I'm not an expert on minor league players.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I am very afraid.


But honestly, the Cubs look like there is real talent on the major league team. They played great this weekend, and I think this is the beginning of something good. Let's just say they have a shot at contending in 2025, and then anything early will be a great surprise.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I am. There's 4.

Glad I could educate you.

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You know me like that.

I'm surprised the number is so low.

Based on rankings, the Sox would then have 2 awesome prospects! Maybe the future isn't so dreary!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I would imagine most teams would have 1 or 2 awesome prospects.

They do exist.

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You know me like that.

The Cub only have one truly awesome prospect, and that is Kris Bryant. Not to put any pressure on him, but the entire future of the Cubs franchise rests on his shoulders. If he fails, it will scuttle the whole Theo Rebuild Plan.

The Cubs number seems low if that is true.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It's all relative.

Pipeline Hitting Prospect of the Week: Kyle Schwarber, OF/C, Daytona Cubs (Cubs' No. 7 prospect), 8 G, 15-for-30 (.500/.529/1.333), 1.863 OPS, 4 2B, 7 HR, 8 R, 13 RBI

One of the reasons that the Cubs selected Schwarber with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft was that he came with a discount, enabling them to save enough money to give seven-figure bonuses to high school pitchers Carson Sands, Justin Steele and Dylan Cease in the fourth through sixth rounds. But Chicago also believed Schwarber's talent made him worthy of a lofty choice, and he has done nothing to change that thinking since signing for $3,125,000.

In 67 pro games, Schwarber has batted .354/.444/.671 with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs. He has homered in his last five contests at high Class A Daytona, including a two-homer game on Sunday, and also is riding a streak of four straight multi-RBI performances.

The best all-around hitter in the 2014 college crop, Schwarber derives well-above-average left-handed power from his strength and bat speed. The 6-foot, 235-pound Indiana product has seen time at both catcher and left field as a pro, and he fits better at the latter position. He's another impressive slugger in a collection of Cubs position prospects that no other system can match.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

Average prospect.

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You know me like that.

I'm sure the Cubs are loaded with top of the line minor league prospects. There's never been a time I can remember when they weren't. We can go back to the days when Glen Hobbie, Dick Drott and Moe Drabowsky were going to dominate the National League for years to come.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Have you been hanging out at leash's house?

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You know me like that.

1980-2000?

Don't get me wrong. You are free to think that the Cubs have 15 awesome prospects. They might.

Just be willing to own it and don't be shocked when that is the perception.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

1970-1980?

2000-2012?

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You know me like that.

Having a bunch of highly ranked prospects usually means you end up with a decent team (Royals now, Brewers of early 07-10, Cubs in the early 00's, but then you gotta make it a championship team and few do



Still, bettter than the days of Vitters and Simpson

They were highly ranked from 2000-2003

having a lot of top ranked prospects is preferable to not having a lot of top ranked prospects.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Well yeah.

However, Kirkwood seems to be the champion of "See how good this guy is!" now. Then again, if I embarrassed myself like he did in the Rizzo thread I'd be bumping other posts a lot too.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

When what is the perception?

There really isn't much debate about whether these guys are awesome prospects. They are - unless your definition of awesome is "sure-fire Hall of Famer".

They are performing at a level in the minors that should project to top-line starters/potential All-Stars. Those would be awesome prospects.

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You know me like that.

I doubt 1.000 OPS's in A-ball translate to All-Star in the Majors.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I believe greats like Gary Scott, Corey Patterson, and many others fall within that time frame. I am sure there are many I am forgetting, just as in twenty years I have little doubt at least a few from the Soler, Schwarber, Russell, Baez, Bryant group will be forgotten.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

There were plenty of times in the past where saying "Cubbie Nation thinks they have 4-5 top-line/potential all-stars just waiting to come up to the major league team" got a response that we were making things up.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I am. They're doing very well and I'm excited.

Actually it was the Hahn vision thread. And I've yet to receive an answer for what Hahn's vision is. Theo has made his clear.

Was it you or IMU who predicted that Abreu would soon be playing in Japan?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That was just because they had Patterson and then Prior very highly ranked.

They were not "loaded with top of the line minor league prospects".

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You know me like that.

"loaded" implies there are more than one or two, Joe.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Ofcourse not...but he's loaded with talent n potential ...lets see what he does next year in Aa or AAA .

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BIGNO!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I counted Patterson for 2000 but make it 96 and later

But before that, there was not much. They were notoriously bad at drafting. The fact that the Tribune owned them and wrote love letter articles about guys having good spring training's (Gary Scott) doesnt mean they were actually top of the line.


And yeah, some and likely most of the prospects wont be stars. Thats ok.