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Please vote for the Cubs #13 prospect (serious votes only, please!). Please post your rationale below.

If someone convinces you that someone else should be higher, please feel free to change your vote anytime between now and Thursday.

For this vote, you should select the players you feel should be #13, #14 and #15. If we end up with multiple players having similar vote totals at the end of the voting period, there will be a run-off with just those players.

Results so far:

#1: Javier Baez
#2: Jorge Soler
#3: Albert Almora
#4: Arodys Vizcaino
#5: Dan Vogelbach
#6: Brett Jackson
#7: Juan Paniagua
#8: Christian Villanueva
#9: Dillon Maples
#10:Josh Vitters
#11: Pierce Johnson
#12: Junior Lake

I went ahead and voted for 3 for the 1st time: In order, Alcantara, Candelario, and Torreyes.

Hmm, same as last time.

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[The sound of fastballs] was one of those things that told me my pitches were fast....because I've never heard pitches as loud as mine.

I went Torreyes, Candelario and Underwood.

13.) Szczur
14.) Candelario
15.) Torreyes

I'm a bit worried about K rates for Alcantara, Amaya, Hernandez. They all feel a bit risky for this high up the list.

underwood
candelario
alcantra

which also, in some order, constitutes the list of the three coolest names remaining on the list.

(before anyone complains, szczur's name is a disaster, not cool, no one argue in its favor)

Shortened version, as I still have a person from my top 10 so have been beating that horse dead for awhile.

1. Arismendy Alcantara - Young shortstop with good tools, coming off a good offensive season, heading to AA. Are defensive concerns a question of consistency? Offensively, he would profile fine at 2nd as well.

2. Duane Underwood - Pitching ceiling might be the highest in the system. He's just raw, but loads of upside.
3. Matt Szczur - As is ... he has a chance to be a solid depth OF that could be an occasional starter. If he improves his pop a bit more, the chances of becoming a solid starter increase dramatically.

4. Marco Hernandez - Young shortstops with his tools are hard to find. He might have a more complete set of tools than Arismendy. Of course, the poor discipline is what leaves a talented guy like this in the mid-teens. The counter is that he showed improvement in Peoria and Boise during the season, which is a plus.
5. Jeimer Candelario - Love the offensive potential. Offensive ceiling is arguably top 5 in the system ... but there's a lot of projection in there. For a guy that might have to move to first (although if Vogelbach is at the same level, he won't have to do it for awhile), I'd like to see a bit more production to justify a significantly higher nod. It might not be fair, but the way he tailed off was disappointing, even while I recognize how young he was.

Underwood
Alcantara
Cabrera

Candelario
Underwood
Torreyes

Underwood, Szczur and Hernandez

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http://www.mr-irrelevantpgh-chi.blogspot.com/

Underwood
Candelario
Alcantara

Underwood
Candelerio
Loux

We sure have a lot of intriguing prospects. I'm still waiting for Golden's inclusion, at least for the top 20.

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Chicago Club has gone back on us. Please Send Expenses. Am Broke

Candelario
Loux
Underwood

There are so many similarly talented infield candidates that this is getting increasingly difficult. I decided Candelario is my top dog. He has the power potential and seems to have a patient approach at the plate. Loux near term usefulness trumps Underwoods far off potential for me. After these how do you scatter Amaya, Hernandez, Alcantra and for my reach pick because he is my favorite make-up guy, Bruno. Multiple positions across the infield and outfield and the batting title? I know he doesn't get a lot of votes this early but I can see him moving up the list pretty quickly with another good year.

Bill

I want to hear if Bruno is going to be given a real chance behind the plate. That would enhance his value to me quite a bit. As for Reggie Golden, I've got him as a borderline top 50 guy right now. Yeah, he could make a jump, but his development curve has been set back quite a ways, since we drafted him. Out of shape in year one and early season ending injury in year two. Time for him to get it together.

Is Golden really in your top 20? Why?

Szczur
Alcantara
Candelario

Cabrera
Szczur
Watkins


Still too early for last year's drafted arms. You draft three of those guys in the supplemental-third range with the hope that one emerges a few years later, and it's too early to know which one of them will be that guy.

I'm very disappointed that Torreyes probably doesn't deserve to be in the top-15 at this point.

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Team Theo.

I can see a very good argument for Torreyes at this point.

Underwood szczur Rondon

Underwood: Totally unproven, but has such a high ceiling. Not many guys left at this stage with star possibility, and without having any strong evidence that they can't/won't ever get there.

Szczur: Way opposite extreme, very obvious limitations to his game and with no star possibility. But has a chance to become a good-range defender and a solid-OBP high-steal table-setter.

In my view, Underwood and Szczur are also opposites in that Szczur could fall off the map fast; if he can match his Daytona type profile at Tennessee, he'll stay solid, but if he hits as poorly in AA this spring as he did last August, even guys like me who still think he's got a chance will be dropping him fast. It wouldn't surprise me if Underwood could jump strongly, and a year from now he'd become more widely recognized as a pretty serious talent, even if he's still very distant.

Rondon: If he does well, I want to be the poster who can claim I called it! And if he stinks, who will remember other than me? But, he's going to be in the major leagues, and they think he has both enough velocity and enough control where they'll be able to use him some, not just waste another year. The odd confluence of circumstances for his draft selection enabled the Cubs to select a guy who has more tools and higher upside than is normally available in Rule 5 pick, while at the same time probably being more ready-now to actually be able to pitch in games.

If I was checking 4, Candelerio is the other one I wanted to check. Under the Underwood logic, he's got a chance to become a very strong player. Really good all-around hitters with power are hard to find, and he's got a chance. Even if he's limited at 3B and may end up in LF, RF, 1B, or C. Not sure if he's got the quickness, but he's got the arm to be an excellent catcher,and might be a really good hitter relative to catchers.

He's a guy who will be 20 all next season. At age 19 in A+ ball he played above average defense at 2B, improved his walk rate from 4.38% to 6.3%. In the first half he had that outrageously horrible babip luck, but after the ASB he put up a
297BA 361OBP 450SLG 811OPS line in a notorious pitchers league.

Agree on Bruno, how many times does the manager wish he had a third catcher. Though I think so far he has only started working bullpen sessions. Lets jus hope he can keep hitting as he moves up the ladder.

Bill

I'm a big, big fan of Bruno. There's a certain level of UVA bias there, but the other is that he's got such an excellent hit tool and is a good defensive player. Heck, I still think that, given extended time, he could be decent-solid at short. My problem with ranking him, though, is the same issue I have with Torreyes - guys that make it and excel off one tool are still the exceptions and the not the rule. Thus, to me, these guys have to prove it up the ladder, whether fair or not, and I really, really like Bruno.

Now, the catching experiment is a fascinating move. If he can stick behind the plate, and his baseball aptitude is quite high, then he becomes a fascinating catching option if the bat continues to perform. Sort of a better version of Steve Clevenger (who as much as he seems to get bagged on, still profiles as a decent backup backstop).

Bruno's more 20-30 for me, a tick below Torreyes because they are similar types with Torreyes ahead in the chain.

i get a szczure whenever i look at it

i can totally szc why you would

All right, I'm sold. Booting Watkins, adding Torreyes.

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Team Theo.