[B]B-T:[/B] R/R [B]Ht:[/B] 5'10 [B]Wt:[/B] 190lbs [B]Birth:[/B] 3/24/1983 [B]Hometown:[/B] Harahan, Louisiana

With the Cubs pulling off perhaps their biggest superstar trade since bringing in Nomar and Murton, my mailbox has been flooded with questions. They range from did we give up too much, is Donaldson a future star, will Harden be healthy but the most common question asked is who is Chad Gaudin? Well I'll be breaking down this small frame Louisiana boy who came out of obscurity and now is with his fourth team since being drafted in 2001. Read on...

After posting my Top 20 draft prospects reports (1-10 & 11-20), I'll continue the process of the Top 50 over the next couple of days and cap it off with my own attempt at a Mock Draft. As far as the Cub's #19 pick, word on the street is that Wilken will be looking for and selecting the best athlete available at the time since the Cubs don't have any glaring need in their system. So odds are high that it'll be a high schooler who's shown solid all-around tools, maybe even as a two-way star. Some names that have recently been floating around are Casey Kelly, Brett Lawrie, Anthony Hewitt, Zach Collier and Jake Odorizza, they join the crowd of Gerritt Cole, Alex Meyer, Ethan Martin, and Aaron Hicks. Without further ado here's my 21-30 top talented prospects in the draft.

This year's amateur draft isn't very diverse compared to previous years. Many scouts and crosscheckers I've recently talked to feel that there is no obvious superstar talent pick that is a consensus overall pick. Several of the scouts feel that besides the top four talents (SS Georgia HS Tim Beckman,Vanderbilt 3B Pedro Alvarez, RHP Missouri HS Aaron Crow, and LHP Missouri Brian Matsuz) that the mid-first rounders aren't too far behind the early picks. This draft is deep in first basemen and positional players with contact, power, and discipline yet have no real position. Overall, the pitching is mediocre. The college ranks are deep in mediocre talent but most don't have high ceilings while the high schoolers are sparse but have a few that already have huge ceilings with big risks. What this draft is lacking is middle infielders (2B & SS) and outfielders (CF & RF) in both the college and high school fronts. Besides just a handful of guys at both positions, there will be a severe lack in the first round with some high school stretches. In the mean time, scouts are already salivating over 2009's potential draft class ( Kyle Gibson from University of Missouri and Brian Strasburg from San Diego State).

Matt Murton now knows what comedian Rodney Dangerfield was talking about "No Respect". Matt has got to be wondering what did I do wrong as the Cubs announced that the bench will consist of Ward, Blanco, Cedeno, Johnson, and Fontenot. That leaves Matt Murton wasting away in AAA or worse traded for under value. Since his 2005 late season callup, Murton has shown throughout his tenure that his work offensively is better than anyone who's come out of our minor leagues since Mark Grace. Murton has shown not only the ability to continually make contact as well as extrabase power but he features an almost un-Cubby quality in his ability to work counts and draw walks. Still Piniella has passed over him the past two offseason.

ose Ceda

6′5

230lbs

R/R

1/28/1987

Once in blue moon minor deadline deals involving role players for low level high ceiling prospects pan out. Right now the midseason 2006 season deal with the Padres, exchanging Todd Walker for a 19 year old rookie flamethrower Jose Ceda, is looking like a steal. The Padres got a half season of Walker, while Ceda has excelled through the Cubs' organization. A Cubs' scout had spotted Ceda as a potential low buy back in 2005 during the Padres' Instructional League; he loved Ceda's velocity and size. The Padres were willing deal Jose because they felt he was a player tabbed with huge potential but poor work ethic and was suited for the bullpen. For a more in-depth Scouting Report on Ceda read on….

There is alot of talk amongst baseball analyst this winter over what an ace pitcher is worth and whether or not the Cubs could afford one. First, baseball had the Athletics deal where Danny Haren (who was locked up at 15.5M/3YR) of Arizona where they gave up three of their top 10 prospects ( Carlos Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham as well as low level RSP Dana Eveland and borderliner Chris Carter). Then we had the Mets trading for the best one year contract pitcher in recent history in Johan Santana, who was looking for 20+ million a year in free agency. The Mets gave up an arguably low return, two players (SRP Guerra and SS/OF Gomez) with high risk/high reward and two stable SRP players in Mulvey and Humber, who profile as a back-end starters.

5?10

180lbs

L/L

Stanford (10th Rd in 2004)

There is not a player in the Cubs' system that you'll hear me gush over more than Sam Fuld. In the past six months, his stock has rose to the highest it's been, and good thing for Sam as he recently turned 27 years old. Fuld is not an elite prospect, he's more closer to a finished prospect, as in what you see is what you are going to get. Despite Sam's size, he's been long considered a future MLBer since his high school days due to well rounded fundamental yet hardnosed style of play. He plays the game the way you were taught as a kid in little league and the way you want your kids to play. For a more extensive report read on...

