Didn't see a thread for this, so I thought it merited posting.  I like seeing daily updates from around the minors and I was looking for somewhere to post the following...

I went to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Peoria Chiefs game today.  Wisconsin won the game 1-0.  Keeping in mind that I'm a Cubs fan and that I focused mostly on the Chiefs, here are my notes...

-As usual, I had a great time at O'Brien Field. I paid $5 for tickets four rows behind home plate. The ivy out in CF was coming in terrifically, the field looked excellent as always, and it was just a fantastic night for baseball, with weather in the low 80s and a bit of humidity. There's something to be said for the minor league baseball experience and I really recommend it to those of you out there who live near any of these teams.

-Defensively, the only person who had a difficult play on the night for the Chiefs was DJ LeMahieu on a ground ball to his right which juuuuuust skipped past him. Otherwise, I didn't see any plays which really put the Chiefs' (or Rattlers' for that matter) defensive mettle to the test. Everyone handled the routine stuff relatively well. This wasn't a great night to see if Ryan Flaherty could stick at 3B, DJ LeMahieu at SS, etc.

-Not a whole lot had changed offensively from when I'd last seen a number of the Chiefs back in April. Ryan Flaherty still looks solid, although he was asked to bunt in the 9th when Jackson reached...which struck me as odd because he was terrible at bunting and halfway decent at hitting. He quickly found himself down two strikes thanks to that experiment. Kyler Burke looked pretty good at the plate; not a whole lot to note on him. Rebel Ridling, Jovan Rosa, Junior Lake, and Nelson Perez all had a lot of trouble with Cody Scarpetta and Michael Fiers, which led to some really awkward swings at some questionable pitches.

-On the pitching side of things, the scoreboard gun was never turned on, so I can't report much accurately in the way of velocity. The ump had a generous zone for both teams tonight. There were plenty of eye rolls, glares, and words exchanged throughout the night from both teams. When Flaherty was called on a check swing for strike three, a heated argument ensued, including some words from Chiefs manager Martin Pevey (who was coaching 3B, I believe). No one was ejected despite a few of the magic words being dropped.

-Chiefs SP Shafer's decidedly eh.  His fastball looked like it was in the upper 80s, maybe hitting 90/91 a few times.  He settled down after a really rough first inning (including two very loud outs) and actually began locating his pitches much better.

-Chiefs C Michael Brenly caught my eye. He had excellent instincts at catcher and showcased a surprisingly accurate and effective arm. I believe he threw Brett Lawrie out on a pitch in the dirt that bounced awkwardly in front of him. Plus, he seemed to be quite chatty with the HP umpire, which may or may not have worked in his favor. At the plate, he wasn't too memorable, but I think he has a shot of becoming a decent backup catcher down the line.

-I can see why people love and hate Chiefs CF Brett Jackson. On the upside, it's easy to dream on him. He's got room to add muscle to his frame, he's aggressive (but not stupid and not guessing) at the plate, and he already has good power and speed. His double was to the LF gap and he easily could have taken third, but was held up. Leading off the 9th, Pevey had some words with him and it was pretty clear he was being asked to set the table rather than tie the game. He went up to the plate and hit a solid single up the middle. "Gamer" and "Spark" are terms that come to mind. He's clearly not a Tyler Colvin or a Ryan Harvey type. But, on the downside, watching him at the plate, I have to wonder how he'll handle better pitching down the line.

-I'm back and forth on Chiefs SS DJ LeMahieu. With the exception of the play mentioned above, pretty much every defensive play involving him was routine. My gut is that he'll end up at 2B down the line, but I'd have to see a bit more of him to make that judgment call. He looked okay at the plate, but his swing and his frame didn't seem tailored to a whole lot of power down the line. I could see him as a gap to gap kind of hitter, but a HR threat might be asking a bit too much.

