TODAY: The deal is official, as Hoerner himself revealed via his Instagram page.
JUNE 12: The Cubs are closing in on an agreement with first-round pick Nico Hoerner, reports Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (via Twitter). The former Stanford shortstop is expected to sign for the full slot value of $2.724MM that comes with the No. 24 overall selection, according to Mooney, and he’ll begin his pro career with the Cubs’ short-season Class-A affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds. MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets that all that remains for the deal to be finalized is a physical, which should happen later this week.
Chicago, it seems, was a bit more bullish on Hoerner than most pre-draft rankings. Hoerner ranked 37th in the class in the estimation of Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, while ESPN’s Keith Law pegged him 39th, Baseball America ranked him 42nd and Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com tabbed him 52nd.
Those reports indicate that there’s somewhat of a split among scouts as to whether Hoerner can remain at shortstop or will require a move to second base or the outfield. BA makes note of his impressive exit velocity and strong hands, while all of the reports note his quality bat-to-ball skills and above-average speed. McDaniel and Longenhagen note that he has drawn some comparisons to Arizona’s Chris Owings.
Hoerner hit .345/.391/.496 at Stanford this past season, with two homers, 17 doubles, six triples and 15 steals (in 19 attempts) along the way. More impressively, he struck out just 22 times in 57 games played while drawing 20 walks in that time as well.
maybe im being too hard on the kid but his swing and lack of power reminds me of ryan theriot. hopefully he can do a little better for us than the riot.
If he’s lucky maybe DJ lamaheiu
Why did you have to bring up DJ LeMahieu, the Jim Hendry draft pick that Theo & Co. gave away? Can you imagine him with the Cubs along with the holdover they did keep, Javier Baez?
LeMahieu could have been the Cubs All-Star, Gold Glove 2B. Baez could have remained at his natural SS position and maybe they would have traded Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel for someone other than Addison Russell. Most importantly, LeMahieu could have filled the Cubs need at leadoff hitter for the past 7 seasons with his excellent BA/OBP combination.
I wouldn’t put LeMahieu in the same class as HOF’er Lou Brock, but he is yet another quality leadoff hitter the Cubs let get away in a poor trade. Billy North was a third they punted to the Oakland A’s back in 1972 when the team’s biggest hole had always been CF. Brock went on to help the Cardinals win two World Series titles and North earned a ring with the 1974 A’s. LeMahieu has yet to garner a championship in Colorado but he certainly could have earned one in 2016 and maybe more had he remained in Chicago.
Take some meds dude, that was a whole lot more non sense. You act like LaMahieu is the 2nd coming of Christ and Cubs have been suffering since
Dude, learn how to write and start loving your father. He’s the only one you’ll ever have.
What’s wrong with Addison Russell? He just might win the Gold Glove this year.
Russell is a top 5 SS. He was the A’s top prospect at the time.
Addison Russell is not a top 5 SS. Probably not even top 15.
No he won’t. Crawford has that wrapped up pretty much.
Russell is not even close to a top 5 shortstop. Simmons, Lindor, Seager, Turner, Crawford. There’s 5 right there. Not to mention segura, Machado, Correa, bogaerts, and story. Not even close
Machado? Nobody sees him as a legitimate SS. He’s not even close to Russell defensively. And that’s coming from someone who doesn’t really care for Russell.
I can imagine LeMaheiu being a league average hitter for the Cubs similar to how he’s been a league average hitter away from Coors Field.
justinept: Perhaps, but D.J. LeMahieu’s limited appearances at Wrigley Field are among his best in visiting NL ballparks and line up almost exactly with his career triple slash numbers. Playing in Chicago should also have little impact upon his above average glove at 2B which has earned him to two Gold Glove awards.
One thing is for certain. The Cubs have struggled with their offensive consistency in the top two spots of their batting order since Dexter Fowler left following the 2016 season. I feel plenty confident that a hitter like LeMahieu would have stabilized the leadoff or #2 role with the Cubs since that time. I also believe that he could have been an ideal #2 grunt type hitter for the Cubs all along. Unfortunately, we also know that because of their love of advanced analytics Joe Maddon and the front office geeks would have found that possibility less appealing to them.
