A Minor Review of 2009: Chicago Cubs
Prospect ranking season is just around the corner. In anticipation of that, we present an intro series looking at some of the players who deserve mentioning but probably will not be appearing on their teams’ Top 10 lists. The popular series is back for a second year.
The Graduate: Jake Fox, IF/OF
Finally given an opportunity for significant playing time at the MLB level, Fox had a nice year as a bench player. His has almost zero value on defense, although he can fill in at a few different positions. The 27-year-old rookie showed good power with an ISO rate of .208. Overall, he hit .259/.311/.468 in 216 at-bats. He displayed more power against right-handers (.549 slugging) than southpaws (.373). Fox won’t be confused with a vampire after hitting just .189 in night games, compared to .314 in the sunlight.
The Riser: Chris Archer, RHP
I was tempted to include LHP John Gaub here, who was acquired along with Archer in the Mark DeRosa deal. Archer, though, has a higher ceiling even if he’s still a lot further off than Gaub. The right-hander repeated low-A ball in ‘09 and was tough to hit (.202 average). Unfortunately, he was hard to touch in some games because his pitches could not find the strike zone (5.45 BB/9). Archer throws a pretty heavy ball and did not allow a home run all season (50.5% ground-ball rate). He has a fastball that can touch 93 mph, a plus curveball, and a changeup.
The Tumbler: Welington Castillo, C
Castillo took the wrong year to take a step back in his development with MLB catcher Geovany Soto being bitten by the sophomore jinx at the Major League level. Castillo’s overly-aggressive approach at the plate (4.5 BB%) caught up with him in ‘09 at double-A. He was also hurt by a .266 BABIP; his overall line was .232/.275/.386 in 319 at-bats. Castillo did show some intriguing power with a .154 ISO rate, which was a career high. Defensively, he cut down on his careless errors, but he still allowed a significant number of passed balls. The 22-year-old catcher threw out 44% of base stealers.
The ‘10 Sleeper: Chris Huseby, RHP
A former over-slot draft pick out of high school in the 2006 draft, Huseby has been slower to develop than the organization would have liked, mainly due to injuries. The right-hander has been shifted to the bullpen where he can focus on his two best pitches: low 90s fastball and plus breaking ball. In ‘09 at low-A ball, Huseby allowed 43 hits in 54 innings of work, while posting a walk rate of 1.67 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 12.17 K/9. He also allowed just three home runs. He dominated right-handed hitters with a .193 batting average, but he showed promise against lefties, as well, thanks to a 60% ground-ball rate.
Bonus: Steve Clevenger, C/IF
Meet Mr. Jake-Fox-Lite, whom I identified as the ‘09 sleeper for the organization during the ‘08 minor-league review. Clevenger is another minor-league catcher who’s not really good enough defensively to play everyday, but there is potential in his bat (although very little power). Clevenger split the season between double-A and triple-A. At the higher level, he hit a disappointing .265/.310/.327 in 226 at-bats. Prior to reaching triple-A, Clevenger displayed the ability to hit .300+ with gap power. The 23-year-old actually handles southpaw pitchers quite well, with a .298 career average. He threw out just 20% of triple-A base stealers.
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Not calling Starlin Castro the “Riser” in this system seems pretty ridiculous to me. He had a strong debut in ‘08 in Rookie ball, and in his first full season at the age of 19 he was a FSL All-Star and was productive upon a promotion to AA. How is Archer– who spent the entire year in low-A– more of a “riser” than Castro?
Castro is in the top 10 of Cubs prospects. This feature looks deeper into the farm system to identify guys outside the top 10.
“Zero value on defense” would actually be overstating Fox’s case.
I am encouraged w/the way the system is producing pitching depth. I think the fact that Stevens already has shown good things in the bigs,& Gaub looking impressive & ready to contribute to the pen next season already makes the Derosa trade a success. The real wild card is Archer & its extremely encouraging to see his progress in the system. It also looks like his stuff fits Wrigley to a tee.
Our “graduate” has to be Randy Wells.
Excerpt from the site (click the link for more):
Jake Fox had a successful “debut” in 2009 (Fox had previously accumulated 15 MLB PA’s with the Cubs in 2007). Though he certainly faded down the stretch, Fox none the less put up an above average .779 OPS with a quality .208 ISO in 241 PA’s with the Cubs in 2009. Between AAA and the majors last season, Fox jacked a ridiculous 28 HRs in under 450 PAs. His .433 ISO was a full 79 points ahead of the second highest ISO in the Pacific League amongst hitters with 150+ PAs. In short, Fox had his “breakout season.” However, like most Cubs prospects, Jake Fox is old; he turns 28 next year. Furthermore, his lack of defense makes him a difficult guy to play on the diamond. 1B and 3B are blocked by A-Ram and D-Lee, while the corners in the outfielder are manned by Milton Bradley and Alfonso Soriano. If Milton Bradley isn’t traded (which he shouldn’t be because he was bit by a lot of bad luck last season and he is poor enough a player on or off the field to be worth the $15M salary dump it would require to move him), that leaves no room for Fox besides the bench. Thus the question beckons: is Jake a trade chip at the “peak” of his value or does he have a valuable role in the future of the team?
Unlike the “breakout” performance of Micah Hoffpauir, who overperformed in 2008, Jake Fox underperformed in 2009. Despite a lackluster walk rate (6.1% in 2009, 9.1% MLB average) and eyebrow raising .311 OBP, there are plenty of reasons to trust in Jake Fox. The .285 BABIP and .319 xBABIP/.302 MLB avg BABIP disparity shows that Jake Fox, who posted a .332 wOBA in 2009, has some room to improve in 2010. As someone who posts league average strikeout rates, has improving walk rates in the minors, and has posted an ISO above .250 each season in the minors since being promoted to AAA in 2007, Bill James is profiling Jake Fox as a .284/.339/.546 (.885 OPS) hitter next season. The average MLB first baseman, by contrase, hit .277/.362/.483 (.845 OPS) in 2009.
With Derek Lee, who is in the final year of his contract, turning 35 and getting paid $13M next season, Milton Bradley could provide the Cubs with the kind of payroll flexibility they would need to stay competitive in 2011 and 2012. With the burdensome contracts of Soriano, Big Z, Fukudome and Milton Bradley guaranteed and Aramis Ramirez’s $16M 2012 option on the books, the Cubs do not have much breathing room in terms of adding “the necessary guys.” A guy like Jake Fox, who can competently replace Derek Lee’s offense in 2011 and 2012 (assuming he doesn’t get slapped with super two status), would give the Cubs $13 to spend on gapping holes (aka, relief pitching). Rather than trading away guys for prospects and hoping the Cubs can build as good of a team as they currently have while rebuilding for the future, the Cubs have the potential to stay strong for the next few years.
Quality players who do not cost a lot are slim pickings for the Cubs, who haven’t exactly had the best of drafts since 2001. Fox is a breath of fresh air. Especially since power is overpriced.