ptatc

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 07:38 PM) Griffey was a definitely #1 for me, with Manny coming in a close second. How about Tom Seaver or Griffey Sr.?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 03:05 PM) Fair enough. Maybe I'm trying too hard to be excited about SOMETHING this baseball season, as it's certainly not coming from the White Sox, other than watching Chris Sale. FWIW, I'm not even sure what we can trust in terms of numbers anymore. Someone else said if he had these results over one full season plus (Mike Trout), then we could talk. Still, there are lots of rumors and whispers about Mike Trout and PED's, but who knows? Of course, the comeback to that is that undoubtedly a good number of Latin American players (where making it in the big leagues means the difference between life and death almost) are tempted to use PED's at one point or another. Now you could also conversely say Puig is set for life and Mike Trout, and the end of this season, will have only made about $2.2 million, including his signing bonus....and that Trout would have more motivation to cheat than Puig (with his $42 million), but all we can do is let the games play out and let history decide. And, as far as the Clemente comp, you're right. I was just comparing RAW PHYSICAL tools. Clemente was much smaller (wiry), and more of an XB hitter (especially triples in Forbes Field) than a pure 30-45 HR power guy. 5'11", 175-185, vs. 6'3", 245. Maybe it's just the sheer electricity and dynamic nature of their games....where you can't take your eyes off them because you're waiting to see what happens next. Nothing to do with all of his off-the-field humanitarian work, the Roberto Clemente Sports City in San Juan, etc. And yes, there's always the chance he goes all Joe Charboneau/Kevin Maas/Mark Fidrych, etc. How about fred lynn as a comp? ROY and MVP in his first full year.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 12:14 PM) from MLB.com This is what I love about scouting reports. How can player A be less athletic than player B yet player B cannot play center field while player A can play all three OF positions?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 02:26 PM) Eminor, a couple of people have alluded to it, not just me. I happen to think he's a 'loser' like the one poster's comments on Dunn. I personally think he dogs it. He was our best player last year. This year he's got decent numbers that are dropping. He had that one abysmal year after immediately sucking after the Sox acquired him. I don't know if I'm allowed to bash players, so let's just say I don't like his style. If Rios is a great player and I'm being unfair, then I guess I am a bad fan. Not a bad fan just bad at talent evaluation. Style more than substance usually isn't effect in judging a players worth, IMHO.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 10:54 PM) Never really liked him. He's a slightly above average ballplayer I believe. Definitely been the team's best hitter for a while. .272 11 36 isn't bad. I really disliked him in 2011 when he reeked. I agree his 2011 was awful but many plyers have bad years. He is definitely inconsistent. But he is a good player just drastically overpaid.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 10:53 PM) There is a reason why he, along with Dunn, are the top two players when it comes to games played without a playoff appearance. I and others might over blow this idea, but I firmly believe that no matter what the stats tell you, some players are either winners or losers. Granted a lot also depends on the rest of the roster, but I don't think Rios is someone you would want around during a rebuilding and being one of the vets on a young ballclub. WHile i do agree with some of what you said, it has nothing to do with not liking his game. I wouldn't want him as a verteran leader on a young club either

