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Here are a few of the things I'm looking forward to in 2013:

- Kane County games
- The top ceiling, untested pitchers (Johnson, Underwood, Paniagua, Maples) showing what they can do
- Junior Lake in the PCL
- Lots and lots of Kane County games

and, of course, Javy Baez doing whatever the @%#& he wants.




How about you?

Besides the obvious ones, I'll say:

Torreyes at AA
Bowden/Cabrera possibly as starters at AAA (maybe more curiosity than excitement)

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Team Theo.

If Kane County games means watching the development of Almora and Soler with crazy optimism, in addition to going to their games, then this is pretty much my whole list.

Seeing if Torreyes can have a better year, too.

I'll say Brett's overhauled swing ranks pretty high for me. The high ceiling arms obviously. Josh Conway, coming off TJS, could be very interesting-may have found excellent value there. Hopefully seeing Carlos Rodriguez make it to the states, so we can get scouting reports on him.

Arodys Vizcaino

me too

Mostly I'm looking forward to going to KC games.I plan to be at a ton of them since they're only 15 minutes from the house. Prospect wise I'm looking forward to

Baez(Could be a top 10 prospect or a top 75 by the end of the year)
Soler(I think he busts out and launches up the rankings)
Paniagua(The more I hear the more I'm excited that he could be our TOR guy)
Almora(I want to see if the lack of walks was a fluke)
BJax(I want to see the reworked swing)
Torreyes(I want him to reestablish himself as the Cubs 2B of the future)
Vizcaino( I want to see whether he's going to be our future TOR guy or our closer)
Lake(I want to see if he can keep the improved walk rate while lowering his K rate)

As an organization I'm also interested to see if they can keep players improving their patience and plate discipline. I know Torreyes, Lake, Vitters, Szczur etc took nice steps forward last year under the new system. Now I'd like to see the same out of Almora/Baez.

Kane County games.
Almora's plate patience.
Vizcaino.

Soler, Baez, Almora, and Vogelbach at the same level at some point
Arodys Vizcaino, our first top shelf pitching prospect since Angel Guzman
Hoping that they can spin Cabrera and Bowden into productive starting pitchers
Seeing how some of last years DSL guys progress, most notably Daury Torres and Carlos A. Rodrigez

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

There's a bevy of interesting things. A lot of things have been mentioned, so some different things. In general, I believe that a successful 2013 season for the Cubs would entail the development (could be through an acquisition or someone in the pipeline) of a core offensive piece (doesn't have to be a star, a solid starter would do) that is ready to join Castro/Rizzo by year's end, and a young starting arm that is ready to slot in with Edwin Jackson and Jeff Samardzija to start 2014.

1. Arismendy Alcantara in AA - Can he continue to hit as well as he did last year? Can his defense tidy up? If so, he's got a shot to be a part of our future at 2nd base, but perhaps he can become a key trade chip. If his defense tidies up at short and he shows that last year's offensive performance wasn't a fluke, that becomes a fascinating asset, a young, close to ready shortstop with offensive ability.

2. Gioskar Amaya's defense at 2nd - Early reports were positive enough on his defensive ability there. If he can find a home there, that would be great for him. There's a chance he's more a Mark DeRosa type.

3. Marco Hernandez - Can he show the improved discipline and approach that he showed at Peoria and Boise as time went on? If so, there aren't many shortstop prospects in the minors with his sort of complete toolset.

4. Stephen Bruno at ... ? - I still think he could be our 2nd baseman of the future, but I'm fascinated with this catching experiment.

5. Raw arms that were at AZL last year - Obviously, the high ceiling guys hold the most intrigue, but I'm curious about AMG and Elias, amongst others.

6. Robert Whitenack - He could be our 2nd best upper level arm that has more than an end of the rotation ceiling. Can he bounce back? If so, we might see him late in the year.

7. Logan Watkins - I've never been huge on him, but all the talk about him this offseason has me curious if he can show more consistency, offensively and defensively. He looks like he could be a part of the near future for the Cubs (not necessarily as a starter, could be a utility guy or upper level depth).

8. Young OF's below the radar - Trey Martin, Shawon Dunston Jr. both would hold more intrigue in another system. Reggie Golden hasn't gotten started. Do any of them step forward?

9. Ben Wells - What's the deal?

Definitely Paniagua and Vizcaino for me.

Being able to see Boise when the play in Salem-Keizer and in Hillsboro. I do hope the cubs have a good draft this June. That couple with a few of last year's AZL players and a few international picks could make for an exciting season of baseball for me.

