Misc. Minor League Ramblings

[pioneer98]

River Bandits are MWL Champs!

[SHOW]

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Baez will play 3B at AFL and probably for the rest of his pro career. He can play SS, but the Cubs want him at 3B. That'll push Kris Bryant to RF.

FWIW, I think there's a decent shot Baez will be playing some 2B in the AFL since Bryant is also coming along. Reports are that he can stick in the middle infield at this point, so the Cubs may want to put him there if they want to preserve him as a middle infielder if they're worried about Castro's bat or want to move Castro to 2B. They're also way deeper at 3B(Valbuena, Bryant, Villanueva, Olt) than 2B(Barney, Alcantara). By the time Baez has earned his way into the Cubs lineup those questions should all work themselves out though.

On the topic of Baez the a-hole though, this is my favorite(and most hilarious) story. He hasn't really had any problems in full-season ball though.

Baez stood at home plate for a couple of seconds after absolutely walloping the gopher ball 400+ feet and off the roof of a house on the north side of 8th Street (Baez did the exact same thing on Tuesday when he launched a three-run homer over the LF fence at Indian School Park in Scottsdale), at which point one of the Angel coaches yelled, “Run the bases!”
Baez initially took the “advice” and he did run the bases (albeit a bit of a “Cadillac” trot that probably further irritated the opposition), but upon reaching home plate Baez stopped and yelled back at the Angel bench, “I can do whatever the [expletive] I want!”

[33anda3rd]

Bryant will prob shift to corner OF, no? Alcantara should be the 2B of the future.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Bryant is probably a corner OF by the time he's 28, but they believe he's more limber than a Troy Glaus(his best comp) and can stay a 3B for now.

Alcantara certainly could be the 2B of the future, and it's a nice problem that all 3 of them should be MLB ready within 18 months, but personally I have the most doubt about his skills translating. He could move positions (again) and end up a CF too, but if things work out then I think you might see Alcantara as trade bait, especially since another org may still see him as a SS and won't have two premium guys ahead of him in line.

[lukethedrifter]

I'm not liking all this Cubs have a brilliant future talk.

[Valpo Cardinal Fan]

I'm not liking all this Cubs have a brilliant future talk.

I've heard that the Samardzja family doesn't have much faith in the Cub organization. One thing I've heard is that they are too quick to move their minor league players up when they actually need more development. They skip many of the fundamentals. At least that is what the old Valpo high school baseball coach told a former Valpo HS, current minor league player in another organization.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Samardzija's last MiLB appearance was in 2010, over a year before the front office changed.

Things are looking better for the Cubs now that some of their MiLB strength is starting to reach the upper levels. The Royals have shown us how quickly that can become nothing at the MLB level though, and even if guys like Baez and Bryant pan out they need improvement from their current young core of Castro/Rizzo/Castillo to really make noise. They could help bridge that gap with a really strong offseason, but it's not an easy ask.

[33anda3rd]

James Ramsey kinda showed up for the AFL.

[phins]

Increasingly poor competition as the AFL goes on and elite hitting environments.

You generally can't glean much for the AFL for hitters.

[33anda3rd]

Increasingly poor competition as the AFL goes on and elite hitting environments.

You generally can't glean much for the AFL for hitters.

Certainly. Though the P there is a tick better this year than it has been in the recent past.