New Year. New Thread.

Last one with 833 replies. Not bad. Lets get this years version above 1000!

Josh Vitters, 3B
Chicago Cubs
The third overall pick in the 2007 draft, Vitters has a career batting line of .275/.317/.435, and those numbers have declined with each move up the ladder. It hard to find a prettier swing in the minors, but in the end, Vitters' hitting ability has been his undoing, as his tremendous plate coverage has led to a swing-at-everything approach that has caught up to him at more advanced levels against pitchers who realize that they don't need to throw strikes against him. There's no question about the talent, but at this point, a fundamental change in the way he goes about things is what's necessary for him to succeed.

Kevin Goldstein covers prospects and player development for Baseball Prospectus and you can follow him on Twitter.

I thought this was funny. From ESPN chat with Rob Neyer today:



Barnaby (Gold Coast, Australia)

G'day mate. Traveled a wee bit of the US a few years ago and fell in love with the Cubs. Is this Starlin Castro character the real deal or was 2010 just a tease?

Rob Neyer
(12:13 PM)


He's for real.

BA's top 10 came out today.

1. Chris Archer, rhp
2. Brett Jackson, of
3. Trey McNutt, rhp
4. Hak-Ju Lee, ss
5. Josh Vitters, 3b
6. Chris Carpenter, rhp
7. Matt Szczur, of
8. Hayden Simpson, rhp
9. Rafael Dolis, rhp
10. Brandon Guyer, of

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/pr ... 11106.html

BA's Superlatives

Best Hitter for Average - D.J. LeMahieu
Best Power Hitter - Brett Jackson
Best Strike-Zone Discipline - Matt Cerda
Fastest Baserunner - Matt Szczur
Best Athlete - Matt Szczur
Best Fastball - Chris Archer
Best Curveball - Trey McNutt
Best Slider - Chris Archer
Best Changeup - Chris Rusin
Best Control - Chris Rusin
Best Defensive Catcher - Robinson Chirinos
Best Defensive Infielder - Darwin Barney
Best Infield Arm - Junior Lake
Best Defensive Outfielder - Brandon Guyer
Best Outfield Arm - Kyler Burke

PROJECTED 2014 LINEUP

Catcher - Geovany Soto
First Base - Tyler Colvin
Second Base - Starlin Castro
Third Base - Josh Vitters
Shortstop - Hak-Ju Lee
Left Field - Brandon Guyer
Center Field - Matt Szczur
Right Field - Brett Jackson
No. 1 Starter - Andrew Cashner
No. 2 Starter - Chris Archer
No. 3 Starter - Trey McNutt
No. 4 Starter - Carlos Zambrano
No. 5 Starter - Ryan Dempster
Closer - Carlos Marmol

BA is the 1st ranking organization to make me think losing Szczur to the NFL would be big loss. They seem to be really high on him.

In the chat with Callis, he said the Cubs will have the 8th ranked farm system in baseball by BA. A lot with Szczur will depend on the Senior Bowl.

By the way, a defensive outfield of Guyer, Szczur and Jackson from left to right would probably be the best defensive outfield the Cubs ever had. It's not likely to happen, things never work out quite that easily, but it's a nice dream.

8th is better than I expected. I thought we would be in the 12-17 range. Good to hear.

I expected top 10, didn't think we'd drop that far off from 7th even though we graduated Castro & Cashner with the emergence of McNutt, Bjax & Archer

BassmanUW wrote:By the way, a defensive outfield of Guyer, Szczur and Jackson from left to right would probably be the best defensive outfield the Cubs ever had. It's not likely to happen, things never work out quite that easily, but it's a nice dream.

I think Szczur will opt for football over baseball...

I generally agree Boozer. I've read that if he hears he's projecting to be a fourth round pick he's almost definitely going to football. Hopefully he doesn't do very well in the Senior Bowl. The one plus we have for baseball is that his dad really wants him to play baseball over football.

TOP TEN
PROSPECTS
1. Chris Archer, rhp
2. Brett Jackson, of
3. Trey McNutt, rhp
4. Hak-Ju Lee, ss
5. Josh Vitters, 3b
6. Chris Carpenter, rhp
7. Matt Szczur, of
8. Hayden Simpson, rhp
9. Rafael Dolis, rhp
10. Brandon Guyer, of
BEST
TOOLS
Best Hitter for Average D.J. LeMahieu
Best Power Hitter Brett Jackson
Best Strike-Zone Discipline Matt Cerda
Fastest Baserunner Matt Szczur
Best Athlete Matt Szczur
Best Fastball Chris Archer
Best Curveball Trey McNutt
Best Slider Chris Archer
Best Changeup Chris Rusin
Best Control Chris Rusin
Best Defensive Catcher Robinson Chirinos
Best Defensive Infielder Darwin Barney
Best Infield Arm Junior Lake
Best Defensive Outfielder Brandon Guyer
Best Outfield Arm Kyler Burke
PROJECTED 2014
LINEUP
Catcher Geovany Soto
First Base Tyler Colvin
Second Base Starlin Castro
Third Base Josh Vitters
Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee
Left Field Brandon Guyer
Center Field Matt Szczur
Right Field Brett Jackson
No. 1 Starter Andrew Cashner
No. 2 Starter Chris Archer
No. 3 Starter Trey McNutt
No. 4 Starter Carlos Zambrano
No. 5 Starter Ryan Dempster
Closer Carlos Marmol
TOP PROSPECTS
OF THE DECADE
Year Player, Position 2010
2001 Corey Patterson, of Orioles
2002 Mark Prior, rhp Rangers
2003 Hee Seop Choi, 1b Kia (Korea)
2004 Angel Guzman, rhp Cubs
2005 Brian Dopirak, 1b Blue Jays
2006 Felix Pie, of Orioles
2007 Felix Pie, of Orioles
2008 Josh Vitters, 3b Cubs
2009 Josh Vitters, 3b Cubs
2010 Starlin Castro, ss Cubs
TOP DRAFT PICKS
OF THE DECADE
Year Player, Position 2010
2001 Mark Prior, rhp Rangers
2002 Bobby Brownlie, rhp Out of baseball
2003 Ryan Harvey, of Rockies
2004 Grant Johnson, rhp
(2nd round) Out of baseball
2005 Mark Pawelek, lhp Gateway (Frontier)
2006 Tyler Colvin, of Cubs
2007 Josh Vitters, 3b Cubs
2008 Andrew Cashner, rhp Cubs
2009 Brett Jackson, of Cubs
2010 Hayden Simpson, rhp Cubs
LARGEST BONUSES
IN CLUB HISTORY
Mark Prior, 2001 $4,000,000
Kosuke Fukudome, 2007 $4,000,000
Corey Patterson, 1998 $3,700,000
Josh Vitters, 2007 $3,200,000
Luis Montanez, 2000 $2,750,000


