Chisoxfn

I'd say Arnie Munoz is next on the list. The only thing is, if the Sox handle Munoz like they have the previous candidates, it can really set him back. Rex mentioned on the minor league board that he thinks Arnie could hold up at the major league level, but if the Sox are going to go his way, then they need to be willing to stick by him and do whatever they can to help him suceed.

I think he belted one today. I was watching the big 12 game. Huston Street pitched pretty solidly till the 6th inning when he seemed to fatigue. Fields looks like strong powerful hitter...I like him too.

The guy is a big leaguer. He's played professional baseball at the minor league level a long time and has a few outings at the major league level. Their is absolutely no excuse for this. Tells me that me and some others beliefs on this guy from the very get go were true.

Beastly...Rauch left the lockeroom and left US Cellular before the game was over. His teammates were upset and thats not a classy move. I don't care how s***ty you pitch, you stay there and cheer your mates on, especially when your a freaking rookie. Good riddance Rauch...I'd rather see you cut then ever pitch again in Chicago and Kenny I give you major props for your stance, it shows that this is a team and that the Chicago White Sox won't accept his actions. I can honestly say this is worse then what Paniagua did last year because in this case Rauch was letting down his teammates, big time.

White Sox Draft Preview: 1st Round By Jason Gage May 29, 2004 FutureSox.com The MLB Amateur draft starts on June 7th and the Chicago White Sox will have a great opportunity to further improve their minor league system. In the most recent draft the White Sox did a tremendous job adding outfield talent (Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, Ricardo Nanita) as well as some good looking middle infielders (Robert Valido, Antoin Gray). The one area the Sox struggled to add was starting pitching. However, the Sox lower levels do have some good arms (Brandon McCarthy, Daniel Haigwood, Ryan Rodriguez, Brian Miller, Sean Tracey). This time around the White Sox have seven picks in the first three rounds. They pick 18th overall in the 1st round and then have two sandwich picks (supplemental for the losses of Bartolo Colon and Tom Gordon). The sandwich picks are 34th overall and 38th overall. The White Sox also have 3 second round picks (53rd overall, 59th overall, and 69th overall) and then have one 3rd round pick (89th overall). All of these early picks should give the White Sox a great opportunity to add some quality arms and a bat or two. The reason I say quality arms is because this is a pitching heavy draft and it’s a college heavy draft early on. The top picks should be college pitchers, starting with Jared Weaver and Jeff Nieneman. Nieneman, from Rice, appears to have a higher ceiling then Weaver who has been fantastic all season long for Long Beach State. Weaver is putting up numbers similar to Mark Prior, but shouldn’t be compared to Prior who has a little better stuff. However, Weaver has very good control and knows how to pitch. Nieneman, on the other hand, had some early season injury concerns but has tremendous stuff. Either way none of these players will be available when the White Sox pick, however they should have their pick of a few quality college pitchers as well as some pretty talented position players. The following are players that are projected to be taken sometime around the White Sox 1st round selection: Justin Orenduff – RHP – Virginia Commonwealth Orenduff features a good sinking fastball, changeup, and slider. He has a nice smooth delivery that is easily repeated resulting in good control of all three pitches. He is the second best pitcher in Virginia, behind Justin Verlander. Orenduff pitched well for Team USA this off-season and is 4-5 with a 2.93 ERA this season. Thus far this season he has pitched 89 innings giving up 74 hits while striking out 114. David Purcey – LHP – University of Oklahoma Purcey is a big, strong, left hander (6-5, 240) that was drafted last year by the New York Yankees in the 17th round (Purcey was a draft eligible sophomore) but the Yankees failed to sign him. For the past few years Purcey was known as a one pitch pitcher (low-to-mid 90’s fastball) but he has since improved his curveball and has further improved his control. Purcey isn’t going to be the 1st LHP selected, but he does possess the best left handed arm. He is still rather raw for a college pitcher, but has tremendous upside. Baseball America reported that the White Sox have shown some interest in him. He is 6-4 with a 2.97 ERA. In his 91 innings he has given up 67 hits while striking out 97. Zach Jackson – LHP – Texas A&M Zach Jackson is a junior college transfer from the Louisville area who has done a very good job for the Aggies this season (10-3 with a 3.02 ERA). He is a lefty that features both a two seam and four seam fastball. His fastball is clocked as high as 92, but usually is in the 88-91 range. When Jackson is on he will go right after hitters, mixing his pitches well, while hitting his spots. He also throws a slider and changeup and has good command of those pitches as well. Josh Fields – 3rd Baseman – R/R – Oklahoma State University Josh Fields is one of the more intriguing position prospects in the draft, plus he plays a position that the Sox lack depth in (Schnurstein is their only good 3rd base prospect). Fields has stated that he wants to play baseball full time, but he is a two sport player and is Oklahoma State’s starting quarterback (55 TD’s in his career). Fields is still a work in progress, but does have a strong enough arm to play 3rd base and his footwork is improving. He projects as one of the best raw power hitters in the draft and has very quick hands. He also could hit for a good average, although some scouts believe he will struggle to make contact (personally I disagree). Fields should take off when he plays baseball full time, but as Sox fans know from Borchard, there is a risk in taking a two sport star. However, one advantage is that the Sox can spread the contract over 5 years because he is a two sport player. This season Fields is hitting .352 with 6 HR and 36 RBI. B.J. Szymanski – OF – S/R – Princeton Like Fields, Szymanski is a two way player. B.J. is in just his second season of college baseball as he specifically played football his freshman year at Princeton. He caught 44 passes for 823 yards last season for the Tigers. Unlike Fields, Szymanski plays a position of depth in the Sox organization. However, it is my opinion that a team should draft the best available player regardless of the organizational depth and Szymanski could very well fit that bill. He is a true 5-tool player that is still very raw. He has flashed big time power potential, a good eye, a strong arm, and has good speed (6.45 60 YD Dash according to Baseball America). He is also very strong and lanky (6’5, 205). Szymanski has been compared to Rocco Baldelli by his college coach, although he projects to have more power then Baldelli. This season he is hitting .378 with 6 HR, 8 triples and 48 RBI. My Pick: B.J. Szymanski/David Purcey Despite the Sox depth in the outfield (Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, Jeremy Reed, and Joe Borchard) you can’t pass up on a prospect like Szymanski. He is capable of doing amazing things at the major league level and would be the only one of the Sox top prospects that truly would project as a centerfielder. David Purcey would be who I selected if I went with a pitcher. He is a big strong left hander who has a lot of potential. While he is a bit of a project, he could be the next C.C. Sabathia and has been making tremendous strides since playing in the Cap Cod league this past summer.

