Regular Show

I'd like to see more pep talks/motivational speeches from him. I want Heyward to just randomly go up to strangers on the street and share some inspirational words.

[tweet] [/tweet] So that's nice to know that next's year class leans more towards hitters. I'm definitely going to be paying closer attention to the Cape Cod League this time. [tweet] [/tweet]

Yeah, he seems like a genuinely good guy and a great teammate. He deserves this for sure. I hope this success will last through the regular season (and all the way to the World Series hopefully)... And then I hope this successful campaign will make it easier for the Cubs to trade him somewhere. I have zero faith in him next season or in the last few years of this contract. I honestly think Oakland would be interested in him and they've been good trade partners with us in the past. Not sure Heyward would be willing to go there though. He'll still have a limited NTC.

I missed this somehow lol... [tweet] [/tweet] [tweet]https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/1005118081327337473[/tweet]

Caratini with his first HR of the year lol. This kid really needs to learn to pull the ball or hit with a higher launch angle. His approach at the plate is really good, but I wonder if he'll ever develop even average power.

What is the expletive you're using lol? Shouldn't it be "Baez gonna horsefeathering hit a dong right here".

I had the exact same thought! The Cubs were very interested in Lugo this offseason if I remember correctly. His curveball is very good with one of the highest RPMs among all pitchers. His stock has definitely increased and it'll be pretty hard to trade for him now.

So I tried to find video of Dakota Mekkes pitching and there is hardly anything publicly available... This is the only video I've seen so far: [bbvideo=853,480] [/bbvideo] So I tried to take a screenshot right at the moment where he delivers the pitch out of his hand. The resolution sucks so it's hard to see the details, but you can see how far his stride goes. It doesn't seem like a crazy long extension to me, but he is a legit 6'7". Here is a video showing the extension of Aroldis Chapman: [bbvideo=853,480]https://www.mlb.com/video/statcast-chapmans-extension/c-260131983[/bbvideo] It makes a big difference and we don't talk about it much. Mekkes is definitely special in this area.

Glad to see a new poster here. Welcome! The pitcher I'm the highest on in the group you listed is Brailyn Marquez. I think he'll emerge as one of our top pitching prospects fairly soon.

Won’t the Cubs lose their first round pick for signing Harper? No. Teams won't lose 1st round picks going forward for signing FAs that receive a Qualifying Offer. So teams that are under the luxury tax threshold will lose a 2nd round pick or their 2nd highest pick. Teams that are over the luxury tax line will lose their 2nd round and 5th round pick. I believe this is correct, but I might need to go back and check. They made a lot of weird changes in the latest CBA.

So is this what you'll look like after writing your manifesto? Looking forward to reading it...

[bbvideo=853,480] [/bbvideo] He'll fit right in on this team. I have no idea what the hell he's doing at the 18 second mark in the video lol, but he can do that after getting a base hit with us.

Wow. I'm really excited and can't wait to see his debut later this summer. I wonder how far his extension is? I believe I read how he has one of the closest release points to home plate for any pitcher in the minors.

[tweet] [/tweet] [tweet] [/tweet] Agree with everything Kiley said. There is definitely more interest in the MLB draft these days, and if you allow trading (for every pick in the draft) interest will increase. Teams would absolutely be willing to trade prospects for draft picks. Teams would trade veterans for draft picks (in the following year's draft).

KB leading off again and Zobrist is the #3 hitter? I know it worked yesterday (with KB leading off) and I ... ah, whatever. Just win please.

Is this really a bad thing? Yes.

