Chisoxfn

I'm guessing we'll see a lot more highschoolers go towards the latter rounds as well as some good college players that don't have the tools the scouts like.

I'm not. I know they said in the recap that it was raining off and on and I think it was pretty cold. Rough night for a pitcher to pitch in.

Info on Williamson Williamson is a quick-armed lefty who can throw several pitches with movement and command. He currently throws mid-high-80s and has the potential for more. Could become a weekend starter quickly for most D1 schools.

Dang, sounds like he had some control issues. Must not of given up many hits.

Thats awesome news.

Sounds like a good pick. I think this guy dropped a lot because of his height. If he's semi mobile, it could be a theory to move him to second base and have a power hitting second baseman. Thats only if he'd have the range. Either way sounds like a solid pick. Had good power numbers and avg and plus defense.

Damn, Cubs tooks three really good catchers. Powell, Ritchie and some guy in the second. Forget his name.

Harrington is such an idiot.

He was supposed to go somewhere between the 2nd and 4th rounds so my only guess is he had high contract demands. He's a college junior so he can still play another year of school. Still, I'd take a shot at him, and offer him 5th or 6th round money. It would cost the Sox one year of some bums salary to get this guy for 5 or 6 years or however long the system works.

Glad to see we grabbed our catcher. Has Landon Powell went yet? Eventually the Sox should take a flyer on him.

Only went five innings because of rain, but he didn't give up a run. They won 3-0. I don't have a box score so I don't know how many hits, k's or walks he had.

Anthony Webster is going to be such a stud.

SOB; Anyone got any idea of how serious it is?

Never knew that about Phillips. I just assumed he was in extended spring training because of arm troubles. Thats not good news if he's just reporting out of shape. He's thrown innings in the minors, but man, someone has to drill it to him to get into camp in shape. He's got the shot to make good money at the majors if he works hard. In regards to West, I'm not quite ready to give up on him, just like I'm not ready to give up on Malone, although he's constantly falling in my book. Both have really good potential. Holt is another one of those guys that in my mind is on his last leg. Somehow he needs to get to AA and hit there. In my mind the big thing about him is he has very good power potential, but that can only keep ya on a list so long. Eventually you have to produce and do it at a higher level. I thought he was due to rebound after he seemed to figure things out last year.

In regards to only trading one of Colon and Loaiza. I think the only reason you hold onto one of them is if you plan on having them around after the rebuilding process is over. Since its very unlikely that you could trade away all those guys and have this team rebuilt fully next year, your best of trading the two of them. Its obvious that Colon is going to gone. Reinsdorf isn't going to add payroll after this dissapointing season, especially considering how many major changes need to be made. IF he was willing to spend an extra 15 or 20 million to patch up the lineup and bullpen a bit more (If its needed) then it could be different. But the fact is that isn't happening. With Loaiza, you could keep him for relatively cheap next year, but my theory is whats the point if your not gonna compete next year. He's rather old and is pitching the best he ever has. He's got an affordable contract, which makes him EXTREMELY attractive to a team looking to add a front of the line starter. The Sox could deal him at his peak in value, which would be a great thing to do. Konerko and Thomas should go. I don't think they can unload Thomas without cutting him or without him doing something. Otherwise they'll have to trade him for someone else that has a rather high priced contract.

I always find it funny how major new sources can screw up so many things.

I'm with you 100%. Its been past time to clean house. I like the ideas I came up with my article about a week ago. Of course since then numerous reports have broken about Bobby Jenks and what a nut he is. I just heard something on the radio and he's had some minor arm troubles, but they also talked about how he read at a 3rd grade level, was a drunk, and a few other things. I hope the kid can figure things out, cause he's got an unbelievable arm. Still, Sox should have some HUGE possibilities when it comes to trades. I do think if they trade Loaiza, Colon, and Buehrle, they should be looking for AAA/Major league pitchers with the exception being some super super talented AA or even A ball pitchers. They should also look to fill the shortstop position and centerfield. Of course I'm less worried about the outfield now after the draft, I do realize that those guys are still a ways off, and before all that, they also have to prove themselves in the professional ranks. Reed, Webster, Borchard, Anderson, King, and Sweeney. Me LIKEY. I do think that Sweeney moves to first, but I'm starting to read more and more things about how he's a better athlete and should be able to handle the outfield. Either way he's got a heck of a bat.

