Chisoxfn

So are our teams going to find a way to meet up again this year?

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 20, 2009 -> 01:58 PM) He got injured a couple weeks ago to more than likely end his season. Broken bone in his hand, nothing super major, but bad timing at the end of the season. This was by far his worst offensive year. I would say the scouting report is wrong about his power, though he didn't show power in the Cod league so maybe he only has metal bat power. The defensive reports are accurate, he's so much fun to watch behind the plate. Another thing worth noting about his defense is that he calls games for Mizzou, which is rare for college catchers. He definitely has a shot to be a solid catching prospect because of his defense, but I don't know if his bat will get him to the Majors. With that said, I would love for the Sox to take him in the 4th round. His bat is a question mark as they said in the report, but if he can hit respectably well his defense will carry him. Yep, while the upside might be limited, your still talking about a valuable position where there is at least a decent chance that he turns into a real nice defensive back-up to go with Flowers or whomever the starter is. And if he hits, he's a pretty solid starting catcher. By the way, good stuff Dan, good stuff (this and the Arnett stuff).

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ May 20, 2009 -> 01:44 PM) Are we sure about that? I thought they were on major league contracts. Aren't those specifically NOT what the contracts players sign after being drafted. I guess I thought they were in the same position as those Japanese players who often avoid arbitration. It is fantastic news if true though. Yep, we had our people at the same event and thats exactly what we were told, straight from Rick Hahn. So you can take it to the bank. It is 100% true.

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 20, 2009 -> 01:45 PM) Arnett is on Big Ten Network in the Big Ten Tourney against Purdue. His fastball is sitting mid 90s. I wasn't paying much attention and missed the first few innings, but a mid 90s fastball will catch your attention. He threw a pretty sick 66 MPH curve to K a batter last inning. Gun could have missed it, but that's a HUGE velocity difference from his fastball. The curve is a very raw pitch of his. I got the game recording right now, but he might very well be the guy the Sox take. He's starting to grow on me a lot, especially since he tends to hold his velocity deep into games as of late.

QUOTE (Cali @ May 20, 2009 -> 01:45 PM) seems like Flowers knows what he's doing at the plate with walks and hitting for power, staying in the minors for another season or so to work on his D can only help his hit for more average then be ready to catch for the Sox mid '10 or '11 season... Plus he has a pretty solid arm and he's a good athlete. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him turn into a league average defensive catcher and with his offensive skill-set that would be a major plus.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 20, 2009 -> 01:45 PM) Even though the Sox say it, I am not convinced Flowers stays at C. I expect the Sox to take a catcher within the first four rounds of this draft. I wouldn't be shocked either, its a very strong catcher draft. Basham is a nice looking pickup if the Sox buy into him becoming much of a hitter because defensively he projects well and shouldn't go super early in the draft. That said, the Sox are going to do everything they can to keep Flowers at C, especially since Viciedo and Allen both look pretty solid as well and I still think they might target a corner infielder early in this draft (as there are some good quality guys that seem to be sliding).

Should be a great game. I'm excited again to watch some White Sox baseball.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:35 PM) I only have time for 1 profile today, and I'm gonna knock that out in a couple minutes... but, if I have time this weekend, I plan on doing a mock draft. It'll be tougher this year since outside of the top 5 or so, there's not gonna be a huge difference between the players taken at 10 overall and 20 overall like there was last year, but I'll try my best. I'll give you guys a sneak preview though... Bit of a surprise, I have Strasburg going no. 1 overall! Shocker, I know. Oh, one other interesting thing coming from Hahn, was that he mentioned how the 70th pick of the draft might not be much different than the 10th pick in the draft. Basically stating whats been said a million times over, lots of solid baseball players but very few guys that fall into the 10-25 range in the draft (its gonna be a wild draft).

QUOTE (daa84 @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:15 PM) he hasn't hit for as much power as i expected (yet...and that big park may have something to do with it) but I feel like in all the Beckham/Poreda/Danks/Viciedo/Allen hype Tyler Flowers has gotten a bit lost in the shuffle....His OBP is currently .445 Flowers is the guy Hahn, outside of Beckham, that is apparently the most untouchable on the Sox. The rationale given was that both of them have the ability to be above average offensive weapons at there respected positions (SS & C).

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 20, 2009 -> 01:17 PM) How does a guy without much stuff put up a 31/2 K/BB over 15 innings? I don't know anything about him, at all, so I can't comment. Pretty ridiculous numbers there though.

