the building of the 2009 cubs...

[Hammer]

a work in progress...

the first chicago cub of the new era was delwyn young. a pure hitting second baseman, he batted .350 with over 200 hits as a rookie in 2008. he led the league with that .350 mark, and was 2nd with his 203 hits. his leadership ability made him the perfect piece in our minds to build our new organization around.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2191.html

formerly of washington, jj johnson was our 2nd pick. the 67th best prospect in the league according to baseball america, we didnt want to ignore the system. seeing as we're an expansion franchise, johnson mightve gotten pushed to the rotation immediately, but we stacked up on arms, underdeveloped as they may be, and johnson will likely start the year in double a west tennessee, or triple a iowa.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1852.html

erik thompson was our third pick, great talent and already far along, the only concern is his lack of conditioning or stamina. we'll work with him as an expansion club in the rotation, but if it doesnt pan out he'll have the ability to move to the pen and be a late inning guy, we're confident.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2151.html

our 4th pick, formerly of puerto rico was outfielder victor diaz. a great power bat, with room to grow even, will undoubtedly be our 2nd opening day starter out of the grouping so far, undoubtedly batting in the middle of the lineup at that. an inconsistent amount of playing time has plagued him his career, hopefully a steady spot will see his numbers rise.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1702.html

a team we'd be seeing quite a bit of today marked our 5th selection, taking the first of 3 players from boston, tyler pelland. despite playing at single a for all of last season, we feel as though tyler couldve made the jump right to the big leagues if we felt impatient, but a bit more seasoning at triple a is likely for now.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3739.html

yet another underdeveloped arm in young jake dittler from louisville was our 6th pick. his movement enamored us, and we felt we could supply the playing time to hone his stuff and control. he will likely start the year as our 5th starter.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1703.html

cliff pennington was a selection for the future. we love his leadership qualities, and we love his level, potential 40 double bat. we didnt want to ignore the system, and we felt like we got a real solid player for the future.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3812.html

the first of two colorado relievers, here comes andy sisco back to chicago. put up some solid numbers in hitters heaven colorado, we're expecting more of the same as he'll likely step into the closers role in new chicago.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2107.html

as we got to the latter parts of rounds, we were just hoping to get warm bodies. glenn tucker is a warm body. hes major league ready, hes close to his ceiling, and hes alive, so he'll start the year in my bullpen.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2889.html

our final pick of the 1st round was 19 year old reliever fernando puentes. he has a bright future, but hes many years away, but again, we didnt want to ignore the system. we wish he'd throw more than 2 pitches, but we'll deal with it considering that hes a bright young talent in a bleek talent pool.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1727.html

back to my underdeveloped arms for the 2nd round, fireballer aaron thompson kicked us off. a lefty that throws 99 and 4 pitches, and is still only 21. we were pleasantly surprised to find him on the board.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3748.html

we had a good amount of arms for the minors, but now we needed some for the majors. oliver perez is a nice spearhead ace for my expansion squad. even he has room to grow, but he hasnt found a level of comfort in the majors. we're here to provide that comfort.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p138.html

donny lucy has a huge ceiling, but hes not close as of yet. he was close enough for us to say he couldve started the year in the majors if we didnt get someone closer, but since we did, lucy can learn the game and hopefully grow a bit more at triple a.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3074.html

finally getting back to our major league squad, we grabbed throwback kevin seitzer. seitzer is a slightly above average hitter across the board, but we loved his defensive ability, and thats what put him over the top for us.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3441.html

another starter in mike jacobs was up next. he even still has some room to grow, if he replicates the 35 doubles and 22 homers he hit last year, with average defense, we'll be very satisfied.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1843.html

second time we plundered an arm from louisville, this time in samuel moore. moore will start at triple a as well, although a midseason callup is probably not out of the question, and its always possibly he'll see an early start in april.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1823.html

and here's our shortstop, jj hardy. hardy is a similar hitter to kevin seitzer, though not quite as good with the glove. still, hardy has major league experience, and he fills out my infield.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1805.html

walter norwood was for the now more than the future, despite being 25. we figure he'll serve as the backup 1st baseman, with a solid contact bat and a good glove, though relatively mediocre the rest of the way.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3065.html

another young arm for my bullpen of the future is bill autrey, the 2nd of 3 picks from colorado. he'll start the year at double a west tennessee.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2434.html

jason stanford is what he is. and who knows, maybe if he grows to his talent before hes 40, maybe ill be able to use him on the major league roster once or twice
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1049.html

our 3rd pick from boston, and our first pick of the 3rd round netted us brad sullivan. he'll make the jump from double a to the majors. hes the first pitcher whos overly developed, exceeding the scouts opinion of their talents. he'll like be my number 2 behind oliver perez.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2215.html

and my number 4 behind perez, sullivan and thompson is armando galarraga. an underacheiver in vancouver, galarraga is another fireballer with solid stuff, but he needs to find more consistency with his control of his breaking balls. still, when he's on he keeps the ball on the ground, and in wrigley thats always a plus.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3796.html

we got burnt twice earlier in the day trying to pick him, but we finally got it done here with the 3rd pick of the 3rd round, aaron hathaway. we picture a 40 double guy a season when he reaches his peak, with about 15 homers. we'll take it. a little bit more room to grow, but here's my opening day catcher.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3078.html

another arm for the future, but also for now, with ryan scudder from chicago. our scouts feel he's polished enough to come right to the majors from single a, and thats precisely what he'll do. a lefty with good control and solid movement, at worst hes an acceptable lefty specialist.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p95.html

the non olympian ben johnson joins us next. average across the board, with a good contact bat. possibly a starter at a corner outfield spot, more likely a solid bat off the bench.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3695.html

some gluttony was forthcoming with the selection of wandy rodriguez. a bit old for where we wanted to go, but he was capable and on the market. he'll be an arm out of the pen, as i dont wanna stunt the growth of the youth.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3663.html

keith bower is another young arm. hes going to have tremendous stuff at his peak, with solid movement, he'll start the year at triple a iowa for us.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p585.html

johnny martinez is a young arm, whos at his talent, so i simply hope he gains more. he was just a replacement for yhency brazoban, who i was thrilled to pair up with andy sisco, but then found out he was protected, which is lame.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p2155.html

kenneth roach will likely start the year as a backup at catcher, 2nd, short and 3rd, which is where all his value comes from, the multitude of positions he can play. he could develop a bit more power, and would then be a relatively solid bat off the bench.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p3227.html

and the final pick, reliever jay bergmann from detroit. another arm who keeps the ball on the ground, he too has room to grow, but he'll start at the majors anyway.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p1608.html

on the cusp of the expansion draft, the first signings of the new cubs era were announced. with announced holes in center and left, we went out and got the most talented, yet young talent that we could get. dr wily mo pena and covelli coco crisp filled those spots admirably. we are filled with confidence in our young lineup, and we feel like we can keep them together for years to come.
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p148.html
http://sbsl.allsimbaseball.com/lgreports/p751.html

c: hathaway
1b: jacobs
2b: young
ss: hardy
3b: seitzer
lf: wily mo
cf: crisp
rf: diaz

sp: perez, sullivan, thompson, galarraga, dittler
rp: sisco, scudder, tucker, rodriguez, bergmann

[Stonedrie2]

OH my, well done.

[nick]

A+++