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 09:41 PM) I can't believe so many teams want Rios. I hope he's the first dealt. Never been a Rios fan. Don't like his game. Don't like his style. Just get a fair offer and deal him, Hahn. Why wait any longer?? How could you not like "his game" when it includes good average, good power, good speed, average defense in center, above average defense in right and a good person in the clubhouse.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 09:41 PM) I can't believe so many teams want Rios. I hope he's the first dealt. Never been a Rios fan. Don't like his game. Don't like his style. Just get a fair offer and deal him, Hahn. Why wait any longer?? How could you not like "his game" when it includes good average, good power, good speed, average defense in center, above average defense in right and a good person in the clubhouse.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:08 PM) This whole paragraph is just so wrong. Mitchell was a guy with incredible physical tools who had been unable to commit himself to baseball full-time because he also played football. The hope was that by focusing on baseball he'd be able to develop the skills necessary to become a legitimate superstar a la Carl Crawford. At no point did anyone think he was anything close to a finished product when he was drafted. I believe that's what I said. 1. He was considered a raw athlete. 2. He was not a finished product. 3. Did not focus on baseball. Thus considered a high ceiling low floor daft prospect. No one what they were getting so he had a big potential to bust but could also be a great player.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 01:40 PM) Mitchell wasn't a high ceiling prospect. He was a guy that struggled with contact in college that KW thought would all of the sudden learn how to hit when he got to the pros. He was a high floor prospect because he was close to being finished when he came out of college and you knew what you were getting, good speed, solid defense and power to the gaps, and he struggled to recognize breaking balls. KW was infatuated with athletes when drafting hitters over baseball players. MItchell was not close to being a finished product. He was considered a raw athlete with potential mostly due to missing so mch time with football. The theory was a low floor/high ceiling because he ahd athletic gifts but not much time in the game.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 12:59 PM) Hard to measure lost confidence, aggressiveness and a lingering sense of hesitation or uncertainty. It's like the will to win, whatever that even means. TRue but usually those things diminish after a season or two.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 01:00 PM) The issue with the draft wasn't that the Sox had no money because they used it all on the MLB team, the problem was that Reinsdorf was best friends with Bud Selig and refused to go over slot (with few exceptions). That's what has been killing our minor league system for years. You're right about the first part. People see tons of prospects busting and demand a new draft philosophy, but fail to realize prospects are naturally expected to bust, even if you take a bunch of "safe" guys with your top picks. I actually love their new philosophy of going after toolsy/high-upside prospects because you increase your chance of drafting a superstar significantly and maximizing your potential surplus value. JR didn't go over slot because of the "cartel" of owners trying to keep the bonuses down (they finally got their way with the new CBA). I think there was the resource factor as well. The Sox drafted guys like Broadway and didn't even come close to paying slot money. I think they were drafting to their budget as well as staying underslot.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 12:05 PM) If Jared Mitchell doesn't get hurt making that catch who knows what that pick looks like now. I don't think there should be any true physical reprecussions. The re-attachment of the tendon should be fine. However, it is tricky and you never know. The biggest detriment is the lost time for learning.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 10:58 AM) Disagree with KW being hand tied in the draft, he tried to get fancy and go after toolsy guys like Jared Mitchell who struggled to make contact in college instead of baseball players. Agree that the CBA is the best thing that ever happened to the Sox. This will put an end to guys like Porcello who was thought of as a top 10 guy slipping to the Tigers at the end of the first round. This is really funny. For years KW was blasted for drafting safe guys from college like McCullough and Broadway. Now he is getting blasted for high ceiling projects. FAce it for years the Sox spent all of their resources on the MLB team which left no bonus money for the draft. Now with the new rules for the draft the Sox can still allocate most of the resources to the MLB team and be competitive in the draft.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 07:05 AM) Ijust tried to buy a $26.99 replica jersey and all the extra-larges are sold out at MLB.com and Majestic and the Dodgers' home page. Crazy. As far as Bonds goes, he was a great basestealer when he came up but reed thin...the power came later (both naturally and then the steroids to sustain in his 30's). Griffey...I still like the combo of Sosa (Rangers, White Sox version) and Vladdy, lol. He definitely has the plate discipline and coverage of Guerrero. I disagree with Sosa. He wasn't near Griffey. However, you're right with the Guerrero (both Vlad and Pedro for a Dodger comparison) when you talk about approach. Bonds had the entire package even when he was young. He would hit 20 HR and 30 SB yearly. Before the steroid era that was an accomplishment.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 27, 2013 -> 03:10 PM) I'll say it again. My favorite all-time player is Roberto Clemente...and Puig's the closest I've seen in my lifetime, although he's quite a bit bigger and will hit more homers than triples. Same position. Nobody has Clemente's arm, but he's got a gun. In my lifetime, Sammy Sosa, in his first 2-3 years in the big leagues, before the steroids when he was THE PANTHER, and Vladimir Guerrero (never had the Clemente speed/dynamic athleticism) are the two most reminiscent. Eric Davis, a little bit, when he first came up with Reds in 1984-85. Puig is the one that comes closest. I think Griffey Jr. Or bonds are better comparisons. Although Bonds didn't have the arm.

