Chisoxfn

Please...please...please

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 10, 2008 -> 07:03 PM) Are any of these guys legitimate prospects? Kanakoa Texiera (or however its spelled) is a legit relief prospect. I wouldn't call him a lock or anything crazy like that, but I definitely consider him a guy with the ability to be an above average major league reliever. In terms of Link, IIRC, he has a power arm. Can't say much anything else about him though as I usually pay little attention to minor league relievers (unless they are top picks or have legit power arms). I'd say both Matt Long and Omogrosso would rank as better relief prospects (both have been doing there fair share of starting, but they both are projected as relievers (not starters).

Until he signs, nothing is official.

Fixed

Come on Count...keep on pitching great and offense keep on doing your thing. Lets go Sox!!!

Signing a guy with a rap sheet like Henry wouldn't be exactly the smartest thing when the guy he'd be replacing was waived for having a rap sheet. The sad thing is, aside from that, Henry would be a major upgrade and would be a nice guy to have along with Forte. I do think the Bears need to find a way to bring in a back that could run for 1000 yards or so (with Forte hopefully getting another 700-800 yards). I don't want to have to put the entire load on a rookie, especially when the offense has so many other question-marks.

Freaking sweet.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) Which one of the pitchers in our farm is the lefty that was clocked at 99 once? Poreda.

Interesting hire. Can't comment on it too much until I see some comments out of Del Negro and Paxson. However, this seems like a pretty solid hire. He's been around winning and he should be able to relate to the players. He has also been on staffs or teams that are superior offensively as well as defensively.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jun 8, 2008 -> 07:16 PM) Just want to point out that AAA is not really necessary for most top prospects. AA has most teams' best prospects, while AAA is more of a holding ground for those guys (i.e. Josh Fields). So, 2010 is not out of the question at all. Actually, if he develops how we hope, you very may well see us do what the Reds did with Jay Bruce and let him play a month and a half or so in AAA and then call him up. That way, he's already in full-season mode and doesn't have to get warmed up facing Major League pitchers in April/May. Not to mention Charlotte has been a place where White Sox prospects tend to "die". For whatever reason, if your a top prospect and spend any significant time in Charlotte, you really start to fall off the radar. I don't know what it is either, but I may be basing that on some horrid Knights teams of 2-5 seasons ago (Borchard).

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 06:40 AM) The jump from high A to AA ball isn't that much of a jump, simply for the fact that pitching in B-Ham is such a pitchers' haven. So I would expect Poreda to still have pretty similar numbers, although the opposition will be tougher obviously. Long - term I see him in the pen also. Broadway's out in front of him at this stage (obviously being at AAA and pitching well). Actually, the jump from A to AA is the biggest jump you'll see (other than the jump to the majors). The talent pool in AA is just so much better. I will agree with you that pitching in Regions park can make it a little easier on pitchers, but regardless, its about as tough of a jump as there is.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 06:17 AM) Bureau was saying his mechanics weren't great and could lead to future injuries if I remember correctly. That was the first and only time I've seen anyone say that about him though. The main person who questioned his mechanics was someone on baseballprospectus or something along those lines who discussed his mechanics and questioned them. I also recall Bureau mentioning briefly Poreda's mechanics and how they would get in the way of him developing any additional secondary stuff. However, I don't think his mechanics would prevent him from adding a changeup to his repetoire as well as finding out additional ways to gain movement on his FB (he has a pretty good slider already). The one thing that could concern people are his very pedestrian strikeout numbers. For a guy who throw in the upper 90's, that is quite puzzling, but I am at least thinking the Sox player development people told him something and he's working on that (pitching to contact) as opposed to trying to blow away guys.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 8, 2008 -> 09:10 PM) He pitched pretty well last night (6 innings; 2 runs on 4 hits; only 1 walk). His two outings before that were mediocre (each was 6 innings; 4 earned runs). Overall, he's pitched pretty well. Not world beating but pretty good. The most impressive stat has been his low walks. In his last 10 starts (62 innings), he's had a total of 10 walks (vs. 38 K's). And he's only given up 1 homerun all year. I can't confirm this, but it appears as if they have been having him pitch to contact. I'm guessing they are working on getting him deeper into games and working on specific things with him. They know he has a nasty slider, but the key is improving his command and getting him to improve his other pitchers (which, other than health, will be the deciding factor of whether he makes it as a starter or a reliever). One thing you can't doubt is the fact that he has a major league arm.

Welcome aboard. Great post and this past week has definitely been a lot of fun.

