Tim

IMB!, You're up! After you make your pick, please PM or otherwise contact the next person in line. (please don't take bryant, thx)

I'll kick it off with this: Next offseason we will talk about the system being pitcher-heavy.

Did anyone read the article about the new hitting coach in the trib today? Summary would be appreciated.!

It's time! I've created a Google Form to allow submissions. Please let me know if you have any issues getting to the form or inputting your response. Let's have plenty of talk here about the prospects and why you ranked them as you did. Thanks!

Is a closer being demoted to setup man a "benching" worthy of a mid-week drop & replacement in the leauge? Please vote - rationale would be good, also

I've somehow managed to miss every one of his appearances this year. Given the offseason scouting reports on his velocity, I'm a bit disappointed by the fangraphs reports that his average velocity is only 91.4. Just curious how his stuff looks to those who have watched.

So... I took a lot of heat last August for saying that I was concerned about Castro's growth as an offensive player. Sure enough, his production did increase the remaining portion of last year. We're only 130 PA into this season, but he's doing the same darned thing he did to begin last year - walk in around 2-3% of his PA. We're certainly still early in the season. But with Castro currently sitting at an OPS under .700, I can confidently state that I'm not excited about his start to the year. I believe I had sneaky, TT, and n&g amongst others telling me that reducing the projection for Starlin based on last year (to that point) was silly. Everyone still feel that way?

I'll get this ball rolling... 1B Eric Hosmer 0 points 3B Will Middlebrooks 0 points SS Manny Machado 0 points OF Norichika Aoki 0 points OF Carlos Gonzalez 467.3 OF Mike Trout 0 points SP Jeff Samardzija 424.5 SP Adam Wainwright 478.5 SP J Zimmerman 531.5 SP Mike Fiers 0 ML Leonys Martin ML George Springer ML Javier Baez ML Trevor Bauer ML Jake Odorizzi ML Dylan Bundy ML Zack Wheeler ML Noah Syndergaard Total 1901.8 points

What say you?

Have I got deals for you! Desired return for each player varies and I'll have room to keep a couple of these guys. But each of them can help out your team. I'm looking for a return that doesn't consume a roster spot: minor leaguers, draft picks (2013 or 14), minor league draft picks. Norichika Aoki: All his exemptions remain Aoki was quietly outstanding in Milwaukee this past season. Striking out in less than 10% of his PA's, he makes contact with the ball as well as anyone in the majors. He also has solid doubles power, hits the occasional home run and steals at a great clip. Trevor Plouffe: Two exemptions remain A hand injury cost him power mid-season last year, but you'll have a hard time finding more HR at third base than with "the Plouffe". Welington Castillo: All exemptions remain He's going to walk and he should hit for some power. At catcher, what more can you ask? Ivan Nova: Last exemption Nova's 2012 looked terrible until you check the underlying numbers. His K/BB ratio was nearly 3/1. His K/9 was very good for a sinkerballer. He should be a very good bet to rebound and be a positive part of a staff in 2013. Felix Doubront: All exemptions remain Doubront converted to the rotation last year and had his innings limited. While his ERA was not great, he showed his promise with more than 9.0 k/9. Danny Espinosa: Last Exemption Looking for a second baseman that can hit for power and steal some bases? Did I mention he's also SS eligible? Ryan Howard: 185.25 points he's capable of putting up big numbers at 1B/U. If you've got 200 points remaining and a gap there, he's definitely worth a flyer. Chris Tillman: 229 points Finally living up to his promise: 2.78 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, outstanding command. Johan Santana: 246 points He was great in the first half of the season, then ran into issues in the second half after his no-no. Still: 117 IP, 111 K & 39 BB says he should be good to go in 2013.

Here are a few of the things I'm looking forward to in 2013: - Kane County games - The top ceiling, untested pitchers (Johnson, Underwood, Paniagua, Maples) showing what they can do - Junior Lake in the PCL - Lots and lots of Kane County games and, of course, Javy Baez doing whatever the @%#& he wants. How about you?

