Farm System

[MrSheps]

 

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He was seen as very "toolsy".  He was high in those rankings, but I still don't think he was every as highly regarded as some of this current crop.

Well, I think you can look back now and say he was overrated because people fell in love with the 5-tool player idea, but my point was just that he was as big of a deal when he started in the minors if not bigger than Baez is now.  I think the big difference now is we have multiple guys at once at the top of these lists, instead of 1.  But over the last several years I'd argue Patterson and Pryor were our two biggest or best regarded prospects by scouts.  Since Pie I guess Vitters comes to mind, but he never seemed to hit the Patterson or Pryor level of gushing by scouts.  It's certainly cool to look at the potential of multiple guys now, instead of one at time which seemed to be the norm for awhile. 

 

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You would think a dude in LA would know how to spell his name right.

 

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Ohhhh. Oops, Prior.  It's been a few years and I was just writing something about the senator.   I thought at first you meant Baez and I wrote Beaz.  I can't spell for shit.

[bz]

 

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He was seen as very "toolsy".  He was high in those rankings, but I still don't think he was every as highly regarded as some of this current crop.

Well, I think you can look back now and say he was overrated because people fell in love with the 5-tool player idea, but my point was just that he was as big of a deal when he started in the minors if not bigger than Baez is now.  I think the big difference now is we have multiple guys at once at the top of these lists, instead of 1.  But over the last several years I'd argue Patterson and Pryor were our two biggest or best regarded prospects by scouts.  Since Pie I guess Vitters comes to mind, but he never seemed to hit the Patterson or Pryor level of gushing by scouts.  It's certainly cool to look at the potential of multiple guys now, instead of one at time which seemed to be the norm for awhile. 

 

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You would think a dude in LA would know how to spell his name right.

 

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Ohhhh. Oops, Prior.  It's been a few years and I was just writing something about the senator.   I thought at first you meant Baez and I wrote Beaz.  I can't spell for shit.

 

 

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[MrSheps]

 

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One other point to support the 'it's different now' approach is that Cubs organization has placed more money and staff into revamping/building up the development side of the minor league system.  MacPhail - via Hendry - took similar approach but by the time Pie was going through the system - much it lagged behind other clubs. 

 

Hopefully, with additional staff, money, updated approach and patience, the Cubs will have better experience getting more out of the prospect pipeline.

Plus scouting and metrics have improved.

 

 

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He was seen as very "toolsy".  He was high in those rankings, but I still don't think he was every as highly regarded as some of this current crop.

Well, I think you can look back now and say he was overrated because people fell in love with the 5-tool player idea, but my point was just that he was as big of a deal when he started in the minors if not bigger than Baez is now.  I think the big difference now is we have multiple guys at once at the top of these lists, instead of 1.  But over the last several years I'd argue Patterson and Pryor were our two biggest or best regarded prospects by scouts.  Since Pie I guess Vitters comes to mind, but he never seemed to hit the Patterson or Pryor level of gushing by scouts.  It's certainly cool to look at the potential of multiple guys now, instead of one at time which seemed to be the norm for awhile. 

 

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-Funkster said it's nice that our current prospects are much more highly regarded than Pie or Patterson were.

-I showed evidence that Patterson was for a few years as highly or more highly regarded than Baez, our top guy, is now.

-Funk said he still thinks Baez is today more highly regarded than Patterson was then.

-I still disagree, but I do think what's better about our situation now is that instead of having one guy at the top of these lists of top prospects at a time (i.e. Patterson in the early 2000s), we have several now at the same time. Strength in numbers, one of them is bound to not be a bust. 

 

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You wrote Pryor.  His name is Prior.

 

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Yeah, I'm slow. 

[MrSheps]

Are there a lot of five tool stars...or are most five tool guys with careers mostly utility/journeymen types?

I don't know, but it's an excellent question.  I think it got to a point there for me in which hearing a guy was "5 tool" was a negative, as weird as that sounds. 

[Butcher]

Yeah...now when I hear about a "toolsy" prospect, I automatically assume they're going to suck.

[vitaminB]

Toolsy = Freak Athlete with little to know baseball skill.

[AlexV]

Aren't Harper and Trout considered 5 tool players? 

 

I wouldn't mind either of those.

[vitaminB]

We're just talking about our perception of prospects.  Clearly there are exceptions.

[funkster]

Toolsy = Freak Athlete with little to know baseball skill.

Bubba Starling.

[funkster]

From Jason Park's chat:

 

jjgcentineo (Chicago): If all of the top 5 shortstops in your rankings were to reach their ceilings, who would be the best overall player?


Jason Parks on the Top 101 Prospects: Baez. No question.

 

rangerfans2 (Fort Worth): Three Years from now who is considered the best SS? Baez, Xander or Russell?


Jason Parks on the Top 101 Prospects: Baez

[jstraw]

Out of the way, Castro.

[Jody]

Move over bacon.

[rok]

I think Castro will be fine moving over to 2B if that's what needs to happen.

[Butcher]

If we had any kind of pitching in our farm system we'd probably be #1.

[rok]

And that can all change after another good draft + trading Shark for 1-2 decent pitching prospects. As bad as 2014 is shaping up to be, that's all there is left to look forward to.