Cubs' Prospects FUTUREBONER thread

[CBStew]

Jackson and Vitters are overmatched in Chicago, at least for now.

Baez, Soler and Almora are raking the ever loving shit out of A ball pitching.

Matt Szczur got moved up to AA, where he's still not showing good numbers, but they've been improving.

Dillon Maples is getting started in Arizona, and he's looking overpowering in a small sample size.

For those who actually get to see some of these guys in action, have at it.

Nice

There was a time Maples was rated a top prospect.

What a fucking dog show the minors used to be.

The best part of that top-10 list is reading about the new front office.

PROJECTED 2015 LINEUP
Catcher: Geovany Soto
First Base: Dan Vogelbach
Second Base: Zeke DeVoss
Third Base: Javier Baez
Shortstop: Starlin Castro
Left Field: Josh Vitters
Center Field: Matt Szczur
Right Field: Brett Jackson
No. 1 Starter: Matt Garza
No. 2 Starter: Andrew Cashner
No. 3 Starter: Trey McNutt
No. 4 Starter: Dillon Maples
No. 5 Starter: Dae-Eun Rhee
Closer: Carlos Marmol

Nailed it.

I wish there were an alternate universe where we could just see how many games that team would have won this year. Like, 40? Maybe?

I consider myself to be a pretty well-informed Cubs fan and I have no fucking clue who Zeke DeVoss is/was.

Same, I had heard of Dae-Eun Rhee and Trey McNutt, but knew nothing else about them and since this was the Hendry farm system I assumed they were 5'8" middle infielders.

I got all the rest of them, but who was that guy "Starlin Castro"?

[PenFoe]

Jackson and Vitters are overmatched in Chicago, at least for now.

Baez, Soler and Almora are raking the ever loving shit out of A ball pitching.

Matt Szczur got moved up to AA, where he's still not showing good numbers, but they've been improving.

Dillon Maples is getting started in Arizona, and he's looking overpowering in a small sample size.

For those who actually get to see some of these guys in action, have at it.

Nice

There was a time Maples was rated a top prospect.

What a fucking dog show the minors used to be.

The best part of that top-10 list is reading about the new front office.

PROJECTED 2015 LINEUP
Catcher: Geovany Soto
First Base: Dan Vogelbach
Second Base: Zeke DeVoss
Third Base: Javier Baez
Shortstop: Starlin Castro
Left Field: Josh Vitters
Center Field: Matt Szczur
Right Field: Brett Jackson
No. 1 Starter: Matt Garza
No. 2 Starter: Andrew Cashner
No. 3 Starter: Trey McNutt
No. 4 Starter: Dillon Maples
No. 5 Starter: Dae-Eun Rhee
Closer: Carlos Marmol

Nailed it.

I wish there were an alternate universe where we could just see how many games that team would have won this year. Like, 40? Maybe?

I consider myself to be a pretty well-informed Cubs fan and I have no fucking clue who Zeke DeVoss is/was.

Same, I had heard of Dae-Eun Rhee and Trey McNutt, but knew nothing else about them and since this was the Hendry farm system I assumed they were 5'8" middle infielders.

Thirded.

I don't even want to look him to try and refresh my memory.

I've quite literally never heard of him.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

[SKO]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

[Oleg]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

I know we've touched on number 2 before about other prospects.  At this point, Happ has fewer than 300 professional plate appearances at A-ball.  I know he's a college bat who should be pretty advanced but if he makes it to the majors at all, it's a win.  If he becomes a 2-win player like Lowrie, that's a nice player to have, albeit league average.  Certainly the hope is that he's better than that but at this point, if we can project a Lowrie career, that's not too bad.  Hopefully, the comps get better as he advances and hits the shit out of AA next year.

[PenFoe]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Great, another prospect you hope turns into an oft-injured underachiever.

[Quality Start Machine]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

[PenFoe]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

He's both, for now. 

[SKO]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

He's both, for now. 

Yup, played both in college, played CF mostly in the minors this year, but took a lot of reps at 2B in instructional league this fall and lot of scouts seem to think that's his future.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

He's both, for now. 

Yup, played both in college, played CF mostly in the minors this year, but took a lot of reps at 2B in instructional league this fall and lot of scouts seem to think that's his future.

Yeah it seems like they're positioning him for 2B depth in the event that Baez and/or Castro don't work out/get dealt.

[Oleg]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

He's both, for now. 

Yup, played both in college, played CF mostly in the minors this year, but took a lot of reps at 2B in instructional league this fall and lot of scouts seem to think that's his future.

He's multi-versatile.

[Quality Start Machine]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

He's both, for now. 

Yup, played both in college, played CF mostly in the minors this year, but took a lot of reps at 2B in instructional league this fall and lot of scouts seem to think that's his future.

Yeah it seems like they're positioning him for 2B depth in the event that Baez and/or Castro don't work out/get dealt.

With the fuckloads of shortstops they have in the system and the paucity of CFs, I'm surprised they aren't leveraging his actual competence at that position.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Couple things from this...

1) Did other people here know Ian Happ's dad just died 3 weeks ago?  That sucks.
2) I'm not exactly thrilled with Jed's "Jed Lowrie with more power" comp for Happ.  Doesn't Jed Lowrie suck?  Is Jed Hoyer just unconsciously more admirable of other people named Jed?  I have questions.

At his best Jed Lowrie has been a 2-3.5 fWAR player for a couple of seasons (his biggest issue has been staying healthy, he's usually been pretty solid when he manages to play a full season). So Lowrie with more power would presumably be like a 3-4 win guy. Yeah I'd take that from 2B from a switch-hitter with good on base skills.

Ian Happ is an outfielder.

He's both, for now.  

Yup, played both in college, played CF mostly in the minors this year, but took a lot of reps at 2B in instructional league this fall and lot of scouts seem to think that's his future.

Yeah it seems like they're positioning him for 2B depth in the event that Baez and/or Castro don't work out/get dealt.

With the fuckloads of shortstops they have in the system and the paucity of CFs, I'm surprised they aren't leveraging his actual competence at that position.

Depends on where you fall with regards to shortstops vis-a-vis centerfielders.  I think most would agree they're the two most significant positions, but I happen to think shortstop is more critical than centerfielder and it is more likely that you'll find a shortstop who can play center field than the other way around.  Robin Yount won an MVP in Centerfield 6 years after winning one at SS--I have a hard time picturing it happening in reverse.  

Perhaps more is riding on Almora than we would be comfortable with.  By all accounts, the guy is a smooth outfielder, and he only needs to improve his offensive production by about 10% in order for him to be acceptable with all of the other talent that would presumably be around him.  If not him, I have faith they can produce another.  I'll take a less-than-ideal centerfielder than a less-than-ideal shortstop (and thankfully, we already have close-to-ideal shortstop).

[Oleg]

40-man roster deadline tonight.

Pierce Johnson, Wilson Contreras, Dan Vogelbach, and some other interesting names.

Yep...I'm fucking bored at work today.

[Quality Start Machine]

40-man roster deadline tonight.

Pierce Johnson, Wilson Contreras, Dan Vogelbach, and some other interesting names.

Yep...I'm fucking bored at work today.

Are any of those close enough to MLB ready to be Rule 5 risks?