Recent comments

jacos 13 years 2 months ago (view)

"wonder where silva's weight is currently". Mostly around his gut and ass. /don't forget to tip your waiters.

crunch 13 years 2 months ago (view)

only thing i gleen from it is that aram doesn't like golf. =p it's the time of year for those that report early to get mysterious 1-day back soreness. soriano's technically checked in to mesa, but it seems that was for hellos and high-5s. it'd be nice to get a report on if aram is in shape or not, though. speaking of...wonder where silva's weight is currently.

jacos 13 years 2 months ago (view)

His agent should be punching him in back of the head or maybe plans on not getting any new paper after this season.

Jace 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Okay, so the only two players that have not yet made an appearance at Spring Training are Castro, who played winter ball, and also had a two-week off-season fielding session, and A-Ram, who, as far as I can tell, did JACK SQUAT! GREAT START, DILLHOLE!

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Somewhere Chad is lovelingly stroking his Hollywood Jim poster.

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

You're welcome. My understanding is that they've got a few guys, namely Jim Callis, Will Lingo and John Manuel who do a little of their own scouting, but primarily have access to scouts and other system types to get their info. I assume that they don't pay for anything, but work sort of a neutral exchange market where a scout can give a bit of info on one kid, maybe from their organization, and in trade get something back. Two of the three ranked Harper as the #1 prospect, the other had Mike Trout, with Harper as 2nd. Jackson ranks #37,#41 and #41 on their top 50 lists. McNutt is #45 on Callis's.

The E-Man 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Great TRN. Echoed. So - is it published, or do you believe due to the massive amount of info they need to compile, that they pay the already-employed scouts (by the various MLB teams) for these projections?

Paul Noce 13 years 2 months ago (view)

ditto the thanks

jacos 13 years 2 months ago (view)

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2011/02/ex-cub-edmonds-tells-cardi…

jacos 13 years 2 months ago (view)

thanks

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

The book came out Tuesday, and if you're in to prospects, probably the best single source going - too expensive though. Talent Ranking - pre Archer and Gorz trades: 8th. "One pro scout opined that the Cubs had more future big leaguers than any other organization." 1. Chris Archer "If Archer continues to progress the way he has last year, he'll arrive in Wrigley Field around midseason (as a Ray). 2. Brett Jackson "He's not a true five-tool player or a pure center fielder, but Jackson does a reasonable impression of both." 3. Trey McNutt "He can neutralize lefhanders by pitching to their back foot with his power breaking ball, which is more of a curveball than a slider." 4. Hak-Ju Lee "He has the bat speed and strength in his hands to hit for some power once his upper body develops..." 5. Josh Vitters "The Cubs noted a greater sence os urgency in Vitters this offseason and think he's poised to break out in Tennessee in 2011." 6. Chris Carpenter "His low 80's breaking ball is a solid slider with bite at times and more slurvy at others." 7. Matt Sczur "He has more upside than any position player in the system..." 8. Hayden Simpson "The Cubs project him as a No 2 or 3 starter with four average or better pitches including a knee buckling curveball..." 9. Rafael Dolis "Dolis's stuff kicked up a notch when current big league pitching Coach Mark Riggins had him go to a full windup in the fall of 2009." 10. Brandon Guyer "Scouts see Guyer as a lesser version of Brett Jackson or a stronger version of Reed Johnson." 11. Alberto Cabrera "He has one of the best fasballs in the system, maintaining a 92-97 mph fastball as a starting pitcher." 12. Darwin Barney "He lead PCL shorstops with a .970 fielding percentage in 2010." 13. D.J. LeMahieu "LeMahieu has size and strength and the Cubs believe he can hit 15 homers a seaons once he learns to recognize pitches he can drive." 14. Scott Maine "Maine projected as a potential sandwhich pick in the 2003 draft but went unselected because he was strongly committed to Miami." 15. Jay Jackson "The Cubs moved him to the bullpen in May to prepare for a possible callup, but when he pitched well and didn't get promoted he went into a funk." 16. Robinson Chirinos "He projects as a possible .275 hitter with 15 homers a year." 17. Wellington Castillo "It's easier to project Castillo developing into a regular than it is with Chirinos." 18. Marcus Mateo "While Chicago has helped him calm down his delivery to some degree, Mateo still throws with a lot of effort at the expesne of his command." 19. Robinson Lopez "Lopez has an advanced change-up for his age, throwing it with sink and deception." 20. Kyle Smit "Tall and wiry, he resembles a young Ryan Madson." 21. Logan Watkins "Chicago had resolved to get him time at shorstop and center field, and when that finally happened in 2010, he looked like a natural at both positions." 22. Ryan Flaherty "Flaherty will try to solve AA pitching in 2011, when he and LeMahieu will shuttle around Tennessee's infield." 23. Reggie Golden "Multiple scouts have compared Golden to a Young Kevin Mitchell for his stocky build and well above-average raw power." 24. Ben Wells "He's athletic and repeats his delivery well,though he's going to hav eto work to make sure his 6'3" 230-pound body doesn't go soft on him. 25. Aaron Kurcz "Kurcz could be the first member of the 2010 draft class to reach Wrigley Field." 26. Brooks Raley "He loves to compete and challenges hitters on the inside corner almost to a fault." 27. Junior Lake "If he doesn't make progress in 2011 it will be tempting to think of his arm on the mound." 28. Jae-Hoon Ha "He caught fire in the final month, when he hit .364/.370/.537, and one club official credited him with having the most competitive at-bats of any Chicago farm hand.: 29. Esmailin Caridad "He relies mainly on his fastball and his command, because his slurvy breaking ball is avrage at best and his changeup is fringy." 30. Dae-Eun Rhee "His formerly plus changeup is just an average pitch at the moment, but his curveball showed improvement late in the season." No mention of the kid from Boston, but two guys from Washington: 18. A.J. Morris "Morris's fastball has explosive, heavy sink and bore, helping him post a 2.16 groundout/airout ratio as a pro." 19. Michael Burgess "His power and arm give him a chance to be an every day right fielder if he can imporve his feel for hitting."

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

They're a rabid bunch of zealots over there.

jacos 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Rip 85 Bear Dave Duerson

Jumbo 13 years 2 months ago (view)

I would love to see what happens to Fangraphs if someone did tell Dave Cameron that

Paul Noce 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Thanks Cubster.

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

By your logic, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams were juicers as well. You do have evidence, but the evidence is circumstantial. He's really good, and other players who were really good used steriods, therefore Pujols uses steriods. Hell, I'd sort of like to believe it as well, I believe it about Bagwell, for instance, but there doesn't seem to be any smoking gun here.

Ryno 13 years 2 months ago (view)

The false dichotomy is saying that you either believe he's 100% clean or

we have to believe that he started taking something right after getting drafted, it immediately made him awesome...

But, I don't really want to start shit about this... because I don't really care. I'm just trying to find my place between 'innocent until proven guilty' and naivete. And I choose to believe he's juiced. Do I have evidence? Nope. To borrow the story of Fat Tony from Nassim Taleb:

Assume a coin is fair, I flip it 99 times and it comes up heads each time. What are the odds of my getting a tails on my next flip? Dr. John: Trivial question. One half, course... Fat Tony: I'd say no more than 1 percent. Why so? Fat Tony: The coin has got to be loaded.

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Or could it be that the Cubs weren't interested in Soriano before the disastrous 2006 season, but became interested after the season... just like it reads without the Navigator editorializing?

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

Absence of facts is not fact. There was steroid testing in the minors in 2000, though.

The Real Neal 13 years 2 months ago (view)

To his plus though, neither can the guys we have there.