Down on the Farm - Felix Pie - ChicagoCubsOnline.com

If you do a search for Felix Pie on the Internet you might see phrases such as "Cubs Top Prospect", "Five Tool Player", or "The Next Corey Patterson." Oh yeah, Corey Patterson. Because of Corey, many Cubs fans are leery of Felix Pie and the talent he has. Corey and Felix are clearly not related but they are both five-tool players so when you talk about Pie, another player often mentioned is Patterson. Is it fair to compare Pie to Patterson? Obviously the answer is no but we cannot help ourselves, we thought we were at the Promised Land once before with Corey Patterson.

Patterson disappointed Cubs fans but I am here to say that Pie is not going to do the same. Let me quickly explain before ending the discussion about the Cubs former center fielder. Patterson was a #1 draft pick of the Cubs in 1998 and received a $3.7 million dollar signing bonus, second only to Mark Prior for largest bonuses paid by the Cubs. As a #1 draft pick, Patterson was heralded as the answer to the Cubs woes and all Cubs fans thought once he made it to Wrigley Field things would get better. I believe three things led to Patterson's failure with the Cubs. First, as a top draft pick and with a big signing bonus he felt the pressure to succeed. Second, he was brought up through the minors too quickly and he did not have a chance to adjust. Third, Patterson suffered a torn ACL in 2003. That was not his fault but in 2003, he had a decent season going. He was back in 2004 and struggled and Cubs fans lost patience when it continued in 2005.

Pie was an undrafted free agent in 2001 and received no signing bonus. Pie has been brought up slowly through the Cubs system and he is getting every opportunity to work through his weaknesses in the minors and not with the big club. When Pie makes it to Chicago, he will be ready to perform and will better handle the pressure that comes with playing at Wrigley on a daily basis. When he does make it you will need to know how to say his name. You will not hear Chris Berman announce him as Felix "Hot Apple" Pie or anything like that. His name is pronounced Pee-Ay. Most of you know that but I wanted to add it for any that did not.

Now Pie has spent 5 seasons in the Cubs minor league system and he just turned 22 last month. After signing with the Cubs in 2001, his first experience was in the rookie league in 2002. He did not waste any time impressing the Cubs management by batting .321 in 55 games at the age of 17. He briefly played in Boise and started the 2003 season in Lansing. Most feel the Cubs would have rushed him to the majors if he had been healthy enough to do so in 2005. With the trade for Juan Pierre last season, the Cubs were able to give Pie time to develop at the AAA level in 2006. While his season totals are respectable, after a slow start (.248 with 7 home runs) he finished strong (.322 with 8 home runs). In 5 seasons in the minors, he has a .294 batting average, .353 on-base percentage, 42 home runs, and 98 stolen bases.

After spending like George Steinbrenner this year, the Cubs are not ready to bring Pie to Wrigley and he was cut from the spring roster on Monday. He will not get the playing time he needs to continue his development so he will be back at AAA-Iowa to start the season. He has been impressive this spring and I am excited to know he is getting close to changing his address from Iowa to Illinois but I want him to be ready when he comes to the big club. There is good reason to be excited about him being close to Chicago. When you look at the other top five-tool players you think of Carl Crawford, Carlos Beltran and Vladimir Guerrero. You could probably throw Alfonso Soriano into that group as well. With Pie likely to see Wrigley next year, it has to excite all Cubs fans when you imagine what that could be like. I know I cannot wait to see that outfield.

It is not a surprise that Baseball America has Pie rated as the Cubs #1 prospect. It is his 2nd year in the #1 spot. Just about any site that ranks prospects has Pie rated #1 for the Cubs. You might be wondering, if he is a #1 prospect then what does he need to do to get to the big club. Pie has a few areas where he needs to improve. His strikeout totals are high. Over the last three years he has struck out an average of 1 in 4 at-bats. He has low walk totals and that affects his on-base percentage. For a potential leadoff hitter he walks much less than he should be. His stolen base totals are impressive but he is caught stealing too often as well. Over the last three years he has 62 stolen bases but he has been caught 36 times. He has a tendency to chase pitches so once he reaches the big leagues and faces even better pitching, he could have some real problems. AAA is the best place for him to continue to improve.

Pie is a skilled player and there is a chance he will be called up to Chicago this year if he starts well in AAA. The areas he needs work on should not be too much trouble for him. Remember, he is still only 22 years old. Even if he does not see Wrigley until next year, he will have a long career ahead of him. I am excited at the prospect of seeing him soon. I also admit I selected him as a reserve on my fantasy baseball team so I think he is getting close but he is still very raw. I got him cheap so I will not have a problem stashing him away for a year.

