this kid can flat out hit,he plays first base...he looks like a white prince fielder...i think itd be better to keep the lh rizzo at 1b so dan v. needs to learn r.f.

2014 lineup-prediction

matt szczur-cf...rh
s.castro-ss........rh
rizzo-1b............lh
soler-lf.............rh
vogleback-rf....lh
baez-3b...........rh
clevenger-c.....lh
barney-2b.......rh

vitters an sappelt on bench....jackson probably dealt..almora in o.f. by 2015 at latest......fft

Its Vogelbach and no to RF.

He is 6'5 250 and that would significantly shorten his career.

If he makes it and does well, he or Rizzo would be trade bait for another piece the Cubs would need to return to the Playoffs.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=vogelb000dan

Don't pigeonhole a 19 year old kid because he is 250lbs. He was well over 275 when he was drafted.

If Vogelbach can hit 40 home runs a year and give you Adam Dunn type defense in the outfield early in his career than so be it.

Dunn is only 32. He has only played 106 games in the majors in RF. By far most of his experience is in LF. However his last major OF experience came when he was 29.

The last big guy (over 230) I can remember in RF was Vlad the Impaler, and his knees were gone by 35. Berkman was pretty close at 225, and he has also been having knee issues.

Just saying the better plan is to use one of them for trade bait instead of trying to make them more athletic than they are. Get another piece we need.

We can trade Rizzo for tons of start pitching prospects. I have no idea why people has issues with Vogelbach's and Rizzo's playing positions.

Soler is already pegged for right.

Vogelbach would be perfect to take over for Soriano in left.

It's great to have these fanstasy (dream) discussions. Lert's just see where we are in late 13 or 14. Would Billy Bean trade a guy because he didn't have a position on the team? He'd probably figure out where'd the guy would do the least harm with a lot of work.

Predicting a lineup 2-3 years out when you expect at least 4 new faces is truly speculating. It's based on whose the best prospects we have today. Let's see if all these riches materialize.

Yes maybe our Tinkers-Evers-Chance threesome will become legendary, and equal Russell-Lopes-Garvey & the Penguin in longevity but it's very doubtful. I'd be very happy if we got two quality major leaguers out of Szczur, Soler, Volgelbach, Baez and Almora.

Trades and guys who emerge will fill in the rest.

I think it would be better to move Rizzo to the outfield if this type of scenario developed.

He is 6'5 250"
Hey Sunny, I'm guessing that's a typo. Vogelbach is 6 feet even.

Sounds like he is John Kruk. Hopefully without all the drinking problems.

"I think it would be better to move Rizzo to the outfield if this type of scenario developed."

Why? Rizzo is a GG caliber defender at 1st, you don't move those types of players off of their position to play somewhere else, especially when they aren't an offensive liability.

There's no way he's 6'5". Watch the videos of him on YouTube. When he crosses home plate and gets his high 5's, he's dwarfed by teammates. If I remember right, he was listed at 5'10" on draft day.

The Cubs DO have a gigantic 1st baseman in the system named Hoilman.

Justin Bour is listed as 6'4" and 250 lbs,also.

I mean the cardinals did use Pujols in LF and 3B to keep Mcgwire at 1B and Pujols is GG caliber at 1B. btw I am not in anyway condoning the idea of moving Rizzo for Vogelbach and understand that Pujols wasn't the established player as Rizzo will be at the time. But man if Vogelbach keeps hitting it's going to be tough to just trade him instead of finding somewhere for him to play.

Pujols was drafted as a 3rd basemen, not a 1st basemen, big difference.

Ahh ok I didn't realize that. Btw was Pujols even a big time prospect coming up? I never heard anything about him, but I guess I was also younger and didn't pay much attention to minor leagues then.

yes and no, he was drafted in the 13th round mostly because of his size(he was really pudgy back then) and concerns that he wouldn't be able to stick at any one position. He crushed the ball in the minors making it all the way to AAA his first year and was rated the #42 prospect in baseball going into 2011 where he had probably the best rookie season of all time and as they say, the rest is history

thank you for the insight sir.

Hopefully it comes to that.It would be one heck of a great problem to have!!

The better plan would be to have Vogelbach in the lineup as well as Rizzo. Who honestly cares how his knees and body hold up? Move him to right or left, if he hits well sign him to a couple year extension and then don't offer him a contract after that.

If his knees don't hold up past 35 who cares? He won't be playing for us.