Yasiel Balaguert was signed 12/30/2011 for the tidy sum of $400,000. Born and raised in Cuba, Ben Badler had this to say about him: Balaguert, who turns 19 on Jan. 9, has modest tools, a strong, thick-bodied frame (6 feet, 190 pounds) that he will have to keep in check and shows occasional average power with a quick bat and good extension. Several scouts have …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Paul Blackburn
Paul Blackburn is a 6-2, 185 pound righty who was drafted at the tail-end of the 1st round in 2012. He was Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer's third pick since they took over for Jim Hendry. He was rated 57th entering the draft and was picked 56th overall. He signed for $911,700 and began his career shortly after in the …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Alberto Cabrera
Alberto Cabrera has been on the Cubs for 8 years, and he's been quite the enigma. Brought into the organization in 2005, he spent the first 6 years of his minor league career as a career ~18% strikeout guy, and a a ~11% walk rate. He also had FIPs in the 4s and 5s. Then 2012 happened. His strikeout rate …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Jae-Hoon Ha
Jae-Hoon Ha was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2008 out of Jin Ju City, South Korea. He signed for a bonus of $225,000. He began his US professional career at Boise in 2009 at the age of 18. He was signed as a catcher and, reportedly, was moved to the outfield because he couldn't handle the throws behind …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Ivan Pineyro
Ivan Pineyro was signed by the Washington Nationals in 2010…for just $16,000. I'm assuming he probably had some instructs before his 2011 FRk debut in the Washington Dominican Summer League. Starting exclusively, Pineyro dominated in his ~70 innings in 2011 as a 19-year old, and was uneven in 2012 (but dealt with a line drive to the jaw in Extended …
2013 Cubs Prospects In Review: Dan Vogelbach
Dan Vogelbach came to the Cubs in the second round of the 2011 Rule 4 draft. Listed currently at 6'0, 250 lbs, Vogelbach was listed at 288 just before the draft, and has worked hard to drop weight and become more athletic since turning pro. Pre-draft, Perfect Game had this to say about Vogelbach as a draft prospect: Vogelbach is enormously …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Zeke DeVoss
Zeke DeVoss turned 23 in July and he played the entire season at High A Daytona. He's right handed, switch hits and moved to CF this season. 2nd base had been his position until 2013. As you can tell by the image at the right, he's a little guy. He's 5-10 and weighs 175 pounds. He was drafted out of …
Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears (1 PM ET, FOX, 9/15/13)
Last Week The Vikings had a great start to their tilt against the Lions, with an AP 78-yard scamper for an early score. They held it together in the first half, taking a 14-13 lead into the locker room, but were blown out in the second half to eventually lose 34-24. The Bears were pretty uneven last week, but Cutler …
2013 Cubs Prospects In Review: Arodys Vizcaino
Arodys Vizcaino came into pro ball as a Yankees J2 signing in 2007 out of the Dominican Republic. Nobody seems to have his signing bonus listed anywhere, so let's assume it was a pittance. He went straight to the Gulf Coast League in 2008 and began moving up the prospect ranks, finishing the 2009 season as the Yankees' third best …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Justin Grimm
Continuing with the trend of pieces acquired via the Texas Rangers, today I'll look at Justin Grimm. Taken in the 5th round of the 2010 draft after a successful college career at the Univeristy of Georgia, Justin debuted at Class A and pitched the majority of the season at A+ ball (in 2011). It didn't take him long to break …