Playing professional ball at the age of 15 is one key indication that you are very talented. There is no denying that this guy is one of the premiere players in all of Cuba and considering his age he will be a legitimate asset to any organization (ie, he'll be yet another talent that could pan into something very good, and in terms of a system, it should be an organizations goal to hand as much talent as possible over to the player development people).

Lock this thread, it will be.

Alright John, lets put an end to those struggles you've had against the Twins this season and help finish off the sweep!!!!

Andrew, let me know what games you are going to (if its just Saturday or what) and when I pick up tickets for myself I'll grab you one (I'll be with a couple buddies, not sure how many yet, but I'm guessing Mario (molto) and Shipps).

Wow, this has been a fun series so far. Hopefully they make it an even funner one tomorrow Gavin, OH MY GOD, I love you Alexi...I love you too 08 White Sox...I love you all as well. This has the makings of a special season!!!

QUOTE (29andPoplar @ Jun 8, 2008 -> 02:50 PM) Weren't you also one of the people here who wanted Williams to do a total rebuild and go with prospects? Not to rain on the parade here, but I wonder where all those people are. I would rather a GM constructs a team that can compete, which apparantly this team has the ability to do. It goes to show, baseball is an interesting game, with all sorts of things that can happen. I'll post tomorrow about the slump this team will inevitably encounter, and how people shouldn't panic, because it's a long season and there are ups and downs. I could be put into that camp, LOL. Either way, I'm well aware of the fact that this is the offense we have and when it goes good, it will go really good. However, without a legit top of the order (consistent threat) and the combination of power bats in the lineup the offense is bound to go into some funks (although i don't anticipate any being as bad as the one we saw earlier this year). The staff is also due to have a slump of some sort, plus I think the one concern has to be on how Danks/Flody (the two young arms) handle the workload later on down the year as they reach career highs in innings. Either way I still believe Kenny has some adjustments to make to the lineup, but they probably won't come until after the seaons end because the reality is the club isn't going to move Konerko/THome at this point in the season. Although in my defense, even when I was completely ripping the offense, I do think I indicated that some of these guys would get things going to an extent (I just think long term the Sox are better making a couple adjustments at seasons end) and that I still felt even with the poor offense that this team would be competing (cause I love the rotation). THe guy I love the most is Gavin Floyd, oh my god, his changeup and confidence (which has led to him improving his command) is one of the big keys to his turnaround in the organization. We all know about the variations of his fastball and his two sick curves, but his changeup is so freaking good at times. I also want to point out, that this offensive slump is one of the times I'm glad I'm not the GM, cause who knows what crazy moves I'd have ended up making, LOL.

Could they play 3B in a bind, sure. Would you want them starting there, absolutely not.

I've been watching Cuddyer and he's awfully freaking good in the outfield. Gomez is going to be a total stud out there, but the only reason there defensive outfield isn't great is because they have Goemz/Young making young player mistakes. They have great range for an outfield and all possess solid arms for there respect positions (people forget just how strong Cuddyer's arm is). Heck, I'd absolutely love to have Cuddyer on the Sox. That said for the most part I agree with the rest of your post. However, the key for the Sox will be health and the continuance of Danks/Floyd. You really have no idea how these young man are going to fare later in the season and I wouldn't be shocked if at some point the Sox had to use another starter or two in an effort to keep Danks/Floyd's innings down (more likely for Danks whose never thrown all that many innings his entire career). I don't mean to baby young pitchers, but you do have to make sure that you slowly increase there workload year after year as to ensure that there arms don't fall off.

What happened to Mack. He's been absolutely terrible since leaving. The thing is, we could really use a good left handed bat off the bench, but the reality is Mack hasn't hit in almost a full season now (since he was dealt at the deadline to San Diego).

This isn't a shocker. It sounds like the Sox had probably negotiated with him already and were prepared to sign him, assuming he was there. Usually those pre-draft deals are indications that a guy probalby isn't quite graded out to go that early but the club likes him more than other guys on there prospect list. This pick isn't one that excites me. I don't like corner infielders that don't have power. He is supposed to be a pretty solid athlete and could turn into a 2nd baseman where his lack of power wouldn't be an issue. I just think this selection as well as the KW jr one were very very poor picks.

ESPN was talking about how good Williams arm was, well I've been watching the games and if his arm is special, my freaking arm is special. He is fast as hell, but this was one of the biggest over-drafts since the A's moneyball draft (which was a terrible draft...Jeremy Brown, what a joke).