I was actually just talking with O_O the other day about this. The Angels system is so ridiculous. They had the most players on the BA top 20 lists (20). The Cubs came in 5th with 16 btw. But what is so impressive about this is the quality of these players. They weren't just coming in the bottom half of the top 20 lists. In the PCL they had the numbers 6, 10, and 17 players. In the Texas League they had the numbers 1, 2, 7, 15, and 16 prospects. In the California league they had numbers 1 prospect (Howie Kendrick was 3 in the league but he was also number 1 in the Texas league). Their lower end of the system isn't as impressive but they still have a some players in the top 10s in each leauge.
Might want to have had Garland back for this year but I wouldn't want to have dealt with his development as a pitcher. White Sox fans have been calling for his head the last several years before this one.
I suppose it could end up being Austin Kearns as the beat writers have indicated that Hendry likes him. If you are registered, there is an article about the Reds in the Dayton Daily News, where the columnist suggests that Kearns be traded to the Cubs and Wily Mo Pena to the Nationals for young pitchers. Hoops They Cubs should just take both of them. :D
The Angels and Dodgers are probably going to have really stacked AAA teams next year... This year in the Texas league the Angels had the numbers 1, 2, 7, 15, and 16 prospects. That's just crazy.
The only positive I could see out of this whole thing would be that Ozzie would be gone. The list of negative side-effects would be much too long to list.
Responding? Who addressed you in the first place? I think my anger over this situation was well expressed. Either you're lying or you're just dense. Forget I said anything. I can't figure out why you're so mad. Maybe I'm a dense liar. You know best. Just let it go guys.
I think he must IM about 50 of us. He can't troll the board so he does it via IM. And to answer the other question, yes you can ignore IM. But seeing him actually troll via IM makes me feel better as a person. I can look at my faults and then think at least I'm not an IM troll. He used to IM me right after he got banned but I blocked him.
No, I agree with their rankings. I think Pie is below Delmon Young, Hermida, Francoeur, Chris Young, Billingsley, Guzman and LaRoche. Yeah, if it was any other division I would say yes but the SL was absolutely stacked this year.
Thanks to all of the mods and admins that run the board. You may be bashed at times by some for being too restrictive or banning people too soon but if you do not do these things the board would turn into the cubs.com or espn.com forums. I think we can all say that's the last thing we want. Thanks for keeping this place somewhat sane during this season.
What is your take on the rumors surrounding Hendry/Baker extending their contracts. So far, I would say thru the media it appears that Hendry will get offered a two year deal next Spring and Baker as well. The only difference is that Baker might not accept unlike Hendry. Stating a good start is needed, runs perpendicular to recent hints that Baker would be offered before the season. If you were to put odds on the situation, what are the odds of Baker being offered 2 more years before the season? Those weren't "rumors" about the contract extensions. Those were strong indications given to media members close to the team _ given to us by various members of the Cubs family. There are several "extension" scenarios regarding Baker: He could be offered a one-year extension. He could be offered a two-year extension. He could be offered a "lowball" extension. And as I've said, there is no guarantee he'll accept. I don't think he particularly likes Chicago all that much. A good start will be important regardless, especially since I have a feeling Baker will make the whole extension thing moot by not accepting it. Nice use of the word "perpendicular," though. So basically we need to make Dusty feel as unwelcome in Chicago as possible so he won't accept the extention. I think I can help out on that.