Chisoxfn

Plus if they are going to take an outfielder, you gotta go with Szymanski...the guy is a total stud, imo.

Last season Cotts had a win as a 5th starter as did someone else. I forget who the other was. I actually think their were 3 wins by 5th starters last season.

Glavine is in his 2nd season with the Mets if I recall.

I really like Howell. You could make a case for him being one of the college pitchers of the year. His fastball may not dazzle you, but you watch him pitch and he flat out knows how to pitch and his hook is outstanding. He doesn't use his slider and change too much, which is something to look out for, but the fact that he has them is a good sign that he could be taught to better use them at the minor/major league level. You'll get an opportunity to see him cause Texas is one of the top top teams in the country and will get a few more games nationally televised by the time the season is done.

Lol, does Landon Powell count as a guy from the South, cause I'm gonna be writing something up on him as one of the guys I like for the 3rd to 5th round. I also like Sowers but he won't be falling to the Sox. Zerinque or whatever his name is from LSU is good, but I didn't see many southern guys being slotted in that area. Of course FS may end up being known for a West Coast Bias just to make up for the networks east coast bias

Not a problem. Maybe we can make some threads during each of the regionals for some of the players to watch or something and when people see a guy they can add their imputs or what not, since not all of us are home at different times. Just throwing it out there. I'll say this, Landon Powell looked good at the plate. Showed patience and I saw him make a pretty good throw from his knees behind the plate.

Trust me, a network would gladly televise it. You don't think Fox Sports would televise it or someone would televise it soley to say they have the MLB draft. ESPN could do it and then basically have all the drafts (I think TNT has the NBA draft, but that may of changed). NHL players don't make an immediate impact either and thats televised. Just cause they don't make an impact doesn't mean people won't care, imo. I'm not saying it will be what the NFL draft is, but the network would make money on it as would baseball. Plus, if you call yourself the world wide leader in sports, you aught to have a draft of one of the big 3 sports televised. Look at all the other crap that ocassionally gets televised on ESPN.

CWS doesn't start for a while. The regionals start this weekend. ASU got the #1 seed at the regional I'm going to go to at my school. Then the following weekend are what I think are called the super regionals. The winner of those goes to the college world series. Right now I'm watching the USC-Vanderbilt game. Jeremy Sowers is on the mound right now and he's a total stud. Check that, it may not be Sowers, but I heard them say he was going to potentially pitch. The other guy to watch for is Landon Powell. The guy is a total stud and I'll be so pumped if the Sox get him in the 3rd round or later. He has huge power potential and has gotten himself into stellar shape this season. He also throws out like 44% of would be base stealers this season.

