mrkupe

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jun 6, 2006 -> 10:12 AM) Where's the best spot to follow this live? This is really the first time I've ever been home for the draft. Check out the MLB's draft site, it should be linked up from mlb.com. You can listen to the audio feed or you can watch the video show for the first round. I'll likely be sticking to the tried and true audio feed.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 6, 2006 -> 07:02 AM) He's a 6'5 RHP from Xaverian High School in Queens. Drafted in the 17th round last year. This was from Ask BA about 2 weeks ago; Looks like a possible 1st round option for us, if he does indeed fall to us. Nice find Jim. This is what Jim Callis is thinking we're gonna do anyway; Perez has a mid 90's fastball. He went #53 in the minorleagueball mock draft and Sickels thinks he'll move quickly thru the system. Tillman is 6'7 and 185 pounds. High School Pitcher who projects well. Right now it doesn't look like Tillman or Beato will fall to us. I'd imagine the Sox might snap either up if they do fall to us. Perez looks like a good pitcher, but I'm not sure that the organization really needs a college-trained pitcher who's going to move fast. We have a rotation that's almost completely locked up for the foreseeable future, a 6th starter in McCarthy who is almost certainly going to get his shot if he's not dealt, at least 3 guys at Birmingham who have a very real shot at being solid major league starters, and a scattering of other interesting arms at various levels in the organization. I'd say a college pitcher is about the last thing we need. I do think Beato would be a nice way to split the difference between college polish and prep upside, though.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jun 4, 2006 -> 06:41 PM) John Sickels' Minor League Ball blog (Link) had a mock draft today. People participated representing each team. mrkupe took the Sox and drafted the following: 29) White Sox: Adrian Cardenas, INF, Florida HS 73) White Sox: Cory Rasmus, RHP, Alabama HS 105) White Sox: William Benson, C, Illinois HS 135) White Sox: Charles Brewer, RHP, Arizona HS 165) White Sox: Ryan Jackson, SS, Florida HS I was the Pirates and made a lot of picks I'm not even sure on heh. It's tough when someone takes somebody you are going for and don't know enough of the high school guys to take one of them with good confidence. I really doubt the Sox go all HS but after the World Series win it's possible. On a sidenote, I'll have a look at the top college pitchers in the draft up on FutureSox tonight. Hopefully Monday I can do a piece on the top college hitters. I'd cover high school, but I wouldn't really don't know anything. With the way the Sox draft college players anyway, that's not the worst I guess. I am the aforementioned mrkupe. I believe you jumped into the mock draft a little late, as I'm pretty certain you didn't make that Reynolds pick. I'm curious, who would you have taken if you had been around at #4? My own inclination, trying to take it from the perspective of what would help the Pirates the most, would have been to take Drabek or maybe Linecum. I have to be honest, whether a player is out of HS or college doesn't make much of a difference to me as long as he's the guy that you feel is the best fit for the organization in terms of talent, position, and intangibles. My general intent was not necessarily to duplicate what the White Sox would do so much as it was to draft in a manner that would be beneficial to the team. The upper levels of our minor league system are pretty much stocked, IMO. The major league team is virtually totally locked up in contracts for the foreseeable future, and we have a bunch of guys in the pipeline who are going to be deserving of chances to contribute in the near future. In my eyes, that gives the White Sox the luxury of looking at players who can develop in the lower minors and strengthen the overall pipeline of talent. In the first round, I was considering 4 players: Chris Tillman, Tyler Colvin, Jordan Walden, and Adrian Cardenas (who I had been hiding my interest in). I was somewhat surprised to see neither of Tillman and Walden available at my pick, which left Colvin and Cardenas. I should note, I LOVE Colvin and would be glad to see the real Sox grab this guy. He's a great blend of tools, performance, power, speed, makeup, pretty much everything you could want in a prospect. If I had been doing this from a "total realism" perspective, I likely would've made Colvin the pick. However, I decided to gamble with Cardenas, an impressive middle infielder who has a very promising bat. He might be considered a slight reach by some, but in this draft there are very few guarantees and he provides the potential of plus offensive ability at premium positions. The addition of Cardenas along with Ryan Jackson, a guy who offers premium defense at shortstop along with underrated offensive ability, turns an organizational weakness into a strength that could produce at least one solid major league middle infielder. Benson's a raw player but has impressive tools, and as a local player I think he's somebody the White Sox might want to take a look at. He'll need some development time but that's not a problem for us. I don't see a need to add MORE college pitching to this organization at the moment, especially with the major league rotation solidified for the foreseeable future. I decided to take a look at a couple of nice arms that can spend a couple of years maturing in the lower levels of the minors. Rasmus has two plus pitches and I think he could be a major steal - I do know that there were numerous teams in the mock draft who passed on him in round 2 thinking that he could be had in round 3. I've really liked what I've read of Brewer as well, a guy who offers a nice combination of projection and polish, and he's a guy who should be signed away from college at all costs IMO. In a couple of years we could be looking at a guy who has three plus pitches to go with top-shelf velocity. I'll be keeping an eye on things to respond to inquiries if anybody is so inclined. I have at least fairly well developed thoughts on a lot of prospects, especially those projected as round 1-2 picks.