Except his MN stands for Montana

Random Musings on the Draft By Jason Gage May 29, 2004 FutureSox.com The Major League Amateur draft starts on June 7th and will be concluded on June 8th. The draft is 50 rounds long and unlike the NFL, NBA, and NHL draft, it is not televised. However, the MLB draft can be heard live on MLB.com radio which is the first step towards baseball finally making the draft more exciting. As of now, not many baseball fans know much about the draft. Usually, following the draft their will be a small blurb in the paper that comments on the local players that were drafted as well as who the local teams drafted in the early rounds. Lets be honest, where is the fun in that? I realize that the MLB draft is 50 rounds long and to televise something like that would be incredibly hard. However, televising the draft with a scrolling ticker of the current selections (you can’t put teams on the clock in the MLB draft, its basically a live conference call) would be a start. Then you could have a few draft guru’s, people like Jim Callis, John Manuel, and company who could talk about some of the key players. They could also take time to comment on all the team’s minor league systems and give a little info and video footage on each of the team’s top prospects. This would be a unique opportunity for Major League Baseball to market the draft and its up and coming stars. To me the MLB draft is a very fun day. Before to the draft a lot of college baseball is televised, whether its conference tournaments or the beginning of the regionals, which gives you the opportunity to check out some of the top college prospects in the country. Then following the draft, you can maybe watch a player or two in the college world series that your team has just drafted. The question is why isn’t major league baseball marketing and televising the building block of every organization (including the Yankees). Note: This is the 1st piece of what will be a daily article as FutureSox countdowns to the amateur draft.

