The Weekly: MiLB News, IFA Signing Day, Strumpf Power, Draft Sneak Peak, and Driver 8 Takes a Break

It was a very busy week at both the major and minor league levels. 

I do have some sad news to report via photographer Rich Biesterfeld. OF Donnie Dewees tore his ACL and will likely miss most of the 2021 season. He was scheduled to be at AAA Iowa this year and likely could have been called up to Chicago in case of an injury this year. Good luck to Donnie in his rehab and getting back to his dream.

International Free Agency Day Is Friday

After a six month delay, MLB clubs can begin signing international free agents on Friday this week at 8 A.M. The Cubs have been linked to five players. Most notable is SS Cristian Hernandez who has drawn comparisons to Manny Machado and A-Rod. C Moises Ballesteros is from Venezuela and has a beautiful left-handed swing. The Cubs have also been linked to OF Daniel Ferreria from the Dominican Republic, OF Oferman Hernandez from the Dominican Republic, and LHP Carlos Cabrera from Venezuela.

That’s a pretty good haul for one day.

As for where they would play this summer, only Hernandez is likely to play in the US in the Arizona Rookie League. Ballesteros has an outside shot, but considering the Cubs catching depth, he might be better suited for Boca Chica in the Dominican. Ferreria, Hernandez, and Cabrera should all be in the Dominican as well.

https://twitter.com/abeds15/status/1301666814892670977

Strumpf Power

Patrick Mooney wrote an article this week ($) over at Baseball America about the emerging power of Cub prospect Chase Strumpf. Mooney detailed Strumpf’s brief history as a Cub and talked to the Cubs Matt Dorey, the Cubs VP of Player Development. Dorey talked about how Strumpf did at instructs; He said,

“The power had really returned. He was driving the ball to the off side of the field, that off gap. One of the reasons why we liked him so much is he’s always really selective. He made really good decisions and has a really advanced approach.”

If you have a subscription, you should check out the article that really praises the young infielder.

MLB Pipeline

Jim Callis talked quite a bit on MLB Pipeline’s podcast this week and broke down the prospects the Cubs got in the Yu Darvish trade. Callis said that it was a no brainer for the Padres and that new Cub prospects are at least 3 to 4 years away from even being close to ready for the major leagues. Callis also added that he really liked outfielder Owen Caissie, who he once joked was the “Canadian Zac Veen” during the 2019 Draft. As for Reggie Preciado, Callis thinks that he’s probably going to continue to fill out and end up at third base rather than stick at shortstop. He called Mena a speedy centerfielder and said Santana was a twitchy shortstop.

Callis also mentioned that all the new prospects all have very high upsides. The issue is that there’s such a huge gap between where they are at now and their possible ceilings. A lot is going to have to go right for them to reach their potential.

Late in the week, Pipeline also published an article that selected one prospect from each organization to breakout this year. For the Cubs, Callis selected the newly acquired SS Yeison Santana. Here’s why:

The only one of the four prospects acquired from the Padres in the Yu Darvish trade who has made his pro debut, Santana hit .346/.429/.494 in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2019. Signed for $300,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2017, he’s a twitchy shortstop with at least solid hitting ability and speed.

Draft Sneak Peak

Baseball America also released their first full round mock draft this week. Previously, they had only done a top 10 pick piece. At number 21, Baseball America had catcher Henry Davis from the University of Louisville heading to the Cubs. Here’s their mini-scouting report on him:

Davis was known for his massive arm strength out of high school, but questions about his bat allowed him to reach campus, where he has been a .303/.381/.463 hitter with 21 walks to 22 strikeouts.

I found the choice odd because of the Cubs current catching depth, but he was ranked at number 13 over at Prospects Live, at number 26 on MLB Pipeline, and at 11 over on FanGraphs’ big board. If his bat comes around, there’s no way he’s gonna be around at 21 with his arm.

This week, I mocked Louisville catcher Henry Davis to the #Mariners 12th overall in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Today, I show you why. pic.twitter.com/JR2E716Btx

— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) October 2, 2020

MiLB Worst Case Scenario

Earlier this winter, I wrote an article for Cubs Insider based on what sources were telling me about what the 2021 minor league season might look like. This week, Baseball America confirmed some of those options and even added a couple of tweaks to some things that my sources told me.

Over at The Cub Reporter, Arizona Phil broke out a possible worst case scenario for the minor league season that involved both class A teams staying in Mesa for the year while AA and AAA would go to the alternate site and play there. Most likely, the alternate site would again be at South Bend.

Either way, minor league games are going to be played and games will happen. I just hope we will be able to see them.

Video of the Week

How can you not root for this guy?

Back to it with the crew at X2 ⚾️#MoreThanAFastball @X2Athletics pic.twitter.com/czxiw0B0FT

— Max Bain (@mbain_38) January 8, 2021

In Person Interview List

You would think with all the free time that I had this summer that I would have done more interviews than I did. I did three. One was with Max Bain, another was with Tanner Jesson-Dalton, and the third was with Stephanie Lynn. I enjoyed doing all three, I just don’t enjoy transcribing the interview. This week, I started making a list of guys I wanted to interview this summer.

At the top of my list for next year to interview is going to be Joe Nahas, an undrafted free agent that the Cubs signed out of Georgia Southern in 2019 after his dominant run in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2019. Odds are I probably won’t even be allowed anywhere near a baseball field until June or July, even though as a school teacher I will be getting vaccinated here in the next two months. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Coming Up Next Week

Prospect Update – Peyton Remy

4 Series – 2019 Pitching Draft Class 

MiLB Mailbag – Cole Roederer gets some love

Position Breakdown Series – Left Handed Starting Pitching

International Free Agency Signing Day

Jam of the Week

Going back aways for this classic REM track.

Until next week.