Kosuke Fukudome (KOH-skay foo-koo-DOUGH-may)

6′1

190lbs

L/R

April 26th, 1977

Captain Ahab finally landed his White Whale as Jim Hendry pulled down his biggest free agent this offseason. The Cubs and Hendry finally landed a Japanese player after flirting with the notion for nearly ten years. It just turns out we needed a lefty bat that can play rightfield, and Fukudome is everything we could hope for out of a free agency. For a full Scouting Report read on…

When the draft goes down in June, teams, players and fans are filled with for the future. That someday those players will grow up and help contribute to the parent club's success and turn into superstars. Three full baseball years is about the earliest one can start judging the return and how a draft shaped out. Now is that time to look back at the 2004 where Hendry had just completed his first full season as a major league General Manager. Yet he still did not relinquished his death grip hold on our drafting process and worked with John Stockstill in the draft process, John has since left the organization and is an assistant GM in Baltimore. The Cubs had lost their first rounder to the Twins for signing reliever LaTroy Hawkins, with that pick Minnesota took college righty Matt Fox and got a supplemental pick at #39 and took a high school pitcher in Jay Rainville, neither have made it past High A ball yet but Rainville looks like a future stud. Here's a look at what Scouting Director Stockstill and Hendry drafted that year:

Tony Thomas

2B

5′10

180lbs

R/R

Thomas split the most prestigious college baseball award, the Golden Spikes, with the first pick overall David Price this past offseason. Still Tony was taken 96 picks later, when the Cubs nabbed him with the third pick in the third round. Thomas saw quite a few unproven high school infielders taken before him due to most scouts believing that Thomas was a finished product and his range for improvement was limited. When Thomas was still available in the third round, Wilken and associates could no longer pass on the ACC player of the year. Tony did not disappoint as he signed early and reported to Arizona (rookie ball) for a short stint before raking it up at Boise (short A).

B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 202. Birthdate: 12/8/85

He's the other Josh, the Cubs took in the 2007 draft. Thanks to the Dodgers signing Juan Pierre early, the Cubs were awarded a sandwich pick, the 48th overall selection. The Cubs have a poor history of drafting and developing catchers, but the recently converted Donaldson looks like the real deal. This year he absolutely destroyed Boise (Short A) with his bat and has looked good behind the plate. For more details read on.

6�'3

200 lbs

R/R

Cypress High School, CA

With the third pick overall this year, the Cubs took the best high school bat and arguable the best bat overall in Josh Vitters. This 18 year old Californian had many Cub fans wondering if he would sign or not, as he waited til 20 minutes before the deadline to ink his deal. But really he was never really a threat not to sign despite his commitment to Arizona State University. The reason his signing took so long was due to his adviser (Casey Close) waiting for the second pick, Mike Moustakas, to sign with Kansas City especially in the last hour when it was apparent that Moustakas and Boras would sign. Wefll delve further into the prospect that is Josh Vitters.

There have been few draftee signings that have been as lucrative and as late selection as Huseby signed last year with the Cubs. In the 11th Round, the Cubs drafted Huseby whom was considered a virtual lock to honor his commitment to Auburn. With a 1.3M signing bonus, which is a late first round money, Huseby bypassed college and set an 11th round record for bonus money. It also sent Bud Selig into a tizzy as MLB has been trying to keep draft bonuses down and in-line. Selig wasn't happy at all with the Cubs 2006 draft, as we gave 5th Rounder Jeff Samardzija a MLB contract.

he trade deadline ever so nears, with the Cubs having a fighting chance in the Central and Wild Card. Let's look at some of the Cubs' players that could be used as trading chips to better the team now for a run down the playoff gauntlet. The glaring need is a power bat to a nearly punchless lineup. Adding an experienced reliever and/or veteran bat that hits lefties is also being discussed.

Some of the names might surprise you, while others are the same ol' same ol'.

Billy Petrick

6′6

240lbs

R/R

Morris, IL (Morris High School)

In this installment of Cubshub's Scouting Reports, we'll look at one of the recent kids to get a cup of coffee, Billy Petrick (pronounced Pet-Rick). Petrick is a former top pitching prospect who encountered shoulder problems halfway through his 2005 season. He's spent the last two years rehabbing his arm, trying to recover his strength and pitching prowess. It appears Hendry/Fleita/Lou think he's regained his arm strength, that's why he's been added to the 40 man roster. For more in-depth analysis on Petrick read on…