Chicago Cubs Prospect Notes: Vitters, LeMahieu, Flaherty, McNutt, Lake, Rosario, Hernandez, Amaya

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Prospect Notes post, and, with the regular minor league seasons at a close, it’s a fair time to kick it back up.

  • Cubs’ sixth round pick, catcher Neftali Rosario, comes in for high praise from John Sickels as a good sleeper pick. “The Cubs spent a lot of money on over-slot bonuses, so it is harder to stay within what I’m trying to do with this series of articles, but one guy who stands out is sixth round pick Neftali Rosario out of Puerto Rico. He hit .294/.351/.490 in rookie ball and has the tools to be a good defensive catcher. He needs some work with the strike zone and just general experience, but looks like a possible bargain for a $150,000 bonus.”
  • Two young Cubs were named to Baseball America’s Top 20 Arizona League Prospects list, middle infielder Marco Hernandez (No. 6) and infielder Gioskar Amaya (No. 9). Both have been discussed here at BN as they tore up the AZL as teenagers. Both are products of the Cubs’ Latin America scouting efforts, and are a reminder of just how good the young portion of the Cubs’ farm system could be – remember, the best part of the Cubs’ highly-regarded 2011 draft was in the high school ranks. So, um, 2015 here we come! (I kid – I’m genuinely excited about the future of the Cubs’ farm system.)
  • An ITI thread discusses a recent Keith Law chat wherein Keith fielded questions about Darwin Barney, DJ LeMahieu, Ryan Flaherty, Josh Vitters, and Bryan LaHair. In sum, Law thinks Barney shouldn’t be a ML regular, doesn’t think Flaherty can play defense well enough to be a regular 2B, doesn’t expect LeMahieu to become a starter but thinks he should be given a chance, doesn’t think Vitters will make it (hates his glove and lack of power), and doesn’t expect LaHair to have a regular role in MLB.
  • A Fangraphs chat recently addressed a few more Cubs prospects. Trey McNutt still has his plus velocity, but looks more like a reliever than a starter. Junior Lake is a raw, toolsy kid who would be the top shortstop prospect in many organizations. Josh Vitters (this will sound familiar) is a poor defender at third who has a good, quick swing, but doesn’t have much power.
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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