2004 Draft Preview: Compensatory Round By Jason Gage May 31, 2004 FutureSox.com This off-season the focus on the White Sox was on who they lost, but this draft the focus will be on who they gain. The losses of Bartolo Colon (Anaheim) and Tom Gordon (Yankees) gave the Sox an additional four draft picks. The first of which are sandwich picks. It is quite possible that with these sandwich picks (34th and 38th overall) that the Sox could reach for a player slotted a little lower for signability purposes. With so many early picks the White Sox will want to ensure they can get the players signed and they may not be willing to pay huge money in bonuses for all of their players. The good news is that for a second consecutive year, it is likely that the average bonus will drop. Now lets take a look at some players that could be available when the Sox are on the board at 34 and 38: Jason Vargas – LHP – Long Beach State (Junior) The White Sox had recent success drafting a Dirt Bag (ie, Jeremy Reed) and Vargas would help fill the lack of top pitching prospects in the organization. Vargas started his college career as a freshman at LSU but then transferred to junior college to become draft eligible and eventually found himself a Dirt Bag. He also plays DH and is one of Long Beach State’s best offensive players, however, his future is as a pitcher. Vargas is still a little raw, but would be a Friday starter if it wasn’t for Jared Weaver. Vargas features a good fastball that has been clocked as high as 95 MPH, but sits consistently in the 89-93 MPH range. Vargas also features a good overhand curveball and has recently started to throw a changeup. Occasionally Vargas struggles with his command but he has been making tremendous strides as the season wore on. He is 7-5 with a 3.57 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 88 innings. J.P. Howell – LHP – Texas (Senior) J.P. Howell was one of the top pitchers in the country last year and this season he’s done even better. Howell should also be well equipped to move up the minors quickly because he plays in a strong baseball conference (Big 12) and also plays a tough non conference schedule. Howell flat out knows how to pitch and has a tremendous curveball. He also features a upper 80’s fastball, slider, and changeup. This season he has had much better command of his fastball. Howell was drafted in the 2nd round out of high school by the Atlanta Braves but chose to go to USC instead. He left USC his freshman year and ended up a Longhorn. This season he is 11-2 with a 1.79 ERA with 126 strikeouts and 58 hits in 101 innings of work. Howell’s curve has been compared to Barry Zito’s. Brett Smith – RHP – UCI (Junior) Brett Smith has been one of the Anteaters best since joining the recently restarted program. This season he has gone 7-3 with a 2.02 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 94 innings of work. Smith was originally rated as a 2nd to 3rd round pick, but has seen his stock rise as his pitching has helped carry a resurgent UCI squad that is becoming one of the better programs in the country. Smith features a good fastball (90-93), a hard slider (86-88) and a developing changeup. He has a very strong build (6’5, 215 lb) and could turn into an absolute workhorse at the major league level. Mark Trumbo – RHP – Villa Park High School (Orange County, California) Mark Trumbo is one of three talented Orange County high school pitchers (Huges, and Meyers are the others) that should go within the 1st two rounds of the draft. Trumbo has tremendous size for a youngster (6-5, 220) and should still add a little more muscle and velocity. Trumbo already features a very good fastball that gets as high as 94 MPH, but is usually in the 89-92 range. Trumbo also throws a good curveball and outdueled Mission Bay high school stud Matt Bush. Bush is one of the top prep shortstop prospects in the draft and will likely go top 10. He also is one of the best high school pitchers in the country and can hit 96 MPH on the gun. Brad Meyers – RHP – Servite High School (Orange County, California) Brad Myers helped lead his high school to the CIF playoffs and he may have the potential to help lead a major league team to the playoffs. Myers plays for one of the better programs in the Southern California area and has been dominate. This season he is 8-1 with a .96 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 65 innings. Myers is one of the more projectable players in the draft who already features a low 90’s fastball (90-93). His fastball should add a few MPH as his body fills out. Right now he is tall, but slender at 6-6, 180 pounds. He has also flashed a good curveball at times. Kurt Suzuki – C – R/R - Cal State Fullerton (Senior) Kurt Suzuki has quickly emerged as one of the best catchers in college baseball. Prior to the season he was just a good catcher, but this season he took over the catchers duties full time at Fullerton (he had been splitting them) and has excelled both offensively and defensively. Suzuki has commented that he learned a tremendous amount about calling a game this season, while working with a young and erratic Fullerton pitching staff (due to injuries of Jason Windsor and Dustin Miller). Fullerton eventually got things together and ran away with the Big West with Suzuki earning Big West Player of the Year Honors and was named as a 2nd Team All American. Baseball America recently rated Suzuki as having the best strike zone judgment of all draft eligible players and he was ranked as the 3rd best defensive college player. Suzuki is good behind the plate and has a strong arm. Offensively he has a level, line drive swing that is showing a little bit of power (11 HR). He is hitting .439 with 11 HR, and 68 RBI. Like J.P. Howell, Suzuki has played against some of the top programs in the country, which should make him better prepared for the minors. Dustin Pedroia – SS – Arizona State University (Junior) Dustin Pedroia stands out on the baseball field for both the right and wrong reasons. At 5’8 165 pounds (he’s listed at 5-9, but is shorter) he just doesn’t fit the bill for a shortstop, not when you see guys like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and company playing shortstop at the major league level. However, take away the size and all Pedroia does is flat out play. He started for Team USA’s team the past two summers and was Co-Conference player of the Year last year and will likely be the Pac-10 player of the year this season. He hit .411 with 8 HR, 22 doubles, 43 RBI, and 6 steals this season. Pedroia has tremendous makeup and will be a good major leaguer. He is a good defensive shortstop with a smooth stroke. He should hit and hit at every level, even though he doesn’t have the “tools” scouts love. My Picks: Jason Vargas/Dustin Pedroia Vargas looks like one of the better left handed pitching prospects in the country. He is still a little raw, but has a tremendous arm and his secondary pitches are coming along very quickly. Vargas has played against great competition in college and should be an easy sign. Pedroia may end up sliding into the 2nd round, but this would be a good player for the Sox to draft a little early for signability purposes. He has the ability to move through the system quickly and while the White Sox have a good shortstop prospect in Robert Valido, you can never have too many middle infield prospects, especially good ones. However, if the Sox want to go with more pitching, I would look at J.P. Howell or Brett Smith. Howell may be available when the Sox pick in the 2nd round. Kurt Suzuki would also be a tremendous pick, but Landon Powell, who will be talked about later in the week, is projected to go in the 3rd to 5th round and has just as much ability as Suzuki and has a whole lot of upside. Check back on Tuesday when I highlight some potential second round picks.

