Cubs Farm System And Prospects Discussion Thread

[beckdawg]

This is a fun game in terms of who pitched and pitched well. It started with Pierce Johnson, who has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to injuries the past couple of years. It hasn't even been his arm -- it has been his hamstring and this year it was his back. He looks fine now, He has been at 92-94 all year and today he was filling up the strike zone, throwing 46 of 65 pitches for strikes, walking just one and striking out 4 in 5 shutout innings.

from cubs den. Pierce is still in AA. It is a shame injury have costed him so much time because if he were in say AAA right now he would make a rather interesting option as opposed to trading. I suppose given his age it is still possible we might see him in the majors this year but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[CSF77]

http://www.milb.com/news/article.js...d=132002310&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

 

[beckdawg]

http://www.milb.com/shared/video/em...=192903083&width=400&height=224&property=milb

It always catches me off guard how rotund vogelbach is...

 

[TL1961]

Good lord, he makes Schwarber look thin!

I have never seen Vogelbach before. I have considered him a guy we'd never see on the Cubs due to Rizzo blocking him and the fact he has no position he can actually play. (First base was simply the guess for lack of anywhere else to play him.)

After seeing that body I am more convinced than ever that he has zero future in the NL. (And probably not much of one at all)

 

[SilenceS]

Good lord, he makes Schwarber look thin!

I have never seen Vogelbach before. I have considered him a guy we'd never see on the Cubs due to Rizzo blocking him and the fact he has no position he can actually play. (First base was simply the guess for lack of anywhere else to play him.)

After seeing that body I am more convinced than ever that he has zero future in the NL. (And probably not much of one at all)

He sits around 240. He was over 300 when he was a junior in high school. He has a future just may be as a DH. His bat is real

 

[CSF77]

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Chicago Cubs made a roster move which affects Iowa's active roster for today's games against Omaha at Principal Park. Right-handed pitcher Frank Batista has been promoted to the I-Cubs from Double-A Tennessee.

Batista, 25, joins Iowa for his third stint with the team. The right-hander leaves the Southern League leading the circuit with a 1.70 ERA (15ER/79.1IP). He is also tied for the league-lead with seven wins. He's fourth with 79.1 innings pitched, fourth with a 1.07 WHIP and fifth with a .219 opponents' batting average.

Batista was named a Southern League All-Star thanks to his work so far this year. He pitched a scoreless third inning in Tuesday's Southern League All-Star Game.

The Dominican Republic native is a combined 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA (8ER/14.2IP) and seven strikeouts in 14 games out of the bullpen in his I-Cubs career. Batista appeared in six games for Iowa in 2012, and eight last season.

With these moves, Iowa's active roster is at 24 players plus one player on the disabled list, two players on major league rehab assignment and one player on paternity leave.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

 

[CSF77]

I really like how he re-invented himself becoming a starter this year. He already was a strong closer and now his value just jumped this year.

 

[beckdawg]

Consider me erect.....

Here's the image a bit bigger

 

[beckdawg]

Just to follow up on Torres, it's probably worth mentioning he's not viewed quite as well defensively as some of these guys having a 60 arm and 50 field. Correa has a 70 arm and a 55 field. Lindor is 60/70. Seager is probably a 3B but is 60/45. Mondesi is about the same at 60/60. Russell is a like wise 60/55.

Given that and Torres apparent lack of power I'd say he probably wont be a top 25 prospect but it wouldn't shock me to see him in the 50 range next year.

 

[beckdawg]

Apparently Almora has changed his name and is now listed as Reinaldo Almora, Jr. Weird but i figured I'd mention it so some don't get confused... well the some that read this anyways.

 

[JosMin]

Apparently Almora has changed his name and is now listed as Reinaldo Almora, Jr. Weird but i figured I'd mention it so some don't get confused... well the some that read this anyways.

He said something about it on Twitter -- I guess clarifying that Reinaldo is his given first name but will continue to go by Albert. Either works for me -- as long as his bat wakes up.

 

[CSF77]

He said something about it on Twitter -- I guess clarifying that Reinaldo is his given first name but will continue to go by Albert. Either works for me -- as long as his bat wakes up.

He would have been in Iowa if he was not sucking it up this year. His development has stalled and he is looking the 4th OF part. My guess is this is the reason why they drafted hard into CF. Almora has fallen out of the picture. I don't expect him to amount to much other than a 4th OF now just based off of his glove. That is if he can stay healthy from putting his body at risk in the OF.

 

[beckdawg]

He would have been in Iowa if he was not sucking it up this year. His development has stalled and he is looking the 4th OF part. My guess is this is the reason why they drafted hard into CF. Almora has fallen out of the picture. I don't expect him to amount to much other than a 4th OF now just based off of his glove. That is if he can stay healthy from putting his body at risk in the OF.

Who other than Almora do they have that can even play CF prior to this draft class? That in my opinion is why they went heavy on CF not so much Almora sucking. You're talking about Kevonte Mitchell who's still in short season ball and Jacob Hannemann who's 24 and fringy major leaguer anyways.

Anyways as for Almora, he honestly doesn't have to be Willie Mays to provide value. The cubs of the future are going to have offense. Even if he's say a 90 wRC+(10% worse than average) with that kind of defense he's not a terrible #8(or #7 if you are doing the pitcher #8). With Soler not having amazing range and possibly someone like Schwarber in LF someone with his ability to run down balls is going to really benefit the team so long as he doesn't absolutely kill you on offense. He's also only 21. If he's still struggling 2-3 years from now then I'd be worried but he's clearly working on his approach. He's nearing the highest walk rate of his minor league career. If he can find a happy median between his solid contact skills and an ability to walk things will work themselves out. Also doesn't help his BABIP in the past 2 years at AA has been .234 and .249 for a guy you expect to possibly be 10-20 points over the typical .300 BABIP.

