Balta1701

Royals' can't-miss prospects have missed

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 12:29 PM) Jesus, that didn't take long. He's hitting .253 with a .687 OPS and falling. Congratulations, Soxtalkdom, you fell in love with 2013 Danny Richar. This post would not exist if a ball was hit 2 inches farther.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) Unless you think Blake Tekotte is a guy worth keeping, there really isn't many other guys to talk about. If the Sox dealt off 2 OF's this year, I'd rather play Wise, Wells, Danks2, and Tekotte than call up either of those guys. I don't care about screwing those guys up.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 12:16 PM) According to the rebuilding formula, De Aza doesn't matter. What matters is guys who could be here when the team is competitive again. Thompson and Mitchell are the exact players that would get jobs in a selloff. I'll say again...I'd hate to move Thompson up this year. We need to be patient with this kid, he's developing exactly as he should be, took a month to get the hang of AA and started putting up good numbers, gradually cutting down on the strikeouts, becoming more consistent, but he's young and belongs in AA this year and AAA next year. Calling him up this year is just asking for him to bust. He might figure it out, but you're asking for him to strike out 40 times in a month and wind up changing his approach if you call him up now.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 11:53 AM) Well, playing Mitchell and Walker over DeAza makes no sense, either, because both of those guys don't even belong as 5th outfielders at this point. That said...I wouldn't be opposed to trying Mitchell just to see if it lights a spark. It can't get any worse than hitting .143 combined between Charlotte and BIRM. With Walker, they should wait at least until September and see where he is. Playing Thompson this season at the big league level, unless he goes on a huge tear for 2-3 months, would be lunacy. We're already writing off Mitchell/Walker, that's fine, but Thompson/Hawkins/Viciedo, at least 2 of those guys have to become regulars on the 2015-16 teams for all that outfield attention to be considered a success. Why on Earth is Walker being written off? He's a raw player who, at best, ought to be coming close by 2015. He's a 22 year old making the jump to AA which is the biggest jump made in the minors...and OMG he's not destroying the world immediately!

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 04:41 AM) They need OL help. ? Hopefully not, theyve brought in like 6 new ones this offseason.

This guy was apparently the uncle of a couple of my friends in NW Indiana.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 10:35 PM) Has Alexei ever in his life successfully laid down a bunt? He's solid when bunting for a hit. I'm sure he's successfully sacrificed at so e point, but when you add in the triple play he bunted into, outs are pretty close to sacrifice attempts.

Gosh who would have predicted Alexei would fail at bunting

You've gotta be kidding

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 09:24 PM) Beck really looking good at the plate. I think the time off for him was a good thing. He was looking good before he left.

Man did that look awful

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 08:48 PM) Is this actually a proven (or at least leaked) thing, or just an assumption? Granted, it's the same assumption I would make. Someone add the link to today's Washington post article.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 08:06 PM) Do you think the A's would trade Cespedes, or the Dodgers Puig (for Sale)? For the A's, having some semblance of an offense has to be more important than MORE pitching. I would not move Sale for either of them. Puig could convince me by the end of the year, but I also don't know his contract status.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 07:48 PM) Possibly a Profar/Olt combo. But I honestly want Sale here for a long long long long time. No. I would move Sale for an MVP caliber guy in his early to mid 20s under team control for 5+ years who is healthy and already MLB proven and established. With Harpers knee problem, that means Trout or maybe Machado. That's it.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 07:41 PM) If u got an insane deal would they consider trading Sale?? Not saying I want to but if the right deal comes along anyone could be had. Trout or Machado available? Otherwise, no.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 06:06 PM) Very little chance Smoak gets non-tendered. If they'd take Jones for him the Soox should do it. You'd pay him $3 million + next year?

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 05:01 PM) I don't think stopping Shaq would have been the key to beating those Laker teams, anymore than it was in beating his Orlando teams (excluding the series when Jordan had just come back from baseball). They'd play hack-a-Shaq, and he'd get his points, but it would come down to other match-ups. I do agree that the Bulls still win. Which team gets Phil?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 04:41 PM) Remember the recent talk about the 1B crowd at CHA and BHAM? Sox just traded Seth Loman to the BAL org, no word on return (could just be cash). I'd guess here that Black or Wilkins will go to Charlotte shortly. Have either of them seen AAA before? If not, I'll be interested to see what they do.

I love me!

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 04:40 PM) The key to those moves are to get these guys. Sox should have some savings from the 1st 3 rounds (all of our picks should sign for under slot). I fully expect them to be able to sign the other guys that they will have to go above slot on. If they can't, it will make those bad picks as you can't be in the business of wasting picks this early in the draft. Of course, if this guy isn't signable (and they might have some reason to think he would be for all I know), they could also gamble on a really tough sign or two later in the draft...if they can't sign this guy, then that could free up 3rd round money to throw at a guy in the 10th who they pick on a whim.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 04:29 PM) Michalczewski, Trey Love this pick! Switch hitting 3B, signability definitely will come into play here. This seems like an interesting strategy. Go for value in rounds 2-3, see who drops that you think you can sign, and then you have your pick of the "Best out of the difficult signs" in rounds 4-5.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 04:27 PM) Wait, Trout was available when the Sox picked? Mitchell went 23rd, Trout went 25th.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 04:19 PM) I think it's a great draft strategy. You just have to develop them and pick the right ones. They've done a very good job with the pitchers. Their hitting coaching may not be getting the job done or they are simply drafting the wrong athletes. That doesn't mean the strategy isn't sound. You can't teach speed. You can't teach size and fastball velocity (other than delivery refinement, which the Sox are good at). Give your development staff the most to work with and hope they can teach it and the players can apply it. I was thinking when I wrote that that "mike Trout would certainly have fit into that description" but the Sox passed on him in favor of mitchell. The Angels got lucky and we got a guy who destroyed a leg.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 04:10 PM) I've seen a few people note this, but other than Danish, the five other picks follow the same type of picks the Sox have made for a few years now: athletic hitters and big, hard-throwing pitchers. I didn't expect the title changes of Hahn and KW to change that because it's the same people in every other major spot in the org. The question is, is this obviously the wrong strategy? The only guy who would have been a position player ready to make the bigs out of that draft strategy would have been Mitchell and he might well have had a shot had he not destroyed a leg.