I don't think that the front office is done making moves this offseason. I think we're still going to sign another SP and pursue at least one more position player. I think we'll still sign another RP, as well. However, I'm trying to get a handle on the level of gloom and doom about the current situation. Please give you best guess at how many wins the Cubs would have this year given this stab at the 25 man: SP: Garza SP: Shark SP: Baker SP: Feldman SP: Wood RP: Marmol RP: Fujikawa RP: Russell RP: Camp RP: 3 of Bowden, Cabrera, Castillo, Dolis, McNutt, Rosario C: Castillo 1B: Rizzo 2B: Barney 3B: Stewart / Valbuena SS: Castro OF: Soriano OF: DeJesus OF: Schierholtz B: Navarro B: Stewart / Valbuena B: Vitters B: Jackson B: Sappelt

I'm going to take Rob's suggestion and use the last vote to settle the #6 & 7 positions. So, please vote for the Cubs #8 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Please post your rationale below. If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday. For this vote, you should select the players you feel should be #8, #9 and #10. If we end up with multiple players having similar vote totals at the end of the voting period, there will be a run-off with just those players. Results so far: #1: Javier Baez #2: Jorge Soler #3: Albert Almora #4: Arodys Vizcaino #5: Dan Vogelbach #6: Brett Jackson #7: Juan Paniagua

Please vote for the Cubs #6 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Please post your rationale below. If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday. For this vote, you should select the players you feel should be #6, #7 and #8. If we end up with multiple players having similar vote totals at the end of the voting period, there will be a run-off with just those players. Results so far: #1: Javier Baez #2: Jorge Soler #3: Albert Almora #4: Arodys Vizcaino #5: Dan Vogelbach

This is where it starts to get interesting! Please vote for the Cubs #5 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Please post your rationale below. If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday. As of this round, I'm going to start allowing multiple votes. So for this vote, you should select the players you feel should be #5, #6 and #7. If we end up with multiple players having similar vote totals at the end of the voting period, there will be a run-off with just those players. Results so far: #1: Javier Baez #2: Jorge Soler #3: Albert Almora #4: Arodys Vizcaino

Please vote for the Cubs #4 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Please post your rationale below. If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday. Also, since the overall discussion thread points towards there being three realistic candidates for each of the next three spots, I'm only allowing one vote at a time right now. As we get to #5 and later, I'll allow multiple choices per vote. Results so far: #1: Javier Baez #2: Jorge Soler #3: Albert Almora

Please vote for the Cubs #3 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Please post your rationale below. If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday. Also, since the overall discussion thread points towards there being three realistic candidates for each of the next three spots, I'm only allowing one vote at a time right now. As we get to #5 and later, I'll allow multiple choices per vote. Results so far: #1: Javier Baez #2: Jorge Soler

Please vote for the Cubs #2 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Since this should involve a bit more discussion than the #1 choice, please post your rationale below. If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday. Also, since the overall discussion thread points towards there being three realistic candidates for each of the next three spots, I'm only allowing one vote at a time right now. As we get to #5 and later, I'll allow multiple choices per vote. Results so far: #1: Javier Baez

Please vote for your choice for the cubs #1 prospect.