 

[CSF77]

Who other than Almora do they have that can even play CF prior to this draft class? That in my opinion is why they went heavy on CF not so much Almora sucking. You're talking about Kevonte Mitchell who's still in short season ball and Jacob Hannemann who's 24 and fringy major leaguer anyways.

Anyways as for Almora, he honestly doesn't have to be Willie Mays to provide value. The cubs of the future are going to have offense. Even if he's say a 90 wRC+(10% worse than average) with that kind of defense he's not a terrible #8(or #7 if you are doing the pitcher #8). With Soler not having amazing range and possibly someone like Schwarber in LF someone with his ability to run down balls is going to really benefit the team so long as he doesn't absolutely kill you on offense. He's also only 21. If he's still struggling 2-3 years from now then I'd be worried but he's clearly working on his approach. He's nearing the highest walk rate of his minor league career. If he can find a happy median between his solid contact skills and an ability to walk things will work themselves out. Also doesn't help his BABIP in the past 2 years at AA has been .234 and .249 for a guy you expect to possibly be 10-20 points over the typical .300 BABIP.

They have Alcantara and Szczur. To me if Almora is not hitting he is a D replacement. Szczur brings speed and can bring some O. His D doesn't suck at all. But even he has not been given a real shot at playing every day. Almora would have to hit to be viewed.


Off that subject. It has been 30 days sense Baez went on the DL. Any word on him yet?

 

[beckdawg]

They have Alcantara and Szczur. To me if Almora is not hitting he is a D replacement. Szczur brings speed and can bring some O. His D doesn't suck at all. But even he has not been given a real shot at playing every day. Almora would have to hit to be viewed.


Off that subject. It has been 30 days sense Baez went on the DL. Any word on him yet?

As for Baez he's in Mesa now afaik. Cubs den had some pictures from his instagram like last week I think.

As for Almora, if he's not hitting much he pretty much is Szczur IMO. However, I'd argue with Almora's contact he's still a better version. He's sitting at roughly 6%/11% bb/k rates. In Szczur's two stints in AA at 22/23 he was 8.9%/18.4% and 8.7%/13.1%. The second time at 13% k rate seems to be an abnormality as in AAA and the majors he's been much closer to the 18%. Almora has been extremely consistent in terms of his K rate hovering around 11%. As for Alcantara, I think i've mentally conditioned myself to forget he's a CF because I totally missed him. I personally think he's a much better player as a 2B though.

I'm honestly not that concerned about Almora though. Well that's not entirely true. My concerns are more about him developing any kind of power. 10 or so HRs over 600 PAs with maybe 10 SB doesn't really appeal to me much. The rest I think will work itself out though I wouldn't expect to see Almora for probably 2 years at the earliest. But if you push his BABIP to A+ levels you'd be talking about him as a .290/.335 hitter. And prior to his appearing in AA his .305 BABIP in A+ is the lowest he's been. For someone who's clearly been working on taking more walks and is a bit young for the level the numbers aren't that bad. It's just that he was likely never going to be a huge prospect unless literally everything breaks right as a hitter. And given the spoils we've seen with cubs prospects of late it seems like he's on the down side. Truth be told there's just not a ton of good CF prospects.

 

[CSF77]

They drafted RHbats early on. Later drafts they have been stacking LH bats. Line up balance. I'll bet next year at this time Huff is in CF.

 

[beckdawg]

They drafted RHbats early on. Later drafts they have been stacking LH bats. Line up balance. I'll bet next year at this time Huff is in CF.

I'd strongly doubt it on Huff. Maybe at 40 man roster expansion but to go from being drafted to the majors in under a year isn't common. All it takes is one DL stint and that's completely thrown off let alone any kind of struggle at AA/AAA. Plus I've read that they may work Huff at 2B in the offseason. I don't really get why personally but it's what I've read.

 

[beckdawg]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/midseason-top-50-prospects2015/

Schwarber is #6
Gleyber Torres is #28
Billy McKinney is #30

BP's list is behind a paywall but has

Kyle Schwarber at #8
Gleyber Torres at #50

Figured Torres would be up there but seeing BA have him at #28 is pretty nuts. Also Schwarber in the top 10 on both backs up how I've felt about him for some time.

 

[CSF77]

I'd strongly doubt it on Huff. Maybe at 40 man roster expansion but to go from being drafted to the majors in under a year isn't common. All it takes is one DL stint and that's completely thrown off let alone any kind of struggle at AA/AAA. Plus I've read that they may work Huff at 2B in the offseason. I don't really get why personally but it's what I've read.

Not sure why at 2B unless they are planning to trade Castro or Baez. Like I said they are trying to balance the line up. Adding Schwarber and Huff to Rizzo off sets Bryant, Soler, Russell and Baez/Castro.

Now that 2nd round talent maybe the guy who gets CF. time will tell.

If Huff moves at the same pace as Bryant and Schwarber did he should be up fast. Schwarber hitting wise is ready. Bryant was ready also but they delayed for control. Huff is not in the same situation. 2B is really not as demanding as catcher

 

[TC in Mississippi]

They drafted RHbats early on. Later drafts they have been stacking LH bats. Line up balance. I'll bet next year at this time Huff is in CF.

Are you talking about Ian Happ? If so he's being moved to 2nd in instructionals this fall. Ultimately that's where they want him to stick.