2011 Cubs Draft Review

The 2011 Cubs draft has been a bit of a roller coster for me. We missed out on my some of my favorite players especially when Rendon started to slide (though realisticaly it was never gonna happen) and passed on college studs like Gray and Springer, who were still available @9. Getting Baez @ 9 is solid and grew on me after reading more info on him. While he wasn't on my original draft radar I did see he was moving up draft boards leading up to the draft.

I like the fact we went so H.S. heavy and this draft had the feel of a T.B. Rays draft.  While I've always said that drafting a H.S. bat is the riskiest player to draft you have a much better chance of finding a sleeper/diamond in the rough then with a college bat Mark Grace (24th round/S.D. State) not withstanding. After the 200-300 players drafted scouting reports start to get hit and miss so guys like Josh77, Ryno G, RynoRooter, SenorGato,Tim815, and the other draft savvy members of this community please add anything I missed/potenitaly got wrong, or just interesting side notes. I'm hoping to make this thread an informitive place to get a clear picture on our draft this year.  

At this point there is no way to grade our draft because our success or lack there of will hinge on signing guys like Dunston Jr., Maples, Jacquez, and a few others. As far as guessing what we will spend it's also tough and if ownership is really going to attempt to sign some of these tough signs our total could land somewhere in the 6-7 million range. So here we go with just some quick short responses to some of our picks:

Of coarse the talk starts with Javier Baez and I have already done a short scouting report:

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2011/6/6/2210192/javier-baez-scouting-report

And Josh77 did a more in-depth report:

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2011/6/7/2210877/2011-mlb-draft-cubs-welcome-to-ss-javier-baez

So I won't beat this to death. Baez has 1 of the quickest bats in the draft and has been compared to Gary Sheffield in terms of bat speed. The similarities don't end there. Bat speed, area, ameteur position, explsiviness, and attitude. Imo Baez instincts are better then Sheffield's at the same age but weather or not it translate's only time will tell. Baez will probably move off SS....Dan Vogelbach.....I would have liked this pick more in the 3rd then 2nd. His bat will need to carry him. I heard some Prince Fielder comps on this site and that is not even close. Fielder had elite Power/Eye/even hit tool coming out of H.S. and his athletism is underated. Calling him even a poor man's Fielder is a bit rich. I'd say a less athletic version of Matt LaPorta (ouch) is closer.......Zeke DeVoss....After checking in @ work I was less then enthuised by this pick. He's got a good eye, athletisim, and speed but outside of yoiur elite 1st rounders i.e. Mike Trout/Jacoby Ellsbury I think players with this profile tend to be a tad overrated. I don't hate this pick but felt we could hae done better and he does have some upside. Best case senario is Micheal Brantley....Tony Zych...Real nice pick here since I felt he would go in the s1st or early second. Looks more like a set up guy then a true closer but has mid-to-upper 90's FB w/ a potnetial above-average slider. Should move fast and keep costs down......Tayler Scott....6'2, athletic, and projectable. This is where I started coming back up. Sit's low 90's w/ a promising CB.....Neftali Rosario...Good defender @ C w/ a nice arm and power. A project but could be a real sleeper out of Puerto Rico......Trevor Gretzky....Again more projection. Has power potential and needs to work on his hitting. Obviously the son of Wayne Gretzky and has good hand-eye cordination.....Garrett Schlecht....Illinios native. Probably a LF but has good contact skills and w/ a quick LH bat....Daniel Lockhart...son of a former big leaguer athletic w/ a good LH stroke.

Shawn Dunston Jr......Considered a tough sign but I'm hearing he's very open to signing w/ the Cubs now. CF with excellent speed, line drive LH stroke, and passion for the game. Probably would have gone higher had he not had an inconsistent senior season this year. Very raw but some scouts had him rated in the top 150 players......Dillon Maples.......Top 50 talent fell to the 14th rd. based on signability. 91-94 mph FB that can touch mid 90's with a good CB. Mechanics need some work but has athletism to make the nessary adjustments. CU is a work in progress. This pick is the key to our draft. If we can sign him our draft would go from solid to excellent. Probably gonna take 1.5-2 million to ink him. Has a strong commitment to home state Tar Heels.....Justin Marra.....Canada product. LH C prospect with good catch and throw skills with pop and has shown the ability to hit quality pitching....

So that's the highlights on the top 15 and I don;t want to make this to long of a read so I'm just gonna highlight a handfull more that I really like. This obviously won't be the only guys with upside we drafted after the 15th. Again please feel free to highlight some of your favriotes I missed.

23rd. Bradley Zimmer - 6'5 and lanky has average speed and a nice LH stroke with power potential once he fills out.

26th. Micheal Jensen -  Small stature (6'0 190) but lively arm, low 90s FB and power curve.

31st. Ronnie Richardson - Small (5'7) but dynamic switch hitter. Went in the 11th rd. out of H.S. and is a draft eligable soph. Has good speed and solid defender in CF. Needs to be more consistent.

39th. Ricky Jacquez - Another player who is small in stature standing just 5'9 160 but has an electric arm. FB sits 92-94 and can run it up as high as 97. An excellent athlete who has a true hammer curve. Reminds me a lot of a RH Billy Wagner. A Texas recruit and the fact that he lasted until the 39th round probably means he won't sign.

Overall I think we should sign most of our top 10 picks and have heard Dunston Jr. is very open to signing with the Cubs. If we can sign Maples I think our draft goes from C/C+ range ot B/B+. I could see if the Cubs get spurned by Dunston Jr. and Maples they will go after Jaquez very agressively. I think we went with a lot of high upside power hitters and of coarse power arms. 

I the Cubs fail to sign any of Maples, Dunston Jr., Jacquez, and a few others, or any, I wouldn't hold management responsible. I think they will make agressive offers for all but what it comes down to is what a 17/18 year old kid wants to do. The Cubs have spent heavily in Latin America and spent 3 million on Szczur and the 2 Cuban kids so I think they are willing to spend some money on ametuer talent.

I'll come back after signing day and grade out the draft. I'll also be p[utting together my mid season Cubs top 30 here soon. I have been working on this over the past few days and have been pressed for time so please excuse the spelling errors.