@Quintero: Tyler Colvin could be an in-house option if the Cubs want to save a bit of money. He is still young, and before 2008, the Cubs thought he was similar to Steve Finley or Shawn Green. He has had Tommy John surgery after the 2008 season. He projects to hit between 15 and 20 homers, below average plate discipline, and a decent arm in right. He missed the first month of the 2009 season recovering from TJ surgery. The reason the Cubs brought him up this September was because of his defense.

As IowaCubs said, the Cubs have traded away any viable options to even plug the gap for Brett Jackson (bet they wished they still had Felix Pie or Matt Murton). If Brandon Guyer didn’t bomb this last year, he may have been an option. Sam Fuld is an option, but not a good one. You could play Jake Fox, Michael Hoffpauir or switch Ryan Theriot/Mike Fontenot’s position to the outfield. Andres Blanco could then cover the open vacancy (of Jeff Baker if Fontenot changed). There is always Reed Johnson.

The short answer is either Colvin / Fuld / Hoffipauir. However, Hoffipauir’s defense if terrible in the field (not sure his UZR, couldn’t find it). I would love to see Tyler Colvin given a shot to win it. The Cubs are going to struggle to find anything in house that has the up-side of a healthy Milton Bradley.

I know that didn’t give you an answer, but that is what they got.

@IowaCubs: The Cubs have some great Korean players, that much is true. Their Korean pitching prospects I think have better upside than the hitting Koreans. Hak-Ju Lee had power power numbers, but his speed and defense are what make him an above average prospect anyway. I also agree that Brett Jackson looks stellar. He hasn’t played at High-A yet though. He’ll be the player that will eventually fill the Bradley gap.

Looks like Vitters and Castro are dueling for top prospect bragging rights. Not sure how Castro could truly do that as Vitters has the better power potential and plays a position that requires either amazing defense or stellar hitting.

Additionally, Colvin may not stay in center-field because of his Tommy Johns surgery. Just a heads up. He played in LF and DH most his minor games this year and played nearly half his games in CF and half in LF in 2008. I would expect him to probably play in RF because of Soriano is in LF.

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/10/30/1107292/cubs-afl-update#storyjump

They’ve signed some pretty amazing talent from Korea in the last two years, and for some reason this is the brightest spot in their international talent pool. Here’s a pretty good article from Fangraphs about the talent they’ve been able to steal from Korea:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/hak-ju-lee-leads-impressive-wave-of-talent/

Also, I’m very excited about Brett Jackson and Tyler Colvin. Colvin plays some pretty kick ass defense, but his stick is another issue. Jackson has some Victorino in him, but he needs to continue to develop his patience at the plate, since that seems to be the biggest knock on him in college. His line of .295/.383/.545 in high-A ball is fine by me.

I hope that either one of these two emerge as the next centerfielder in the near future, hopefully by the end of 2011.