Here ya Go Matt The Top 50 Countdown: 50-41 The Top 50 Countdown: 40-31 The next list may make it up tomorrow night, but most likely it won't be up until Thursday morning, simply because I'm a bit behind in getting the stats up.

I think Mike Morse could be finding his way onto the list in the midseason installment. He's got great tools, but hadn't found the bat, although lately he's showing signs of putting things together. Personally I'm not a big Spidale fan, although when Brumbaugh falls back to normal, Spidale could jump onto the list. Malone is on the list and will be on the next installment. The big reason we didn't have Phillips higher is we made this list (The Actual Order) while he was in Extended Spring Training and we had concerns about his health. We are back to being high on him after his first start and I think he'll be up in Birmingham in no time. Haigwood is also still to come on the segment. We like him quite a bit, as you'll see when his ranking comes out. In the future were going to do 3 prospect lists during the year. One will be a preseason one (including AFL Stats), the other will be a midseason one (July - This is when the next list will be done) and the third one will be a postseason one. One thing I'm already debating is where a few of our draft picks will fit into things. Cause I think the Sox nabbed a few guys that would be pretty high on the list.

A Week In Review (May 28 - June 2): Kannapolis Intimidators By Jason Gage June 3, 2003 FutureSox.com The Intimidators had a great week going 4-2. Heath Phillips made the biggest news of the week, tossing a shutout in his first start of the season (See Thursday), while Anthony Webster kept up his hot hitting. Gustavo Molina also had a great week with a pair of 3 RBI games. Kannapolis is now 25-29, which puts them in fifth place out of the nine teams in the Southern Division. Wednesday The Intimidators pitching staff had trouble throwing strikes as they combined for 11 walks in a 9-2 loss against Lexington. Paulino Reynoso (2-4) got the start, going 3/2/3 innings giving up four runs on six hits and four walks. Todd Deininger wouldn’t do much better control wise, giving up another four walks in three innings, but he did limit Lexington to one hit. Andy Gonzalez (1-3) and Thomas Brice (1-3) each had an RBI. Anthony Webster had a hit and stole his 14th base. Thursday Heath Phillips (1-0) made his first start of the season and it was a beauty. He limited Lexington to three hits over eight shutout innings, in a 7-0 victory. Phillips took a no hitter into the seventh. Joey Gillikin put the Intimidators on top for good with a solo homer in the second inning. Gustavo Molina would add some insurance with a 3 run double in the eighth inning. Anthony Webster went 2-4 with a double and rbi, while Andy Gonzalez and Thomas Brice also had an RBI. Friday Anthony Webster would give the Intimidators a 7-6 victory over Charleston, scoring the game winning run in the ninth inning off of an error. Starter Brian Miller walked five over five innings giving up four runs on four hits. Josh Rupe wouldn’t have much better control as he had four walks, a hit, and a run (unearned) in an 1/1/3. Rick Hummel (2-0) picked up the win, tossing 1/2/3 scoreless innings. Darren Cirraco led the offense going 3-4 while Anthony Webster (2-4 with 2 runs and a stolen base), Julio Reyes (2-4), and Andrew Salvo (2-4 with 2 RBI) each had two hits a-piece. Saturday Saturday’s game against Charleston was rained out and would be made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. Sunday Kannapolis won the first game of the doubleheader 6-5, thanks to a strong performance by starter BJ Lamura. Lamura won his fifth game of the season going 6/2/3 innings giving up eight hits and five runs (2 earned). Rick Hummel replaced him pitching 1/3 of an inning to pick up his eighth save (Minor League Doubleheaders are 7 INN each). Anthony Webster had a hit and two RBI. Thomas Brice, Darren Cirraco, and Pedro Lopez drove each had an RBI. Charleston, led by three pitchers, would shutout the Intimidators, 2-0. Kannapolis wasted a good outing by Andrew Fryson who gave up two runs (one earned) in 4/1/3 innings. Todd Deininger finished the game with 2/2/3 scoreless innings. Offensively the Intimidators would only must two hits, both off of starter Ryan Houston. Cavin and Christians had Kannapolis’ only hits. Monday Starter Paulino Reynoso made up for his previous performance, in which he gave up five walks, by going six innings giving up just three hits and a run en route to a 4-3 victory. Unfortunately Reynoso would get the no decision as reliever Julio Castro (1-3) picked up the win. Castro went 2 innings giving up four hits and two runs. Josh Rupe picked up his fifth save, pitching a perfect ninth. For the second time this week catcher Gustavo Molina had the big game, going 1-3 with three RBI. Notes: The Intimidators activated LHP Heath Phillips from extended spring training. Later in the week they would place first baseman Julio Reyes on the disabled list with a strained right quad. Andrew Larson was activated from the disabled list to fill Reyes’ roster spot. The Intimidators will work on reaching the .500 mark this week against these opponents: 6/3 – vs. Charleston 6/4 - 6/6 @ Lexington 6/7 – 6/8 vs. Greensboro

