Comments on: The Rise Of The Cubs https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/the-rise-of-the-cubs/ Ideas Involving Pittsburgh Sat, 16 Feb 2019 03:06:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.3 By: Manny https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/the-rise-of-the-cubs/#comment-3596 Mon, 05 Oct 2015 04:52:37 +0000 https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/?p=2943#comment-3596 Yes, because K-rate is the only thing that matters to those whom rank prospects. I mean, only 4 of the top 10 RHP prospects as ranked by Mayo have higher K-rates than Underwood does. Underwood has a lower K-rate than Williams does. Let’s forget that most of those top 10 rated RHP prospects reached Advanced A ball at an older age than Underwood, and were not as effective. Underwood looks more like a fringe #2… kind of like that guy Liriano did at the age of 20. I’m not as sold on Williams as Will might be up there, but he does look like he could possibly crack the top 100 this winter, considering he dominated all the way through AA in his first full pro season. If he pitches even considerably close to how well he did this year in AAA next year… he will definitely enter 2017 as a top 100 guy, and possibly a top 10 RHP prospect.

As for McKinney, since when has major power or speed been absolutely required to be a top-rated prospect with impact potential? Sure, it helps… but keep in mind that guys like Carlos Correa have been ranked amongst the prospect elite… while putting up very similar numbers to McKinney at the same ages and levels. Let’s also not forget that he’s already a top 80 rated prospect and has overtaken Almora in terms of the future “depth chart” for the Cubs’ OF. The kid can hit, get on base at a very high clip, and doesn’t strike out a lot. As a matter of fact, at the age of 20 this year McKinney showed as much promise as Starling Marte did at the age of 22 between Adv A and AA, and with a very similar skill set. How has that worked out for the Pirates so far?

As for Baez and his K-rate… you may want to recheck that. Since returning from injury in July, he’s had half as high of a K-rate as Kris Bryant whom you openly rave about above. He’s actually dropped his K-rate down to about 22%. Still very high, but not the freakishly alarming near 50% rate he had last year. And… he’s still just 22 and making adjustments.

Impact guys such as Baez and Edwards (pen most likely) will be on the team next year. You could even see Bryant or Castro move to CF to make room for Baez. Other impact guys such as McKinney, Contreras, and possibly Ian Happ could be up for 2017. Not to mention guys like Williams, Pierce Johnson, and Underwood. 2018 could see guys like Jen-Ho Tseng, Torres, Mike Zagunis, Jiminez come up with impact potential. Not to mention some severely overlooked SP prospects like Dylan Cease, Justin Steele, Jake Stinnett, and Oscar De La Cruz who would all be top 10 prospects in the vast majority of farm systems… including the Pirates’.

All of this said, we are talking about the Cubs… and the Cubs have had as much horrible luck on their side as they’ve had incompetent ownership and front office personnel in the past. Half of these guys will probably be lucky to simply have full faculties of their bodies by the time their days with the Cubs’ organization are done, nonetheless turn out to be adequate ball players.

]]> By: Kevin Creagh https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/the-rise-of-the-cubs/#comment-3580 Sun, 04 Oct 2015 22:05:50 +0000 https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/?p=2943#comment-3580 I’m not saying they don’t have a good farm, just that the high impact prospects are all up in CHI.
Contreras is interesting, so he’s worth monitoring, but his history is non-descript before this year.
McKinney has always struck me as a fourth OF — he doesn’t hit for a lot of power and has few stolen bases in career.
Torres is impact but he’s a long ways away.
Neither Williams or Underwood will be close to the 100 — neither has a good strikeout rate; both seems like low end #3/high end #4’s.

]]> By: Will https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/the-rise-of-the-cubs/#comment-3577 Sun, 04 Oct 2015 18:17:30 +0000 https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/?p=2943#comment-3577 You have failed to list several up and coming Cubs:

C – Willson Contreras – Will be a top 10 prospect in all of baseball by the time the reports come out at the end of the year/beginning of next year.

OF – Billy McKinney – Strong hitting prospect and likely top 50 prospect that was considered a throw-in for the Samardzija trade with A’s that netted Russell.

SS – Gleyber Torres – Really underselling what he did this year. He will likely be a top 50 prospect in baseball.

P – Ryan Williams – He will also be a top 100 prospect that looks like a future #3.

P – Duane Underwood – He will be right around the top 100 as well.

Honorable Mentions:
2b/OF Ian Happ, OF Donnie Deweese, P Pierce Johnson, P Carl Edwards Jr.

Even with all of the promotions, the Cubs still have a top 5 – 10 farm system. Also, don’t count them out of the international market. There are some great looking Cubans out there ready to be signed in the offseason.

]]> By: Kevin Creagh https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/the-rise-of-the-cubs/#comment-3421 Mon, 28 Sep 2015 17:18:36 +0000 https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/?p=2943#comment-3421 I thought about him, but his K rate may preclude him from reaching his true potential. I know I said Castro could be on the trading block, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Baez was packaged up this offseason.

]]> By: Pat https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/the-rise-of-the-cubs/#comment-3420 Mon, 28 Sep 2015 14:49:45 +0000 https://thepointofpittsburgh.com/?p=2943#comment-3420 I think you can add Javier Baez into the mix. While he’s not as sure a thing as the big three you mention, he has ridiculous power for someone who can stick at middle infield (or a corner), and gives them the flexibility to move people around the infield like Kang does for the Bucs. Yikes!

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