Cubs' Prospects FUTUREBONER thread

[Slaky]

I haven't written off Javy. I don't know what we can reasonably expect from him, but his line now at Iowa is very encouraging, all I know is I'll legitimately be furious if the Cubs were to write him off without ever giving him a chance to rebound with them at the major league level. His potential is such that you don't give up on a dude like that after one abysmal stint. Hell Rizzo's first MLB stint with the Padres was nearly as awful as what Javy did last year.

Mendy struggling at Iowa is the sadness. He'd be a super useful utility guy if he could ever get his shit straightened out.

I don't think they'd "give up" on either but if there's a chance to add a 1 or 2 starter and the cost is one of those guys is it really "giving up"? Maybe I'm talkin semantics here but giving up on a guy would be DFA or trading him for one player who is not a star.

But if you're saying you hope Baez gets one more long look as a Cub I agree with you.

[SKO]

I haven't written off Javy. I don't know what we can reasonably expect from him, but his line now at Iowa is very encouraging, all I know is I'll legitimately be furious if the Cubs were to write him off without ever giving him a chance to rebound with them at the major league level. His potential is such that you don't give up on a dude like that after one abysmal stint. Hell Rizzo's first MLB stint with the Padres was nearly as awful as what Javy did last year.

Mendy struggling at Iowa is the sadness. He'd be a super useful utility guy if he could ever get his shit straightened out.

I don't think they'd "give up" on either but if there's a chance to add a 1 or 2 starter and the cost is one of those guys is it really "giving up"? Maybe I'm talkin semantics here but giving up on a guy would be DFA or trading him for one player who is not a star.

But if you're saying you hope Baez gets one more long look as a Cub I agree with you.

If the only way they can get a Cole Hamels is to give up Baez, I'd probably do it. But if, say, the Phillies would take any one Castro/Baez/Russell, I'd want to see if Baez can show something in a second go round before I pulled that trigger. Because loathe as I am to trade Castro if Javy has figured it out at all he'd be a more valuable player than Castro. Javy can hit .225 and probably smash 25-30 homers.

TL;DR: please don't trade Javy only to have him hit 40 homers in Philly. At least give him one more shot of hitting 40 homers here.

[PenFoe]

Pen said something in the SBox*--that he expected next to nothing from Alcantara and Baez now--and I had to check myself because I feel like I've written off Alcantara almost completely (this year) while giving Baez the benefit of the doubt as he went through his life traumas recently. He's now back in Iowa, hitting about .300 with a 25% K rate. And as he was removed yesterday from his game with Iowa and Twitter went nuts, I thought "Oh no, it's too soon."

Thankfully, he wasn't called up. I think we have to have a bigger sample of Baez doing more of what he's done so far...the average doesn't have to be Schwarber-esque (it'd be nice), but I'd like to see continued patience and a little more advanced approach before he is called up. Maddon likes him a lot, so I think we'll definitely see him again even if his slashes fall a tad.

I still have hope.

*I'm not calling you out, Pen. It did make me think about Baez as he has sort of been forgotten since he dealt with that personal loss and it delayed any adjustments he was supposed to work on after his demotion.

I hope he kicks the shit out of Iowa. I hope they call him up and give him a position he can play long-term (3B/LF, whatever.) 

I'm just not that hopeful, even taking into consideration his current performance in Iowa.

But I sure as shit hope it happens.  If Schwarber can somehow stick at catcher, and they can find some magic between Baez/Bryant to play LF/3B then there are basically no holes left to fill.   

Or Baez figures it out, they trade Castro and have Baez/Russell at second and short.  Clearly he has higher upside than Castro.  It would all be magical unicorns and rainbows.

I'm just not expecting it. 

[SKO]

Pen said something in the SBox*--that he expected next to nothing from Alcantara and Baez now--and I had to check myself because I feel like I've written off Alcantara almost completely (this year) while giving Baez the benefit of the doubt as he went through his life traumas recently. He's now back in Iowa, hitting about .300 with a 25% K rate. And as he was removed yesterday from his game with Iowa and Twitter went nuts, I thought "Oh no, it's too soon."

Thankfully, he wasn't called up. I think we have to have a bigger sample of Baez doing more of what he's done so far...the average doesn't have to be Schwarber-esque (it'd be nice), but I'd like to see continued patience and a little more advanced approach before he is called up. Maddon likes him a lot, so I think we'll definitely see him again even if his slashes fall a tad.

I still have hope.

*I'm not calling you out, Pen. It did make me think about Baez as he has sort of been forgotten since he dealt with that personal loss and it delayed any adjustments he was supposed to work on after his demotion.