Ya, I remember what your talking about. I'll see if I can do that on the board. Will try to get it up tonight or tomorrow. Only thing I want to make sure of, is we don't put up too many pics to the point we crash the server

The Top 50 Countdown: 30-21 By Mike Doyle, Jason Gage, and Mark J. Jacobsen June 3, 2003 FutureSox.com From 50 all the way down to 1, we will continue our countdown of the top 50 prospects in the White Sox organization with 21 through 30. Coming Soon: 11 through 20. Stats Updated as of June 2, 2003 30. Daylan Holt - 23 - R/R -OF – (High-A Winston-Salem) 2003 (Birmingham-AA): .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 2 BB, 7 K 2003 (Winston-Salem-AA): .299 AVG, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 4 SB, 14 BB, 26 K 2002 (Midland-AA): .279 AVG, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 1 SB, 15 BB, 50 K 2002 (Visalia-A): .291 AVG, 16 HR, 63 RBI, 3 SB, 29 BB, 75 K 2001 (Modesto-A): .179 AVG, 2 HR, 39 RBI, 5 SB, 40 BB, 90 K 2000 (Vancouver-R): .271 AVG, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 1 SB, 10 BB, 26 K Holt, who was the second “player to be named later” in the Billy Koch for Keith Foulke trade, was literally in a yearlong slump until 2002. Holt finally showed some promise last year, hitting 20 HRs and driving in 88 runs between A and AA ball. When his stroke is good, Holt has jaw-dropping power to all fields. Because he is prone to long slumps, the goal for Holt is to keep his stroke consistent. Unfortunately, he suffered a meltdown at the beginning of the season with Birmingham and was sent down to Winston-Salem. Holt must not have taken the news lightly: he’s proceeded to absolutely annihilate the baseball in High-A, raking up a .303 batting average and .505 slugging percentage. Unless an outfielder at Birmingham is promoted or released, Holt will have to stay down below his level in Winston-Salem. 29. Ryan Rodriguez - 18 - LHP, SP – Great Falls White Sox (Rookie) 2002 (Arizona-A): 5-2, 3.74 ERA, 69.1 INN, 47 K, 16 BB Rodriguez was a fourth-round pick out of Texas’ Keller High School last year. At 18 years old, Rodriguez will play another year at Great Falls and come up slowly through the Sox system. He had a very impressive debut, going 5-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 14 starts. He pitched 69.1 innings, which is a moderate amount considering he had already undergone a full season of high school baseball. Rodriguez did show very good control for a youngster, walking just 16. He throws a very good curveball, as well as a low 90’s fastball that has exceptional movement. Rodriguez still has a lot to learn, but he’s a very talented lefty that should develop over the next few years into a front line starter. The Sox plan on having him develop a few more pitches, one of which would most likely be a changeup. He should have a bright future, but the true tests will come with pitching at higher levels. 28. B.J. Lamura - 22 – RHP, SP – Kannapolis Intimidators (Low A Ball) 2003: 5-3, 2.64 ERA, 61.1 INN, 54 K, 34 BB 2002 (Bristol): 1-2, 4.50 ERA, 18.0 INN, 20 K, 7 BB Lamura was one of the many solid picks made by the Sox last season: he was drafted in the fifth round out of Clemson, and in some scouts’ minds was possibly the university’s most talented pitcher. He had a solid debut last season, posting a 4.50 ERA as the Sox worked on improving his mechanics and honing his potential. Thus far, the work seems to have paid off. He is Kannapolis’ best starter with a 2.64 ERA in 11 starts. It shouldn’t be long until Lamura moves up to Winston-Salem. Lamura features a good fastball (89-91) and can throw it harder if necessary. All of his other pitches are works in progress, but many are confident that Lamura will turn into a very solid big leaguer. He’s still a few years off from reaching Chicago and, when speaking of most prospects, I like