MLB: Chicago Cubs Offseason Hot Stove

[ISUCubswin]

I've seen the same comments regarding Baez starting in Des Moines.

Dude just needs to ease up a bit on the power and focus a bit on the contact side.

On the flip side, the Astros are reportedly studying to see how important a a strikeout is compared to another out. They have the worst strikeout rate in the MLB (just in front of the Cubs) and it only got worse with the addition of Valbuena.

Strikeouts are undoubtedly worse than a groundout or fly out, but how much worse?

 

[CYdTracked]

I'll take a high OBP over strikeouts with potential for HR. Can't get runs in if you don't at least put the ball in play and have a chance to get on base. You never know when someone will make an error, if you strike out the odds of an error are next to none where as you can have a guy lose the ball in the sun or lights, botch a ground ball or over throw a base. If you look at the guys the Cubs brought in this offseason they all have decent OBP % so pretty sure that is a spot they are working to improve at

 

[Clark]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12211903/chicago-cubs-no-1-farm-system-rankings-2015-mlb

it's an insider article

 

[CyJack13]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12211903/chicago-cubs-no-1-farm-system-rankings-2015-mlb

it's an insider article

I like this sentence

The hype around their system is justified by the talent in it, with the strongest collection of top-shelf hitting prospects I can remember since I started working in baseball.

 

[Clark]

also insider. The Cubs graduated two players off of last years list but still have 3 in the top 15

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/stor...ex_cid=InsiderTwitter_law_top100prospects2015

 

[SchuellerClones]

Now it needs to translate into wins!

 

[CoKane]

Now it needs to translate into wins!

Pretty much this. We've had some really good prospects in the past, but it means nothing if they don't ever help you win games.

 

[wonkadog]

Pretty much this. We've had some really good prospects in the past, but it means nothing if they don't ever help you win games.

Yeah we've had some good prospects in the past but I can't remember ever having this many guys sitting in our farm system. Completely different now.

 

[Rabbuk]

I'm forever haunted by memories of Felix Pie.

 

[Clark]

I'm forever haunted by memories of Felix Pie.

 

[CYdTracked]

Felix isn't the only one, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Corey Patterson, Angel Guzman, Hee Seop Choi, Kevin Orie, Rich Hill, Jake Fox, Bobby Hill, Brooks Kieschnick, can probably throw Mark Prior on that list since he didn't last very long. I'm sure I am missing more...

Odds are some of these highly touted prospects the Cubs have will disappoint. Hate to say it but right now I think Baez is on track to be one of them if he can't get his plate discipline and strikeout rate under control.

 

[laminak]

Yeah we've had some good prospects in the past but I can't remember ever having this many guys sitting in our farm system. Completely different now.

The Cubs also rushed many prospects in the past and ruined them. Felix Pie is Exhibit A. I like how management seems to be better analyzing their development and timetable.

 

[JP4CY]

Felix isn't the only one, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Corey Patterson, Angel Guzman, Hee Seop Choi, Kevin Orie, Rich Hill, Jake Fox, Bobby Hill, Brooks Kieschnick, can probably throw Mark Prior on that list since he didn't last very long. I'm sure I am missing more...

Odds are some of these highly touted prospects the Cubs have will disappoint. Hate to say it but right now I think Baez is on track to be one of them if he can't get his plate discipline and strikeout rate under control.

Hee Seop killed it in Iowa but getting Derrek Lee outta him was a steal.

 

[CyJack13]

Felix isn't the only one, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Corey Patterson, Angel Guzman, Hee Seop Choi, Kevin Orie, Rich Hill, Jake Fox, Bobby Hill, Brooks Kieschnick, can probably throw Mark Prior on that list since he didn't last very long. I'm sure I am missing more...

Odds are some of these highly touted prospects the Cubs have will disappoint. Hate to say it but right now I think Baez is on track to be one of them if he can't get his plate discipline and strikeout rate under control.

Prior and Patterson are about the only two that were truly elite prospects. There's a big difference between being the top prospect in the Cubs' system and a top prospect among all minor leaguers. The Cubs have never had this much elite talent in their system at one time, and it's not just a system with a couple high end prospects, there is a ton of depth in their system with a chance for some of the real young guys like Gleybar Torres to become top prospects in another couple of years too.

 

[CYdTracked]

Well a lot of it was just poor drafting by the prior GMs too. IMO your 1st round picks should not be busts as consistently as the Cubs have had with their first round picks. That's the 1 thing Hoyer and Epstein seem to be doing fairly well at right now is identifying more polished talent for the first round picks that can move up through the system quicker and take your chances on finding some pitching gems in the following rounds. Jury is still out on those picks since some of them haven't made it up yet but so far nearly all of them have been progressing nicely through the minors.

