8 replies to this topic

[subtle]

A while back, I created a spreadsheet listing the Cubs Top prospects per Sickels, Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, and Mayo (mlb.com) with their 2011 stats and league level. I mostly made it for personal reference, so I don't have to go to Baseball-Reference every time I want to find what somebody did last season, but I thought I'd share since there seem to be a lot of people around here who follow Cubs prospects.

In addition to the "top prospects" lists, I've added players acquired in recent trades and through recent draft picks. I'm looking for suggestions for more players to add going forward. I know I'm missing Trevor Gretzky, but he doesn't have any significant stats yet anyway. There is one tab for position players and one for pitchers. I've highlighted players who were mentioned as sleepers or by Baseball America in their "best tools" list. Like I said, I'm hesitant to add players without either: 1. Significant stats from last season or 2. A mention on a top prospect list

https://docs.google....bHc&pli=1#gid=0

[Luke]

Pretty good start. A few names to add, in no particular order, and off the top of my head:

Luis Liria RHP - Pitched well in SS-A and Low-A, projects as a back of the rotation starter.
Frank del Valle LHP - Scouts who saw him in Peoria loved him, but the stats are mixed. Hard to read his upside.
Nick Struck RHP - Jumped from Daytona to Iowa last season, back of the rotation arm.
Eric Jokisch LHP - Jumped from Peoria to Tennessee, could be a lefty starter for the Cubs down the road.
Brooks Raley LHP - In 2011 BA said he had the best curve in the farm system.

Evan Crawford CF - Surprised some people with his High-A performance last year; worth watching in 2012.
Micah Gibbs C - Might be the best defensive catcher in the system, and he's a switch hitter to boot.
Dustin Geiger 3B - Gets lost among the hype of better-touted 3B guys, but he's not a bad prospect in his own right.
Michael Brenly C - I'm not sold on him, but he crops up time to time in discussions of the Cubs farm system.
Nelson Perez OF - I've got him listed as a sleeper breakout candidate over at CubbiesCrib. Not a high ceiling guy, but he offers high-minors power in a system starved for it.
Arismendy Alcantara SS - Young, toolsy, raw infielder... sound familiar?


Also, Matt Cerda isn't a catcher any more. That experiment lasted until he got hurt. He's a 2B / 3B guy now. If he can handle 2B defensively, his bat will be a nice asset at the position.

Michael Burgess is an outfielder; I don't think he's played at first professionally.

[Brett]

This is an excellent project, and, broadly-speaking, something I've thought about doing for a while now. It would be very handy to have a reference point with more than just stats for each of the Cubs' top prospects (top 50 or so?). This is great, and is along that road.

[TWC]

Pretty good start. A few names to add, in no particular order, and off the top of my head:

Luis Liria RHP - Pitched well in SS-A and Low-A, projects as a back of the rotation starter.
Frank del Valle LHP - Scouts who saw him in Peoria loved him, but the stats are mixed. Hard to read his upside.
Nick Struck RHP - Jumped from Daytona to Iowa last season, back of the rotation arm.
Eric Jokisch LHP - Jumped from Peoria to Tennessee, could be a lefty starter for the Cubs down the road.
Brooks Raley LHP - In 2011 BA said he had the best curve in the farm system.

Evan Crawford CF - Surprised some people with his High-A performance last year; worth watching in 2012.
Micah Gibbs C - Might be the best defensive catcher in the system, and he's a switch hitter to boot.
Dustin Geiger 3B - Gets lost among the hype of better-touted 3B guys, but he's not a bad prospect in his own right.
Michael Brenly C - I'm not sold on him, but he crops up time to time in discussions of the Cubs farm system.
Nelson Perez OF - I've got him listed as a sleeper breakout candidate over at CubbiesCrib. Not a high ceiling guy, but he offers high-minors power in a system starved for it.
Arismendy Alcantara SS - Young, toolsy, raw infielder... sound familiar?


Also, Matt Cerda isn't a catcher any more. That experiment lasted until he got hurt. He's a 2B / 3B guy now. If he can handle 2B defensively, his bat will be a nice asset at the position.

Michael Burgess is an outfielder; I don't think he's played at first professionally.

I love that this is the list "off the top of [your] head". Love it. I mean it.

[Brett]

Pretty good start. A few names to add, in no particular order, and off the top of my head:

Luis Liria RHP - Pitched well in SS-A and Low-A, projects as a back of the rotation starter.
Frank del Valle LHP - Scouts who saw him in Peoria loved him, but the stats are mixed. Hard to read his upside.
Nick Struck RHP - Jumped from Daytona to Iowa last season, back of the rotation arm.
Eric Jokisch LHP - Jumped from Peoria to Tennessee, could be a lefty starter for the Cubs down the road.
Brooks Raley LHP - In 2011 BA said he had the best curve in the farm system.

Evan Crawford CF - Surprised some people with his High-A performance last year; worth watching in 2012.
Micah Gibbs C - Might be the best defensive catcher in the system, and he's a switch hitter to boot.
Dustin Geiger 3B - Gets lost among the hype of better-touted 3B guys, but he's not a bad prospect in his own right.
Michael Brenly C - I'm not sold on him, but he crops up time to time in discussions of the Cubs farm system.
Nelson Perez OF - I've got him listed as a sleeper breakout candidate over at CubbiesCrib. Not a high ceiling guy, but he offers high-minors power in a system starved for it.
Arismendy Alcantara SS - Young, toolsy, raw infielder... sound familiar?


Also, Matt Cerda isn't a catcher any more. That experiment lasted until he got hurt. He's a 2B / 3B guy now. If he can handle 2B defensively, his bat will be a nice asset at the position.

Michael Burgess is an outfielder; I don't think he's played at first professionally.

I love that this is the list "off the top of [your] head". Love it. I mean it.

Luke knows him some Cubs prospects...

[Cubsin]

I'd add Tayler Scott, 5th round pick in 2011, Marck Malave, signed at 16 for $1 million, Carlos Penalver, who received a larger bonus than Candelario in 2010, Taiwan Easterling, another two-sport star like Szczur and Garrett Schlecht, an area high school legend.

[subtle]

This is an excellent project, and, broadly-speaking, something I've thought about doing for a while now. It would be very handy to have a reference point with more than just stats for each of the Cubs' top prospects (top 50 or so?). This is great, and is along that road.

Since I already have a good list of players, I thought about creating another one or combinging this one, with the players' tools ratings from different sites. Putting in the league level was more for the prospective of understanding where they're playing so you know the context around their stats.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. There isn't a lot to follow at the major league level these days so I'm looking forward to following more prospects and minor leaguers this year.

[BlueHorizons]

Nice (and very comprehensive) list! Great job!

[FFP]

On the subject of Cubs spreadsheets, as a new Cubs fan I also found this useful. It is from Justin Bopp ( I found it though Tim Sheridan's blog? here? can't remember.).

It is not as detailed as subtle's nor as informed as Luke's, but for my circumstances I found it very readable.

My knowledge of "player development" is oddly improving with distance. Here at home "knowledge of the minors" is more geography to me than biography: How far is it to Pawtucket Rhode Island for a PawSox game? Where should I go to dinner when I go to a Portland (Maine) Seadogs game? How is traffic on 495N to Lowell for a Spinners game?

With long distance fandom I have to look at the personel. You guys are making that easier. This is why I read here. Thanks.

(Although I have checked fights to Boise for a Hawks game. Old habits...)