Chisoxfn

I think the Sox are going to try and trade Colon and/or Count if they can.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 05:17 AM) Watched it when it first ran on HBO. Tremendous. Was hard having to wait a week for the next part. Agreed, easily one of my all time favorites. Best war movie/series ever.

They could move Jenks for a ton of value with Thornton moving to the pen though. That might be a major possibility, especially if he could use Jenks to get a young ace or use Jenks to get a really good looking outfielder/bat.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 10:34 AM) If we didn't have three picks in the first 61 overall I'd be whining for the White Sox to take a chance on one of these prep players projected to drop due to signability concerns. However, we're still in a good position with 23 and 38 to find decent players. There's no question, if one ever existed, that the Yankees are going to draft the highest profile prep player, regardless of salary demands. It's obviously a question of whether they'll sign this person, but looking at their draft, and how their first two selection are at #29 and #76, you know they're shooting high. I'd really hate to see another Rick Porcello type of situation occur where top talent falls well out of their projected slot. The recent rule of having your draft slot (minus one position) guaranteed for the next season should be motivation for teams to sign a good name and take the risk of losing it. The problem is if they don't sign the pick, they lose the pick and than they are screwed, especially since they have so few picks in the early rounds this year. They'll take an athletic prep, but its going to be one they know they can sign.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Why is Tanner Scheppers falling out of the 1st in all these mocks? Also, I'd love to get Tony Sanchez if those are our only options. Worst case scenario, he's a Kelly Shoppach type of player, and Kelly Shoppach had a ton of trade value with the Red Sox and is a solid major leaguer. I think teams just flat out have concerns about giving a guy with an arm injury a big time bonus. Kind of funny though since Bedard will get a fat contract this off-season despite a history of arm injuries. Wood got paid forever, etc etc. Either way, if you draft Scheppers out of the 1st you got to know you have the leverage. He isn't going to want to wait around another full year.

The sox aren't going to make a firesale. They will trade guys to align better with there plan to contend. Ie, move pieces that are only valuable for the next year or two to get pieces that will be valuable for more years. So don't necessarily expect Kenny to trade for the best prospects available, rather guys he likes that he feels can come in and help the club potentially as soon as this year, but definately for next year and another 2-5 years.

http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71918 Going to close the thread now!

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 10:09 AM) Arms like his are rare, but doesn't his recent stress fracture in his shoulder make you concerned? That would be a HUGE gamble IMO. Yes, but the Sox have spent so much money on plenty of other guys. In this case your spending 4M to take a chance on a guy whose going to be under your control for a very very long time. I see nothing wrong with it, imo. If he checks out with the doctors than he's fine in my book.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 10:13 AM) Doesn't look like Storen will be around for us... All these prep players and their high demands are pushing up all the college players. Looks more and more like Mitchell will be the pick, and even then, the Twins might take him at 22. Richards is a guy that fits the Sox MO. Would be better value in the supplemental round, but a mid 90's fastball with a power breaking ball is a very good thing. Tends to leave pitches up and has given up a lot of HR's because of it.

BA's Latest Mock has the Sox going with: Arnett, Jenkins, Sanchez and Williams all have profiles within. This is the first I've seen of Sanchez here and I wouldn't be opposed to the Sox grabbing a guy under slot if they go over slot with one of the preps that falls later in the draft. Garret Richards is a guy we haven't talked about though. He was a stud in the Alaskan Summer league and he consistently pitches in the mid 90's with a power curve (some call it a slurve). Below is what PG had to say about him. Oh and Tanner Scheppers isn't selected in the 1st round. Again, please please please pony up the dough. Even if you have to go under slot everywhere else, pony up the dough to get Scheppers.

A ton of prep players have just made this draft interesting, putting out large demands. We might see the fewest number of prep guys taken in the 1st round in the history of the draft, given the economy. Make sure you check out the FutureSox forum for all the draft profiles and tons of draft discussion to get all caught up before the draft starts today. Oh and one guy the Sox have been linked to, Prep Outfielder Mike Trout (no strong ties, more tied to them based upon needs by other columnists), is demanding $2.5M, which is .1M less than Beckham got. A few prep pitchers are asking for Porcello money, Donovan Tate $6M, and the two top collegiate position players are both asking for a lot of money (Grant Green and Dustin Ackley; 5-10M). Crow is only asking for around $4M, which is about what he was offered last year by the Nats. Scheppers would probably ask for a similar amount. I think the prep demands, combined with a stellar final outing in St. Paul, might have just put Scheppers back into the top 10-15 picks, but I reiterate if he's there and the Sox pass, I'll be f***ing pissed. Arms like his are rare.

