I’ve done this article for four years now and have been dead on as well as being way off in the process (no one saw the Colvin pick as he wasn’t even a Top 100 prospect).  What I’ll list below are scouting reports on possible first round selections the Cubs are currently looking at as well as some wild cards.  Since Wilken joined the club in 2006 and led the draft, he has followed no pattern other taking athletic players no matter their handedness or position.

Last year, the club took Californian Junior Brett Jackson and he has been destroying the lower levels.  Before that the club took Texas Christian Junior Andrew Cashner who has now made his MLB debut to aid the depleted bullpen.  The Cubs are still developing 2007 first rounder Josh Vitters while 2006’s first rounder has made it to the big leagues in Tyler Colvin as a role player.  With Colvin and Cashner’s reach to the MLB, it marks a long history of Wilken’s 1st round pick succesion as he headed the Blue Jays scouting system from 1988-2000 drafting names such as Ed Sprague, Shawn Green, Shannon Stewart, Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, Vernon Wells, Felipe Lopez, Alexis Rios, and Dustin McGowen. Thus far his 1st round legacy in Chicago is looking to be on the same track.

This year’s draft is full of young right handed pitching and short on premium positional prospects especially catchers and middle infielders.  The Cubs have been tied to several players with the 16th overall selection, after the 16th pick the Cubs don’t draft again until 65th overall due to signing Marlon Byrd. Inside I’ll breakdown some of the names. Read more… »

The Cubs win again in the arbitration court hearings.  This time by getting the panel to vote that Theriot was worth 2.6M instead of what Ryan thought he was worth at 3.4M.  Congrats on Hendry’s shrewdness as it paid off and the three man panel got this one right.  By locking in Theriot at 2.6M it makes him an attractive trade option to other teams this year and at season’s end when Starlin Castro should be MLB ready.

Entering this offseason the Cubs had eight arbitrational players: Ryan Theriot, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, Mike Fontentot, Jeff Baker, Koyie Hill, Angel Guzman, and Tom Gorzelanny.  Of those eight, only Ryan Theriot remains as sole survivor and an unagreed upon contract.  The honest truth in all of it, is that the Cubs aren’t too interested in keeping Theriot past this season.  For more keep on reading… Read more… »

The Cubs still aren’t done shopping on the free agent market as Hendry is actively shopping the flooded outfield market.  Several prominent names have be linked to the Cubs of late, including Xavier Nady, Jermaine Dye, Rocco Baldelli, and Eric Byrnes.  All have their drawbacks but all do have high upsides as well.  Also not out of the running is the return of Reed Johnson although that does seem like a long shot.

It’s good to see Jim not settling for the likes of Micah Hoffpauir or Sam Fuld to round out the bench and is looking at an experienced discount bat off the bench.  For more keep reading… Read more… »

On the final day of the 2009 calendar the Cubs purchased their centerfielder for the 2010 season in the 32 year old Marlon Byrd.  Byrd has long been on Hendry’s list of players to acquire and when he become eligible in free agency this season he was at the top of the Cubs’ wishlist but Milton Bradley had to be dealt first.  The right handed hitting Byrd just served up his career year in his walk season and his first full season as a full-time player since 2003, in 146 games, Byrd posted a line of .283/.329/.479/.808 with 43 2bs, 3 3bs, 20 hrs, 89 rbi, and 8/12 in stolen bases.  For more on Byrd and the Cubs future keep reading…

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