Ebert in his final mock draft has the Cubs drafting... Deck McGuire RHP GT. Somewhere Cubbyrage is smiling at that thought.

He's very signable, there's almost no chance he sets foot in Fayetteville again.

exactly, dumb call maybe but that was lee's fault. If that was a missed sign that's the 2nd on a hit and run in 2 days. Yea but Lee of all people should know to protect on 3-2 count. If he singles you are all calling it a great move. No. Hit and runs are always stupid regardless of the outcome. Just because they give Bob Brenly an inside-the-pants homerun doesn't mean they're a good idea. Depends on the situation, close and low scoring game with a contact pitcher and a contact hitter up and I wouldn't have a problem with it. Unfort., none of that was there.

exactly, dumb call maybe but that was lee's fault. Its not Lees fault his manager is a [expletive] moron who sent the runners down 5 damn runs in the 1st freaking inning. I'm not arguing the bad manager decision, but how is it not Lee's fault that he took a fastball right down the middle of the plate? Guys take called third strikes. It's a 3-2 count, a ball is a walk. If he thought it was a ball, he's thinking go to first. They needed baserunners, not 90 feet. Lee was at fault for not recognizing a strike with 2 strikes, it was poor pitch recognition. But the combo of a strike-out pitcher, a batter that often strikes out, avg. speed on the bases, shorter throwing distance to 3B, best arm in the game, and 5 runs behind was a much worse decision than Lee passing up a strike.

I wonder if a team with a strong back end of the bullpen, but a weakness in the rotation would be interested. I have no idea what team (if any) that might describe, but that would probably be our best option in trading Gorzo, I think. Cleveland has a couple of guys, although with Smith and Wood struggling it makes someone like Sipp (who would also be selling high) somewhat more difficult but Masterson has to be on his last legs in the rotation. If not a SP, why not some offense. The Cubs have too many OF'ers and someone like Nady might be a fit for the White Sox who have had the development of Santos as well as Thorton cont'g to be one of the best set-up men in the game. That would open up someone like Putz to be avail. but the Sox appear more likely to be shopping Jenks at the moment.

Depending on how he does, it might be a case where they would be selling higher than where he was when they acq'd him. Gorzelanny has definitely made some mechanical improvements which has brought back some bite to his breaking ball and has much better command/control. Although at this point, there aren't too many teams that have losing records that also have the depth to have a quality 8th inning guy at this point of the year.

Comparisons to where the Rays were when they needed Price in '08 and where the Cubs are right now are completely different situations... 1)It was mid-Sept. & Durham's season had already concluded so there was no other option. It'll likely be June once Cashner makes it to the majors. 2)The Rays had the best record in the AL East and was battling HFA throughout the playoffs, while the Cubs are mediocre at best saved by playing in the worst or second worst division in MLB. 3)Already mentioned as far as Price's collegiate career as an established starter compared to the Cubs trying to turn Cashner into a starter now delaying that process for something unlikely to occur. I just hate all these panic moves, his failure to address the pen in the off-season shouldn't be forgotten because of an injury to the oft-injured setup reliever.