Chisoxfn

Karsten Whitson is a name that was projected to go top 10 most of the year, but has seen his stock slide a bit. The latest BA draft had him available when the Sox picked and he could be a really nice upside guy to look into. Whitson has nice fastball velocity already (clocked from 90 to 96), a hard slider, and a promising change so it looks like he's a guy that could potentially have 3 good pitches (and that is what it takes to be a front line starter in this league). Nice build and frame. Would be really happy if the Sox went that way. But it would be a huge change of pace since they don't draft prep pitchers in the 1st round.

Mayo recently talked about Ranaudo's fall and indicated there is a shot he falls all the way to the bottom of the 1st round. With teams concerned about the health of his arm on top of the fact that he's advised by Boras, I'm convinced the sox won't take him. Only way they do is if he pitches better down the stretch, but if that happens, he's probably back in the top 10.

Heres a guy the Sox probably won't sign, but I only mention him since he's a QB recruit at LSU and appears to be a tough sign. Pure talent wise he wouldn't be a bad option at 13. Problem is you have no idea if he'll sign:

For those in the Ranaudo camp, below is a snippet from BA: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prosp...010/269988.html

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 18, 2010 -> 02:55 PM) Shaun Marcum has gone at least 6 innings with 3 ER or less in every one of his starts so far except one (and in that one he went 7 innings and gave up 4 ER). Marcum and Romero make up a pretty nasty 1-2 punch. I never thought Romero was that good. He was fun to watch in college at Fullerton, but when he went as high as he did, I was pretty surprised since I didn't know if he had enough umph on his fastball to go with that curve he threw in college. He's really done well though. Toronto front office had a lot of issues (internal debate) over that draft pick IIRC.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I really enjoyed this weeks episode. Answered some questions and I can see this thing having an ending.

I think John Wall will be the best player in the draft. The guy is legit.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 18, 2010 -> 05:19 PM) Any thoughts on Stetson Allie? He has some serious helium right now. Evidently his control has been shored up significantly this year, and his slider has been nasty. It's looking more and more likely that he will go in the 1st round. He's got the arm to dream about, but there's a good chance he ends up a reliever. (albeit a closer/setup reliever) Hell of a fastball but I have serious concerns over his complete lack of secondary stuff. Not sure if I take him over some of the other guys. If we were picking in the 20's, I'd take more of a chance, but I'd rather go with a Ranaudo/Paxton. Both of those guys have real nice arms and seem to be a bit more polished. That said, I'd probably take Allie over Workman and some of the other guys, albeit I could see that pick really backfiring and I don't like the idea of that when we pick as high as 13 (higher than we normally pick). I really think I'd rather go with a high upside position player, but the Sox seem to be leaning another way (simply because I like our options at 13 more from the offensive standpoint than I do the pitching standpoint). Unless of course we grab Ranaudo.

QUOTE (girlslikebaseballtoo#26 @ May 18, 2010 -> 01:20 PM) What's that have to do with the price of rice in china?! lol Blackwood has already been told he will see a lot of playing time in GF. I think because I also live out in Cali. Not sure though.

Did AJ double or single? How did Rios get on?