Lol, Heads is beating ya...thats brutal

I think its because when I copied the database, you were still putting the stories on the old server. Therefor the database isn't fully up to date. I didn't realize any new stories were done before the switch cause I hadn't been paying attention, was just doing tons of coding. But from now on everything is good. I just have to restore all the secondary html files, but all stories work. I'm working on setting up a real cool chatroom that should work great for player chats in the future.

Its tough for Wunsch. I hope he gets healthy and I know he'll find a spot somewhere else. He's a good guy and I wish him nothing but the best in the future.

Alright, FutureSox.com will be back to its normal updating state starting today. I am currently working on installing and customizing a few cool new features or at least I think they'll be cool

I'd say front to middle of the rotation in the majors. He has good stuff and a lot of upside. He's a pretty big lefty with good breaking pitches if I recall. Of course this was all presurgery. In a little over a month and a half, I'll be catching a few minor league games, he's one pitcher I hope I get to see.

Thats good news. Hopefully this is one of those injuries that will heal quickly and won't nag him. As always thanks for the update!!!!

I'll tell you one thing ,Byrd is a good player and FLoyd has a ton of potential. Beltran is a stud, but that deal would make sense and it also makes sense from the Phillies point of view cause they have a few more pretty damn good pitching prospects if I recall.

Hey Rex, I couldn't agree more with you. I made this statement after they said they would be moving Cotts back to the bullpen and I also felt this way after they pulled Diaz. If the Sox want these guys, they first off need to realize odds are a pitcher is going to come in and struggle at times. However, with Diaz, he retired 11 straight batters in his first start. You could see his release point on his pitches was a bit off, but that very well coul do with the fact that instead of letting him pitch on his normal schedule, they had him pitch very limited over an extended period. Then they had Diaz go on 3 days rest the 2nd start. Yes, he struggled, but it was against the 2nd or 3rd best offense in the majors and an offense that had been on fire. He struggled early and then, even though he was on 3 days rest (this was the rigth call, cause Garland threw a ton of pitches the same day as Diaz) but then their was no reason to not start him the next time around. If you are willing to call these guys up, then you have to be willing to give them a chance. Now if Diaz or something else happened where basically they all agreed he wasn't ready, then fine with me, but I'm sick of the Sox just handing it to a guy for one start expecting him to just instantly be the savior. It doesn't work that way in the majors. Now I sure hope Rauch can come in and do his thing, but I don't expect him to go very deep.

His ERA may be good, but he's struggled with making a key pitch with runners on base...aka inherited runners.

He is freaking good.

It should be interesting. Hopefully he comes up and pitches good and after tomorrow the Sox think they have a 5th starter.

I'd say that other then Anderson so far the other two have been dissapointments. Still, pretty high expectations were put on them, especially Sweeney, and as long as they are making progress I'm happy.

Kohleimeir has been solid out of the rotation, but I think his career is as a minor league right now. Majewski to me would be the first guy up, although Santiago and Baj both are more then capable. For whatever reason I think the Sox are going to try and stick with Munoz as a starter and won't be calling him up anytime soon, unless its to join the rotation. Rex, do you think if the Sox called up Arnie, that he could handle being the 5th starter or would it really be rushing him?

He projects as a front to middle of the rotation starter. The guy has good upside and is pitching pretty good this season.

Ya, its on KCAL 9 today. Got the game on right now. I don't know how many areas get the station though, but I know it goes from LA to Orange County for sure.

I'll have to root for him, afterall he is an Angel. But I hope he sucks until they leave Chicago.

Its on the website...download it. Its pure gold

Long story short, a buddy of mine is like an insomniac so he calls me up to tell me about the funniest infomertial that he's ever seen. I turn on the TV and was like oh my god this is awesome. Found the website and I couldn't not share this with the rest of the world