Fields rates as having some of the best power potential in the draft. Szymanski supposedly has the best power of any of the collegiate players. The big knocks on Field are that he is still very raw and he may not have a swing that will hit for a high average. Personally I think he will be a very good player, while I think Syzmanski is a rare player that will be available or possibly available when the Sox pick that can be an absolutely amazing player. The guy's abilities are off the charts. However, FIelds plays a position that lacks depth and flat out can play. Not many real knocks on him other then he has to improve his fielding and I've heard he has an erratic arm at 3rd and that it isn't really all that strong, despite the fact he is a college qb. I watched him play a few times on TV this year and he looked damn good to me though.

Ya, last year I was hoping the Sox could somehow pick up Scott Shields. He's a pretty damn good reliever and not too bad of a starter.

That sounds very cool. The new format will be good for things like this. It will make it easy to see the weekly features and what not. BobDylan is doing a hell of a job on it.

I was watching it on one of the national fox sports I get on digital cable. Personally I really enjoy watching college baseball when I see it on. I usually don't watch the entire game, but I'll at least watch a couple innings. Once the playoffs start though, then I usually watch most every game if I'm home. The games are played hard and you get to watch some pretty good players. Of course it helps that my schools team gets to the playoffs every year, usually going pretty deep into it. Also, just because people haven't necessarily heard of the players doesn't mean it shouldn't be televised. Not many hockey fans have heard of a lot of the draft picks or know much about them. Heck, if it wasn't for the NFL draft being televised, I'd have a hard time knowing about some of the latter round picks of most NFL teams and even some of the early picks (that come from small schools). I know NFL players make more of an impact but I don't believe that no knowing a player makes a draft less important. Hell, at the very least being able to watch the draft will educate more people about some of the players, plus to me drafts are just interesting. Hell, its not like they would even have to televise all 50 rounds, maybe just have a draft special where they go to each teams draft room and talk to the guys after the draft and maybe before the draft. Just show a lot of clips and then have some of the experts talking about a few key players from each team and then like I mentioned earlier doing an overview and showing footage of some of the top prospects in the majors. I know one thing, I'd TUNE in.

I'll take care of that for you in the morning minnesota That much I can do

PA, I hope you have an awesome 24th birthday. I'm guessing your with your girl so hopefully your having an awesome time and hell its also memorial day so make it a doubly good birthday. Have a good one

Check that...if the Sox really wanted to chance it and are going to play for the now then just go for the Big Unit. I realize he makes a lot, but he's a mega name and could really put some people in the seats. Plus he's pitching sick right now and I think he's signed for another year, maybe its two more. Who knows, if he can be a stud this year and help him to the series and be good next year and semi decent the following year then its all worth it. Despite that I think Schmidt, Sheets, and someone else could be a little safe solutions that offer the same upside but wouldn't likely increase the attendance as much as the Unit could on days he pitched.