Look at how many 1st round picks failed to be much of an impact since 1990. Cashner and Donaldson look like they will be solid players. Cashner got us Rizzo so that was a good trade. Donaldson was part of the Rich Harden trade, can say that the A's made out on the better end of that one.

1990	Dickson, LanceLance Dickson	Left-handed pitcher	University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)	23 !23	[SUP][34][/SUP]
1991	Glanville, DougDoug Glanville	Outfielder	University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)	12 !12	[SUP][35][/SUP]
1992	Wallace, DerekDerek Wallace	Right-handed pitcher	Pepperdine University (Malibu, California)	11 !11	[SUP][36][/SUP]
1993	Kieschnick, BrooksBrooks Kieschnick	Outfielder	University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas)	10 !10	[SUP][37][/SUP]
1993	Ratliff, JonJon Ratliff	Right-handed pitcher	LeMoyne College (Syracuse, New York)	24 !24[SUP][e][/SUP]	[SUP][37][/SUP]
1993	Orie, KevinKevin Orie	Shortstop	Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana)	29 !29§[SUP][f][/SUP]	[SUP][37][/SUP]
1994	Peterson, JaysonJayson Peterson	Right-handed pitcher	East High School (Denver, Colorado)	15 !15	[SUP][38][/SUP]
1995	Wood, KerryKerry Wood	Right-handed pitcher	Grand Prairie High School (Grand Prairie, Texas)	04 !4	[SUP][39][/SUP]
1996	Noel, ToddTodd Noel	Right-handed pitcher	North Vermillion High School (Maurice, Louisiana)	17 !17	[SUP][40][/SUP]
1997	Garland, JonJon Garland	Right-handed pitcher	John F. Kennedy High School (Granada Hills, California)	10 !10	[SUP][41][/SUP]
1998	Patterson, CoreyCorey Patterson	Outfielder	Harrison High School (Kennesaw, Georgia)	03 !3	[SUP][42][/SUP]
1999	Christensen, BenBen Christensen	Outfielder	Wichita State University (Wichita, Kansas)	26 !26	[SUP][43][/SUP]
2000	Montañez, LouLou Montañez	Shortstop	Miami Coral Park High School (Miami, Florida)	03 !3	[SUP][44][/SUP]
2001	Prior, MarkMark Prior	Right-handed pitcher	University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California)	02 !2	[SUP][45][/SUP]
2002	Brownlie, BobbyBobby Brownlie	Right-handed pitcher	Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey)	21 !21	[SUP][46][/SUP]
2002	Hagerty, LukeLuke Hagerty	Left-handed pitcher	Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)	32 !32§[SUP][g][/SUP]	[SUP][46][/SUP]
2002	Blasko, ChaddChadd Blasko	Right-handed pitcher	Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana)	36 !36§[SUP][h][/SUP]	[SUP][46][/SUP]
2002	Clanton, MatthewMatthew Clanton	Right-handed pitcher	Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, California)	38 !38§[SUP]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chicago_Cubs_first-round_draft_picks#endnote_2002Drafti[/SUP]

[TD][SUP][46][/SUP][/TD]

