Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects: #5

#5 Tyler Colvin, OF

Year	Team	Lv	AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	SO	BB	SB	CS
2004	Clemson	NCAA	.289	.350	.414	128	2	16	11	4	1
2005	Clemson	NCAA	.287	.327	.449	254	5	31	14	12	3
2006	Clemson	NCAA	.356	.419	.609	281	13	42	28	23	4
2006	Boise	SS	.268	.313	.483	265	11	55	17	12	5

Coming out of high school in 2003, Tyler Colvin was a projectable prep outfielder who was a tough sign. Baseball America had him rated in the top twenty prospects from South Carolina, but signability led him to be undrafted. By other publications however, he was regarded as the best high school player in the state. Colvin wasn't a regular his first season for the Tigers, but did get about 150 plate appearances. Considering he was a young freshman (technically most kids his age graduated in 2004) and he played his entire freshman season at age 18 in the ACC it was a solid season. He showed gap power and a decent overall eye. Most of his playing time came late in the ACC season, so it was overall a good year. In the summer he played in the Coastal Plain League and hit under 200.

Colvin added some muscle to his frame his second year at Clemson. This led to quite a bit more doubles power, but his walks took a huge drop in the added playing time. It could have been a great season for Colvin, but he finished the season in a 4 for 39 slump. He was still relatively young age wise and had tools so there was some promise. Over the following summer and fall Colvin added even more strength to his frame, and had a breakthrough junior season at age 20.

Colvin got all sorts of post season awards as he hit for power, doubles, striples stole bases and did a lot of things scouts love to see. He didn't show great patience and struckout quite a bit though. Baseball America had him as the 170th best prospect in the draft going into the week before the draft, but he was rising up draft boards and the pre-draft chatter was that the White Sox were interested in Colvin as high as the final pick of the first round. However, everyone was shocked when the Cubs took him 13th overall. Initially I was puzzled and thought my trust in Tim Wilken might be misplaced, but the guy has had just about every first-rounder make it in the past.

The Cubs signed Colvin quick enough for him to play most of the season in Boise. He didn't have the gauty numbers he showed at Clemson with the batting average but he displayed solid 220+ isolated power, which leaves room for good thoughts. His discipline was a huge problem with the Hawks however. It'll be interesting to see how this resolves with Colvin. Between Clemson and Boise Colvin got into 133 games, hitting over 30 doubles, 20 homers, ten triples and thirty stolen bases. However, he did strike out 97 times and walked just 45 times, with both of those figures doing very bad in Boise. Still, BA loved the heck out of him naming him the best prospect in the Northwest League. It looks like Wilken's belief in him has already paid off.

It's pretty nice that Colvin was still just twenty all season long in Boise. Power is one of the last things that develops for a hitter, and it seems like it might be for Colvin. He has a large 6'3" frame so it may come. The Cubs think he can stick in centerfield, but he probably won't. He's got all five tools. He has above average skills across the board, with the best being plus power. It's not surprising that a scout guy like Wilken is all over him. He has the perfect lefty swing and good tools.

However, I see a guy that the Cubs seem to have no problem signing or developing. He hasn't shown a shred of the sixth tool. His strike out rate and lack of walk rate isn't as concerning as Corey Patterson's but it could easily become an issue. The Cubs have never shown a committment to fixing these problems at the major or minor league levels. I like Colvin's chances of being a very good player if he can stick in center, but I am not so sure he'll be a good enough overall offensive player to stick on the corners. I don't know where the Cubs have him slated for 2007, but I would guess on the Florida State League skipping the Midwest. The Cubs probably won't be doing that.

Cubs Draft Dreams: David Price

Year	Team	Lv	W	L	IP	H	K	BB	ERA	WHIP
2005	Vanderbilt	NCAA	2	4	69.1	51	92	30	2.86	1.17
2006	Vanderbilt	NCAA	9	5	110.1	92	155	43	4.16	1.22

One thing the terrible season in 2007 gave the Cubs was the third pick in a very good draft. It's going to be a critical selection for an organization with a depleting farm system. From all indications the top three prospects in the draft are probably going to be college products. As usual the elite players may fall because of bonus demands, so the Cubs could easily be looking between all three of them with the third pick as the Royals and Pirates aren't known for their spending in the draft. The first of these prospects would be Vanderbilt's David Price.

Price's senior season at Blackman HS in Tennessee didn't go great for the team. Price actually had a losing record, but Price's star was large enough for Baseball America to rank him as the #1 high school prospect in the state (#2 overall) and the #69 prospect in the country. At the time he was a big left-handed pitcher with off the charts projection. His fastball had reached 94, but he sat right around 90 MPH. He flashed a curveball with potential as well. He was considered a tough sign because he was a great student and had committed to Vanderbilt. It wasn't until the 19th round that the Los Angeles Dodgers took a flier on him, of course they never signed him and he enrolled at Vandy.

Price broke out in 2005 in his first season for the Commodores. He got in 16 games, starting ten of them. He struck out 92 batters in under 70 innings (11.94 K/9). He finished with a superb overall line and was recognized as a second team Freshman All-American by Baseball America. For the summer he was one of the few freshmen to be selected for Team USA, where he continued to flourish.

