Use this space to discuss the individual picks as they come up. An updated big board below the jump. A couple brief notes first:

-just from this morning's tweets alone, it seems like most analysts still view Giolito's elbow as a major question mark. As far I'm concerned, he's off the board.

-I have a suspicion 1.6 is going to be Correa, Fried, or Almora. (You'll note I bumped Almora into a tie for #7 with Zimmer. If anybody's got an argument for Almora or Zimmer over Fried, I'd love to hear it--honestly, what I've been reading about Zimmer lately has not been encouraging. And moreover, I think he might get tabbed a couple picks before us, fwiw.) So get ready to look at some college guys in the supp round.

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Draft day approaches. This MOD is pretty simple, as I'll stick with my original plan (despite previewing it in the comments for #2): a "big board" with comments from last time incorporated is up first. (Obviously, we don't go straight down the list on draft day as individual rankings are essentially mutable within every tier of 5-10, and given the HS/college bonus issues--but this would be the general ranking guide.) All comments welcome.

Down below that is a list of guys whom I have not ranked, but I thought should be in consideration for 3.101. Feel free to chime in with opinions/rankings on them, or say why they should be higher in the rankings (or not in consideration at all,) and by all means point out guys I've missed.

Thanks again for all the input so far.

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Thanks for all your input on the first diary post. What I’ve got below is an attempt to distill a “big board” for 1.6 based on the comments, and then a few guys to look at in the supplemental round. (I’m still fleshing out a list for the 2nd/3rd round, so if I'd love to hear if you've got any suggestions of favorites.)

The supplemental round picks, as timh815 suggested, should probably be somewhat colored by whether the mock Cubs go HS or college at 1.6--though I feel like if the mock Cubs draft Correa at 1.6, and then the right HS guy is available at 1.43, like Trahan or Weickel, it wouldn’t be too unrealistic to tab that guy and go “signable” for the remaining three picks. Many of these guys have gone in the first round in some mocks, but if I estimated there was a >25% chance they might fall to 1.43, I listed them. (Guys like Shaffer and McCullers would both be awesome at 1.43, for example, but it seems highly unlikely they’d make it there.)

Comments on these guys (yeas or nays) and other suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks.

1.6: Gausman, Zunino, Buxton, Correa, Appel, Zimmer, Fried (in that order)

X-factor: Giolito—if there are reliable positive reports on his elbow, he enters the discussion, and might be top four-ish.

Late riser: Almora. I have a feeling he’s among the ten guys the Cubs are considering, and Callis had the Cubs tabbing him over Correa at #6, fwiw.

1.43/1.53 (in no particular order):

College Position Players: Peter O’Brien (C Miami); Kevin Plawecki (C Purdue); Josh Elander (C TCU); Nolan Fontana (SS Florida); Dylan Baker (RHP Nev. St.); Stephen Piscotty (3B Stanford); Tyler Naquin (OF TX A&M); Travis Jankowski (OF Stony Brook); Barrett Barnes (OF TX Tech)

College Pitchers: Brian Johnson (LHP Florida); Pierce Johnson (RHP Missouri St.); Alex Wood (LHP UGA)

High School Position Players: Joey Gallo (3b); Stryker Trahan (C); Addison Russell (SS); Nelson Rodriguez (C); David Dahl (OF); Clint Coulter (C); Jesse Winker (OF)

High School Pitchers: Kieran Lovegrove (RHP); Walker Weickel (RHP); Lucas Sims (RHP); J.O. Berrios (RHP); Clate Schmidt (RHP)

The Cubs will have five picks in this mock: 1.6, 1.43 (for Aramis), 1.53 (for Pena), 2.67, and 3.101. A lot of opportunities to fill some holes in the system.