Interesting article in the Athletic about the Cubs draft, with some good quotes from Dorey etc.. https://theathletic.com/384762/2018/06/07/an-inside-look-at-how-the-cubs-2018-draft-class-came-together/ Show, I hope you're wrong. I think some of your arguments are a little mixed. Seems to me that one argument is: 1. Cubs haven't done well outside of the first round thus far (I agree), so they won't do well outside of the first round in this draft either. 2. A second argument is that have failed with raw prospects before, so will fail with Roederer and Davis. 3. A third is that they didn't draft upside guys. You may well be right. But I think your second argument is the hinge one. I think Wilson is the only $$-HS guy they've signed. Hanneman is another example of a raw guy who didn't work out, but he was college already. The others, Crawfords and the like, those are 3rd-day picks. So to me, it seems like the Cubs record with HS-hitters like Roederer and Davis is pretty much wilson and that's it. I agree, Wilson's been a hopeless failure, and a wasted pick. But I'm not sure failing on one HS pick, and then also some 3rd-day guys, I think that's a small data pool on which to conclude a trend. So I'm optimistic re both Roederer and Davis. I think your 3rd argument is somewhat confusing. You complain that they didn't select upside guys, when to my perspective they took two such in Davis and Roederer. Reading what Dorey said, they were very much looking for upside guys, and ID'd Davis and Roederer as such. So the attempt is clearly there. You've already concluded that their attempts will fail, and you'll probably be correct. (Most 60-80 picks fail, especially HS ones....) But that's a scouting evaluation on your part, I think, (or a scouting failure on their part), more than a strategic failure. If in fact they did fail. My thinking is that although some of their HS guys have failed (Wilson and Sierra), they've had good luck with Gleyber and Eloy and Amara. So I'm not sure it's as well established and conclusive that they will fail to identify and develop teenage hitting prospects. I don't know what to make of Roederer so I didn't actually mention him. I'm not sure how high his ceiling is or how his tools rate when he was fully healthy. I need to find out more info before I make a proclamation on him. Keith Law on Roederer: That doesn't instill me with a lot of confidence... I do count Hannemann as a raw guy who didn't work out even though he went to college. There are definitely parallels between Hannemann and Davis. I know Davis is the better athlete and has a higher upside. Brennen Davis actually has one of the highest ceilings in the entire draft... I just don't think he reaches it or even gets close. I believe Kiley McDaniel mentioned how some scouts were worried his bat was a 30 or 40. I don't count IFAs with amateur draft picks. I'm strictly talking about the draft and the scouts involved with the MLB draft. I don't want to compare Gleyber and Eloy against our draft picks because it creates weird comparisons and we lack a lot of knowledge about how they scout internationally. It's not fair to compare Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber to Gleyber Torres and Miguel Amaya and so on. MLB teams scout those kids at a very young age and come to agreements when they are 14 or 15. Sometimes even younger now... I do totally give credit to the international scouts for doing a great job and signing some top prospects. I think we need to ask UK what he thinks and what other scouts think of the Cubs 2018 draft class.

I think he's already the org's #1 prospect but if he's going to be around a .900 OPS all season with his defensive reputation and age related to league, he's on his way to being a top 50 prospect in baseball. Maybe top 25. Yeah, me too. I've been on the Amaya bandwagon for a while. I'm happy, but we need to pump the brakes a little bit. His bat isn't that advanced (compared to the rest of his game). He is very advanced defensively and I have no doubts about his play behind the plate. Definitely the #1 prospect in the system for me.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23735815/the-los-angeles-angels-placed-shohei-ohtani-disabled-list-sprained-ucl Damn, today sucks. Not good news... He's so fun to watch and I hope Ohtani will be fine after some rest, but he might need TJS at some point down the road.

That’s #3 on the season. I was thinking Ademan might need to repeat High-A to start next season, but it seems like he's adjusting and could handle AA. That will be tough, but he'll be SO much younger than everyone else at AA. Even if he struggles it'll be good for his development. I think he still has a lot of room to get stronger without losing flexibility. What is he right now? Like 160 lbs? I think he'll add another 10-15 lbs and start to hit for more power as he gets older. Hopefully he won't lose speed and range while doing so...

Happ was drafted about where he was projected to go. Obviously they could have still used that data to draft him over others. Schwarber was the surprise, he was expected to go at best 1.8 but likely in the teens. Given what he did to ramp up for the World Series, I wouldn't be shocked if he scored very well on those sort off tests. Yeah, Happ went right around the area he was expected to be taken, but the guy this Cubs regime really badly wanted in 2015 was Andrew Benintendi. They really liked him, and I think they had him higher on their draft board. Schwarber went higher than expected, but that was due to positional concerns/defense -- not questions about his bat or knowledge of the strike zone. Some scouts had him listed as a 1B/DH with no chance to stick at C or in the OF.