Trout was looking like a guy that might go a bit earlier cause he was signable, but Gordon Beckham only got a 2.6M bonus and he was a top 10 pick in a rich draft before the teams were really hurting from the economy. Trout is basically asking for the same amount and is considered more of a 20-35 guy. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Trout is there in the 2nd round now. Pollack just moved up draft boards as did Mitchell. Mitchell might be gone now when the Sox pick.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 09:49 AM) Yep, I've heard he's asking for Porcello money. I think some team will take a chance on him. Is is true the Yankees will be going after an easy sign after missing out on Cole last year? Cause there's a good chance some really good HS players fall to the yankees, notably Purke and Tate. With the make-up pick, they'll be taking an easy sign because if they lose out they lose the pick. And since that is pretty much the only pick they got due to the signings they made this off-season, I could still see them getting agressive but I think they want a guy that they've already talked money with and are comfortable will sign. That said if the Yanks are willing to spend 5-6M they will have a shot at a real good talent. Those prep demands are going to make this an interesting draft, there will be quite a few guys moving up into the 1st roudn and supplemental/2nd rounds.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 09:48 AM) I've seen Walla mainly associated with the 3rd round, but I wouldn't mind drafting him in the 2nd. He can really hit. Looks like he'll be limited to LF though, maybe even 1B if he doesn't show a whole lot of range. Has a really strong arm though. He's going earlier than that. I wouldn't be opposed to taking him earlier if the Sox get him to sign under slot and than allocate those resources to another guy. His bat is so freaking good and he's the type of prospect that will have a lot of trade value a year or two from now if the team wants to move him. Which is always something to factor in given Kenny's willingness to make deals.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 09:41 AM) If there is any reason Scheppers drops 23 spots to us, I'll guarantee he'll just pass right on by. Although I believe there's no way gets by Detroit. Not so fast my friend

Trout evidently put out a demand of a 2.5M bonus. It isn't a ton but for a guy slated to go in the back half of the 1st round it might scare some teams off and push him to the supplemental round. However, it isn't that bad of a number and might not scare anyone off since the teams picking in the back of the draft tend to have deeper pockets. I don't think the Angels will pass up on him.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 09:37 AM) According to Sickles: Looks like we can eliminate any HS players if we are set on not wanting to go over slot. One of the top prep pitchers is expected to slide out of the first round due to his bonus demands. It is Texas lefty, Matt Purke.

Here's a guy whose name is flying up the boards. Not sure where he'd play defensively, but his bat gets rave reviews. Max Walla He Wallops the ball. I love this guys name. Jabari Blash and Max Walla in the same draft, maybe. Here's a link to the article, but below is one of the things that stands out the most. http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=967

Tanner Scheppers put up one hell of a final outing in St. Paul. Was pitching in the upper 90's and topped out at 101. It was against a lineup that included former White Sox prospect Anthony Webster (who, IIRC, was one of the guys traded in the Carl Everett deal). http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=964 If Scheppers is there and the Sox pass, I will f***ing throw a hissy fit. He has such a special arm and imo, if he's healthy, he's the 2nd best player in this draft.

Dye, Jenks and Dotel would all have a lot of value, imo.

QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 09:14 AM) My point being we rarely have success starting a guy out of the bullpen top prospect or not I understand that, but a whole lot of those guys listed weren't legitimate pitching prospects and were either called up out of necessity or pushed into a starting gig by necessity (remember how bad the Sox 5th starters were for a stretch? Oh and if you go by that rationale, the Sox did use Gavin Floyd a bit out of the pen and rotation in his first season with the Sox. The majority of his outings were starts but he also made 6 relief appearances.

And on that list of guys that didn't make it, few were considered top prospects.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 08:15 AM) My belief is Sox will draft J. Mitchell out of LSU. Most of soxtalk will be upset, claiming that he strikes out too much. Then, Hawk and KW will talk about it and the comparison to Carl Crawford will come out. Soxtalk will then slowly shift to liking the pick. Come on, most everyone discussing the draft over in the FutureSox forums would be okay with Mitchell. He's the best collegiate athlete in the draft.

In the future, we'll tweet some boxscores and stuff as well (ie, if Danks has a monster game or Poreda does something special).

Okay, I figured out how to send updates. Alex, get it so I can just twitter via my account and it will go to FutureSox.