Anyhow, he notes Steve Clevenger as a potential Cub that could be taken. He also notes that the Cubs were preparing to be hit a few times. Clevenger's a former IF that moved to catcher. His value would be as a backup backstop that can perhaps be a decent offensive player for the position. Defense is okay.

Pondering some names that could be plucked: I believe BA has mentioned Chirinos as someone that could be plucked. Chirinos is an older guy, former MI as well. He's noted as a good influence and is said to be steady behind the plate. Best case scenario is as a backup backstop. Matt Camp could be a possibility for a team looking for a depth guy. Utility guy from NC State plays a number of positions. Thomas Diamond and Alessandro Maestri seem like two more guys that could be plucked. Diamond was the former Rangers first round pick who we picked up off waivers this past year. There were some positive signs this winter. Maestri has a good fastball/slider combination, but he was a bit off this year while working his way back and control isn't the best. I've long compared him to Mike Wuertz. I wonder about Robert Hernandez, although I would guess no right now. Hernandez has a solid fastball, good changeup combo. He was caught for PED's. He looked real promising when he was a pup at Peoria, but since then, for some reason, the Cubs haven't pushed him along. Some other names that could perhaps be picked: JR Mathes (lefty has been in the system for awhile, average stuff at best), Muyco (former catcher), Jeremy Papelbon (talk is that he takes awhile to warm up so may not be a great fit in the pen as a LOOGY type), Greg Reinhard (solid year in AAA, we picked him up in the Jae-Kuk Ryu trade), Vince Perkins (former Blue Jays top prospect still flashes a mid-90's fb with a solid slider), Jayson Ruhlman (has some LOOGY potential), and Chris Robinson (picked him up in the Neifi trade, solid enough defensively, bat is fringy). Those are the available Cubs that stand out to me as guys that have a shot of being plucked in the major league phase.

I haven't really contemplated names of guys that are available. Tbh, I'm not expecting us to exercise our pick. After all, what are we going to add? More pen arms? We have enough young pen arms. The chances of finding a starter there is slim. BA notes Tim Gustafson, who's sort of on that Mitch Atkins/Casey Coleman ish level. That said, maybe there's a power arm out there that they really like, which I wouldn't be against. Positionally, it's hard for me to see us pluck anyone. I mean, there are some glove-first shortstops, but in that case, just give Andres Blanco the job. The chances of finding a starting CF in Rule 5 is a bit slim. That said, I haven't looked through the available players deep enough, so maybe someone's there. One guy that briefly caught my eye is Corey Wimberly (A's got him from Colorado in the Matt Murton deal, IIRC). He mildly catches my eye as a potential depth guy with some speed and perhaps the ability to perhaps compete for the backup OF job with Sam Fuld(though I'm not too sure how good he would be out there).

I imagine we'll pluck some folks in the minor league phase.