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Cubs putting emphasis on depth in '09 Draft | cubs.com News
In other words, the Cubs are hoping that scouting director Tim Wilken, now in his fourth season with the team, can find another Geovany Soto, who was selected in the 11th round of the 2001 Draft.
"Those are the guys we fail to talk about when we talk about our amateur Draft," Fleita said.
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In about 50 words
Wilken's approach is to "take the best big leaguer left." He leans toward athletic players -- Tyler Colvin and Josh Vitters are good examples. The Cubs, hoping they can continue to pick low in the First-Year Player Draft, the order of which is determined by where the team finishes the year before, have expanded their scouting efforts, and signed players from Korea and Australia.
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Wilken feels this isn't a true first round and that there isn't the superstar talent projected for that round. There is good depth, though, from the end of the first to the fifth round, and Wilken has had each of the Cubs' national and regional scouts picking their top five guys. Then they debate the players' pluses and minuses. With the team's expanded international scouting, Wilken said, he can address some of the organization's needs in the Draft, such as finding more left-handers, catchers and outfielders.
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Wilken does not have a preference when it comes to college versus high school players. An example of the type of player he'll look for is outfielder Reed Johnson, who was a 17th-round pick by Toronto in 1999. Wilken was the Blue Jays' scouting director at that time. He also tabbed such players as Casey Blake, Chris Carpenter, Carlos Delgado, Ryan Freel, Shawn Green, Roy Halladay, Orlando Hudson, Jimmy Key and Vernon Wells.
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