I pick Schmidt in this, but my #1 choice is Ben Sheets.

Agreed...sounds to me that he knows it wasn't the right thing to say from a GM standpoint. Personally I think sometimes a GM has to just make a statement because it could have more of an effect than the Sox holding onto a freaking cancer. This doesn't sound like the type of player I'd want in AAA spending time with the players, nor would this be an action that I'd wnat to see somehow condoned. What KW said sends a message to the entire organization and everyone in it that the Sox won't put up with a guy playing for himself and not for the team. Personally I stick to my thoughts that I could give a damn about the midlevel guy the Sox could of got for Rauch cause the principle of this matter is more important, imo.

Right now its not something I want to think about. I'm going to enjoy the Sox season and you never know what can happen. The Sox are playing good baseball, have some talented players, and Kenny seems to of been given the ok to add a front line starter, maybe even more (who knows). If the Sox do good and attendance continues to creep and they end up in the playoffs and make a push....we could be having a completely different mindset this offseason. Instead of thinking who they will lose, we could be thinking who they will add. I know its farfetched, but right now, I'm just going to enjoy the way the Sox have been playing. The defense could be better, but I've seen great pitching (minus the 5th) and some timely hitting and the Sox offense really doing a good job battling pitchers and going with the pitch (they had a slump where they struggled with this, but it appears that it really could of been all the rain delays that affected the club).

Nor does Giambi. Lately I've noticed Tony Clark as the Yanks starting 1st baseman.

Welcome aboard or welcome back. I see you ahve two posts and I don't know whether both came today or if you made one a while back since you said you have frequented the board in the past. I think their are at least a few of us on the board that have been puzzled at the way the Sox have handled their 5th starter situation. With Diaz they seemed incredibly impatient. In Diaz first start he retired like 12 batters in a row while struggling with homers. However, he wasn't pitching on his normal rest (had too much because the Sox messed with his schedule for some reason) and then his 2nd start was on 3 days rest (I don't blame them for this) but Diaz battled and was beaten by a very good Cleveland offense that was red hot at the time. Diaz didn't pitch great, but he did show some guts by staying out their and helping the team by adding a few extra innings. The Sox then sent him down instead of at least giving him another start. I saw some good things out of Diaz and felt they should of at least given it a shot, especially because I was never a fan of Rauch and if your going to use Cotts in the starters role then you have to be willing to let him go out their and slowly build up his pitch count and then move him into the rotation or let him do this over a few weeks out of the rotation. I think the Sox decided they just didn't want Wunsch out of the pen and that for the time being Cotts was a more valuable asset there. They will stretch Cotts out in spring training and he will probably be a part of the rotation. I think they are taking the Mark Buehrle approach with him. A year out of the pen to get him some seasoning and then inserting him into the rotation.

Just watch it will be like a 4 hour game

Looking awesome cheat. They have been pinned

Guys just agree that one of you likes Nomar one of you doesn't and realize I'm sure you've all agreed on things in the past.

Want to say welcome aboard. The problem is coaches can ruin a pitcher. I heard on todays Angel broadcast that Scott Shields had a 271 pitch performance (it may of been 261) back in college. That is absolutely insane and thats the type of work scouts have to find out about. Sounds to me like a player where college could be best for him. He may add a little to his fastball and prove that he can flat pitch and improve his draft status. Typically prep pitchers without a very good fastball don't go too high. I'm going to have something up in the morning on the sandwich rounds. Its taking me longer then I thought cause I'm writing up reports on quite a few players. I have no doubt the Sox will be taking a lot of college playesr early because they are easier to sign and the Sox will also probably pick a few guys earlier then they are expected to go because they have a lot of picks early which means more money to be spent. The good thing is the Sox have never been all that stingy when it comes to giving their picks signing bonuses (One thing I will credit JR for).