I would love to hear people's thoughts about overall strategy beyond BPA: college or HS, pitcher or position player, etc. There are only a few guys at 1.6 who I think should be auto-picks in the unlikely event they fall: Zunino, Buxton, and Gausman. None of those guys are likely to be available, so tentatively I've narrowed it to seven likely choices (by all means suggest more though):

-college arms in Appel, Zimmer (someone whom Cubs management has allegedly scouted heavily), or Wacha

-HS arms: Fried (another guy the Cubs have been tied to) or Giolito--a dark horse here, with his recent return to throwing

-HS bats: Correa or Almora

Looking at the later picks, I'd love to hear some guys in whom you're interested. I'm more familiar with the college ranks, but I'm catching up on the high schoolers (JaysFanToronto has put up some great summary posts on this board, if you haven't seen them.) Personally, I would prefer to concentrate on high-upside arms and up-the-middle talent (Pete O'Brien of UMiami and Kevin Plawecki of Purdue are two catchers I'm watching for the supplemental round, for example). Let fly, I'll keep tabs on the comments and put up MOD #2 after people have a chance to post their thoughts. Thanks!

Wanted to know what people thought about a trade I just made. 24 teams, 225 man rosters (40 majors/185 minors), $115m salary cap, standard scoring. Minor leaguers, once they are called up, are cost-controlled for five seasons with the ability to drop them during any offseason (salary escalating from $.3m to $4m over time).

I traded:

Matt Kemp (contract through 2015, escalating from $13.65m this year to $18.99m in 2015)

Fernando Martinez and Leon Landry (minors)

I received:

Alexei Ramirez ($8.2m through 2013, plus an option for 2014 at the same salary)

Bryan Lahair (2nd year of a rookie contract, so $.6m)

George Springer and Robbie Erlin (minor leaguers)

1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks in the upcoming international players draft

I'm trying to rebuild my middle-of-the-road team. Obviously, I gave up the best player, but I think I got some good prospects back plus Ramirez (who I can probably flip for more prospects), and also cleared about $5m in salary space immediately (plus I won't be paying Kemp $19m in 2015, which he almost certainly won't be worth). Thoughts?

Just had to post this.  What an utter meltdown (though I give him credit for acknowledging his lack of production.)

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2011/09/after-another-tough-season-billy-rowell-has-a-few-things-to-say.html

several good moments in there, but my favorite has to be:

"I mentioned to Rowell that after several years without putting up big numbers, he must have expected at some point that his chances would begin to dwindle or end altogether with this organization. "But this is the deal with me: I just don't want to be another (expletive) player in the system. If I can't be dominant, I don't want to play. It's that simple," he said."

Pretty sure this was my attitude too....when I was six...and playing Monopoly...

http://www.pnj.com/article/DP/20110814/SPORTS/108140343/Career-destined-stardom-cut-short-Pace-grad?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Vertigo, which was the problem a SD paper reported a few weeks ago, is apparently only the beginning (or a rude approximation) of Cumberland's medical issues.  Sad story--and yet amazing he made it as far as he did with that serious of an inner ear problem.  I hope he finds something rewarding in or out of baseball going forward.

who would you rather have in a standard dynasty league w/o salaries?  (I'm trading from position player depth to acquire one of these guys, but I'm having a tough time deciding which one I prefer.)  They have similar sample sizes over the last three years.  Romero definitely has a better K rate, but Cahill has an advantage in age and the division in which he pitches, and has the potential to increase his Ks.  Not sure about injury risk on both, but I know Romero had elbow and shoulder issues in the minors.  Any thoughts?  

Couple dynasty trade proposals came into my inbox, wonder what you guys think.

Deal 1: 5x5 h2h, no salaries, 16 teams, deep major league rosters.  My team finished last in almost every offensive category overall, but I have good pitching and a good minor league system.  Only one SS slot, but I have Hanley (my only true stud) w/ Starlin Castro riding the bench.  I have glaring holes on the corner infield.  Another manager offered me:

Mark Reynolds; JA Happ; Dayan Viciedo; and the 10th pick in the FYPD pick (which includes last year's draft class, plus a lot of other guys who went undrafted last year like Belt, so I would get a top 100ish prospect out of it, think Castellanos or Cole) for Hanley.