**The NSBB Top 50** #1: Javier Baez #2: Jorge Soler #3: Albert Almora #4: Arodys Vizcaino #5: Dan Vogelbach #6: Brett Jackson #7: Juan Paniagua #8: Christian Villanueva #9: Dillon Maples #10: Josh Vitters #11: Pierce Johnson #12: Junior Lake #13: Jeimer Candelario #14: Duane Underwood #15: Matt Szczur #16: Arismendy Alcantara #17: Ronald Torreyes #18: Marco Hernandez #19: Gioskar Amaya #20: Alberto Cabrera #21: Logan Watkins #22: Rob Whitenack #23: Barrett Loux #24: Ben Wells #25: Paul Blackburn #26: Hector Rondon #27: Starling Peralta #28: Tony Zych #29: Jae-Hoon Ha #30: Trey McNutt #31: Steve Bruno #32: Michael Jensen #33: Trey Martin #34: Tayler Scott #35: Jose Arias #36: Ryan McNeil #37: Jose Rosario #38: Shawon Dunston Jr. #39: Nick Struck #40: Austin Reed #41: Reggie Golden #42: Carlos Penalver #43: Marcus Hatley #44: Frandy de la Rosa #45: Daury Torrez #46: Kyle Hendricks #47: Tim Saunders #48: Willson Contreras #49: Matt Loosen #50: Chris Rusin Their progress can be followed here and here. ** The Process ** I'm going to be taking a different approach to creating the NSBB top 30 prospect list this year. Last year we had a tough time gathering our usual team of experts together to create the list. We may still try to do that this year, but we will also be creating a "community" list. Here are the steps: Generate a pool of potential players Create a thread for discussion of the list (probably this one!) Starting from the #1 spot on down: After a discussion of the current pick in the thread, post a poll where people get to vote Each poll will list around 10 players nominated for that slot in the discussion thread Everyone voting will get to vote for three players for that spot The poll will remain open for three days If there is a clear winner at the end of the three days, discussion will move on to the next slot If there is a close vote, a runoff will be held with a single vote per participant Once a winner has been determined for that slot, comments about that player will be collected from the discussion thread and posted to the official results thread To get things kicked off, I'll use the list from Sickels to define the pool of prospects to consider. Please feel free to nominate additional players and start the discussion about the pool of players to consider for the #1 prospect! Arismendy Alcantara SS Albert Almora OF Gioskar Amaya 2B Jose Arias RHP Javier Baez SS Paul Blackburn RHP Stephen Bruno INF Alberto Cabrera RHP Jeimer Candelario 3B Marcelo Carreno RHP Jaye Chapman RHP Shawon Dunston OF Jae-Hoon Ha OF Kyle Hendricks RHP Marco Hernandez SS Brett Jackson OF Pierce Johnson RHP Junior Lake INF Barret Loux RHP Dillon Maples RHP Justin Marra C Trey Martin OF Ryan McNeil RHP Trey McNutt RHP Juan Paniagua RHP Starling Peralta RHP Brooks Raley LHP Jose Rosario RHP Tim Saunders INF Tayler Scott RHP Jorge Soler OF Nick Struck RHP Matt Szczur OF Ronald Torreyes 2B Duane Underwood RHP Christian Villanueva 3B Josh Vitters 3B Arodys Vizcaino RHP Dan Vogelbach 1B Logan Watkins 2B Ben Wells RHP Robert Whitenack RHP Tony Zych RHP

Press Release

I'm surprised nobody's talked about this. Any opinions?

Does Rizzo go by anything? No more shortened name nicknames, I can't take it. I won't go through the next 5-10 years hearing him called "Riz". We have Campy, Sori, Demp, Marm, Cassy (although I think only Quade used that maybe) and had Woody. Terrible. The only thing I still like about old school baseball terminology are some bad ass nicknames. Someone with much more creativity on this board has to come up with something. I'm sorta like something Sopranos related. He's reminds me of a jolly Tony Soprano. Let's come up with a good one. Then we can tell all of our IRL friends. Then the world will catch on, power in numbers.

Okay, I know I traded off most of my players this year. I am definitely positioning for next year at this point, much as truffle did last season. However, I am still trying to win each week, putting out the full complement of starts, putting the best hitters in the lineup, etc. Is it okay when one of our managers is pulling starters OUT of his lineup so that he only gets three starts in a week to ensure he loses? Whether I end up with the first or third/fourth pick in the draft doesn't really matter that much to me. But shouldn't each team be trying to do their best with what they have each week?