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Cubs acquire OF Kyler Burke in Michael Barrett trade

There are a ton of rumors about what the Cubs received in the Michael Barrett deal, but reportedly Kyler Burke will be heading to the Cubs’ organization. Burke is a 19 year old CF/RF that was taken 35th overall out of high school in the 2006 draft. Burke hit 209/313/294 in rookie ball last season, and the Padres took an aggressive approach and moved him to the Midwest League this season where he has posted a line of 211/305/268.

If the Cubs did acquire Burke, I hope they will send him to Boise or even to Arizona, as he hasn’t had much success as a professional player thus far.

Update: Ken Rosenthal has confirmed Burke is included in the deal.
Here are some articles on Burke…

• Burke ponders draft Part 1
• Here is that BA said about Burke at the time of the 2006 draft, “After Burke became the first high school player in the state to hit 20 home runs since Jeremy Reed did it in 1998, most clubs were convinced his future was in the outfield. He has a sturdy, streamlined frame, and showed off his athletic ability when he won his school’s slam dunk contest. He was also a linebacker for the football team. With above-average raw power, Burke can drive balls to all parts of the field, though his numbers were skewed because of a short right-field porch on his home field and substandard competition in southeast Tennessee. He has some feel for hitting, and showed a good eye during the spring, drawing 40 walks. He’s an average runner, but better under way. He doesn’t get great jumps in the outfield, but he has above-average arm strength and profiles at a corner, where he should be an adequate defender. He pitches at 89-91 mph, though his velocity often tails off to 86-88 in the middle innings. He spins a solid-average breaking ball. Burke pitches up in the zone too much. He signed with Vanderbilt, where he could be a potent two-way weapon. Similar to Twins prospect Kyle Waldrop, another high-profile Tennessee prep player who had committed to Vandy, Burke is expected to sign if he’s taken in the top two rounds.”
• Here is some info from a minor league roundtable on Burke, “I admit to being a Burke fan. But he may be a little over his head in the Midwest League. There is no denying his talent. But he has more strikeouts than games played and has scuffled playing at this competition level. His at-bats have improved since the start of the year and I think he ends up in Eugene and blossoms.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 8:53 am and is filed under Player Information, 2007 Season, Roster Moves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.