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.

Karsten Whitson   RHP R/R 6′4 190lbs RHP Florida HS

A preseason top 5 prospect out of the Florida high school system, who has long been on scouts’ radar and has been to nearly all high school showcase events as well as playing in the Pan American games.  Karsten stumbled a bit early on in the season lowering his draft status thus possibly making him available for the Cubs.  Whitson is a very athletic player displaying good control, a strong delivery and plus stuff.  In fact his slider is considered one of the best secondary pitches in the draft, showing a hard sharp break.  In addition to his slider, his fastball usually sits in the low 90’s with good live late movement.  He has signed a letter of intent to play for Florida but looks to be an easy sign just above slot value.

Asher Wojciechowski  RHP R/R 6′4 230lbs   Citadel (Jr.)

Asher is a strong open if available he is a college arm that looks to ease through the minors and could be a quick impact arm.  The big righty features a good hard slider along with one of best fastballs in college consistently hitting 94-96 mph and a strong durable arm.  With those two pitches alone he could be a quick callup as a reliever flying through the minors.  Or his selected club could take their time allowing him to further develop his changeup and let him turn into the two or three starter his high ceiling is.  Asher has alot of comps with Cubs’ 2007 first rounder Andrew Cashner as well as Mariners’ 2006 first rounder Brandon Marrow.

Kolbrin Vitek 2B R/R 6′3 195lbs Ball State (Jr.)

Vitek is regarded as one of the best bats in the draft.  He features a beautiful stroke that makes strong contact as well as developing midrange power, good plate coverage and discipline.  Additionally, his speed is midrange with good basestealing technique.  The biggest downfall to Vitek is his lack of a position, currently he plays second base but he’s drifted across the diamond like a nomad.  Most scouts envision him in the outfield in the future with where dividing many of them.  Some see his above average speed and baseball intelligence with the ability to play center while others see him more likely as a third baseman or corner outfielder.  Vitek has a strong arm but his footwork is horrible and his hands are like rocks.  Kolbrin has drawn similarities to AJ Pollock whom the Cubs had eyes on last year before being picked by the D-backs with the 17th overall pick.  To top things off, Vitek is a 3rd-5th round talent as a pitcher with a good strong arm featuring four average pitches.

Anthony Ranaudo. RHP R/R 6′7 230lbs LSU Jr.

Entering the 2010 season, Ranaudo was regarded as the second best available draftee behind only the Legend Bryce Harper.  After a stellar sophomore year leading the Tigers to the World Series, Anthony started his junior year off with a stress fracture that effected his mechanics greatly throughout the 2010 season.  When healthy, he features a fastball in the low 90’s with good sink to both sides of the dish as well as a big breaking curveball and good changeup.  Most scouts are split on Anthony as he’s had a poor 2010 season along with a history of injuries, still his skill set and size speaks for itself.  Even without his recent injury, Ranaudo was a likely candidate to fall due to his representation in Scott Boras.  If Anthony doesn’t get the money or contract that he wants there is a good chance that he will go to the independent circuit where several other Boras’ clients have gone before with good results.

Alex Wimmers RHP L/R  6′2 195lbs Ohio State Jr.

Wimmers is a polished athletic college pitcher with four pitches, with three of them average.   Alex has a lot of poise with strong mechanics and without question the best changeup available in the draft; in addition to a good sinking fastball, a good curveball and a developing slider.  Yet Wimmers is close to a finished product and doesn’t have a high ceiling.  Although, he looks to be a quick return and a stable force in the middle or bottom of the rotation.

Stetson Allie, RHP/3B B/R 6′4 225lbs  Ohio HS

Allie is a unique creature as he has the best pure velocity of the pitchers in the draft as well as the some of the best pure power at the plate.  His fastball has reached 99 mph and consistently hits the mid 90’s even late into games piece that with a slider that hits 89 mph.  His control and delivery are another issue, both have improved this season as Allie has become less raw on the bump.  When he’s not pitching, Stetson is at the hot corner showing off a strong arm as well as good footwork and a huge power bat.  Still his future is on the mound as his upside is much greater there than as a hitter plus he.  Despite a commitment to North Carolina signability shouldn’t be too big of a concern.

Matt Harvey   RHP R/R 6′4 225lbs North Carolina (Jr)

Harvey has long been highly regarded on the scouts’ radar as he was taken in the third round out of high school in the 2007 draft by the Angels yet did not sign.  Since then his stock has gone up and down as he had a very poor sophomore year before rebounding this year. Matt has nasty stuff leading with a low to mid 90’s fastball, a hard tight slider, a big curve, and a decent change.  The scary part with Harvey is that he’s streaky, his delivery is full of holes which leads to command issues.  The funny part is that many of those flaws didn’t exist back in 2007, thus leading to many in the industry to think that being placed with the right pitching coach and he’ll be the superstar that he was once pegged as.  If his mechanical issues are cleared up, he could end up as a closer.