He's been falling in recent weeks due to his struggles against good college pitching. He's pretty much made his living off of poor college starters throughout his career.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:03 PM) Yep that's HUGE news. The Viciedo contract looks so much better. Yea, in fact it looks downright stellar, imo. Especially with him hitting. I do have some news on Viciedo, but it didn't come from last night or Hahn. But I've heard that Viciedo has been putting in major extra time down with the Barons hitting coach and that no one in the organization is at all concerned with Dayan and that his struggles were related to how much different the pitching style is here as opposed to in Cuba. In addition, there were some expected problems relating to the language barrier but from what I was told, he's getting much more comfortable now. And obviously it shows in his statistics. Again, I reiterate that the above is not from Rick Hahn.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:24 PM) He's clearly the no. 1 college catching prospect right now, and it seems he can come off the board anywhere from 20-40. Here is a good scouting report on him with a little video: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/...content=sanchez I dont' know who to compare him to, but I think he's a guy that could be a lot like AJ in a sense, but with a bit better defensive upside. And I say that as a compliment. I'm talking a mid .280 hitter with 10-20 hr's, and hopefully unlike AJ a solid OBP. Oh and currently a bit more speed than AJ. Probably the safest of the catcher picks.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:24 PM) He's clearly the no. 1 college catching prospect right now, and it seems he can come off the board anywhere from 20-40. Here is a good scouting report on him with a little video: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/...content=sanchez I dont' know, Indiana's catcher Phelgey is projected higher by certain publications and I've seen quite a few people rave about Phelgey's leadership and intangibles as well. In fact, aside from Bailey (whom I love from a potential stud back-stop perspective, ie, true defensive catcher) Phelgey and Sanchez are both two guys I like quite a bit with both having the upside of being pretty solid offensive catchers. I still don't know if I take a catcher until around our 2nd 2nd rounder and I hope Bailey falls to our 3rd round pick and than he's great value there, you'd just have to go a bit above slot to sign him.

Wow, when I found out Bale was involved I was in. I've still been excited but haven't read or checked out what opinions were. Now I'm dissapointed, but maybe that'll be a good thing as I'll go in with low expectations and come out being entertained.

Made a minor adjustment. By popuar demand the three most popular pinned threads stayed, all others gone.

Below is a brief recap: Aaron Poreda - He's the guy the Sox get the most calls about from other teams. If it was up to Hahn, the club would not promote him as a potential quick fix and would leave him down in the minors for him to work on his secondary stuff. Hahn went on to add that the organization has told Poreda (and Poreda is starting to understand this) that it is okay for him to make mistakes with his secondary pitches since its just the minors and thats what the minors are there for (his development). Hahn went on to indicate that Poreda could be ready for the pen right now, but that again, up to him, the best approach is to take things slowly and leth im develop My Take: This is a breath of fresh air and the absolute correct thing to do regarding Poreda's development. It sounds like the Sox are going to do whatever they can to get him to stick as a starter and that means he'll probably spend all year in the minors working specifically on improving the secondary stuff. If all goes well, he makes it as a starter and if not, the Sox can send him to the pen. Bringing him up now would have given him very little chance to ever succeed as a starter, thus limiting him to the pen and while I've been adamant that as he currently stands it'll be tough for him to make it as a starter, the Sox patience and approach good pay off in a big way. Tyler Flowers - The current ETA for Flowers is 2010 to 2011 (more conservative estimate), however, Hahn insinuated that offensively he's ready for the big leagues but that defensive issues will hold him back. The Sox have had him spend a lot of time with there roving catching instructor Brandon Allen - As it stands, Allen currently isn't on the 2009 timetable, but 2010 is more realistic, depending on what the Sox do with Dye/Thome. My Take: This might change in the next 3 weeks. Charlie Leesman - Hahn mentioned him as a sleeper and said the big thing to like is that he's a lefty with a 95MPH fastball. Hahn said he fell in the draft (10th round selection) due to some disciplinary and off the field issues, which the Sox investigated and deemed to be unimportant.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ May 20, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) Talk about Drunk With Power. . . Jim, your going to see a bit fo a member change in a week. I'm going to create a retired mod group.

All the talk out here is that Randolph emerged as one of the guys they want to build around.

I smell a CJ led comeback.

I'm sick of all the pinned threads so if anyone wonders where they went, it was me who dumped them.

Poreda with 9 k's so far. In addition, kind of cool, one of the guys on the opposition is a guy I had an econ class with at Fullerton.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 20, 2009 -> 10:08 AM) Fields' UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games) is -13.6. His UZR is at -4.1 right now. If you compare that to a good fielder like Longoria, whose UZR/150 is 18.6 and UZR is currently 5.6, that's bad. Fields is below average right now. His UZR is pretty much what it was in 2007. Perfect, so it matches exactly what my eyes are telling me.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ May 20, 2009 -> 09:48 AM) Danks now 1-2 with a double. FWIW He has struck out 11 of his first 36 at bats in AA, which is roughly 30% which means his BABIP is .440. I'm not knocking any of his potential but with that strikeout rate he really is going to need a lot more time. Its been 36 at bats. He's going to strike out. In fact, he might end up like Jimmy Edmonds with a bit less power. But he does have a good swing and his career strikeout number will fall as he continues to develop.

You know what, I'm starting to love a Hinrich for Camby swap. It gets the Bulls one more 2010 expiring contract and helps them get better at the same time. The Bulls than target a backup PG with one of there two draft picks or maybe sign one in FA. Than all they got to do is try and get Deng back and as soon as he is, package him up in a deal for salary saving space and the Bulls will be the biggest players in 2010 and would still be a playoff team next year, which means they would be able to offer all of the available FA's the most (Big city, Good team, one star (Drose), and most imporantly the Bulls could still have Tyrus/Noah/Salmons/Camby (as long as they are willing to pay luxury tax). Not too bad if you ask me.