Morning Roundup
- Rob G over at the Cub Reporter has some good info on the prospects that the Heilman trade yielded yesterday in LHP Scott Maine and 1B Ryne White. It’s a good read and worth checking out. Ultimately, it’s good to get something for Heilman, considering that he was probably going to be non-tendered this off-season. (The Cub Reporter)
- The Cubs are not interested in bringing Pedro Martinez (Chicago Tribune)
- Jason Stark of ESPN.com says “Tampa Bay, Texas and Toronto look like the three most feasible destinations for Milton Bradley these days. But the Cubs are telling teams that (A) they’re not interested in digesting all or most of Bradley’s money (two years, $21 million) just for the sake of moving him, and (B) the hiring of his old hitting coach, Rudy Jaramillo, means they no longer think they have to trade him. So they seem to be zeroing in on clubs that might be willing to swap one messy contract for another. Pat Burrell would be that guy in Tampa Bay, but the money doesn’t match up and the Cubs would have to find a third team interested in Burrell. Lyle Overbay seems to fit that mold in Toronto, but the Cubs would need a third team to take him, too, since Derrek Lee is still occupying first base. And Kevin Millwood might still be a possibility with Texas, but certainly not one-for-one. Potential deals with the Angels (for Gary Matthews Jr.) and Diamondbacks (for Eric Byrnes) look dead at the moment.” (ESPN.com)
- Saw this headline at MLB Trade Rumors “Yankees Interested In Gonzalez, Soriano?” and I almost wet myself. Unfortunately that’s not OUR Soriano.
If you’ve missed the first few editions of the series, here are some links as well as the schedule for the week:
C / 1B / 2B / SS / 3B / CF / LF / RF/ Righty SP (Mon) / Lefty SP (Tuesday)
Contract Info for 2010
Milton Bradley – Signed through 2011 with a breakdown of $9 mil (2010) & $12 mil (2011)
Doug Deeds – Minor League FA
Brad Snyder – Minor League FA
Dylan Johnston - Rule 5 Draft Eligible unless added to the 40 man roster
Positional Summary
We round out the position players in this series with the RF position. It’s a position that has received the most amount of rumors and talk because of the Milton Bradley situation that doesn’t appear to be close to resolution. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
| Age | PA | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #Bradley, Milton | 31 | MAJ | 473 | 61 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 40 | 2 | 3 | 66 | 95 | .257 | .378 | .397 | .775 |
| Taguchi, So | 39 | AAA,MAJ | 316 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 36 | .249 | .346 | .335 | .681 |
| *Deeds, Doug | 28 | AA,AAA | 379 | 57 | 30 | 3 | 10 | 38 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 78 | .281 | .328 | .470 | .798 |
| *Colvin, Tyler | 23 | AA,H-A,MAJ | 479 | 70 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 62 | 8 | 2 | 31 | 89 | .282 | .328 | .468 | .796 |
| *Johnston, Dylan | 22 | H-A | 194 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 71 | .185 | .259 | .289 | .548 |
| *Snyder, Brad | 27 | AAA,win,ROK | 376 | 54 | 22 | 4 | 19 | 66 | 16 | 5 | 36 | 91 | .292 | .359 | .551 | .910 |
| *Burke, Kyler | 21 | L-A | 555 | 93 | 43 | 3 | 15 | 89 | 14 | 2 | 78 | 99 | .303 | .405 | .505 | .911 |
| *Perez, Nelson | 21 | L-A,win | 497 | 56 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 67 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 138 | .263 | .300 | .412 | .711 |
| Ha, Jae-Hoon | 18 | SS | 258 | 31 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 31 | .242 | .264 | .327 | .590 |
| Batista, Xavier | 17 | ROK | 298 | 42 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 38 | 4 | 2 | 33 | 85 | .241 | .333 | .409 | .742 |
| Borgues, Smaily | 25 | ROK | 261 | 39 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 34 | 16 | 12 | 23 | 28 | .317 | .391 | .478 | .869 |
| Gonzalez, Jasly | 18 | ROK | 214 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 49 | .178 | .280 | .297 | .577 |
| Morelli, Jesus | 19 | ROK | 157 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 24 | .279 | .365 | .338 | .704 |
There are basically two names you need to know in the system for the position, Tyler & Kyler. Colvin and Burke. Both are former 1st round picks in the draft. We’ve talked about Colvin in the past, specifically how many in the scouting circles consider him an over-draft in an effort to allow flexibility in signing Jeff Samardzija in the 5th round. He had a real nice year in 2007 that prompted MiLB.com to rank him as one of the top 50 prospects in the game. Injuries in 2008 basically contributed to a regression, but a stronger 2009 merited a September cup of coffee. Where he goes at this point is interesting. He has the ability to play CF, but a corner spot is more likely for him. Ideally, I’d like to see him play RF if his arm can handle it. He had Tommy John surgery in 2008, so he should come back stronger as a result if history proves itself true. He needs to work on going the opposite way instead of being so pull crazy, but I like him.
I’m also a big Kyler Burke guy. He’s a guy Jim Hendry took a chance on in the 2007 deal that sent Michael Barrett to the Padres. In that deal, the Cubs got Burke and Rob Bowen who was eventually traded to Oakland for Jason Kendall. That’s a deal that, in my opinion, the Cubs won easily. Burke hadn’t really shown any of his promise until last year and as a result, he’s burst onto the scene in the system, winning the minor league player of the year award in the system. He doesn’t really project as much of a power guy as once was expected, primarily due to a change in his approach at the plate. If he can continue to look at making good contact, the natural power will develop. I’d project him at a 20-25 HR guy in the majors if all goes well.
2010 Free Agents at RF
Scott Boras clients in Bold
Jermaine Dye (36) – Type A
Brian Giles (39) – Type B
Vladimir Guerrero (35) – Type B
Joey Gathright (28)
Eric Hinske (32)
Geoff Jenkins (35)
Austin Kearns (30)
Jason Michaels (34)
Xavier Nady (31) – Type B
Randy Winn (36) – Type B
Photo of the Day
