Bryant, Schwarber Promoted

DUSTY B: At the time they were drafted, Baseball America had Drew Rundle ranked in their top 125, Chris Huseby had been one of the top-rated HS juniors in 2005 before suffering a torn elbow UCL and undergoing TJS, and Cliff Andersen was a two-sport player (baseball and football). All three players were considered tough signs with all three having signed NLIs with college baseball power-houses, and so all three of them wanted more money than their projected draft position would warrant. 

Huseby was going to Auburn, Rundle to the U. of Arizona, and Andersen was headed for Oklahoma State to play baseball and football (Andersen's father played college football at BYU and his younger brother Boo was a star linebacker at the U. of Utah). The Cubs gave Huseby "1st round money" to forgo his scholarship at Auburn.

Huseby was ranked by Baseball America as a Cubs Top 10 Prospect after his first season, he led the organizatiion in ERA in 2008, and he was a MWL All-Star closer in 2009, but he came down with a real bad case of "Steve Blass Disease" (could not throw strikes) and was eventually moved to the OF. The Red Sox signed Huseby after the Cubs released him and moved him back to pitcher, but it didn't work out.  

Rundle was a very good defensive outfielder (he was a WR in HS so he was great at tracking fly balls) with a really good batting eye (took a lot of walks), but he was a poor hitter (passive with soft contact) and never developed any power and so he was eventually moved from OF to LHP. He signed with the Phillies after the Cubs released him, but it didn't work out there, either. (Rundle was a lot like Garrett Schlecht, the Cubs 9th round pick in 2011 out of an Illinois HS who was converted from OF to LHP this season by the Rockies after the Cubs released him).  

Andersen was an outstanding defensive CF flyhawk (he was football safety) but he had a below average arm and he had difficulty making contact. He was a VERY raw hitter. Too many swings & misses. I did see him hit a 450-foot HR over the Batter's Eye at Fitch Park in an EXST game, however, and so the talent was there, it just never developed.   

Again, its the process versus results. The process was actually solid, but the results unfortunately were not. And that's the danger when you draft & sign raw HS kids with "upside." You are depending heavily on the Player Development people to work their magic, except the Cubs Player Development Dept. under the previous regime left a lot to be desired. 

Needless to say, there was a bit of a disconnect between scouting and player development under the previous regime.   

COACH: Why did they draft this guy!?
SCOUT: What have they done to my boy!?

Now Jason McLeod is in charge of both scouting & player development, so hopefully the Cubs will do a better job of drafting & developing high-ceiling HS kids. 

BTW, I wouldn't be surprised to see McLeod get an MLB GM job somewhere in the next couple of years. He is a bright bulb.

JOHANN: I wasn't being "disingenuous." You're full of shit. You don't even know what you're talking about.

Submitted by johann
on Sat, 06/21/2014 - 7:14am Permalink

Fine, except I wasn't talking about bringing the Scouting Department into the 21st century by having the scouts file scouting reports electronically instead of by mail or using video or giving the scouts Smart Phones. I specifically was talking about the scouts themselves, who despite what yuo might think are still the backbone of any "21st Century" scouting department. 

While the Cubs completely reorganized their Professional Scouting staff (the scouts who scout the Minor Leagues, Indy Leagues, and self-scout the Cubs organization), the 17 Area Scouts (Stan Zielinski, Billy Swoope, Steve McFarland, Keith Lockhart, et al -- the scouts who scout HS and college players for the Rule 4 Draft) have mostly remained exactly the same as prior to the arrival of Theo/Hoyer/McLeod, and two or three of them were even promoted, including current Cubs Scouting Supervisor Jim "Craw Dad" Crawford, the Arkansas Area Scout who recommended Hayden Simpson to Tim Wilken in 2010... the very same Hayden Simpson considered to be one of the worst Cubs 1st roumd picks in draft history. 

So obviously at least as far as the players selected in the Rule 4 Draft are concerned, the scouting process outweighs results. At least it apparently does to Theo/Hoer/McLeod.

Oh, and BTW, you might want to add Josh Harrison to your lame-ass list of recent Cubs draft picks who have become useful major league players. He was pretty fucking useful last night to the Pirates at Wrigley Field, and in fact he has been a valuable "contributor" to the Pirates all year.  

And once again (since you apparently skipped over this part); 

2011: Cubs signed 20 of their first 22 picks
2010: Cubs signed 15 of their first 16 picks
2009: Cubs signed 14 of their first 15 picks (including first 12)
2008: Cubs signed 26 of their first 27 picks (including first 10)
2007: Cubs signed 23 of their first 24 picks (including first 18)
2006: Cubs signed 19 of their first 21 picks (including first 12) 

So signing a high percentage of their draft picks (including most of the high ones) is nothing new for the Cubs. They have been doing that for years. It didn't just start in 2012 (despite what you implied).