Where the new pups are classified, betting on development, Espinoza, Strangeness and other puppy bullets

Where the new pups are classified, betting on development, Espinoza, Strangeness and other puppy bullets

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Yes, but SHOULD old acquaintances be forgotten? Maybe sometimes, right? I can think a lot about 2020 that I would like to forget.

• More about the new Cubs prospect quartet and where they fit into the MLB Pipeline system:

• I think that on most lists, you’ll see these guys coming up in the rankings and especially behind the first two layers of the Cubs system (which, for me, is a top tier of Miguel Amaya, Brennen Davis, Brailyn Marquez and Ed Howard, and then a second level from Ryan Jensen, Chase Strumpf, Kohl Franklin and Cole Roederer (I consider Adbert Alzolay to be a graduate, since he is a third of an entry away or something)).

• There are many ways for you to unpack high-level trading: Cubs have four additional prospects in the system that are (1) the top half of the second round or (2) really good IFA hires. These are great categories of leads that you can only add in a given year. Lions need to add four more than they normally would. That’s great. This is too much. We just don’t love him as the return of Yu Darvish’s trade. But we’ve been doing this dance for three days now, and I think I just have to move on.

• Interesting reinforcement about the idea that you can’t just look at where a guy ranks on a given farm system and assume that it means a lot of everything? These four guys ranked roughly at the same points on the Fathers’ farm system as well. And the Fathers ‘farm system is loaded, so that means the Cubs’ farm system must also be loaded, right?!?! Well, not exactly. It’s not just the Fathers’ farm system unusually deep behind these guys, they also have much, much higher impact types forward of these guys. So how much does the strict classification of potential customers within agricultural systems really tell you? Not much. Something! But not much.

• Michael Ernst did a great job presenting so many things that we think and know about the state of the Cubs’ farm system in recent years – how things have changed in really significant ways behind the scenes and should start to manifest in the next two years – and I highly recommend. I really think we would have seen some noticeable changes this year if there was a season in the minor leagues.

• With regard to Darvish’s return, I would add that, in a way, the Cubs have now done more than they have done in recent years when it comes to acquiring amateurs: accepting more risk in exchange for more positive side, believing in their own organizational capacity to maximize development. I’m not saying that I love that approach when it comes to changing an incredibly valuable player from the big league, but at least I see some consistency in that. If you believe in your investments in philosophy changes in scouting and player development, well, then you may prefer four very young, very raw and high-potential perspectives over one or two existing, safer, short-term things .

• … but, uh, you better be right. Because you only have one chance to negotiate with a guy like Darvish every few years (at most), and the damage to the organization if you accept four high-risk prospects and none develop is significant. We hope that, at this time of next year, we will see a Brennen-Davis-style breakout or two.

• This is a great read every year:

• Among the mentions of the Lions:

Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward are what we like to call “famous Cubs”. Did you know that the three combined made six home runs at Wrigley Field … throughout the season?

José Abreu is what we like to call “a famous Chicago baseball player, but not a Cub”. Did you know that he also hit six home runs at Wrigley Field this year … in a series?

• You will also remember the game in Cincinnati where each Cubs outfielder hit exactly two home runs, something that literally never happened before. Obviously, Alec Mills’ non-hitter paves the way. There are a lot more fun things there.

• Young Cubs dictator Manuel Espinoza continues to dominate Mexico, allowing only one run in his last 17.0 innings (7 hits, 2 walks, 16 eliminations). At just 20 years old, Espinoza is throwing well against much older competitors in a competitive league. In a year in which, otherwise, we hardly get data on potential customers, this one will scream very loudly when considering where Espinoza has risen in the ranking.

• Greg Maddux knows what is going on:

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