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San Diego, California

Agree with your list entirely. My number one though is seeing the infield at Kane County. Their performance this year will be telling for some of the highest of the Cubs Prospects. I'm looking forward to seeing some games that may be more exciting than the big league club. I better go early before some of these guys get promoted.

Bruno may jump to A+. He is a favorite of mine as well. Hope to see him keep hitting. Yes, future second baseman/super utility guy. Adding catching to his resume may be just the ticket. Many NL managers wish they had a third catcher that didn't take up a roster spot meant for the utility inf/of guys.

I'm also going to enjoy the lead up to the amateur draft. Even this early it's fun to think about who the cubs take with that 2 pick. A Georgia bat anyone? Or maybe a college or prep arm?

Fun fun fun!

I also am planning on going to alot of Kane County games. I live 5 miles away. Cubs contracting Kane County was incredibly smart. That place is gonna get so much more business, and I have a feeling that they will TRY to get some of the more exciting prospects a little "stop" in kane county even if they don't need it.

But as far as players. man we have infused alot of talent at the top, and also there are alot of guys from the 11 draft that could take a real leap forward. Mostly I'm looking forward to guys who have big upside but haven't played pro ball much yet. Guys like Soler and Paniagua I can't wait to see a full year of them.

Soler - looking forward to seeing what kind of year he has
Paniagua - lots of hype on this guy, can't wait to get an actual look at him
Duane Underwood - see if they can refine that immense arm

And I think undermentioned is, Derek Johnson, minor league pitching coordinator. This guy is extremely well respected, him getting to work with all of the high impact pitching talent we've recently infused into the system. Working guys with Paniagua, Maples, Underwood, Johnson, and possibly if we draft Mannea. We could be pitching heavy in our top 5 in just a couple short years.

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Thank you Ricketts. This truly is the New Era of Cubs baseball.

All the guys in their 1st full season of full season ball will be fun to watch. That Boise team was loaded with prospects, put that entire team at Kane County and/or Daytona and any of them that perform well will have to be taken very seriously. Almora/Soler are potential top 25-50 guys with nice seasons. Vogelbach and a couple of the pitchers could be top 100. A lot of others could be shoe-ins in the Cubs top 10 with a nice season.

Also interested to see who the Cubs are able to add to the system over the next 9 months. Added a ton of talent in the first 9 months of Epstein's regime. Can't wait for what/who else is in store.

Middle IF prospects. The Cubs are close to being "loaded" up the middle in the infield. Castro and Barney are both young and productive. Baez is obviously a potential star. Then you have Alcantara, Amaya, and Hernandez. Torreyes and Watkins will be at AA and AAA respectively, just a reasonable callup away. And I think I like Bruno more than most people around here (if he's still at 2B). And you still have Junior Lake who may still be consider MIF at this point.

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

I'm kind of curious to see if we get one breakout season between our pile of good but not great AAA guys.

Next year, Iowa's position player should include Vitters, Jackson and Lake, and to a lesser degree Watkins and Clevenger. It'll be interesting to see how many of them look like major leaguers heading into 2014.

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Team Theo.

I could be wrong, but I believe they're already considered to be in (or maybe around) that range. Nice seasons I'd have to think would put them closer to solidly top 25.

All three have been top 50 in every ranking I've seen anywhere. I'm not sure I've seen any of them lower than 40, actually.

I looked at Kane County's website and for about 30 seconds I was looking forward to seeing a Kane County game when they played the Bowling Green Hot Rods (just over an hour for me). Then I looked at the schedule and saw that Bowling Green plays @ Kane County, but there is no return trip.

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A prodigal returns. 2003 started a long decline that drove me away. Theo brought me back.

Almora, Soler, Baez, Maples. I'm also interested to see if Golden has been humbled enough and is ready to learn. The kid is a phenomenal athlete.

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There are no trophies given for wins/dollar

Humbled enough?

Maybe I'm being practical, maybe I don't follow the minors closely enough or maybe it's too early in the building process but all I want to see in the minors this year is players advance. I want to see guys move from low A to high A, from high A to AA, from AA to Chicago in September and from AAA to Chicago in June and July. It's all about growth of capital. I want more valuable assets.

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Do not remove tag under penalty of law.

Wasn't he reportedly picking things up well in Boise two years ago, considering how raw he was? Maybe I'm thinking of someone else, but I don't recall anything about Golden being a bad student of the game.

Yeah, I vaguely remember something like that too which is why I was so confused.

Didn't he come into camp out of shape one year? Maybe that is what he meant?

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