hitlesswonder

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 8, 2007 -> 08:54 PM) Give Fields time. More than ever, I've seen prospects come up around the league and look awful for a month or so. Then, all of a sudden, it starts to click. Crede's going to be out for the year, so you might as well sit back and hope for the best with him and not criticize him on a play that wasn't terrible. I didn't criticize him for that play -- and I have nothing against Fields at all. Hope he does well. I just think the Sox farm system is abysmal.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 8, 2007 -> 08:51 PM) But surely we can trade for one. If not midseason, over the offseason. Right?!! Wow. This is becoming embarrassing again. The next nail in the coffin will be getting Jon Adkins-like players in return for Buehrle and Dye. I can't wait.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 8, 2007 -> 08:50 PM) That wasn't his fault. His fielding has been fine. Meanwhile, Danks continues to throw high pitch after high pitch. But the bigger picture is that he simply will not be an impact player at the major league level -- he K's like crazy and can't hit a decent fastball. And he's the Sox top prospect...what was it you said about someone getting fired?

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 8, 2007 -> 08:27 PM) Where's our Hunter Pence? You'll need to wait for a new GM before the Sox get a prospect like that....

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jun 8, 2007 -> 11:24 AM) Lotta stuff in Stark's column Today. Note that they said Buehrle would be a huge piece for somebody, not that Buehrle would bring a great return...that's just great.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Jun 8, 2007 -> 03:47 PM) It's Kenny Williams fault for abandoning damn near every philosophy that brought them a championship ring in 2005. This offense sucks and even when it's going good it's a station to station offense. There are very few managers in the game that can make "what they have" work. Ozzie certainly isn't one of those. If I owned the team, Kenny has a very short leash and I've already forgotten what happened 2 years ago because this year falls just short of a disaster--and it's dropping that extra inch fast. Forget about the major league level. The minor league system alone is reason enough for Williams to be fired. Although I suppose I shouldn't sell short the embarrassment of a $100M team finishing behind KC by the time the season ends.

Reasons why Poreda was a terrible choice: 1) The Sox went cheap and mediocre and let the Tigers draft the best HS pitcher in the draft. That's the strategy of a gutless, losing organization -- one that surrenders and admits that won't spend money like the big boys do. And remember, this isn't like signing a big-name free agent, it's a lot less money than that. Who here thinks the Sox will sign someone like Ichiro this offseason given that they won't pony-up for a draft pick? 2) You can bet Poreda doesn't throw 96 or even 94 regularly. Like virtually all the BA scouting reports, his regular velocity will be at least 2 MPH lower. And by the time the Sox development staff is done he'll be sitting at 91 MPH regularly. 3) The scouting reports say that he can't change his arm angle without losing his fastball. And he can't add a breaking ball with his current arm angle. 4) Look at the stats -- he can't strikeout people in college. Have fun trying to compete in the pros. He's like a lefty Gavin Floyd with great "stuff" and no results. So, another craptastic draft. Pathetic....

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 10:10 PM) I'm just happy to see Fields make contact every at-bat. If he keeps a high rate of contact, he'll be just fine. Also, anyone expecting Gio to ever be more than a #4 or 5 is going to be disappointed. Agreed. Gio is tremendously overhyped IMO. He's an injury waiting to happen and his performance craters after a game or two with high pitch counts. Plus he has a very straight fastball which will probably be taken over the fence with regularity once he gets out of Birmingham. The Sox should sell high if they have the opportunity.

QUOTE(briguy27 @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 10:00 PM) 1 bad game for fields in 2007 and the criticizing starts already Well, the GM said Fields would have an immediate impact and will be an all-star someday. Which grossly overrates a prospect who strikes out more than Brian Anderson and will be lucky to hit .200 against major league pitching. The criticism should really be directed at KW who is responsible for a junkyard minor league system devoid of a single real positional prospect.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 11:58 AM) Yeah, but how much money? Boras money? Cause that's what it's going to take. I'd put money on Williams inquiring about Rodriguez, scoffing at the asking price, crying poor, and then claiming he gave it an honest go--hence, White Sox baseball. And we have a winner! I think that's exactly what will happen -- the Sox will think the market is too ridiculous and won't sign any top-tier free agents. And unless the unload Garland, Dye, and Buehrle for something decent they won't have enough young players to promote from the junkyard minor league system. Which means that in 2008 I think you can look forward to overpriced signings of Vizquel, Eckstein, and Rowand to fill in SS, 2B, and CF.