I didn't think I was getting enough value for my only good offensive player, so my counter was Reynolds, Viciedo, Happ, Wil Myers, and the #10 pick for Hanley, Chris Heisey, and Todd Helton (throw-ins I would have to drop, but maybe of value to the other guy.)  Should I have taken the deal?  Was my counter too much?

Deal 2: h2h, stats are OBP/R/RBI/TB/SB and ERA/WHIP/K/3*W + 2*QS/3*SV + 2*H, ~130m salary cap, 24 teams, very deep rosters (40 man, 225 player total system).  I just joined an established league with several other new replacement teams, my minors roster is actually pretty stacked, but my majors roster is pretty sparse (have to fill a lot through free agency.)  

Another owner offered me: Chris Carter (Oak) and Starlin Castro, both with 300k rookie contracts extendable for four years, for Jeff Niemann (2.090m, 3 yrs), Rafael Furcal (5.15m, 2 yrs), and Shelby Miller (minors, no salary, but if/when he arrives would have same contract as Carter/Castro).  I should take this deal, right (create some more space to bid on FAs plus get young, cheap, controllable talent)?  Or am I missing something? (Furcal has a lot of value in this league because of the stat categories, at least if he's healthy, I suppose...)

All thoughts welcome, thanks.

Standard scoring, 12-team league.  I'm shallow at RB, relatively deep at WR.  I've been offered Ryan Mathews and Ochocinco for Greg Jennings and Jonathan Stewart.  Ochocinco hasn't been too great since week one, and Jennings is coming on, but Mathews could be due for a breakout now that he's back in the lineup (or due for another injury.)  Stewart is an incredibly annoying player to own.  I'm leaning towards accepting...any thoughts out there?

I won the league this year, so I will be picking last.  League specs: 12-teams, rotisserie 5x5 scoring, with positions of C-1b-2b-ss-3b-2b/ss-1b/3b-lf-cf-rf-of-util and ten open pitching slots (most players had 3-4 relievers going at any time, the rest starters.)

I had some fortuitous pickups during the season, and well-timed trades--for example, Dotel and Carlos Santana for Ervin Santana and Jason Kubel, a couple days before Dotel got traded and Santana’s knee got blown out--so luck was definitely involved in my championship run. My team had great balance overall, which was mainly due to getting moderate to very good production out of all of my hitters, w/o any one of them really being great, making picking keepers kind of difficult.  My pitchers, however, were awesome, but I’m always reluctant to go too pitching-heavy w/ keepers.

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There are a lot of veterans who have just been or are about to be released (or could be available in trade, based on how their teams drafted) who could help the Bears fill some holes or enhance depth at key positions.  Some guys I'm keeping my eye on (feel free to suggest some others, this is by no means exhaustive):

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According to SI, it's about done.  no terms or further details.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/11/10/heyman.holliday/index.html

So for those of you hoping that somehow Holliday would end up in our outfield...oh well.  This could be the first domino to fall, though, in a series of moves over the next couple weeks.  If I had to guess, the Athletics will be sending some combination of Daric Barton, Travis Buck, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden, and maybe even our old friends Sean Gallagher, E-Patt, and Murton.  I'm sure they'd love to ditch Crosby, but considering the Rockies already are saddled with Tulowitzki (who's still salvageable) and Barmes (not so much), I doubt he's involved.  but we'll see..  

for posting stupid rumors like this one:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/02/angels-trade-fo.html#comments

"Angels trade for Aramis Ramirez

I have just learned from my Cubs contact that the Angels have traded Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins for Aramis Ramirez. More to come. Stay tuned.

Nugs"

Whoever "Nugs" is...well, that's just crazy.  your Cubs contact has an amazing sense of humor.  I post this reluctantly, as I don't like giving undue attention to wild rumors, but before anyone breathlessly reports this...I just don't believe this could possibly be accurate.  It would take a lot more than that to get Aramis, first of all, but more importantly it seems inconceivable that he is on the block.  but for all of your information...