Dylan Covey RHP R/R 6′2 200lbs California HS

Covey is another righty high school pitcher that has tantalizing stuff.  His delivery is strong with smooth mechanics.    He controls his fastball well with great late movement in the low 90’s.  Additionally, he adds a nasty slider along with a developing decent change and curveball thus giving him four pitches that are at least average.  With his depth of pitches, pretty arm action, and arm strength, Covey looks to be a quick climber up the minor league system.  Dylan suffered from some early hiccups which has led to a slide from the top 10 to mid-late first round and possibly being available for the Cubs.

Brett Eibner RHP/OF R/R  6′4 210lbs Arkansas (Jr.)

There is no question that Eibner is the best two-way prospect in the 2010 draft and one of the best athletes.  Brett is regarded as a first round pick either as a centerfielder/rightfielder or a pitcher.  Teams, scouts, fans, and even Eibner are split on whether he should become a power-hitting centerfielder/rightfielder or a top of the rotation starter.  His fastball usually sits in the low 90s with good sink but can reach up to 97 mph while his secondary can be impressive at times in a nice dirty slider, a strong cutter, and a developing change.  Despite having all the tools for a power pitcher, Brett has all the tools for a power hitter and he personally prefers that role.  He can hit the ball with authority to all fields, with good contact and great power.  His ace up his sleeve is that he’s been working on hitting from the left side of the plate as well.  The signing of Eibner might be difficult as he sees himself as an everyday player while most of the scouting world sees him better served as a pitcher.

Michael Choice  CF R/R 6′0 215lbs Texas-Arlington (Jr.)

No prospect has upped his value as much as Choice has this season.  He crushes balls to all fields but can become pull conscious at times.  Choice has quick wrists and the quickest bat through the zone of all available prospects.  His bat and athleticism draws comps to Gary Sheffield.  His plate approach has improved as he works counts deep, draws plenty of walks, and forces pitchers to throw him his pitch.  Currently he plays center but many scouts see him in one of the corner outfield spots if he reaches the big leagues due to his less than impressive jumps even though he has great raw speed.

Brandon Workman RHP R/R 6′5 220lbs Texas (Jr.)

Like Harvey, Workman has long been scouts’ radar as the Phils took him in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft before not caving in to a 50K difference.  Now Brandon looks to earn a million and some change as a mid to late first rounder.  His fastball registers in the low 90’s with decent movement and good command but his curveball is just amazing with biplane hard break.  Along with his fastball/curveball mix he showcases a pretty cutter, and a developing change.  Workman has had the tendency to overthrow in the past hitting in the mid 90’s consistently but with little movement or control when he lessens up he shows off good sink on the fastball. He’s as hard nosed and tough competitor as there comes, which along with his iffy mechanics makes him a strong bet for the bullpen.

Justin O’Conner  C/RHP R/R 6′1 190lbs Indiana HS

O’Conner, the Arkansas recruit, has had the scouting world split much like Stetson Allie and Brett Eibner.  Justin showcases a mid 90’s fastball with good late movement as well as a knee buckling curveball in addition to impressive quick bat speed and power to all fields.  O’Conner prefers to remain a positional player but some feel that his mechanics in his swing need a major tune-up. On the other hand, he’s very raw as a pitcher and has a tendency to just throw with power and outmatch batters.  Before the season, O’Conner was a nomad in the field until he went behind the plate showing off his tremendous arm strength along with his versatility.  Although he is very raw, Justin shows amazing athleticism and the coachability to be molded into whatever his selective club needs out of him.

A.J Cole RHP R/R   6′5 195lbs Florida HS

At the beginning of the season, Cole was much like Whitson, in that both were considered top 10 talents yet faltered due in their draft status due to slow starts. AJ shows off a low to mid 90’s fastball with great sink and good late movement.  In addition to his sinking fastball, he throws a plus knuckle-curve with nasty break and a developing changeup.  His mechanics are strong but his body is thin and he needs to grow into his frame.

My personal opinion is that if Karsten Whitson is available Wilken will gladly nab him but it looks like a strong chance that he’s gone before we pick. If that is the case, then Cole is possibility (if he’s not gone as well). Of late there have been strong links of Indiana high schooler O’Conner as he is extremely athletic versatile and coachable. Finished college righty pitching prospects as Wimmers, Wojciechowski, and Workman appear to be back up plans if some of the high schoolers are gone.