Various comments: For what it's worth, Clement has done a nice job of improving his defense this year. While it's a different story over the course of a pro season, it does give some hope for him. Thing that concerns me with him is that his value as a hitter is largely derived from his power. If he remains a catcher, I think his offensive capabilities will greatly diminish pretty rapidly, although I wouldn't mind being wrong there. Tyler Greene is a solid prospect, but the rumor has it that he's going to ask for a ton of money no matter where he's drafted, and nobody really likes him THAT much. Certainly not the White Sox for their 3rd round pick (remember, this draft is going 5 rounds, so the potential to draft Greene could very well be there). Bogie's an interesting name to bring up, given that he's still a bit raw as a pitcher due to his two-way play. Reminds me of Josh Fields last year, another guy who (despite a different situation) had the combination of college experience and significantly untapped upside.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 27, 2005 -> 11:21 PM) Other guys worth considering; Chris Volstad - RHP Mark Pawelek - LHP C.J Henry - SS John Mayberry - 1B Matt Torra - RHP Mark McCormick - RHP To me I'd prefer the Sox take a chance on a high school guy with a bigger upside than a college guy with more polish at this stage. The Sox have got enough good arms in their systems, that they can probably afford to take more of a chance, if you get what I mean. McCormick is a Boras guy I believe. Mayberry kinda scares me. I'm intrigued by the rest of the guys.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 27, 2005 -> 10:56 PM) I think Carillo has got Kris Honel written all over him, so I don't want to Sox to make that pick there. Pennington or Snyder I would be happy with at this stage. Carillo reminds you of Kris Honel? That's the first time I've heard anything like that . . .care to elaborate for me? Honel was a high school guy who had average velocity from the get-go, poor makeup and obviously more than a few control problems. Carillo is a college guy who shows solid velocity at an older age (with above-average velocity at times) and is regarded as having very impressive makeup. If there's something here though, I'd love to hear it.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ May 27, 2005 -> 10:39 PM) I'm still hoping for Brandon Snyder. He's supposedly excellent defensively at both catcher and shortstop and has nice projectablity on his bat. This is from BA. "27. Brandon Snyder, c-ss, Westfield HS, Centreville, Va. Upton and this two-way standout are centerpieces of the richest draft crop in Virginia history " It sounds to me like scouts are skeptical of Snyder's ability to play shortstop as a pro in any case, but I really can't see him not going as a catcher, especially with the aforementioned offensive potential that he boasts. Not that the White Sox couldn't use a catcher, of course.

Cesar's an interesting one, although I'm concerned that scouts' views of him have been a bit overly favorable due to his remarkable unbeaten streak. At the same time, I do like what he offers, and he fits all the criteria of the White Sox that we've seen in recent first rounders (college player, expected to be a relatively fast mover, not represented by Boras, etc.). I also agree on the pitching remark, although I could see the 'Boras factor' in the draft taking Cesar out of play pretty fast. The other guy you speak of is Troy Tulowski (sp.) of Long Beach State University. Lots of mixed opinions on this guy. He could go as high as 3rd to Seattle, although I think a drop is possible (but to 15, I'd be very skeptical). I'm not totally certain that he would even be regarded as the optimal choice at shortstop for the White Sox, as Pennington out of Texas A&M would probably come cheaper if he's available and has the sort of scrappy attitude that the Sox seem to covet these days.

John Sickels' blog on the minor leagues (www.minorleagueball.com) will be holding a community mock draft for the 2005 MLB draft. Individuals have selected a specific team to represent in the draft as their 'scouting director'. I have selected the White Sox. Here's where all of you come in . . . I want your thoughts, ideas, concepts, etc. on who YOU think would be appropriate for the White Sox to pick. The draft will run 5 rounds, and I would appreciate anything that you might have to add, but I imagine most of you are most familiar with potential top prospects and therefore the first round is what you can help with. Either add your thoughts here or proceed to minorleagueball.com, register, and search 'recent diary entries' for MOD: White Sox and put your thoughts there. Thanks, and let's make it great.