If you would like to see Pie before he is called up to Chicago you can always make the trip to Des Moines to see the I-Cubs. For those that live close to Des Moines, there is a great alternative. An Iowa Cubs Fan Club membership is available for $15 and they have a couple dates where you can go on the field and meet the players. One day you can get a picture with any of the players and another day you can go on the field for autographs. This is all part of the $15 price which amazes me, I am getting one so if you want a chance to meet Felix Pie, you might give it a try. My dilemma is this, Photo Day is June 14, and Autograph Day is July 21. Will Pie still be in Iowa on one or both of those days? I would love to get a photo but if he is not at Iowa, he will be in Chicago and I like that option better. I cannot predict what will happen in 2007 but the "Felix Pie Show" should be coming to Chicago very soon and I cannot wait.

Baseball America's Top 10 Cubs Prospects

Felix Pie, of
Donald Veal, lhp
Jeff Samardzija, rhp
Tyler Colvin, of
Sean Gallagher, rhp
Eric Patterson, 2b
Scott Moore, 3b
Ryan Harvey, of
Chris Huseby, rhp
Mark Pawelek, lhp

Felix Pie's Baseball Cube page

Austin

Wow. Prior sent to AAA. Never thought I'd see the day. I'm just glad they started treating him normally, not as the golden boy anymore. It will be good for him, he is not ready to pitch in the bigs, so its best for him to pitch in the minors I guess. Sad story.

elliot

Personally, I think anybody that strikes out 100+ times a year should slug 40+ home runs to make up for it. That is why I forgive Soriano for striking out 160 times last year. OR, if you're gonna strike out, at least gain as many walks, ie Adam Dunn. I am not a fan of Felix Pie, and here is why. He has very little concept of the strike zone, mainly due to his swinger's mentality. That's fine if you're Nomar Garciaparra and have such excellent eye-hand coordination that you can at least strike the ball. But I see Pie flailing away just as Corey did at pitches over his head and in the dirt. I think Patteron's defense was a tad better, and he was faster on the base paths. Pie might be fast, but he is caught way too often. Everybody thinks that because he is only 22, he still has time to learn the strike zone. I cannot remember the last guy who suddenly "learned" the strike zone. That is why Ryan Harvey and his 200 strikeouts but power potential is more likely to succeed in the majors than Pie.

The only way Pie will succeed in the majors is if he chokes down on the bat and becomes a slap hitter. I picture him more of a 3-4 HR's per year guy, with a .300 BA, 30+ SB's, and a 50/50 BB/SO guy. But that's a long shot, so personally, I'd use him as trade bait for a proven major leaguer.

Neil

Thomas, good article. The other intangible about Pie is that he has won at every level....even last year with the I-Cubs, they tied the Sounds for first place but because of head-to-head record they did not make the playoffs.

Trevor...Shaun called me a while ago. He said Prior did not look good but Floyd and Soriano did not help him with the errors they made. He will have a full recap up after the game....sorry that is all I know.

Trevor

Anyone know what is happening in the Cubs game today? I see that Prior has given up 3 runs, but all have been unearned. Also, Soriano has one error and Floyd has two.

Thomas

It may not have come across clearly but I agree. Corey's failure was caused by the Cubs and then impatient fans. He was paid big money to sign so the Cubs fans expected him to make it to the majors quickly. He was rushed to Wrigley and was finally doing well when he was injured. He was slow coming back and the Cubs fans got impatient and wouldn't let him forget that he was supposed to be better than he was playing. He was done after that and his only hope was a new team. He will be a great player in my opinion. They are doing a better job with Pie and I have much more faith they will get him there when he is ready for it.

Jim

Chad right there with you. One more point for you would be them was trying to mold Corey into a leadoff hitter because he was fast. That was a huge mistake. Instead of trading for Pierre we could still have Corey in CF and would have never needed to sign Jones. Dusty and the impatient fans, along with a front office who feel the need to cater to the bandwagon fans, failed Corey and i hope he becomes an all-star CF.

Chad Cannon

Felix Pie and Corey Patterson will forever be linked. Corey didn't fail us as much as we think. In my opinion, we as Cubs fans and the Cubs management failed Corey Patterson.

He was having a great year before he got hurt. The next season he struggled because there were so many expectations on him. I'll be the first to admit that I screamed at the TV, when Corey would swing at fastballs over his head and curveballs in the dirt and the token fly out to SS at least once a game.

Can you name one young prospect in Dusty's tenure with the Cubs or Giants that he had success with? Absolutely not, he's a Veteran Coach. He's a master of the personality, but can't coach baseball for anything, and tactically, is one of the worst managers out there. Dusty Baker and Andy MacPhail failed Corey Patterson.

We traded him when his value was at an all time low and he was still only 25 years old. This was a bigger mistake than counting on Prior and Wood the previous 3 years. He had 45 SB last year, and hit .276, sure is OBP is nothing to write home about, but he's young. 26 years old and already has 4 years of MLB experience. That doesn't happen.

Can we agree that we as fans didn't have enough patience and the management gave up on him way too early? Come on, we got Carlos Perez and Nate Spears for him. Exactly, who are they? We traded a 5 tool 25 year old player after a down year for nothing. I'm rooting for Corey!