| |
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
|
|
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jun 11, 2007
|
|
Will, I'm sorry that I could only give you a 5 Star rating. If I could have I would have given you 10.
Those fans that want to remake the Cubs after every little slip up just slay me with their negativity. Consistency is what wins championships and juggling the lineup, starting rotation or bullpen after every loss or slump is counterproductive.
Thanks again for an excellent and informative post.
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 20, 2008
|
|
But many farmhands have at least reached the major league level. In just the last three seasons, there has been about 30 MLB players from the Cubs system.
Current Cubs pitchers: Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol, Carlos Zambrano, Rich Hill, Sean Marshall, Michael Wuertz, and Sean Gallagher.
Current Cub minor league pitchers have earned trips up to Chicago: Billy Petrick, Carmen Pignatiello, and Angel Guzman.
While former Cub farmhands have moved onto other organizations but have still seen time on a major league roster: Juan Mateo, Ryan O'Malley, John Koronka, Jon Leicester, Sergio Mitre, Todd Wellemeyer, Will Ohman, Jae Kuk Ryu, Clay Rapada, Rocky Cherry, and Ricky Nolasco.
Due to the size of MLB active rosters, there are few less opportunities for position players, but the Cubs systems have still promoted Corey Patterson, Ronny Cedeno, Geovany Soto, Felix Pie, Augie Ojeda, Jason Dubois, Buck Coats, Eric Patterson, Sam Fuld, and Jake Fox.
Not every player can become a superstar. With a quick, superficial glance Chicago's system appears to be, at least, turning out some servicable major league talent.
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Oct 24, 2006
|
|
There is one extremely important and obvious item that people overlook when scouting position players, and it is something that will never be answered until changes are made at the high school and college levels. That crucial item is the use of metal bats. It is a scientific fact that metal bats have a larger sweet spot than wooden bats. It has also been proven that balls bounce off metal bats with more velocity than wooden bats. It has taken too many scouts too many years to figure out that bat speed and hitting mechanics are a much better translation tool for success in professional baseball than using flawed statistics.
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Mar 14, 2008
|
|
Wow- some of the best posts I have ever seen in a thread have found a home here. Nice work everyone!
If my memory serves me correctly (and you might want to double check as I am getting old enough to start forgetting important things), we had a pretty good run there 2-4 years back when our farm team typically ranked in the top 7-8 teams in baseball. However, the last time I looked we have dipped below that mark. As far as the outlook goes, I am much more satisfied with our pitching prospects than I am with our position players.
I'm optimistic about Geovany Soto eventually becoming our next potential homegrown All Star position player in the next 3-4 years, but prior to that we had quite a disappointing drought. I believe it was Joe Girardi (now coaching the Yankees, of course) that had the dubious distinction of being our last homegrown Cubs farm product to be named to an All-Star team when he did so in 2000. He came up with the Cubs in 1989, then departed to Colorado, and then on to the Yankees before returning home to win the award in 2000. How disappointing is this Cubs fans?
Because of the recent success we've had at the plate with our newly-found appreciation of OBP, I'm hoping we revamp the farm to include some kids that play phenomenal defense that can make hard contact while identifying between balls and strikes. This is a tough task, but while the other teams are busy looking for the next pair of 5-tool Upton brothers, I hope we spend some time looking for guys that could be the next Kevin Youkilis. He's hard nosed, plate smart, and I believe he was error free in 2007. I guarantee you the guy was drafted in the top 5 or 6 rounds either... I tip my hat to the scout that found him!
Let me double check about Youkilis before I risk putting my foot in my mouth... yep, I was correct.
Kevin Youkilis batting, fielding and pitching major league baseball lifetime ... Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 8th round of the 2001 amateur draft.
I am undoubtedly over-simplifying the scouting process, but my point is that we'd better be able to find some late round gems if we want to stock the stable with quality horses. Looking for five tool players is not the way to build a farm team, and few of them are likely to fall in our lap as we likely won't be drafting in the first 10 picks or so for the next few years. Tell Hendry to clean house down there unless these kids have a solid grasp of the strike zone and an above average glove. Let the rest of the teams out there waste years trying to teach a kids that occasionally hits 450ft. homers the difference between a ball and a strike! Sign the kid that hits them 400 ft, fields the ball, and has a decent BB/K ratio please!
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:May 17, 2007
|
The interesting sidebar to the so-called 5-tool player is that he is often not equipped with the one ingredient that makes for a good ballplayer ... attitude. It's one thing to be the best player in the high school conference, still another to be coachable at the minor league level.
The bus rides are no fun.
I knew a kid who hit around .540 in high school, signed a pro deal, got as high as AA ball and basically just gave up on it because the path was too long and arduous. There were a half-dozen shortstops in his league who had the same amount of talent and he was in an organization that didn't need a shortstop for another 5 years.
Prospects are usually considered trade fodder now when a contender needs to beef up somewhere.
Every so often, teams go to Japan and land a big fish. That won't happen often.
Latin kids come cheap.
China may be the next hotbed for pro talent.
The point about the aluminum bats is a very useful bit of information.
It also affects pitching.
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Feb 13, 2007
|
|
The 5 tool player is rare. What you find mostly is a guy who has hit amatuer pitching, runs well, and you hope you can find a position he can handle adequately. Or, the guy is outstanding defensively, but maybe slight of build and you hope with maturity he can develop a passable MLB swing.
Scouting for pitching has become dominated by the radar gun. If a guy can throw 90+, he has a great chance of being drafted. A crafty junk baller, who may think guys out more than blow the ball past him, has a tough way to go to impress a scout. Few organizations are going to consider that type of pitcher worth their development resources.
What would be interesting to know is what is the success percentage for each organization based on a guy reaching the majors and sticking. From that, you can calaculate a league average. Then and only then can you truly say an organization is below, at, or above what the leagues are doing. I understand the view of the Cubs lack of success. But, I suspect it is not as horrible as we perceive. A comprehensive study, and I am sure their has been some, would provide the facts.
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:May 17, 2007
|
I don't have much new ground to plow on this topic but we do need to look at all the guys who have come through the Cubs organization since ... oh, let's put it at the Tribune era, which is the only fair way to do it.
You have to account for players who came up, got traded, injured or just didn't pan out.
The trades are the most interesting. Who's in the bigs with somebody else?
Would he be there if the Cubs still had him?
Why did they trade him in the first place?
Who'd they get in return?
Where's that guy today?
All this and still more is evaluating the performance/production of each guy and his overall value to the team and its success or failure. Not measurable mostly.
The Reds and Krivsky are consistently getting beat up over the Kearns/Lopez trade with the Nationals. Was it a meathead deal? Who cares? A throw-in minor league pitcher named Daryl Thompson comes with the package. Why this kid? Who cares? D.C. has no farm system. Now they have Kearns. We're happy for them.
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Cubs minor leagues - we're in trouble
|
Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jun 11, 2007
| |
