All of the major scouting outlets have published their midseason top prospects updates by now, which is good since the season is well over halfway through. I rounded up a bunch of them (from Baseball America, Bullpen Banter, Baseball Prospectus's Jason Parks, ESPN's Keith Law, and minorleagueball's John Sickels) and pulled the rankings for Cub prospects, including newly acquired 'spects Mike Olt and C.J. Edwards.
Cubs Midseason Top Prospects
| BA (50) | BB (75) | BP (50) | KL (50) | Sickels (75) | Consensus | |
| Javier Baez | 10 | 19 | 17 | 27 | 14 | 17 |
| Albert Almora | 16 | 16 | 15 | 25 | 18 | 18 |
| Jorge Soler | 18 | 18 | 31 | 20 | 23 | 22 |
| Kris Bryant | NA | 26 | ~25 | 15 | ~20 | |
| Arismendy Alcantara | NR | NR | ~100 | ~57 | 57 | |
| Mike Olt | 44 | NA | NR | NR | ~80 | |
| C.J. Edwards | NR | 70 | NR | NR | 73 | |
| Pierce Johnson | NR | NR | NR | NR | ~85 |
It's not entirely fair to use a straight average of the ranks as a consensus, since different lists have varying criteria for inclusion (how to deal with guys who have played in the majors, draftees, etc…). Nonetheless, I think this a fairly accurate, if rough idea of how the players are perceived by the scouting industry at-large. On lists where a particular prospect was not included, I looked in chats and comment sections on each site to see if the rankers gave a specific indication as to where a particular prospect would have landed. I pulled these quickly, so please let me know if you spot any errors or there is a particular list you would like to see added.
In the aggregate, four Cub prospects are in the neighborhood of the top 20: Baez, Almora, Soler, and Bryant, but none are generally considered top 10. Two to four others: Alcantara, Edwards, Johnson, and Olt are decent bets to be in the back half of top 100 rankings in the coming offseason. Of the "Big 8," six have joined the system since Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have taken over.
Comments
The Cubs are on the verge of losing a protected pick. They are currently 9th with a 45-54 record as far as total losses go and lose % (.545). What hasn’t helped them is that in the last 10, they are 5-5. Junior lake has to go! They need to go on a streak like the Blue Jays have done. The BJs 9-1 in the last 10, and have lost 7 in a row. They clearly have the Will to Lose.
In all seriousness, although it is fun watching the Cubs win, I am concerned that if they don’t get a protected pick they may not be as agressive in the free agent market as they would otherwise be. Is that a fair concern?
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I don’t think they’ll be all that aggressive this year either way.
joshQuote Reply
Kevin Gregg is coming back to earth. Not that he would have brought much back in return.
joshQuote Reply
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-curious-case-of-junior-lake/
MishQuote Reply
@ josh:
I don’t expect them to be aggressive, but without a protected pick, there’s no chance they would be b
GW, glad you put this together.
dmick89Quote Reply
Mucker wrote:
I don’t think so, because a QB just has to be athletic enough to run out of bounds 5 yards down the field. Of the starting QBs today, there are probably 6 that shouldn’t run it. (IIRC, CHI will install a few read option plays this season)
I think the reason it wasn’t used in the NFL is mainly the arrogance of NFL coaches. Combine that with the fact that most coaches are retreads or “pro-style” college coaches, and it just didn’t have a chance.
Old schoolers say what detractors say now: “We’ll just hit the QB on every play.” If a QB gets hit hard enough to injure him, you’re doing it wrong. A DE that crashes quickly enough to put that kind of hit on the QB is going to get burned by the RB.
The QB doesn’t have to run well to make the read option boost an offense. Just well enough to slow the pass rush.
Bill ClayQuote Reply
The NFL isn’t like college where someone like Vince Young (who’s bigger than most teams’ linebackers and faster than their DBs) can run wild. What Kaepernick did to GB completely misrepresents what the read option does for an offense.
For a better indicator, watch WAS v DAL last season. DeMarcus Ware disappeared.
Bill ClayQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Who could have predicted the Brewers would be so catastrophically inept this year?
joshQuote Reply
Thanks for finishing the JOT, dmick89.
MylesQuote Reply
I’m pretty sure Adolfo has played his last game at Wrigley Field (as a Cub). He doesn’t really need two or three days to think about whether to accept a trade to the Yankees, he already said he would. If he was traded today, he’d have to go all the way to New York for the weekend and then back to LA on Monday.He probably just wants to let it sink in and talk to his family, and, because he’s on the road, it’s probably a little unsettling thinking about changing jobs. Maybe he’d want to go “home” to Chicago for one last series next week, but seeing as NYY is in Anaheim from Tuesday, if I were him I’d approve the trade for after the game on Sunday. He’d get Monday off (travel day for NYY) and could stay out west without the long haul back and forth to Chicago or New York.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Also the NYY stop to play CHW on the south side on their way back from the coast, so Sosi can get some stuff taken care of during that series.
I’m strangely concerned about Soriano’s laundry situation.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
He can afford to buy himself some clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue. This guy makes more money than all of us combined will in our lifetimes.
joshQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Besides, he’s a pro, traveling and no sleep is part of why they pay him the millions.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
That’s debatable. Depends how many of us there are.
For us to make more in our lifetimes combined than he is making on his current contract, all we’d have to do if there were, say, 70 of us, is make an average lifetime income of $2 million. That would be an average of 45K per year for 44 years. That seems a bit high I guess, since not everyone is going to work full time (or even at all) for every year from age 21 to 65. Still, maybe there’s 100 of us.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ josh:
I like humanizing these guys when I like them. I like to think we share some of the same problems. Back in a minute, I have to empty the dryer.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I assume they walk on piles of money and have manservents that wipe their asses with pieces of gold.
joshQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
If it were me, I’d buy a change of shirts at the Walmart. So I’m imagining what I would do, assuming I had gobs of money but my same brain.
joshQuote Reply
Verlander got walloped again. By the White Sox. Geez.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ josh:
Sounds uncomfortable.
uncle dave on the goQuote Reply
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ uncle dave on the go:
you can afford to be uncomfortable when you’re filthy stinking rich. It’s like slumming.
joshQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
Bill ClayQuote Reply
josh wrote:
Bill ClayQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
From what I can gather, it doesn’t sound like a deal is complete with the Yankees and that Soriano approved a list of teams prior to any trade being done.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Yeah, Theo made a crack about NYY being the only team that leaks shit, so I guess there could be other deals on the table. But Soriano is clearly pretty picky about where he would play, and having given the green light on this one team it seems they would be the favorite by a mile. I’ll be shocked if he isn’t a Yankee by the deadline.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Big Z ————————–> free agent
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Where was he?
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Phillies AAA team.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I think I remember hearing last season that he doesn’t want to play out West, but maybe that was a bullshit report.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
What I remember hearing was that SF was too cold.
The guy is picky, and I think he is seeking a comfortable situation. He proved last year that comfort is more important than a pennant race, too. Despite what he says about the Yankees being a perennial contender, they have an excellent chance of missing the playoffs just like the Cubs this year. But he would find it comfortable, just like the north side. Not sure if he would find a brand new organization so comfortable.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
lends credence to our speculation last week…
GWQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
At least he knows where to eat lunch in NY. That makes a huge difference.
/Brenly
BerseliusQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/two-players-over-550-pa.html
dmick89Quote Reply