-The two Rattlers who stuck out were Brett Lawrie and Cody Scarpetta. I can easily see why the Brewers took Lawrie in the first round last year. He's well-built for a 19 year old and has plenty of power in his swing. He looked very comfortable at the plate. He still has plenty of work left to do, but he could be a solid asset for the Brewers down the road. Scarpetta stuck out because he had a quality breaking ball (curveball from what I've read) and a solid sinker. He was pounding the lower half of the zone all night long and got double play balls when he needed them. I've read reports that he works 90-94, but it seemed like he was maybe a tick or so lower than that; perhaps around 88-92? Still, he got a ton of awkward swings with his curveball on the outer half of the plate.

Today marks the beginning of the three day extravaganza that is the MLB Draft.  For those of you wondering, today the Cubs have the 31st, 79th, and 109th picks.  The draft is scheduled to get under way at 5 PM CST with the Washington Nationals on the clock.  The first two picks are expected to be SDSU RHP Stephen Strasburg and UNC 1B/OF Dustin Ackley.  After that...it's anyone's guess what will happen.

Some links for your amusement:

Baseball America Mock

Baseball Prospectus Mock

MLB.com Mock

PG Crosschecker Mock

Andy Seiler's Mock

BCB Draft Preview: AJ Pollock

BCB Draft Preview: Eric Arnett

BCB Draft Preview: The Rest of the Pack

Current rumors have the Cubs keyed on a handful of players with their first pick: Notre Dame OF AJ Pollock, Cal OF Brett Jackson, Indiana RHP Eric Arnett, Oklahoma State LHP Andy Oliver, LSU OF Jared Mitchell, KS HS RHP Garrett Gould, and MO HS RHP Jacob Turner.

However, the latest reports from the draft are saying that a number of the top high school prospects have dramatically increased their price tags.  We could see a lot of really interesting names fall to the Cubs if teams decide to back off of guys like Tyler Matzek and Matt Purke.

So, use this thread to discuss the draft!  This should be a fun couple of days.

Considering where guys start in the minors can say quite a bit about what their parent teams think of them, I figured it would be a good idea to have a centralized place for this information.

So far for the Cubs, their Low A and AA affiliates have posted their rosters...

Peoria (Low A) Roster

P

RHP Chris Archer
LHP Jeff Belliveau
LHP Ryan Buchter
RHP Alberto Cabrera
RHP Chris Carpenter
RHP Erik Hamren
RHP Marcus Hatley
RHP Chris Huseby
RHP Kevin Kreier
RHP Mike Perconte
RHP Jose Pina
RHP Aaron Shafer
RHP Josh Whitlock

C

Luis Flores
Mario Mercedes

IF

Ryan Flaherty
Josh Harrison
Junior Lake
Rebel Ridling
Josh Vitters

OF

Cliff Andersen
Kyler Burke
Tony Campana
David Macias
Nelson Perez

That infield looks really, really good.  Vitters and Flaherty are known commodities, but Lake could make some noise this season.  The OF has some interesting names in Burke and Perez, but isn't all that exciting.  The rotation could be interesting with guys like Carpenter and Huseby in the mix.

Tennessee (AA) Roster

SP

RHP Hung-Wen Chen
RHP Casey Coleman
RHP Jay Jackson
LHP Casey Lambert
LHP James Russell

RP

LHP John Gaub
RHP Alex Maestri
LHP Jeremy Papelbon
RHP Blake Parker
RHP Vince Perkins
LHP Jayson Ruhlman
RHP Brian Schlitter

C

Welington Castillo
Steve Clevenger

IF

Darwin Barney
Matt Camp
Blake Lalli
Jonathan Mota
Kyle Reynolds
Tony Thomas

OF

James Adduci
Brandon Guyer
Richie Robnett
Ty Wright

I'm loving the rotation and the bullpen.  Lambert in the rotation is weird, but if it works, it works.  Castillo, Barney, and Guyer are all names to keep in mind as the season begins.  Thomas and Robnett are reclamation projects who could claw their way back to respectability.

That's about it for now for the Cubs.  Iowa (AAA) and Daytona (High A) should release their rosters soon.  The early word out of Spring Training is that SS Starlin Castro and OF Drew Rundle should make Daytona, which speaks pretty well to their abilities.

Any other teams release their rosters yet?