to say that you don’t know what you’ve got until they reach AA. 27. Tetsu Yofu - 29 - RHP, SP/RP – Birmingham Barons (AA) 2003 (Charlotte-AAA): 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 3.1 INN, 3 K, 2 BB 2003 (Birmingham-AA): 3-3, 2.96 ERA, 45.2 INN, 38 K, 11 BB No, that’s not a typo; the 29-year-old Japanese import has quite a unique name, and has already made quite a unique impact on this organization. Making his debut with the Birmingham Barons this past month, Yofu has compiled some impressive stats; Yofu is 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA and has recorded 2 saves. Yofu has dabbled a bit in a starting role, yet many scouts don’t believe he has the stamina to effectively last as a major league starter. If Yofu continues to impress as he has, the White Sox could be looking at their own version of Kaz Sasaki. 26. Heath (Mike) Phillips - 21 - LHP, SP – Kannapolis Intimidators (Low A Ball) 2003: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 INN, 2 K, 1 BB 2002 (Winston-Salem-A): 6-15, 3.52 ERA, 179 INN, 112 K, 50 BB 2001 (Kannapolis-A): 2-7, 3.64 ERA, 72 INN, 54 K, 18 BB Last year was a good year for Heath Phillips. Not only did he have a great season in Kannapolis, but he started drawing comparisons to current Southsider Mark Buehrle, who won 19 games in just his third major league season. The Sox have high expectations for Phillips, to say the least. Those expectations became cautions earlier this year as Heath was shut down and kept in extended spring training for medical concerns. The good news is Heath is back. He made his first start for Kannapolis last week and it was a beauty -- he went eight innings, giving up three hits and no runs. Heath doesn’t have brilliant stuff, but he can throw all of his pitches for strikes and does a great job changing speeds and staying ahead of the hitters. His best pitches are a high 80’s fastball that has exceptional movement and a slider. Heath should make the jump to Winston-Salem after a few starts and should end the season in Birmingham (AA). Despite having good control, Heath does have work to do, because he has to have perfect control if he hopes to have similar success to Buehrle. Look for a healthy Heath to climb up the charts and the system: he should find himself in Chicago in 2004 or 2005. 25. Josh Rupe - 20 - RHP, RP – Kannapolis Intimidators (Low A Ball) 2003: 2-2, 4 SV, 0.99 ERA, 27.1 INN, 37 K, 18 BB 2002 (Bristol-R): 3-3, 5.26 ERA, 38 INN, 40 K, 22 BB The White Sox organization is notorious for drafting pitchers based on radar gun readings and pure potential, and the drafting of Josh Rupe is no exception. Like Corwin Malone, Josh Rupe was drafted as a project. The Sox saw something they thought they could fix, and liked the possibilities of that project succeeding. Immediately after signing, the Sox started to work on Rupe’s mechanics and getting him into a consistent arm slot. Rupe has an amazing curveball, which was rated a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale by some. The changes in Rupe’s mechanics will take numerous innings to learn, but he might have caught on already. Rupe has already opened the eyes of Sox officials in Kannapolis, as he has put together some very solid numbers, most notably his 28 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched, out of the bullpen. Alongside Rick Hummel, Rupe has turned the Intimidator bullpen into the most solid aspect of the team. 24. Brian West - 22 - RHP, SP – Birmingham Barons (AA) 2003 (Charlotte-AAA): 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 5.0 INN, 2 K, 2 BB 2003 (Birmingham-AA): 2-4, 5.56 ERA, 45.1 INN, 31 K, 24 BB 2002 (Birmingham-AA): 9-11, 4.34 ERA, 149 INN, 91 K, 71 BB 2001 (Winston-Salem-A): 7-12, 3.46 ERA, 169 INN, 130 K, 70 BB 2000 (Winston-Salem-A): 0-1, 11.37 ERA, 6 INN, 3 K, 6 BB 2000 (Burlington-A): 8-9, 3.78 ERA, 148 INN, 