BBTF's Gonfalon Cubs Discussion :: Cubs Sign First Round Pick

Gonfalon Cubs
— Cubs Baseball for Thinking Fans

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Cubs Sign First Round Pick

Vitters signed for $3.2 million, and will report to Mesa, Ariz., and join the Cubs’ Rookie League team, and hopefully get to the team’s Boise team before its season is over. Before he goes, though, he will take batting practice with the big league team on Friday at Wrigley Field.

Carlos Gomez breaks down the swing of Vitters (and others) here. Carlos doesn’t like the way Vitters goes after the ball in the front of the zone. I had a brief email exchange with him a few weeks back; he expressed a concern that this habit is not an easy one to break. For my part, I love the short swing. He may never threaten 40 homers with his abbreviated cut but I think it makes him a better bet to adjust to wood bats and real breaking balls. Perhaps too many of the Corey Patterson and Jose Hernandez swing-types arriving from Chicago’s minor league system have jaded me.

I also approve of the new signing deadline because it brings the draft picks into the minor league systems more quickly. There is no adequate substitute for that kind of experience. Furthermore, no first round picks went unsigned. The Draft Apocalypse scenario was wrong.

Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 09:48 AM | 27 comment(s)
Related News:

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

Page 1 of 1 pages

1. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 10:13 AM (#2487310)

Here are some signing boni of former first round Cub choices:

2006 Tyler Colvin $1.475
2005 Mark Pawelek $1.75
2004 NONE
2003 Ryan Harvey $2.40
2002 Bobby Brownlie $2.50
2001 Mark Prior $4.00
2000 Luis Montanez $2.75
1999 Ben Christensen $1.00
1998 Corey Patterson $3.70
1997 John Garland $1.325
1996 Todd Noel $0.90
1995 Kerry Wood $1.265

2. Alex Gordon's #1 Fan Posted: August 16, 2007 at 10:15 AM (#2487313)

2006 Tyler Colvin $1.475
2005 Mark Pawelek $1.75
2004 NONE
2003 Ryan Harvey $2.40
2002 Bobby Brownlie $2.50
2001 Mark Prior $4.00
2000 Luis Montanez $2.75
1999 Ben Christensen $1.00
1998 Corey Patterson $3.70
1997 John Garland $1.325
1996 Todd Noel $0.90
1995 Kerry Wood $1.265

Ah, so its not just my team that busts on first round picks.

3. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 10:15 AM (#2487314)

</pre>
D'oh!

Forgot the second tag. Trying again...

2006 Tyler Colvin $1.475
2005 Mark Pawelek $1.75
2004 NONE
2003 Ryan Harvey $2.40
2002 Bobby Brownlie $2.50
2001 Mark Prior $4.00
2000 Luis Montanez $2.75
1999 Ben Christensen $1.00
1998 Corey Patterson $3.70
1997 John Garland $1.325
1996 Todd Noel $0.90
1995 Kerry Wood $1.265
</pre>

Much like spell check I have grown lazy and dependent on the edit feature available on other parts of the site.

4. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 10:16 AM (#2487316)

Well that didn't help.

5. Moses Taylor, Optimist Posted: August 16, 2007 at 10:39 AM (#2487336)

Nit picking, but wasn't Brownlie actually a 2nd round pick? Colvin might have been one also.

And Smarjadksfjdsakf got the biggest bonus and contract of their picks last year.

---

The kid is very, very young. He doesn't turn 18 for a couple more weeks. There's a lot of time to work with him, so I think it would be silly to put too much emphasis on how he looks right now.

6. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 10:46 AM (#2487346)

I worked off this list.

There's a lot of time to work with him, so I think it would be silly to put too much emphasis on how he looks right now.

This is true but what are we going to talk about? His high school batting stats?

And Smarjadksfjdsakf got the biggest bonus and contract of their picks last year.

Yes. It was a bizarre contract which had a bonus of $1 million which could increase to $7.5 million "if he chooses baseball over football" according to Cot's. I'm not sure if all of that money is purely based on his election of baseball but it seems WAY too high for the Cubs not to have preserved a way out.

7. Chief Posted: August 16, 2007 at 11:22 AM (#2487382)

Brownlie was the first of three first-round draft picks by the Cubs in 2002 (along with Chadd Blasko and Luke Hagerty).

8. Moses Taylor, Optimist Posted: August 16, 2007 at 11:27 AM (#2487387)

Maybe I was thinking about the guy they drafted in 2004.

Anyway, glad you stopped at 10 years back. That list of first round picks is ####### terrible.

9. Moses Taylor, Optimist Posted: August 16, 2007 at 11:27 AM (#2487388)

10, 12, whatever. Who's counting?

10. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 11:43 AM (#2487401)

10, 12, whatever. Who's counting?

