There's something to what you say, but it's apples and oranges. Nobody (that I have seen) is suggest

Split duties seattle washington hotels last season, but the consensus seems to think 2B will be the long term position for Alcantara. Personally, I think he can handle either position defensively; although, he could be considered seattle washington hotels above-average at second.
How do we see this infield logjam resolving itself? Long-term, it's too early to figure, but just for April 2014, the Cubs have Darwin seattle washington hotels Barney , Logan Watkins , Luis Valbuena , Mike Olt and Donnie Murphy seattle washington hotels for four MLB infield slots (starters at 3B & 2B and two UTIL), and none of them can fall back on a regular job in Iowa, thanks to Baez, Alcantara and Villanueva. I'm fascinated by that dilemma.
Okay, thanks again. One more question: You talk about Baez getting "tied up" by off-speed stuff. Is he just unable to adjust to soft stuff in, and gets too far ahead of it? Is this a swing-path thing? Is he looking away too often? Just trying to visualize, because we usually hear that phrase with fastballs, but clearly, Baez's seattle washington hotels bat is too fast to get tied up by velocity.
It's not so much that he is overly aggressive; rather, he just tries to hit every ball out of the park, so he often jumps fastballs and shifts his weight and rotates his hips early in order to launch the bat, and if he guesses wrong, he's unbalanced and struggles to recover.
Jason, what are main reasons why you'd take the Twins ahead of the Cubs? Is it the Twins' depth, a better balance of hitting and pitching, or just a toss up? Would you change your mind if you were to rank them again today?
I wouldn't change my mind. I believe the Twins have the better system right now. Cubs have the depth and impact talent to pass them, but as of right now (pre-2014), the Twins are the premier system for me. The reason has nothing to do with balance; rather, its just about talent. They have a ton of talent, both of the superstar variety, high impact variety, and depth that could eventually reach those levels. While its true that the Twins have a good mixture of both arms and bats, I just care about the talent, regardless of the position.
seattle washington hotels When people have to spend that much time explaining what is wrong with Edwards... there is probably not that much wrong with in the first place. It seems to be a common industry theme. seattle washington hotels Reminds me a bit of the critiques of Taveras' "violent" swing.
This doesn't make much sense. There is plenty stuff to be critical of in Edwards' profile. If he lacked weakness, he wouldn't have been drafted in the 48th round, or moved as a secondary piece in a rental trade, or even pitching in the minors to begin with. If Edwards didn't have much wrong with him--as you say--why seattle washington hotels didn't the Cubs put him in the rotation after acquiring him?
There's something to what you say, but it's apples and oranges. Nobody (that I have seen) is suggesting that Taveras might have to be a half-time player because of his violent swing, in the way that they are suggesting that here are the reasons that Edwards might be better cast as a reliever.
What are the reports on Dillon Maples seattle washington hotels looking seattle washington hotels like? I saw him throw at Kane County and he was a mess, but it seemed seattle washington hotels like he improved in his second go around at Boise. Still a chance he makes an impact a major league level someday?
I was referring to a comment from an old episode of Up and In where one of them (thought it was the Professor) said that he's had people tell him that their hands tremble when they're about to put an 80 on some prospect's power. Lots of guys get 70 on their power but 80? It's rare. To see it in a SS is crazy.
I want to see the infield of Baez, Alcantara, Castro and Rizzo with Soler, Almora and Bryant in the OF with Castillo behind the dish. Can they all arrive at the same time please to supplement Castro, Castillo and Rizzo? That would be a welcome result after these last few years of backsliding.
That's not how this works, though. Remember that. The one thing that's been bad this winter seattle washington hotels is the lack of sound expectation management in Cubdom. Some of these guys WON'T be average or better MLB regulars. Remember to be thrilled if ONE of Baez and Bryant becomes a superstar, and if ONE of Almora seattle washington hotels and Soler becomes a star, and if ONE of Johnson and Edwards sticks in the middle of a rotation, and if ONE of Alcantara, Vogelbach, Villanueva, Olt and Candelario becomes an average regular. That's how this works, still.
Maybe we are running in different circles, but most Cubs fans I see are assuming at least a 50 percent bust rate. Honestly, most of them aren't expecting anything out of Alcantara, Vogelbach, seattle washington hotels Villanueva, Olt and Candelario.
Jason - I saw Vogelbach seattle washington hotels last summer and was surprised by his hustle and underlying athleticism. Not saying he was Eric Davis out there, but he was no slob, either. seattle washington hotels A lot of the report on him - and his body type - reminds me of Travis Snider when he was a low level minor leaguer. What separates Vogelbach today from Snider then?
Vogelbach has no chance to play in the outfield, and I'm not sure he could even be below-average at 1B. I haven't seen a lot of athleticism in Vogelbach, at least compared to other professional seattle washington hotels athletes. He's a very good athlete compared to people that play in beer softball leagues or just average Joes, but at the professional level, its hard to go too high on his overall athletic profile. That said, you don't have to look good in a uniform to hit a baseball, and I think he's going to hit for both average seattle washington hotels and power. Value is going to be tied to his stick, so he will have to rake to become a first-division type. But I believe in the bat.