Life On The Farm: Chicago Cubs (# 27)

That playoff run that never materialized.... We have enough to try again.... Right?

Graduated To Majors: Sam Fuld (OF, UR), Tyler Colvin (CF, # 16), Micah Hoffpauir (1B/OF, # 12), Jake Fox (UTIL, # 24), Jeff Samardzija (SP, # 2), Mitch Atkins (SP, # 21), Esmailin Caridad (RP, # 22), Kevin Hart (SP, # 6, traded to Pirates)

The Rest Of The Top 10 (with quick commentary)
Hitters: BA-OBP-SLG, AB, HR-RBI, BB-K, SB-CS
Pitchers: G-GS, W-L, ERA, IP-H-HR-BB-K

1 - Josh Vitters: 3B
Lo A: .316-.351-.535, 269, 15-46, 7-42, 4-0
Hi A: .238-.260-.344, 189, 3-22, 5-23, 2-1
Quick Take: Solid at Lo A, strugged at Hi A. Biggest concern has to be the lack of walks (12 all season)

3 - Andrew Cashner: SP
Hi A: 12-12, 0-0, 1.50, 42-31-1-15-34
AA: 12-12, 3-4, 3.39, 58.1-45-0-27-41
Quick Take: 24 starts, 100 innings. Hard to tell what is there, but the lack of home runs allowed (1) is a promising sign if he needs to be converted back to a reliever, which he was at TCU.

4 - Dae Eun Rhee: SP
R: 3-2, 0-0, 7.71, 4.2-4-0-5-3
SS: 2-2, 0-1, 11.25, 4-8-2-1-4
Quick Take: Season in return from Tommy John surgery, so wait and evaluate what he does next year.

5 - Wellington Castillo: C
AA: .232-.275-.386, 319, 11-39, 15-71, 1-0
Quick Take: Hugely disappointing season with a lot of struggles in the plate discipline area.

7 - Starlin Castro: SS
Hi A: .299-.338-.388, 358, 3-35, 19-41, 22-11
AA: .288-.347-.396, 111, 0-14, 10-12, 6-0
Quick Take: Futures Game player, he had a strong breakthrough year, but not much power or plate discipline.

8 - Ryan Flaherty: SS
Lo A: .276-.344-.470, 485, 20-81, 50-98, 7-6
Quick Take: Interesting season, great power numbers for a SS, but some high K numbers and quite a few caught stealings.

9 - Jay Jackson: SP
Hi A: 7-7, 2-2, 1.41, 38.1-30-3-4-46
AA: 16-16, 5-5, 3.70, 82.2-73-7-39-77
AAA: 1-1, 1-0, 1.50, 6-5-1-3-4
Quick Take: Strong season saw him finish with a start at AAA. 127 strikeouts in 127 innings is a good sign.

10 - Hak-Ju Lee: SS
SS: .330-.399-.420, 264, 2-33, 31-50, 25-8
Quick Take: Strong state-side debut in his first season in the states. Intriguing speed and average combination.

AAA: Iowa Cubs (PCL)
Breakout Hitter: Jake Fox (# 24): .409-.495-.841, 164, 17-53, 21-31, 2-1
Disappointing Hitter: Steve Clevenger (# 11): .265-.309-.326, 230, 0-26, 15-31, 4-3
Breakout Pitcher: Jeff Stevens (UL): 42-0, 1-3, 2.03, 57.2-35-1-25-61
Disappointing Pitcher: Mitch Atkins (# 21): 27-27, 8-12, 6.58, 146.1-164-26-52-127
Quick Take: Fox and Stevens parlayed good seasons into playing in the bigs. Clevenger dominated AA for a month, then struggled badly for the rest of the season at AAA. Atkins got to the majors for the 1st time, but it wasn't because of what he did at Iowa.

AA: Tennessee Smokies (SL)
Breakout Hitter: Darwin Barney (# 19): .317-.368-.401, 252, 3-32, 23-33, 5-1
Disappointing Hitter: Tony Thomas (# 23): .251-.341-.389, 427, 11-41, 50-106, 13-13
Breakout Pitcher: Jay Jackson (# 9): Line above.
Disappointing Pitcher: None
Quick Take: Barney has translated what he did at Oregon State to the professionals and looks like he should be ready for a cup of coffee at some point next year. Jackson was strong and looks to start next season at AAA. Thomas had an extremely raw season and has a lot of things he needs to work on.

Hi A: Dayton Cubs (FSL)
Breakout Hitter: Brandon Guyer (# 13): .347-.407-.453, 265, 2-32, 24-34, 23-2
Disappointing Hitter: Jonathon Wyatt (UL): .232-.295-.278, 396, 2-33, 35-67, 9-5
Breakout Pitcher: Andrew Cashner (# 3): Line above.
Disappointing Pitcher: Dan McDaniel (UR): 30-16, 6-9, 4.78, 92.1-101-3-49-79
Quick Take: Guyer worked his way into a mid season promotion at AA and struggled. Cashner was promoted to AA as well for his work in the 1st half of the season. Wyatt got a lot of at bats and provided little production. McDaniel ends up being the posterchild for a staff that had no real pitcher jump out, but had a lot of mediocrity.

Lo A: Peoria Chiefs (ML)
Breakout Hitter: Josh Harrison (UR): .337-.377-.479, 303, 4-33, 16-25, 16-9
Disappointing Hitter: Junior Lake (# 14): .248-.277-.365, 463, 7-42, 18-138, 10-7
Breakout Pitcher: Chris Archer (UR): 27-26, 6-4, 2.81, 109-78-0-66-119
Disappointing Pitcher: Marcus Hatley (UL): 30-16, 6-6, 4.64, 95-103-10-41-64
Quick Take: Harrison will take his breakout season to the Pirates organization while Archer came ovefrom the Indians and had a strong season despite his high walk total. Lake battled a lack of discipline to a subpar season. Hatley struggled to do much in his full-season debut.

TK's Early 2010 Top 10 Prospects:
1) Josh Vitters: 3B
Weakest # 1 prospect out there. Hope to see continued growth out of him. More hype then results right now.
2) Andrew Cashner: SP
If he can get a bump in innings, it would be much easier to get a feel for him.
3) Jay Jackson: SP
One of the few Cubs to have a true "breakout" season looks to continue to build on it.
4) Starlin Castro: SS
Futures Game alum looks to try and make himself Jose Reyes and not Jose Castillo.
5) Brett Jackson: CF
2009 1st round pick has been frequently compared to J.D. Drew for his ability.
6) Darwin Barney: SS
Former CWS hero looks to try and make it to the bigs next season, possibly to fill a hole at 2B.
7) Ryan Flaherty: SS
Above average power shown in first full season, can he continue to use that as a calling card?
8) Hak-Ju Lee: SS
Hope to see him in full-season ball next year, which should clearly put where he stands and what is/isn't fluky.
9) Brandon Guyer: CF
Strong half season at Hi A was quickly forgotten once he went to AA. Can he adjust?
10) Blake Parker: RHP
Reliever made strong mark at AA and AAA (55 games, 77 strikeouts in 63 innings) and appears to be a contender for a bullpen spot next season.

Dropped From Top 10: Rhee (# 4), Castillo (# 5)

Final Overview: This may be the weakest system in baseball. An organization trying to gain a foothold in Korea (which features some of their more intriguing prospects) really is suffering with talent both at the top of the system and the depth below. They really need some breakout seasons next season, primarily from Vitters, Rhee, Cashner and Lee, as well as strong debuts from some of their 2009 draftees, especially Jackson. There is not much help coming for these Cubs.