I don't know how anyone can form such a clear opinion about a draft class after a couple days, but all there is to do now is wait 3 years and see if you're right... Well, I hope I'm wrong and that the Cubs are right on their evaluation of these draft picks. I've gone back at looked at past drafts under this regime starting with the 2012 draft, and we honestly just do not draft that well after the 1st round for whatever reason. We're consistently missing year after year and I do NOT count draft picks like Rob Zastryzny or Paul Blackburn as hits. I'm talking about prospects that have serious value in trades or contribute at the big league level. So far, the Cubs have fared very poorly in part because of their philosophy -- draft bats at the top and go for pitching afterwards with a high volume approach. Maybe I'm just disgruntled, but I don't feel like the Cubs have learned any lessons from their past draft failures. Yeah, we'll see in 3-5 years and I don't think we'll be all that happy...

The chances of landing an impact player outside the top the of the draft are always very low. Yeah, I know. I was going to state that fact, but most everyone knows that -- this isn't the NFL draft. What I mean is that this group has an even smaller chance of landing an impact player compared to other team's draft selections. The best way to land an impact player is by taking a talented HS player with that coveted high-risk/high-reward profile. The Cubs didn't do that... Brennan Davis does fit that profile, but I almost guarantee that won't work out. I actually really dislike that pick and think it's stupid considering we're giving him an overslot deal. I'm not the only one who is saying this btw. Keith Law also mentioned how this group lacks high ceilings/upside and is more high floor. We'll see, but right now I think this draft class (outside of Nico Hoerner) sucks quite frankly. I felt the same way about the 2015 draft and I don't think I'm wrong on that one.

Nice. He might end up being better than Lange or Little. Still way too early to make that call, but Abbott is doing really well right now.

I'm reading up on the guys we drafted in the later rounds. I wonder how many of them we can actually sign. No clue... So I have to say I'm NOT a big fan of these draft selections and this draft class overall for the Cubs. It seriously lacks in upside, and the chances of landing an impact player from this group is very low. Maybe that was the point though? A lot of these players have high floors and should reach the upper minors at least. Andy Weber's scouting report sounds interesting and he might develop into a fringe regular/second-division starter kind of like David Bote. I hate the Brennan Davis pick and was going to explicitly state I hope the Cubs don't draft him. Enough with the raw baseball skill/great athlete archetype. Jacob Hannemann, D.J. Wilson, Rashad Crawford, Kevonte Mitchell... It just doesn't work out for us. I know this is a small sample size and the signing bonuses vary and they have different backgrounds, but this strategy just doesn't work (I don't mind Mitchell and Crawford because their signing bonuses are so small/were late picks). I'll call it right now and say Brennan Davis stalls out at either AA or AAA. I don't know if Jimmy Herron or D.J. Artis fall in the category I mentioned above, but I expect their signing bonuses to be much smaller. I think they're more refined and have a lot more experience. I don't hate their selections and I actually kind of like D.J. Artis (great name if nothing else). I don't like the Paul Richan pick and doubt he'll ever rise into the Cubs Top 20-25 prospect rankings. Really boring back-of-the-rotation profile. I think we barely mentioned Nico Hoerner in the 2018 Draft Thread and that was a mistake. We should've known he was on the Cubs radar with his performance in the Cape Cod League, plus makeup and solid hit tool. I like the pick and think he can fill the role that Ben Zobrist has as a super-utility guy in a couple years. We might also trade Happ for some pitching so Nico might take over Happ's role on the team and Nico is much better defensively. I wouldn't be surprised if this draft class mirrors the 2015 group. Right now, it looks like Happ will be the only contributor from that draft (we did trade Dewees for something useful I guess). That draft class is kind of disappointing with Hudson and Wilson stagnating (if not struggling) in the minors right now. I think Nico will reach the big leagues sometime in 2020 and that we barely get anything from the other draft picks in this draft class.