90 K, 73 BB 1999 (Bristol-R): 1-2, 10.50 ERA, 18 INN, 17 K, 14 BB 1999 (Arizona-R): 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 5 INN, 3 K, 2 BB Brian West’s year in AA Birmingham can be simply described as both good and bad. The good? West improved on limiting the amount of hits he gave up: his Batting Average Against dropped almost 50 points from the previous year to .236. The bad? West’s strikeout total dropped dramatically from 130 in 170 IP two years ago to 91 in 149 IP last year. West has been forced to spend another year in Birmingham, and the results so far have been downright awful. West has yielded 48 hits and 15 walks in only 34 2/3 innings in his second season with the Barons. Unless West makes drastic changes to his approach to pitching, he will most likely fall by the wayside as a non-prospect. Oddly enough, West was actually promoted to AAA Charlotte, but I suspect this was only a fill-in start. As of right now, West does not deserve to be in AAA. 23. Ryan Meaux – 25 - LHP, RP – Winston-Salem Warthogs (High A Ball) 2003: 0-3, 5 SV, 0.88 ERA, 41.0 INN, 30 K, 2 BB 2002 (Kannapolis-A): 0-2, 6 SV, 1.35 ERA, 13.1 INN, 13 K, 0 BB 2002 (Haggerstown-A): 4-3, 17 SV, 2.63 ERA, 54.2 INN, 44 K, 12 BB 2001 (Salem-Kaizer-A): 2-2, 5.59 ERA, 29.0 INN, 27 K, 11 BB A product of Kenny Williams’ fire sale last season, Ryan Meaux has proved that Felix Diaz was not the only pitcher of note in the deal that sent Kenny Lofton to San Francisco. Meaux doesn't have noteworthy velocity, but gets good sink on his fastball and good results from his curveball. At age 25, Meaux is having a great start to 2003 (0-1, 0.29, 4sv’s). If he hopes to make the majors, however, he’ll need to progress to AA sooner rather than later. 22. Frankie Francisco - 23 - RHP, SP – Winston-Salem Warthogs (High A Ball) 2003: 3-2, 3.83 ERA, 42.1 INN, 29 K, 21 BB Frankie Francisco started last year in the Boston Red Sox organization as a top ten prospect. After it was revealed that Francisco is actually nine months older than he’d reported to the team, he soon fell out of favor within the organization and was summarily traded to the South Siders in a deal for Bobby Howry. Francisco has been moved back and forth, in and out of the rotation in his young career. It appears that Francisco finally has settled in a starting role with the Winston-Salem Warthogs. While Francisco can hit 95 mph on the radar gun and can get batters out with his curveball, he still has trouble when he goes deep into counts. Off to a fast start, Francisco could be moved up a level to AA, possibly even AAA, if an opportunity presents itself. 21. Aaron Miles - 26 - S/R - 2nd Base – Charlotte Knights (AAA) 2003: .320 AVG, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 0 SB, 9 BB, 21 K 2002 (Birmingham-AA): .322 AVG, 9 HR, 68 RBI, 25 SB, 40 BB, 45 K After a sub-par season at AA Birmingham (batting only .215 at home), Aaron Miles destroyed the Southern League in 2002 and garnered the attention of the White Sox. Miles has been compared to Anaheim Angels shortstop David Eckstein, but with more power. Miles, like Eckstein, is very small in height, but exerts maximum effort on the field. At 26, Miles is somewhat old for AAA, but age hasn’t been prohibitive for him. He’s continued his hot streak from last year, hitting a robust .353 with six homeruns at Charlotte. With current shortstop Jose Valentin in the last year of his contract, Miles may be the eventual successor at 2nd if D’Angelo Jimenez is moved from 2nd base to shortstop.

I sure hope so. Still, that sounds funny. Do they usually take a guy out during the game to call them up to AAA. I'd understand if it was the majors, but that can't be the case. I hope all is well. He had a heck of a game going.

Pretty much they know this teams is terrible. I think Hawk wouldn't whine if they broke the team up.

DJ's comment was hillarious.