Date Opp Dec IP R ER H K BB 2/17 @ San Diego L 4.2 7 6 5 7 6 2/22 Tenn Tech 1.0 0 0 0 3 0 2/24 Pittsburgh 6.0 1 1 4 9 1 3/3 Ball State L 8.0 3 2 5 10 2 3/10 Brown W 7.0 1 1 4 15 1 3/17 @ Ole Miss W 7.0 3 1 5 10 2 3/24 Auburn W 9.0 0 0 1 11 2 3/31 @ Florida W 8.0 0 0 5 13 0 4/5 @ Austin Peay 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 4/7 #21 Arkansas W 8.0 1 1 3 17 4 4/14 #8 Georgia 5.2 5 5 8 7 3 4/22 @ #6 Alabama L 6.1 8 8 10 4 1 4/28 #13 Kentucky W 6.0 5 4 10 9 3 5/5 @ Tennessee L 3.1 9 8 9 3 2 5/10 Lipscomb 2.0 0 0 0 2 0 5/13 @ LSU W 7.0 2 2 4 8 5 5/19 South Carolina W 7.0 4 4 4 9 6 5/25 @ South Carolina W 7.0 1 1 6 8 1 6/3 #10 Georgia Tech L 6.1 7 7 8 8 5

He started four games and struck out 39 batters in 28.2 innings of work. He was named second team All-Summer by Baseball America.

Price's sophomore season started out phenomenally. Through the first week of April he was sitting at 5-1 with a 1.96 ERA and 97 K's in 59.7 innings of work .He had made eight starts and struck out at least ten in six of them. Price faded completely with the rest of the Commodores by the end of the season. The next four starts he gave up eight runs twice and four and five earned the other times. By the end of the season his ERA had ballooned to 4.24 overall, but his independent ERA finished in the mid 2's, so it probably wasn't a huge concern. His command and mechanics was what he lost, he still had good strikeout numbers though not nearly as dominant as earlier in the season. As you can see on the game-by-game breakdown he really slumped at the end.

All things considered it was a good season for David Price, but he certainly wants to finish his junior season better than last year. However, Price went back to Team USA this summer where he was the best prospect on the team - a lofty ranking considering his teammate Pedro Alvarez was on it. His command returned and he struck out 61 batters in 44 innings allowing just 7 walks and gave up all of one earned run. He was named Baseball America's Summer Player of the Year.

David Price enters 2007 as perhaps the best pitcher in college baseball and one of the best in the nation. He's got to avoid the meltdowns in order to develop. Gone is his curveball he showed in high school, now he throws his fastball in the low 90s hitting as high as 97 in the summer and a plus slider that's in the mid 90s. His changeup has become an average pitch. Price's starts will be updated here, as the Cubs certainly will look at him if his bonus demands have him slide to the Cubs and/or Matt Wieters is gone. He has the potential to take a Mark Prior-2001 jump his final season and become that kind of talent.

Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects: #6

#6 Eric Patterson, 2b

Year	Team	Lv	AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	SO	BB	SB	CS
2002	Ga Tech	NCAA	.346	.438	.458	260	3	42	37	41	9
2003	Ga Tech	NCAA	.274	.351	.375	248	2	44	29	45	6
2004	Ga Tech	NCAA	.326	.433	.508	264	9	54	52	48	7
2005	Peoria	A	.333	.405	.535	432	13	94	53	40	11
	W. Tenn	AA	.200	.324	.267	30	0	7	6	3	2
2006	W. Tenn	AA	.263	.330	.408	441	8	89	46	38	12
	Iowa	AAA	.358	.395	.493	67	2	9	6	8	0

Eric Patterson has a lot of similarities to his brother. Eric was viewed as an unsignable pure athlete coming out of high school in the 2001 draft. Due to his talents and connections he was snagged early on the second day of the draft by the Rockies, but he took up college at Georgia Tech.

Eric burst onto the scene with a sensational freshman season. He was named first team All-ACC, first team freshman all-american and third team all-american. Patterson slumped his sophomore season, but bounced back with an excellent final season. He was ranked as the 59th best prospect in the 2004 draft by Baseball America, but once he signed with Scott Boras like his brother he begun to slip. The Cubs didn't have a pick in the first fifty, so they had a little bit of extra cash to spend and took him with their eigth round pick and signed him for third round money.

Patterson started out his professional career in 2005 in the Midwest League where he overmatched younger players than him. He ran into a bit of a roadblock this season as he skipped Daytona and went to West Tenn. He displayed a little bit more patience than expected but it wasn't a great year. He did finish it with a bright spot in the final few weeks of the season after a promotion to Triple A Iowa. Patterson then backed up his late season success with a good performance in the Arizona Fall League.

Much like Corey, Eric has solid tools across the board. He's a gifted runner with plus speed and the potential to swipe thirty bases every year in the majors. He's got very good hitting skills and can flat-out scoot out of the box to first. He doesn't have the same power that his brother does, but he can hit double-digit homers with thirty steals. I am sure the first thing that runs through your mind is what about his discipline that his brother can't do. He's not the poster boy for the walks and no strikeouts, but he's a lot better than his brother. He's shown average walk skills and slightly below average contact skills. He can fall in love with his power at times which hurt him in these aspects. Defensively he's no Orlando Hudson, but he's solid.

In a perfect world Eric Patterson can become a solid all-around starting 2b. I envision him becoming a .280/.340/.420 and 30 SBs type 2b with the Cubs. Not great, but solid nonetheless. He's nearly ready right now. He's probably a better bet to hit those numbers than Mark DeRosa, but I am not the GM or manager. Eric's going to be in Iowa this season where he should have another solid season wasting away. One thing's for sure, the Iowa Cubs are going to have one great team next season.