To Draft or Not to Draft

The 2006 First-Year Player Draft starts today and finishes tomorrow (June 6th & June 7th) and this will be the first for Tim Wilken, Director of Amateur and Professional Scouting. Wilken came from the Toronto Blue Jays organization and all 11 of his first round picks with the Blue Jays made it to the Major League, of the Cubs last 12 first round picks, 5 of them made it to the Majors.

The Cubs have the 13th pick in the first round and do not have another pick until the 5th round. They lost their 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks as compensatory picks to the former teams of Scott Eyre, Bobby Howry and Jacque Jones when they signed with the Cubs as free agents this past off-season.

Wilken selected the likes of Orlando Hudson and Chris Woodward and has said he likes selecting middle infielders because they are usually the better athletes.

Here are the last six first round draft picks (and some notables) for the Cubs and where they are this season:

2005 - Mark Pawelek, LHP - Currently with the Boise Hawks (A) their season begins on June 19th

2004 - Grant Johnson, RHP - Currently with the Daytona Cubs (A) and is 4-5 with a 5.17 ERA in 10 games

2004 notables - Eric Patterson, 8th round
- Sam Flud, 10th round
- Sean Gallagher, 12th round

2003 - Ryan Harvey, CF - Currently with the Daytona Cubs (A) and is hitting .192/.246/.311 with 5 home runs and 30 RBI's

2003 notables - Jake Fox, 3rd round
- Sean Marshall, 6th round
- Casey McGehee, 10th round

2002 - Bobby Brownlie, RHP - Currently with the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (AA) after starting the season with the Iowa Cubs (AAA). Brownlie is 2-3 with a 4.43 ERA in 8 games with West Tenn and was 0-3 with a 10.80 ERA in 8 games with Iowa.

2002 notables - Brian Dopirak, 2nd round
-Rich Hill, 4th round
- Chris Walker, 6th round
- Adam Greenberg, 9th round
- Micah Hoffpauir, 13th round
- Rocky Cherry, 14th round
- Randy Wells, 38th round

2001 - Mark Prior, RHP

2001 notables - Ryan Theriot, 3rd round
- Ricky Nolasco, 4th round
- Sergio Mitre, 7th round
- Geovany Soto, 11th round
- Khalil Greene, 14th round

2000 - Luis Montanez, SS - Montanez moved to the outfield and was promoted from the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (AA) on May 17th. Currently with the Iowa Cubs (AAA) and in 15 games is hitting .212/.268/.385 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI's

2000 notables - Todd Wellemeyer, 4th round
Dontrelle Willis, 8th round
Jon Leicester, 11th round
Jason Dubois, 14th round
Buck Coats, 18th round
Carmen Pignatiello, 20th round
Federico Baez, 42nd round

Here is more information on the draft...a history and how it works and who is eligible....a very good read.

And with the 13th pick in the 2006 Draft the Chicago Cubs select....

Steve

Did anyone notice that the Cubs drafted Jeff Samarga (spelling?)? The Bears should draft him next year too. We could have the next Bo Jackson or Deon Sanders on our hands.

And I thought that Khalil Green was drafted 13th by the Padres in 2002. Were the Cubs just unable to sign him in 2001?

Neil

Jason...great pickup on the pitchers, I had not realized that. With Prior, Wood, Zambrano and Marshall that is a given, but like you I forget about Maddux. I am really looking forward to that rotation.

On Richard Lewis, he is still in the Cubs' farm system. Lewis is with the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and in 41 games here are his numbers: .261/.317/.357/1/13.

On the position players...look for the article I am running on Thursday. I recently saw the I-Cubs in action and Buck Coats is VERY impressive. Geovany Soto looked good...he will be called up soon with the Barrett suspension and Mr. Theriot has very good range at 2B.

Brian, Shaun is right on the Bynum options...he is out and cannot be sent down. I have heard rumblings that the roster spot is between him and Neifi...but again those are rumblings, but the decision will have to be made before Derrek Lee returns. The Cubs lose a roster spot with Barrett's suspension and they will have to call up Soto to backup Blanco, I really do not see them going with a 11 on the pitching staff, so somebody will have to be sent down, traded or released.

Jason B. from AZ

Ricky be Ricky...and Corey be Corey.

nick

hey Anthony,

He batted .359 this year with 12 HR, 22 doubles, and five triples. He is a career .315 hitter

Anthony

And with the 13th pick in the Baseball Draft, the Chicago Cubs select...........

13 Chi. Cubs Tyler Colvin LF Clemson

Head Coach Jack Leggett on Colvin: "Tyler was one of our most improved players in the fall, and he has gotten a lot stronger. He has a chance to hit for more power this year, but his game is really as a slash hitter and hitting the ball into the gaps along with running aggressively on the bases. He's an excellent defensive player, and he has a good feel for the bunt game. He has the total package, and we look for him to have a great year."

I am having trouble locating his stats for this year, but his stats for 2004 & 2005 don't really show a worthiness of a FIRST ROUND pick. He hit .289 and .283 his Freshman and Sophomore seasons....not too impressive for college. He does have 23 Stolen Bases so far this season.

Brad

Wow, tough to see Kalil Greene's name on that list! Love to have him back. Did you see Paterson is the first guy to have a stolen base in 9 consecutive games since Ricky?

Jason B. from AZ

Neil,

Interesting point in one of the online papers today: when Prior comes back, the Cubs rotation will consist of all Cub farm products.

Obviously we lost out on Maddux's most productive years, but that is still pretty neat.

Now if they could just develop their talent the way that other teams develop Cubs talents (Patterson, Cruz, Willis, etc...)

By the way, what ever happened to a Cubs 2B/SS prospect that sounded like a comedian's name...Richard Lewis? I remember he was on fire, and then had an injury, I believe...?