I hope he kicks the shit out of Iowa. I hope they call him up and give him a position he can play long-term (3B/LF, whatever.) 

I'm just not that hopeful, even taking into consideration his current performance in Iowa.

But I sure as shit hope it happens.  If Schwarber can somehow stick at catcher, and they can find some magic between Baez/Bryant to play LF/3B then there are basically no holes left to fill.   

Or Baez figures it out, they trade Castro and have Baez/Russell at second and short.  Clearly he has higher upside than Castro.  It would all be magical unicorns and rainbows.

I'm just not expecting it. 

Yeah, that's all fair. I have no idea what I expect from him either, I just know I want him to get one more shot before they move on in any way.

[R-V]

Anyone been following this Albert Almora kid playing center field down at Tennessee? Great glove, great makeup according to all the reports, his walk percentage has jumped from an awful 2.6% last year to 6.7% this year, and his strikeout rate is less than 10%.

[PenFoe]

Anyone been following this Albert Almora kid playing center field down at Tennessee? Great glove, great makeup according to all the reports, his walk percentage has jumped from an awful 2.6% last year to 6.7% this year, and his strikeout rate is less than 10%.

Metasnark aside, he's actually playing RF right now so Hannemann can continue his march to mediocrity in CF. 

[Quality Start Machine]

Baez and Mendy both have corrections to make, and there's really no reason to not expect them to make those corrections. The difference between last year and this year is that there aren't holes in the lineup for them to slot into. That's good for all concerned. Both guys can take as much time as is required to figure things out and help the Cubs in the future, either as players or as components in a trade that brings a (presumably) valuable asset.

In fact, other than LF and CF (Until he signs a new deal, Fowler can't be viewed as anything other than transient), there are no open non-pitching roles. Which means nobody comes in until they are 100% ready. So if that means Baez spends the summer in Iowa getting his strikeouts down and demolishing the Pacific Coast League until September 1, it's fine with me.

[Eli]

Anyone been following this Albert Almora kid playing center field down at Tennessee? Great glove, great makeup according to all the reports, his walk percentage has jumped from an awful 2.6% last year to 6.7% this year, and his strikeout rate is less than 10%.

Anyone ever hear of that historical figure, Adolf Hitler? Gifted speaker, decorated WWI veteran, mastermind behind the Autobahn and Volkswagen.

[CT III]

Anyone been following this Albert Almora kid playing center field down at Tennessee? Great glove, great makeup according to all the reports, his walk percentage has jumped from an awful 2.6% last year to 6.7% this year, and his strikeout rate is less than 10%.

Anyone ever hear of that historical figure, Adolf Hitler? Gifted speaker, decorated WWI veteran, mastermind behind the Autobahn and Volkswagen.

I heard that guy was an atheist.

[Powdered Toast Man]

NULLDOZER WATCH: 5 IP, 12 hits, 1 BB, and 5 R. His ERA jumped from 0.74 to 1.73...yesterday was a disaster for Tennessee.

[SKO]

I know actual, living, breathing, normally smart human beings who think the Cubs shouldn't trade an "elite hitting prospect" like Dan Vogelbach (unless it's like 1:1 for Hamels or Cueto) because the DH "might" be coming to the NL soon. I wanted to pound my head against my desk. Is this what it feels like to be Eli?

[PenFoe]

Eloy's coming.

The Eloy Jimenez HR gives him the team lead with two, and he is now hitting 317/348/583 in 19 Cactus League EXST games (66 PA). In addition to the two home runs, Eloy also has four doubles and is tied for the team lead in triples with three (tied with Kevin Encarnacion), and he leads the team in RBI (15 ) and in runs scored (11). He has three walks and ten strikeouts in the 66 PA, and he has also stolen three bases (no CS).    

[Eli]

Eloy's coming.

The Eloy Jimenez HR gives him the team lead with two, and he is now hitting 317/348/583 in 19 Cactus League EXST games (66 PA). In addition to the two home runs, Eloy also has four doubles and is tied for the team lead in triples with three (tied with Kevin Encarnacion), and he leads the team in RBI (15 ) and in runs scored (11). He has three walks and ten strikeouts in the 66 PA, and he has also stolen three bases (no CS).    

In like 8 years.

[Yeti]

Gleyber got hurt running out a grounder. Thanks SKO and Eli.

[Eli]

Gleyber got hurt running out a grounder. Thanks SKO and Eli.

If they'd traded him this morning like I suggested, everything would be fine.