I think Vizquel will be the starting shortstop for the Sox in 2008.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 11:49 PM) I'm sure he'll be back to full speed after returning from his second Abductor strain to go along with that whole groin issue he had last season. Can't wait to see him get down the line when he gets back. I think the umps should let Pods ride a bike on the basepaths. It would put a lot less stress on his legs (although maybe he'd still rupture a quad...who knows).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 03:11 PM) well then, to use an oft-used phrase here, I'm glad you're not GM Honestly, I'm glad I'm not, too

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 02:23 PM) Sweeney is just a more talented, better player. Has he proven anything yet? No he has not but he's a much much much much much better prospect than Jerry Owens. And the bold part is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. You're right, it was hyperbole -- would it be better if I just restricted it to positional prospects? Honestly, I'd trade Anderson, Sweeney, Fields, Cunningham, and Getz(?) for Pie. That would, I think, be the Sox top 5 position prospects. Let's hope the Sox draft well this year.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 11:42 AM) Owens isn't really in the same league as Sweeney. Not many people see Owens as much more than a 4th outfielder, it's been that way for a while. What has Sweeney done to be considered more than a 4th outfielder? The Sox will be lucky if he's even that good. Quickman is right -- if the Sox traded their top 10 prospects for Pie they would be coming out ahead. The Sox farm system is absolutely barren.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 12:05 PM) Are you telling me that you seriously believe the WORST that Josh Fields will do, is a guy who averages 40 homers a year? Wow. Adam Dunn is a very good offensive player. He has a .900 career OPS and his minor league numbers blow Josh Fields away. To say the Dunn is the worst Fields will do is just...I don't know...well, all I can say is that Dunn would be a very best case scenario for Fields performance. It's not like FIelds has insane power -- his numbers are fairly pedestrian for hitting Charlotte.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 11:05 AM) ^^^^^^^ There's just no way to make up for bad drafting. I'll put a star by that as well. Unless someone in the minors breaks out, the Sox are headed for some very lean years. It will be 4 or 5 years before anyone in this draft can make a big impact (plus the Sox lack high-level picks, so it's not the best draft to reload the system). Currently, the Sox minor leagues have 1 middle-rotation prospect (Gio), 1 middle relief prospect (Egbert), and 0 positional prospects (maybe Fields, but I'm pessimistic given his age and contact rate). That's one reason why the Sox need to sell well at the deadline. It's the only real hope for adding cheap talent to the system.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 03:09 PM) Actually if Jose Mesa gets one more out, Thome would have a ring already. If Rowand had been on that Indians team they would have gotten that out.

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 02:56 PM) As for Thome, although he is a good hitter, since he's been playing for the Sox he has been one of those players that isn't really as good as what his numbers seem to indicate. Exactly. When is the last time you saw Thome get a clutch hit? OPS is just a number, it's doesn't tell you if a guy is a winning ballplayer or not. There's a reason why Rowand has a World Series ring and Thome doesn't....\sarcasm

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 01:19 PM) None of this has addressed the anemic offense None of this has addressed anything....

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:31 PM) Considering his upside, I don't see how $5M is all that bad. Hell the Sox wasted nearly $3M this year on Podsednik alone. Considering the talent MacDougal does possess I'd have no problem with the Sox holding on to him for the remainder of the deal. Since May 6th Rowand hasn't been doing so well. G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS 25 103 93 17 23 6 0 2 11 5 0 15 2 1 2 5 1 1 .247 .294 .376 .670 Why trade a huge upside bullpen arm for a guy you can and likely will get for free (no players lost) at the end of the season? Great post. Aaron Rowand is who we thought he was...a .700 to .750 OPS CF with declining defensive skills. MacDougal's contract isn't an albatross the Sox have to move & he put up a 3.30 ERA the last 2 seasons. Trading him now would be selling low and doesn't particularly help the Sox. Keep him and try to get him straightened out.

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 11:13 AM) If they can trade Crede for a pretty good starting SS, Uribe can play just as well as Crede at 3B until Fields is ready. Who is going to trade a starting SS for Joe Crede? As this point, Crede is a throw-in -- no team will give up real value for a 3B with bad back with a sub .700 OPS.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 11:11 AM) Bad news: the Score hosts confirmed that Ozzie and Abreu are close buddies. I think there's a really good chance this deal happens. Rosenthal wrote that the Sox like the option of keeping Abreu for $16MM in '08. To me, that says they know they'll need to sign a major league OF for next season, but they don't feel they can go long-term which rules out signing a premier free agent. So instead, they like the idea of blowing $16M on Abreu because it will only be 1 year. So the deal would combine 2 great Sox features: Ozzie Guillen cronyism + half-assed solutions to avoid long-term financial commitment.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 01:47 AM) Nice to see last years #1 pick is likely never to make Chicago Great scouting as usual under KW! Make it to Chicago? At this rate he isn't going to make it out of A ball. As a college pitcher. The last 2 drafts have been just atrociously bad (didn't fathom mention a some Baseball America staffers openly laughing at the Sox picks?). The Sox scouting/development system is considered a joke by the leading national publication on minor league baseball. That's just embarrassing.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 09:53 AM) I guess you have a point if strikeouts were 100 percent of how to gauge a player. Brian Anderson also didnt have an almost 400 OBP like Fields does. But I guess you chose to ignore his actual statistics. Its not unfathomable to think that Fields could produce as well as Crede at this point. I'll agree to the extent that Crede looks like he'll end up as a sub-.200 hitter pretty soon. But Fields posting a decent OBP in Charlotte is way different than doing it against major league pitching. He's striking out at 30% rate against minor league pitchers. That rate will go up in the bigs, and he'd have to post an incredible BABIP to make up for it. If he keeps walking that will obviously help, but who knows if he can sustain that walk rate in the bigs. It's not like he has a long history as a high-OBP player.In any case, I agree the Sox should call him up and see what he can do. I'm just saying no one should expect success.