I do subscribe to the notion that sabermetrics is a useful tool but also believe the degree of reliance on it in today’s game is negatively impacting MLB in general. I have always preferred more defined roles in baseball and still believe that the majority of Cubs players would find more success knowing theirs in stead of bouncing around the lineup like Maddon has been prone to do. I’ve said it more times than I can remember, but Joe Maddon is an incessant micro-manager with all aspects of the Cubs, be it batting orders or the handling of his pitching staff. I firmly believe that the Cubs would be better served if their skipper scaled back with this approach and used more time tested methods, especially when constructing his lineups.
Russell is 5th in dWAR… just saying.
Actually, that’s about my comp. Hoerner seems a bit Theriot, that hits, runs, fields, and throws slightly better than Riot.
Look at Theriot’s career WAR.
Look at career WAR values on the 24th pick.
Add a bit onto Theriot, and you have an entirely acceptable 24th choice.
agreed. theriot wasnt a bad player, just wish his range and power was a little better. i didnt look at the college numbers too much, but with video of that swing, how could you not be reminded of theriot? almost spot on.
Theriot once cussed me out at a Cubs convention. I was 8 or 9? I can’t remember exactly. Entirely irrelevant, so here’s to hoping that Hoerner has a better makeup haha
What did he say? I’m super curious. :P
I’m more curious as to what an 8 or 9 year old did to cause that kind of response…
I was getting his autograph and he asked me where I wanted him to sign (on the ball). I told him to sign where he wanted. and he said something along the lines of “whatever, you don’t give a $%!#.” I admit, saying he “cussed me out” is an exageration, but it did make me feel bad.
why not like dustin pedroia ♂️♂️
Love your optimism, especially for a #1 selection in the latest June draft.
Btw-That comp has already been made with the White Sox first round pick Nick Madrigal. Pedroia flashed more power at Arizona State while Madrigal’s run tool is better coming out of Oregon State. Both are of similar stature, each receiving high marks for their baseball instincts and character coming out of college.
A great competitor and gritty player. He’s got a solid frame already and doesn’t hit for a soft average as you would think with the lack of power early in his career. There definitely is upside for more power and the Cubs know it. I actually like the Pedroia comparison because this pick was Theo attempting to light a spark with a high character, winning first mentality guy. The Cubs need a gritty leader especially when their mvp and face of the organization engages in tickle fights during bench clearing brawls; not a good look.
Did you even watch that “bench clearing brawl”? Where exactly was the “brawl”? Oh that’s right, nothing happened except for the benches clearing. Don’t knock a top 5 player in the league just because he didn’t act stupid when the situation called for it.
Top 5 is a little steep. I’d say top 10 though.
Kb is definitely a top 5 player.. only trout you can say is better for sure.. Altuve, Betts, Harper, judge, Machado, Ramirez, arenado.. kb is arguably just as good as any of these guys, for sure consistently better than most.
i agree kb is a very good player but i they only way i see him staying there if the cubs give him a stupid contract thanks in large part of keeping kb in aaa for 2 weeks for “extra seasoning” but in reality it was for 7 years of control
honestly i think mlb should adapt the nhl rule if you play 1 game or 82 it’s still counts as a whole year i think it’s wrong how a lot of other teams do they same thing to other players or shorten the years a team can control a player to like 4
If you are talking for 2018 KB hasn’t even been a top 25 player. If you are talking over the entire time he has been in the league than I will give you top 10. If you look at overall numbers Trout and Altuve are for sure better and so is Arenado. I personally would take Betts, Machado, Lindor, Correa, Judge and possibly Harper over KB also. Its tough to put a guy in top 5 status when he has struggled this year (only on pace for 21 HR) and only drove in 73 in 2017.
Yea… 3 average months totally eclipses 3 years of MVP level production.
top 5 in 2018? Seriously? Who do you have ranked ahead of him? He’s not even the top player at his position.
Tickling people ….is very stupid
So is your comment about him not being a “gritty leader”. Oh btw, Rizzo is the leader of this team. Has been since 2014 when he got the bench to clear against Cinci.
Always bickering. It’d be nice to hear less back n forth and more good baseball banter.
LET’S HEAR A LITTLE CHATTER!