QUOTE (MEANS @ Jun 27, 2013 -> 07:22 AM) big deal, they haven't hit this year so what's the difference if they are gone. So what you're saying is that because they haven't hit THIS year they will never hit again. There is no use keeping a player who is having a bad year?

QUOTE (Dizzy Sox @ Jun 27, 2013 -> 12:51 AM) I noticed the same thing. He should get day games after nights off behind the plate, but why don't they DH him periodically? You'd think that would help him stay in a groove with his batting, and it certainly isn't doing the big league club any favors to have the collection of retreads they trot out as DH getting those AB's instead. This club mystifies me sometimes... Maybe they are being cautious with him due to his injury and illness history.

I'm going with the mystery of the defense. Something that was so good last year, fell apart this year with basically the same group. It's mystifyzing. (just like that word)

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jun 14, 2013 -> 08:52 AM) Brandon McCarthy is fast becoming one of my favorite people. Not just on Twitter- in general. He is hysterical. However, I think that was part of the reason the Sox traded him. They didn't feel he and Anderson took the job and improving seriously enough.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 03:03 AM) It's a bit ironic the last couple of seasons that Herm Schneider has become renowned for keeping players healthy. If you look at that 1998-2002 group, almost all of them were wiped out. Jason Stumm, Lorenzo Barcelo, Jon Rauch (was never the same after the labrum injury), Jim Parque, Mike Sirotka, Rob Purvis, Corwin Malone, Rocky Biddle (he went on to become a decent reliever with the Expos), Kris Honel, Danny Wright, James Baldwin and Matt Ginter. The only ones who became "successful" were the least highly touted of the group....Buehrle, Josh Fogg and Chad Bradford. Then there was Kip Wells, Garland and Matt Guerrier. (Of course, Garland wasn't our draft pick, he was the Cubs'). Then, of some of our recent pitchers, Hudson and Brandon McCarthy have had horrible luck with injuries, Clayton Richard some problems as well...Sergio Santos, it has almost been like a curse when we try to draft and develop our own pitchers. Of the pitchers you picked, we did not draft Barcelo or Santos either.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 14, 2013 -> 08:59 AM) People typically put far more of the onus on Nardi Contreras. I really don't think it has anything to do with Schneider. Stumm and Honel never made it to the Sox. Schneider would not have much to do with them.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 12:55 PM) Hopefully, in Winston-Salem, in the form of Tim Anderson or yet undiscovered. It is a shame when you think of all the money we invested into Adam Dunn, if we would have been able to get either Puig or Cespedes. And it's not like Jaime Torres didn't try to market his services to us, because of the long-standing relationships with Contreras, El Duque, Alexei and Dayan. Puig might be the closest thing to a young Roberto Clemente in the last 20-25 years. The two players that were closest were a young Sammy Sosa (before the steroids, when he was known as The Panther) and Vladimir Guerrero, but Vladdy never had the speed and sheer sense of abandon in the outfield and on the basepaths. Definitely not a triples hitter. Similar arm strength, though. We've already seen Puig throw a runner out at 1B from the warning track... Cespedes has more pure power than almost anyone in the game, but he's just an adequate CFer (he's more of a corner guy, long-term) and he's not nearly as exciting as Yasiel. We all miss Cubano for his comments on all the players from that country, btw. No idea what happened to him or where he went. It's amazing how at the time everyone loved the signing saying that a strong consistent LH power hitter is exactly what the Sox needed. He was perfect because of his consistent power hitting over his entire career was what everyone was saying. Now everyone can't wait to jump all over him as the reason the Sox arer a bad team.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 07:39 AM) He's in a big time slump with the bat right now, seemingly popping everything up even when he gets a good swing on a good pitch. That's probably some combination of timing and mechanics, but that happens to players all the time. The only thing you can really do is play the guy and see how long it takes him to work through it. He had an absolutely stellar game with the glove yesterday to make up for it. Especially rookies and young players. Who knows maybe he will improve with more MLB experience. It has happened once or twice.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 02:19 PM) To ensure that he can't work on offspeed pitches? Because they don't believe they will improve?