After the Ricketts family completed its $845 million purchase of the Cubs and related assets in October 2009, the team unveiled its marketing campaign for 2010: "Year One."

Unfortunately, Year One was a lot like the previous 101. Chicago still is seeking its first World Series championship since 1908 and first appearance since 1945, and the big league club is trending in the wrong direction.

The Cubs won 97 games and a second straight National League Central title in 2008, then dropped to 83 victories in 2009 and 75 a year ago. That's not exactly what the Ricketts family thought it was getting with a $146.6 million Opening Day payroll that trailed only the Yankees and Red Sox among major league teams.

Chicago still is paying the price for overaggressive spending, first when it was rebuilding following a 96-loss season in 2006, then when it was trying to get over the hump after getting swept out of the playoffs the next two years. The Cubs signed Ryan Dempster, Kosuke Fukudome, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano to long-term deals totaling $404.5 million during that period, and they owe those five players $77.5 million for 2011 alone.

There were some silver linings during a disappointing 2010 season. Chicago promoted several prospects to Wrigley Field, and they acquitted themselves well. Starlin Castro nearly made the team out of spring training and came up for good May 7, homering in his first at-bat and driving in six runs in his first game. He became just the third shortstop age 20 or younger to hit .300 while qualifying for the batting title, joining Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan and Alex Rodriguez.

Andrew Cashner made tremendous progress as a starter in the minors before getting summoned to the big league bullpen at the end of May. He held his own with a mid-90s fastball and a mid-80s slider, and he'll move into the rotation for 2011. Casey Coleman, Tyler Colvin and Scott Maine also made successful major league debuts and claimed jobs for the upcoming seasons. Chicago used 10 rookies in an Aug. 18 game against the Padres, including a major league-record six rookie pitchers.

The Cubs responded well to an unanticipated managerial change, playing their best ball after Lou Piniella abruptly resigned Aug. 23 to take care of his ailing mother. They went 51-74 under Piniella and 24-13 under former third-base coach Mike Quade. Quade instilled a greater sense of accountability, including benching Castro for two games for concentration lapses, and had "interim" removed from his job title after the season.

Life was better down on the farm than it was at Wrigley Field. Righthanders Chris Archer and Trey McNutt went a combined 25-4, while outfielder Brett Jackson pounded Double-A pitching in his first full pro season, establishing themselves as the best prospects in the system. Triple-A Iowa and Double-A Tennessee had the best regular-season records in their leagues, and both Class A affiliates had winning marks, with legitimate talent driving all those victories. One pro scout who covered the Cubs opined that they had more future big leaguers than any other organization.

jimcallisBA Jim Callis
#Orioles, but it's close. @jdfisch: Cashner, Archer, McNutt, Carpenter & Simpson or Matusz, Britton, Tillman, Arrieta &Bergy Who you taking?

JANUARY 07, 2011
Perez "sad to go" but excited for opportunity with Cubs

Outfielder Fernando Perez will always remember his time with the Rays fondly, saying it's hard to trump all the relationships he built, and memories he had.

But Perez, 27, was still "very excited" for the new opportunity with the Cubs, who are reportedly acquiring him in the Matt Garza trade.

"I think there's a lot of reasons I really liked the Rays, it's the only place I've ever known," Perez said in a telephone interview Friday night. "I loved it there. And I'm prone to sentimentalism. ..But the opportunity is probably better (in Chicago), so I'm excited. I would have loved for it to have worked out in Tampa Bay, and it was probably going to happen before I hurt my wrist (in spring training 2009) and everyone forgot my name."

Perez, a speedy, switch-hitting outfielder who played a role off the bench in the Rays World Series run in 2008, appeared in line to make the Opening Day roster the following year until he dislocated his wrist diving for a fly ball in a spring training exhibition. Injuries have set him back the last couple seasons, but Perez said he's healthy now, and rejuvinated after the offseason, one of the better ones he's had in his life.

"I'm looking totally ahead," he said. "Who wouldn't want to play for the Cubs?"

Perez said the trade hasn't really sunk in yet - it stll hasn't officially been announced. But he appreciated getting a call from a Rays representative Friday morning letting him know what might happen. And he was really happy to hear from Cubs GM Jim Hendry this afternoon. Perez said Hendry told him there were people within the organization that had wanted him for a while and were excited for him to have him.

And Perez will have some familiar faces this spring training, with ex-Rays Garza and 1B Carlos Pena being there.

"I'm really, really excited," Perez said. "I'm sad to go. .. I know this is a business, and that's how it works."