cubfro

I'm sure with our draft position McLeod and the guys have multiple plans for our picks. I think plan A is to take Allen at slot at 27 and another player that will take slot at 30 maybe a college pitcher like Houck or Lange or another high school bat like Romero. I think plan B is to take someone like Varsho or Gonzalez for a huge discount at 27 and pay up for a high school pitcher like Carlson or that guy committed to Stanford at 30. I'm a little worried the plan A is to take a varsho or Gonzales type at a discount and the spend the extra on Allen(who I like at slot for 27 but not more than that).

After looking at MLB.com top 100 list there are 3 position players taken in the late 20's or supplemental (Gallo, Brinson, and Judge) in the top 30. To counter that there are only like four pitchers in the top 30 and only Glasnow was picked in that range or later. I know this is just a snap shot of a mediocre top 100 list, but it still makes feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of a position players in general. It's hard enough to scout and develop pitchers, when you throw in the risk factor for injuries I just don't know if the risk reward is worth it. I'd rather pay for it in the international market, free agency, or trades.

Identifying top 10 picks is one thing. You're not going to find bats with big upside where we'll be picking. There will be big upside arms around though, possibly even a top 10 caliber type that's fallen for one reason or another. I get where you are coming from, but you can easily get a good 1b prospect in that range like Rizzo, Aj Reed, Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge (of). It may be harder to find up the middle all star type players, but I hope we get a hitter with one of those picks.

Why are we talking about drafting pitching with first round draft picks? We are literally the best in the business at identifying and developing Bats. Meanwhile our record with pitchers is not good and they are riskier anyway.

I hate to play devils advocate but, it seems like the stats also point to our pitchers being historically lucky.

But did he tweek his landing groin or his driving groin?

If we are talking about a 2017 depth chart I think we should add in Almora, Candelerio, and La Stella. Personally I hope we find away to keep Dex and either resign Chapman or add another strong closer type arm to the pen. If 2016 has taught me anything it's the fact that you can never have enough depth. With the current make up of the team we could lose any one individual for a year and still have an above average starter to replace them, while retaining an above average bench to keep guys rested and to cover minor injuries. No other team in baseball can afford to lose a player like Schwarber for a full year, players like Fowler, Soler and La Stella for months at a time with out losing a beat. Right now our position player depth and versatility is our greatest strength, Theo's greatest accomplishment, and a big reason we're the best team in baseball.

All I know is the rest of the team, including guys like Almora in Iowa, are working their butts off so they can help the team win a world series. If La Stella is off sulking instead of using the Iowa playing time to prove that he's too good to leave off the roster, then screw him. Hopefully, some of the guys on the team can talk some sense into him. Otherwise the org can give him the same treatment Sammy Sosa is getting for a much better reason.

I envision Baez at around .270/325/465 right around 800 OPS. I think many people underrate him bc many thought he would be a superstar. But, I think he settles around those numbers with a versatile glove. And I think he's a very valuable part of the future. Let's put this a different way. Baez has a 4% BB% and a 23% K%. In the last 5 years, there have been 11 qualified seasons with < 5% BB% and > 20% K%. No one did it more than once, and only 5 of those seasons were above average offensively. Baez needs to make an adjustment in some direction. His recent performance is encouraging, but there are additional steps to take. EDIT: If you want a mental image to associate with a positive outcome for Baez, think of something like a Mark Trumbo/Starling Marte combo. That type of player fits in perfectly with the Cubs(I'd say a Rizzo/Bryant/Schwarber/Baez sequence could be pretty great), but it's easy to see the downside too from that example. Trumbo has had some down years, and Baez isn't going to carry BABIPs like Marte to keep his production as high. Jay's decreased his K rate from 44% to 24% over the last two years. I'm not saying he'll get down to 4% by 2018, but I bet he gets under 20% next year and stays there. I'm not sure if how much he'll walk though. I'd be happy with 6% BB% from him.

The upside to Soler and schwarber getting injured is all the extra time Javy has gotten. I've always thought of him as a guy that would need lots of at bats at the MLB level to refine his approach. I would have never guessed he would improve as rapidly as he has. It makes me think he can still get better too.

I really hope the other pieces are clayton richard and trevor cahill.

I don't think some people understand that a good hitter can dominate a series just as much as a starting pitcher and more than any relief pitcher. Just look at what Murphy did to us and the Dodgers last year, or what Ortiz did to the cardinals a few years ago.

I would go Tier 1 = only will trade for a young cost controlled starter w/ ace potential or Trout Schwarber Baez Contreras Hendrix Tier 2 Almora Happ Soler Jimmenez Torres Carantini Cease

So i sat behind Pierce Johnson at the sky sox game tonight as he was manning the gun and tracking pitches for the first three or four innings before the rain delay. I talked to him a little bit, he was very nice and very cool. He said he really liked his manager, trainer, and the rest of the organization. He told me Kawasaki is absolutely as fun to be around and play with as he seems. He was very complementary of the chemistry in triple AAA and in the big leagues. He said the mix of veterans that had been to majors were very helpful to the younger prospects and that people got a long very well. I asked him about his time in spring training with Jake Areitta and he said that Jake was awesome and that because Jake had struggled himself as a pitcher he was very willing to help others that might be struggling. He also made a point of saying that John Lackey was a great guy to be around in the club house. He was also excited to be pitching in Colorado he said this was the closest to home he has pitched since high school. I'm really hoping he has a great night tomorrow and that he puts it all together as a cub. He really seemed like a great guy.

I'm all for a guy who has little power trying to bunt for a hit. Especially if Fowler is on base ahead of him. this isn't a Rizzo or Ortiz type player, Heywards value comes from getting on base not hitting for power. I do think bunting is harder than it looks, but if he can do it he should it.