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 18, 2010 -> 11:48 AM) I'd rather have Wimmers than Workman. I don't think Workman is a mid 1st talent. That being said, I'm not enamored with either of them. It sounds like both of them get talked about as pitchers that you don't appreciate until you watch them pitch multiple times. While that is great and all and I'm all about guys like Buehrle, when I draft I tend to go heavily on tools and I like guys with wow me potential. It is why I might be higher on Harvey than others might and why I'd still take a shot at Ranaudo.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 18, 2010 -> 11:41 AM) But you know what? It certainly sounded like standard operating procedure for them. I don't know how you can state that it is just standard operating procedure. They have tons of drilling stations and I'm sure they have corporate policies regarding safety and standard that they have to comply with and in this instance my guess is they just ignored some of the issues or just never thought it was near as big of a deal. Its sad that it happened, but unfortunately no amount of controls will always prevent everything from happening.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2010 -> 03:38 PM) Man oh man, 60 minutes just absolutely ripped apart BP and Transocean. The blowout preventer has a large rubber gasket that is a key part of it. a month before the explosion, there was an accident that damaged the gasket. One of their workers reported rubber shards coming back up in the drilling mud. Those shards were ignored. One of the control boxes on the blowout preventer was having issues the whole month, that should have had the company shut down drilling and repair it. They chose not to. Safety doors on the rig that were supposed to contain explosions were ripped off their hinges by explosions. The day of the explosion, BP decided to cut corners and pull back on the drilling mud pressure in the well to make it faster and more cost-effective to access the oil. They had on a whistleblower discussing a different BP platform in the gulf, and he was reporting, based on documentation, that 95% of the plans for that rig were inappropriately handled and he was fired for trying to make an issue of it. If a company is cutting corners and covering it up and it is standard operating procedure...then, yeah. Clearly BP didn't perform the necessary actions based upon the tests and data they have. That is just ignorance and no amount of controls, etc will prevent something like that, unfortunately.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 18, 2010 -> 10:05 AM) Forum needs a dedicated draft thread imo. Done!

You ask...we deliver!

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 18, 2010 -> 11:07 AM) Dude...I don't think there are many games this year where we have outhit the opposition. Given the fact that we have the lowest team avg in MLB (at least I think we do), I'd have to say that we probably haven't outhit many teams.

Above is a quote from a Bryce Harper chat. I don't know why, but this would just scare the hell out of me. This guy is bound to explode. We know he has baseball talent, but man you can't just live your life like that. Eventually there is a good chance you'll snap.

I like the enthusiasm and appreciate the information girlslikebaseball. Welcome aboard!!!

I think Walker will be fired.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 18, 2010 -> 08:37 AM) I'm kind of bullish on Brentz now. I'm not sure I would like him at 13. I would have liked to see similar numbers to what he did in 2009, especially considering the subpar competition he faces. It is safe to say that the ankle injury can be expected to hinder his performance though. I've read that he's been playing a decent chunk of the season at 75 to 80%. He won't be the player of the year but he'll be in consideration for college player of the year (not that that has any impact on being a great draft pick or not).

Brandon Workman is another guy who I wouldn't be surprised to hear the Sox interested in. RHP out of Texas with good movement on a low 90's fastball with a big spike curve.

A guy I happen to like, if we go the college pitcher route, is Matt Harvey. Another guy I like a lot and who could fit in nicely as a potential top of the order hitter for the Sox is Gary Brown. He's a phenomenal athlete (very fast, great defensively) and has a real nice short stroke. He won't hit for much, if any power though, but he's projected to go late 1st to the early 2nd. Broke his finger so who knows if that impacts his draft stock. He had been climbing up draft boards. Nice fit, imo. I still like Paxton if we opt for a lefty and than of course I like Ranaudo a lot. Big arm, nice build, and I'm willing to take the gamble.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 18, 2010 -> 07:29 AM) Brentz was actuallly a much bigger prospect a few years ago. He's fallen off a bit, but his upside is a lot bigger then his current numbers show. That being said, i'd still take Wilson over him. A year ago I believe, which was his sophmore season where he was a complete monster. He's had some injuries this year but he's a very talented kid.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 18, 2010 -> 07:19 AM) I'm well aware. Mayo wrote a piece about it yesterday in fact. http://minors.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/05...ng_on_with.html He could be a high risk high return guy at 13. Kind of similar to how Gibson fell to Minny with his injury concerns. Not sure how much he is seeking and if the Sox would be willing to work with Boras though. A lot of the college baseball people are really intrigued by how much LSU's rotation is falling apart because it was pretty hyped. They say Ranaudo's stuff is still there and a few people think it has to do with him mentally feeling a bit of the preseason pressure. That of course isn't a good thing, but as long as he learns from it I don't see it as being much different from a player feeling pressure because it is a contract year or because he's in trade rumors.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 18, 2010 -> 07:12 AM) I keep coming back to Wimmers as well. I'm not the biggest fan, but yes he has a nice 2 seam and a good curveball. I'm going to keep hoping that one of Ranaudo/McGuire fall to 13. Ranaudo's stock is falling.