I originally intended to do ten but I saw Kerry a couple spots down so I went to include him.

Brownlie was the first of three first-round draft picks by the Cubs in 2002 (along with Chadd Blasko and Luke Hagerty).

I remembered there was a year of many picks but couldn't recall which year it was. So I went with the list because I am posting from work.

Blasko $1.05
Hagerty $1.15
,/pre>

11. Spahn Insane Posted: August 16, 2007 at 12:43 PM (#2487473)

Colvin might have been one also.

Colvin was definitely a first-rounder. Think he was the 13th overall. (He was PROJECTED as a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick, but the Cubs got him in the first.)

12. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 02:04 PM (#2487556)

Colvin is actually doing OK in Daytona: .306/.336/.514

Yeah, the walk rate is atrocious but at least he's hitting the ball.

13. Cabbage Posted: August 16, 2007 at 03:27 PM (#2487695)

He showed up towards the later innings of last nights game. Makes me think that a deal was reached a while ago, but either the team or agent held it back an announcement until the last second.

14. Mike Emeigh Posted: August 16, 2007 at 03:34 PM (#2487706)

Colvin was promoted to AA about a month ago; he's hit .297/.311/.459 for the Smokies. I saw him here a couple of weeks ago, and he looks like a much better player than his scouting reports would have had us believe. The K/BB ratio is bad enough to make one a little nervous, but the contact rate is very good and the EBH numbers are encouraging. He could be a potential CF solution as early as the middle of next year.

-- MWE

15. Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute Posted: August 16, 2007 at 03:38 PM (#2487721)

He could be a potential CF solution as early as the middle of next year.

A solution to that pesky Pie problem. Good one to have.

16. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 16, 2007 at 07:24 PM (#2488123)

Colvin was promoted to AA about a month ago; he's hit .297/.311/.459 for the Smokies.

How did I not know about this? I'm an idjit.

Not to be snarky but does Colvin outperform Pie in a single aspect of baseball?

17. karkface killah Posted: August 17, 2007 at 12:26 AM (#2488497)

Ah, so its not just my team that busts on first round picks.

Is that 1st round list really that bad? Wood, Garland, Patterson, and Prior all within six years? I'm not counting 05 and 06. . . but I don't think the Cubs drafting has been that bad. Montanez and Christensen are turds.

18. Sweet Posted: August 17, 2007 at 10:24 AM (#2488671)

ESPN reporting Zambrano signs with Cubs for 5 years, $90 million.

19. Spahn Insane Posted: August 17, 2007 at 10:40 AM (#2488685)

ESPN reporting Zambrano signs with Cubs for 5 years, $90 million.

Indeed. I just submitted the news item. Sub-Zito money in terms of both years and per-year. Amazing.

Now, he needs to get back into form to convince me he's worth the investment. (I wouldn't have any doubts if his last line wasn't so damned terrifying--13 hits allowed, zero strikeouts.)

20. Spahn Insane Posted: August 17, 2007 at 10:52 AM (#2488695)

Actually, I guess it's the same as Zito per year. My math sucks.

21. willcarrollsux Posted: August 18, 2007 at 12:14 AM (#2490349)

Can some Cubs fan, or maybe some supergenius major league manager like Lou Pinella, explain to me exactly why Felix Pie is rotting on a bench at the age of 22?

22. A well respected Meat Posted: August 18, 2007 at 12:28 AM (#2490356)

jones is batting .360 since the allstar break.

23. willcarrollsux Posted: August 18, 2007 at 12:32 AM (#2490361)

Is that supposed to be an answer to my question?

Pie should be playing every day. I'm not saying he should necessarily be playing every day in the Majors.

24. A well respected Meat Posted: August 19, 2007 at 02:37 PM (#2491517)

i know he should be playing every day, but right now i think with the outfield injuries and floyd on leave they need bodies up there, but yes he does need to be playing everyday, but also the minor league season is almost over so he doesnt have much time left to be doing that.

25. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 20, 2007 at 09:29 AM (#2492069)

Floyd is on the restricted list, Soriano and Pagan are on the DL. The two injured players are the only ones (aside from Jones) who can even pretend to play centerfield. Unfortunately for Pie, Jones is hot and they're both left handed hitters.

26. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 22, 2007 at 09:27 AM (#2494842)

Cars/Cubs makeup is set for September 10.

That was an off day for the Cubs during their road trip (they are traveling from Pittsburgh to Houston) and the Cardinals are traveling from Arizona to Cincinnati.

27. Pops Freshenmeyer Posted: August 22, 2007 at 09:28 AM (#2494843)

Cards/Cubs

Page 1 of 1 pages

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Cubs Sign First Round Pick

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

My Bookmarks

Hot Topics