It's an interesting read. He doesn't include recent draft picks, so Brett Jackson isn't listed. The one big disagreement I have is with John Gaub in the top 10. He's good for his role, and he's about ready, but I've got a touch time putting a LOOGY in the top 10. I'm also a bit surprised he didn't have Kyler Burke in the top 10.

Anyhow, he notes Steve Clevenger as a potential Cub that could be taken. He also notes that the Cubs were preparing to be hit a few times. Clevenger's a former IF that moved to catcher. His value would be as a backup backstop that can perhaps be a decent offensive player for the position. Defense is okay.

Pondering some names that could be plucked: I believe BA has mentioned Chirinos as someone that could be plucked. Chirinos is an older guy, former MI as well. He's noted as a good influence and is said to be steady behind the plate. Best case scenario is as a backup backstop. Matt Camp could be a possibility for a team looking for a depth guy. Utility guy from NC State plays a number of positions. Thomas Diamond and Alessandro Maestri seem like two more guys that could be plucked. Diamond was the former Rangers first round pick who we picked up off waivers this past year. There were some positive signs this winter. Maestri has a good fastball/slider combination, but he was a bit off this year while working his way back and control isn't the best. I've long compared him to Mike Wuertz. I wonder about Robert Hernandez, although I would guess no right now. Hernandez has a solid fastball, good changeup combo. He was caught for PED's. He looked real promising when he was a pup at Peoria, but since then, for some reason, the Cubs haven't pushed him along. Some other names that could perhaps be picked: JR Mathes (lefty has been in the system for awhile, average stuff at best), Muyco (former catcher), Jeremy Papelbon (talk is that he takes awhile to warm up so may not be a great fit in the pen as a LOOGY type), Greg Reinhard (solid year in AAA, we picked him up in the Jae-Kuk Ryu trade), Vince Perkins (former Blue Jays top prospect still flashes a mid-90's fb with a solid slider), Jayson Ruhlman (has some LOOGY potential), and Chris Robinson (picked him up in the Neifi trade, solid enough defensively, bat is fringy). Those are the available Cubs that stand out to me as guys that have a shot of being plucked in the major league phase.

I haven't really contemplated names of guys that are available. Tbh, I'm not expecting us to exercise our pick. After all, what are we going to add? More pen arms? We have enough young pen arms. The chances of finding a starter there is slim. BA notes Tim Gustafson, who's sort of on that Mitch Atkins/Casey Coleman ish level. That said, maybe there's a power arm out there that they really like, which I wouldn't be against. Positionally, it's hard for me to see us pluck anyone. I mean, there are some glove-first shortstops, but in that case, just give Andres Blanco the job. The chances of finding a starting CF in Rule 5 is a bit slim. That said, I haven't looked through the available players deep enough, so maybe someone's there. One guy that briefly caught my eye is Corey Wimberly (A's got him from Colorado in the Matt Murton deal, IIRC). He mildly catches my eye as a potential depth guy with some speed and perhaps the ability to perhaps compete for the backup OF job with Sam Fuld(though I'm not too sure how good he would be out there).

I imagine we'll pluck some folks in the minor league phase.

I don't think I've seen this specific article linked yet, although I could be mistaken. Anyhow, James Schmehl has another article out, suggesting that the Cubs need to budge on Marmol or Castro to make a deal happen. Sounds somewhat similar to his last article, but figured I'd post it.

(H/t mlbtr)

Rosenthal and Morosi report that the Cubs were interested in Betancourt before he was offered arb. They aren't sure if the Cubs are still interested now that the Rockies offered arbitration.

This one's interesting to me for several reasons. It seems like the Cubs have/are keeping around 4 million or so for one more pen move, and considering the Cubs payroll issues, that's interesting.

Considering all the talk about the Tigers wanting Marmol (still haven't seen anything that I would concrete on that, though), could this be a sign of the Cubs searching for backup plans?

Anyhow, I thought it was interesting. Betancourt would've been one of the more expensive arms out there, pen wise. Personally, I'm not inclined to give up the 2nd rounder and pay him big bucks for, say, 3 years. There's other arms to look at, though.

(h/t mlbtr)

Reportedly, Cubs are showing interest in Takashi Saito. I'd be very pleased with such an addition. He was still effective enough last year. Yes, the FIP was fairly high, and he's getting older, but I don't recall reports of his stuff dropping considerably (his velocity stayed about the same). At the very least, it would provide another option to Guzman/Grabow as setup men, a combination that worries me as of now. And who knows, maybe a return to the NL would be a good move for him.

Link is to John Perrotto's twitter feed. h/t mlbtr.

Considering there was a whole thread on whether or not one would be willing to bust up the system for Halladay, I thought this deserved attention. Here's an elite arm in his prime, who is cost-controlled, and thus could actually fit in our budget. It's been speculated for awhile, since the contract talks broke off, but this seems the first guy to come out and say that they would listen on him.

I'm not saying we will go after Josh Johnson. Just saying that, if there's a guy that I'd be willing to get really aggressive on this offseason, this would be it. For all the intrigue about Cashner, Jay Jackson, and Chris Carpenter, we are essentially hoping one of them develops into a decent number 2/3 type starter, and this would be an ace caliber guy right now. Josh has plus stuff and can K folks, but can also get the ground balls. My type of arm. He's reportedly got a good intangibles mix.

Keith Law supposedly suggested that the Marlins could get two ready guys, and two AA prospects. I can't link to it, as it's insider stuff, but mlbtr has a blurb on it.

Here's a guy I'd be willing to get aggressive on. How aggressive? I'm not sure yet, but much more aggressive than Curtis Granderson or Roy Halladay, that's for certain. That said, plenty of teams are likely to be in on this if he really is available.

Not sure if there's a better way to post this, but anyhow, JJ Cooper and Ben Badler did a free podcast on NL Central systems. Most of the Cubs stuff is early.

Cubs related stuff from what I recall -

1) For the most part, they both think the Cubs have the top NL Central system. Both of them made a case for the Reds, with Cooper noting that it's a high floor system. Cooper thinks that Cubs have the most upside.

2) Badler is really high on Jay Jackson. He suggested that you could rank Jay Jackson ahead of Shelby Miller (Cardinals top prospect).

3) Talked quite a bit about Starlin Castro. Quite impressed with him. Nice swing, bat speed, 10-15 HR's down the line.

4) Were impressed with Brett Jackson's debut.

5) Cooper likes Chris Carpenter, if he can stay healthy.

6) While they both agreed that Pedro Alvarez was the top prospect in the NL Central, they said you could make a case for Castro, Alcides Escobar.

Anyhow, nothing really new, but an interesting listen. The most interesting note to me was non-Cubs related - they suggested Alcides Escobar next year could be better than Elvis Andrus this year, and Andrus was pretty good. I buy it ... just it was interesting.

Anyhow, the link is to Nightengale's twitter account (h/t mlbtr) where he says the Rays are the "clear-cut favorite" on Bradley. He also notes that the Yankees might be shopping Swisher.

As for the former, nothing new. As for the latter, it's another name to ponder. Not ideal, but who's ideal (even Granderson isn't "ideal"). As noted, I'd rather land a CF and move Fukudome to RF, but all options should be kept open. He could potentially add some lineup "depth", and if the Cubs let Derrek Lee walk after 2010, he could potentially be a stopgap option at first (that said, I think a big year from Lee, and the Cubs extend him for another couple years). Just a thought.