[TR]
[TD]2003[/TD]
[TD]Harvey, RyanRyan Harvey[/TD]
[TD]Outfielder[/TD]
[TD]Dunedin High School
(Dunedin, Florida)[/TD]
[TD]06 !6[/TD]
[TD][SUP][47][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2004[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 4"]zzb !no first-round pick[SUP][j][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][SUP][3][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2005[/TD]
[TD]Pawelek, MarkMark Pawelek[/TD]
[TD]Left-handed pitcher[/TD]
[TD]Springville High School
(Springville, Utah)[/TD]
[TD]20 !20[/TD]
[TD][SUP][48][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2006[/TD]
[TD]Colvin, TylerTyler Colvin[/TD]
[TD]Outfielder[/TD]
[TD]Clemson University
(Clemson, South Carolina)[/TD]
[TD]13 !13[/TD]
[TD][SUP][49][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2007[/TD]
[TD]Vitters, JoshJosh Vitters[/TD]
[TD]Third baseman[/TD]
[TD]Cypress High School
(Cypress, California)[/TD]
[TD]03 !3[/TD]
[TD][SUP][50][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2007[/TD]
[TD]Donaldson, JoshJosh Donaldson[/TD]
[TD]Catcher[/TD]
[TD]Auburn University
(Auburn, Alabama)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #bbbbff"]48 !48§[SUP][k][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][SUP][50][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Cashner, AndrewAndrew Cashner[/TD]
[TD]Right-handed pitcher[/TD]
[TD]Texas Christian University
(Fort Worth, Texas)[/TD]
[TD]19 !19[/TD]
[TD][SUP][51][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Flaherty, RyanRyan Flaherty[/TD]
[TD]Shortstop[/TD]
[TD]Vanderbilt University
(Nashville, Tennessee)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #bbbbff"]41 !41§[SUP][l][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][SUP][51][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2009[/TD]
[TD]Jackson, BrettBrett Jackson[/TD]
[TD]Outfielder[/TD]
[TD]University of California, Berkeley
(Berkeley, California)[/TD]
[TD]31 !31[/TD]
[TD][SUP][52][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2010[/TD]
[TD]Simpson, HaydenHayden Simpson[/TD]
[TD]Right-handed pitcher[/TD]
[TD]Southern Arkansas University
(Magnolia, Arkansas)[/TD]
[TD]16 !16[/TD]
[TD][SUP][53][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]Báez, JavierJavier Báez[/TD]
[TD]Shortstop[/TD]
[TD]Arlington Country Day School
(Jacksonville, Florida)[/TD]
[TD]09 !9[/TD]
[TD][SUP][54][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2012[/TD]
[TD]Almora, AlbertAlbert Almora[/TD]
[TD]Outfielder[/TD]
[TD]Mater Academy Charter School
(Hialeah Gardens, Florida)[/TD]
[TD]06 !6[/TD]
[TD][SUP][55][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2012[/TD]
[TD]Johnson, PiercePierce Johnson[/TD]
[TD]Right-handed pitcher[/TD]
[TD]Missouri State University
(Springfield, Missouri)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #bbbbff"]43 !43§[SUP][m][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][SUP][55][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2012[/TD]
[TD]Blackburn, PaulPaul Blackburn[/TD]
[TD]Right-handed pitcher[/TD]
[TD]Heritage High School
(Brentwood, California)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #bbbbff"]56 !56§[SUP][n][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][SUP][55][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2013[/TD]
[TD]Bryant, KrisKris Bryant[/TD]
[TD]Third Baseman[/TD]
[TD]University of San Diego
(San Diego, California)[/TD]
[TD]02 !2[/TD]
[TD][SUP][56][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2014[/TD]
[TD]Schwarber, KyleKyle Schwarber[/TD]
[TD]Catcher[/TD]
[TD]University of Indiana
(Bloomington, Indiana)[/TD]
[TD]04 !4[/TD]
[TD][SUP][57[/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]

 

[Wesley]

Oh no, the rats have invaded.

http://network.yardbarker.com/author/article_external/18180674?widget=true

 

[Clark]

another prospect ranking, this one's free.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=prospects

 

[ISUCubswin]

Not sure if anyone has been following James Shields

1. He had a very high price tag, which reportedly kept the Cubs from being interested. (This is pre-Maddon)

2. As late January hit, reports were coming out that Shields price tag had significantly lowered, and that the Cubs had entered the competition for Shields

3. This morning, reports surfaced that Shields is likely going to be picking a team this week, most likely the Padres or Yankees, but that the Cardinals could be a surprise team - they really want a high end pitcher, and he's the best they can get right now.

4. Reports now surfacing TONIGHT that the Cubs are involved with James Shields and that he is considering a Cubs offer (along with other teams). Cubs likely don't have the highest offer on Shields, but Shields is a MASSIVE Maddon fan.

I know I show our pitching rotation a lot...but....

(PUT A DIAPER ON OR GRAB A TISSUE)

2016

1. Price
2. Lester
3. Shields
4. Arrieta
5. Hendricks

WORLD ******* SERIES

 

[tm3308]

Jesus ******* ******, please let this happen. I know Shields flopped hard for KC in the postseason, but not being counted on to be THE guy who can't afford to lose in the postseason could be very beneficial for him. Let Lester and/or (hopefully, next year) Price take on that burden.

 

[ISUCubswin]

Padres appear to be the favorite for James Shields, while the Cubs and Blue Jays are also in the running. The three most popular teams a couple days ago, Marlins, Cardinals, and Yankees, have had sources say they are completely out of the running barring a last second offer.

Also, I think I said this when it happened...but how the **** did we not get Matt Kemp...Padres traded him to a divisional team for three meh prospects AND are paying for almost all of his contract. Would've been a perfect fit in center for us.

Only reason I bring this up - if the Dodgers would've made the Padres pay most of the contract, odds are the Padres would've been $5-10 million short on signing Shields