not only does he have ARL, but he also has a 40 man spot. I would much rather see Cerda on there, as I think Cerda holds more intrigue, but tough to pass up a 40 man guy. If I had to suggest a 2nd swap, I might ponder swapping Smit and Shafer. Smit’s stuff might be a tinge better, and he’s ahead of Shafer right now (I’d probably still have Cales ahead of Shafer, Shafer has a slighty better fastball, Cales has a better overall arsenal and is more advanced).

Rhee could easily be done forever, if he doesn’t go back to the splitter. Stuff was very hittable without it. That pitch was described as having “circus type” movement though and was unhittable evidently pre-surgery.

On the other hand, this system has LOTS of solid depth at this point, albeit without too many top tier type guys.

He struck out WAY too much to have so little power. But what about Shafer? He put up some very good numbers this year in relief, albeit as a 23 year old in High A and AA. Is his stuff still down, or did he gain a few mphs on his fastball? Last I heard, he was sitting about 89. And if we are even going to consider Daniel Sanchez, we need to throw Dong-Yub Kim’s name in the hat as well. He’s one of the only raw power guys we have in our system, to go along with great speed and athleticism. Anybody ever find out what injury he had this whole year? I assumed it was TJ surgery, but never got a concrete answer.

I’ll try to make more specific swap suggestions then. I can understand leaving Jin Yeong Kim off (lack of much work to discuss). I can also understand leaving guys like Clevenger (I don’t believe the difference in grades for Castillo and Clevenger is all that much … Clevenger’s more consistent than Castillo defensively and will hit for a better average), Spencer (look at Spencer’s numbers in comparison to the Southern League - 12th best SLG and 20th best OPS - I think he could have a monster season in the PCL), and a guy like Tony Thomas off. Guys like Sanchez, Kim, Chen, Alcantara may be too raw, and Rhee/Whitenack have enough to prove. Guys like Frank Batista and Luis Liria are raw arms, but almost all systems have those guys.

So what about

David Cales for Aaron Shafer - This may be hindered by what you saw, as I don’t believe you were that excited when you saw Cales this year. That said, Shafer, unless you’ve got better reports, has a marginally better fastball, and Cales slider should be better than any secondary offering from Shafer. Shafer has a deeper arsenal, but that only means so much out of the pen. Both look like potential middle relievers (always thought of Cales as a bit of a Michael Wuertz-ish type), and both had strong years at AA. Cales did finish at AAA and is a year younger, though. Outside of Shafer’s pre-injury pedigree, I’m not sure that he stands out enough.

Matt Cerda for Logan Watkins - Watkins was the more intriguing guy entering the year, as Cerda had failed as a catcher. That said, what did Watkins do this year? I like the guy, hope his athleticism translates, but I think Cerda is more likely to develop into a starter than Watkins. Watkins isn’t expected to add power, whereas there is some expectation for Cerda to add a touch more pop. Both guys are fine defensively at 2nd. Watkins can play a dash of SS and CF, while Cerda handled 3rd fine. Cerda has a better approach at the plate as Watkins strikes out way too much for his limited offensive upside.

I feel like that Marquez Smith may be a tad underrated (even by me, I left him in the 30’s of my Cubs list, and most folks I’ve seen have him, at best, in the 20’s). Guys like LeMahieu and Flaherty get more rub than him, but there’s a borderline chance that he has some more starting ability, more for a 2nd tier club, than either of those guys (not saying that DJ and Ryan are destined to be utility guys, but that Marquez’s ability to become a starter at 3rd base may be higher than those two’s ability to become a starter overall … it’s at the least somewhat debatable).

He’s a guy who is solid defensively at 3rd, has some pop (albeit, more line drive variety). Problem is his lack of versatility right now. He tried some 2nd base in Low A, but didn’t take to it, and the Cubs haven’t tried him in the OF. Essentially, he’d be a pure 3rd base backup, and the Cubs have Jeff Baker and Blake DeWitt as guys (along with Darwin Barney) that can backup there. He’s not your classic big bat off the bench either. That’s probably the reason why he was left exposed, although he was one of the borderline cases and by most indications, the Cubs debated protecting him for a long time.