NorthSideSox72

And now, a playoff series preview for the Voyagers, also from Rob.

V-Mart for four (or more) years seems like a big mistake. I'd hate to see them go more than three.

Rob's Voyagers' Week in Review (like a daily recap, but for the last three GF games). Playoff preview coming soon.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 08:45 AM) I totally agree. look at his number this yr and compare them to last yr. a HUGE improvement esp in the strikeouts, while maintaining the same hr and better offensive numbers. but here is the key. ready, he is only 20 yrs old. he still has room to continue to grow and to get better. The point made earlier that seeing what he's doing in person is important (and not necessarily info that can be taken from stats), but I can also say with 99.9999% certainty (let's call that the wite coeficient) that a player doesn't improve as much as he has while making no changes to their approach and skill set.

QUOTE (daggins @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 06:02 PM) I like that Hawkins numbers improved, but most of the in person scouting i've read this season tells me he still can't recognize breaking pitches. I have a feeling he is going to struggle badly next season. Davidson is obviously way down, Barnum down, Trayce slightly down (only improved slightly repeating a level, still young) Beck, Ravelo, Engel pretty much neutral M. Johnson, Michalczewski, Danish up substantially thats 10, but not the top ten. I'll disagree in part on the scouting reports. There is one BP guy who hates him, almost cartoonishly, to a point where I have to ignore his analysis on the guy. Among others I've seen, I saw reports of marked improvement, and some say they saw the same guy. I've also watched video and seen him in person. 100% no doubt he's made adjustments that made him better. Hell, you don't improve the numbers like he did without improving anything. He does still need work on pitch recognition, but I've seen him (and there is video of this) adjust to a breaking pitch and hit a HR off of it.

Thanks for the nice feedback folks, I'm glad some folks are getting something out of it and enjoying them. As for the monthly stuff, we just posted the last one of 2014.

Posted here. The winners are both fringe guys, but I'd categorize both as interesting prospects. Some big names got honorable mentions.

Last regular season game tonight, 8:00pm CT Dane Stone gets the nod. Playoffs start Friday night, 8:05pm CT, with Luis Martinez getting the start in game 1. He's a guy to keep an eye on.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 04:02 PM) The biggest reason why I didn't put Hawkins in the Up category is because the home run total was disappointing to me. He did a great job improving his K rate (while walking a decent number of times), but I think he needs to be in the 30 home run range to regain his above average prospect status. He's likely never going to have a strong hit tool, so the power better carry him. To me, his stock is pretty damn up. That doesn't mean all is well - it is a relative thing, compared to say, March. His HR total was identical to last year, though in more plate appearances. He did that while dropping his K rate substantially to a reasonable level, and dramatically increasing his hitting and walk rate. That's a big turnaround, and I just can't see how his stock is anything but up. What you seem to be getting at is, is it up ENOUGH? Which is a different question. Also, you do realize that 30 HR in A+ is a huge number for any player, let alone a 20 year old at that level. You know how many players hit 30 home runs in the CAR this year? Zero. The most was Joey Gallo, who hit 21 (then hit 21 more in the Texas League because he is not human). Guess who was second in the entire league? Hawkins. By the way, one of my current fave fringe guys, Jason Coats, hit 15 - good for 4th in the CAR, and he didn't even get to finish the season there (went to AA).

I'd say Hawkins is significantly up, not neutral. Also Barnum, to me, is down somewhat. Good topic idea though. Here are a few ups and downs I'd call out (just a few of the big movers, not looking at all of them, and not getting into new draft picks/acquisitions or guys I wouldn't put in T30 before or after)... STOCK UP: Anderson Hawkins Montas Sanchez Ravelo Michalczewski Rondon Smith Wilkins Saladino Dysktra Recchia Guerrero STOCK DOWN: Davidson Beck (though he went back up a bit recently for me) May Snodgress Engel Jaye Mitchell Barnum Everyone else in what would be my T30 is somewhere near neutral.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 07:49 AM) I expect to see Mason Robbins with Kanny next season. Pretty much anyone on that GF squad over the age of 20, if they are a prospect at all, should be in Kanny next year. Younger guys who are legitimate prospects sometimes repeat GF - Luis Martinez might be an example.

Hayes is, IMO, the best among the beat writers. At writing. TV perhaps not so much.

No point in having individual game threads anymore with only the Voyagers still going. They've got one regular season game left, then the playoffs. So we'll just do one thread for their remaining action. They won last night in a rout.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) What happened to the FutureSox podcast? Well, we did a couple, had fun with it too. Then life got in the way, and that is mostly my fault. We are looking at doing one soon as a post-season thing.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:04 AM) I don't see any reason why we should expect Peavy and Danks' rehab paths to be related. Well Peavy's injury was atypical, but the general rule on pitchers who have surgery and miss a year (or most of one anyway) is that the first full year back they just aren't themselves. All they are really doing is building up strength and getting back to form. It's a common pattern. But as I also said, I was incorrect about Danks' timing, he did actually pitch most of 2013.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) This is Danks's second year back from surgery though. Peavy was absolutely fantastic his 2nd year back from surgery. At one point do we conclude that Danks's talent has changed and he's no better than a #4 starter? You know what? You're right, for some reason I was thinking it was only his first full year back. But he really did have most of 2013 (though at 130-ish IP), so this is (mostly) his second season back. He should have been better by now, injury-recovery-wise.

HahnCo isn't looking at a 3-4 year rebuilding plan. It seemed clear in 2013, and still does now, their plan was for only 2014 to be a truly lost year, with 2015 being competitive and a peak seen in 2016. That being the case, quite frankly, I don't think the difference between 2021 and 2022 for free agency is going to be significant enough to influence the decision. I think, especially if the free agent market isn't looking good, they'll add Rodon to the rotation if he's ready to open 2015. If this were a team looking to spend the next 3-4 years rebuilding, then yeah, you hold him back for that extra year.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 11:41 PM) I loved them, and read them everyday. I would say that it would be cool of you guys add video highlights of the games if there is some. Interesting idea. Sometimes those are available, we could potentially link or embed them. Not sure how hard it would be to do, but we'll definitely make note of that. Thanks.

Joshua is getting thrashed here, maybe for good reason, but I do agree with him on something. Danks is doing exactly what you'd figure, which is what Peavy did after his injury year too. The real test to see if he's back is 2015, and I'd be even money he's significantly better next year.

One more bump - have three games left, all discounted to $12 each. PM if interested.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) I honestly read the recaps no more then 3 or 4 times all season. That's not because they weren't informative, but rather because I went through every box score by myself anyway. Someone who doesn't have the time or patience to do so would get more use out of it. But what I DID check quite often was the FutureSox twitter account to see how some guys did each day. I would say damn near every day I would see a tweet, read it, and click the profile to see the other tweets. THEN I would go check the boxscores. The twitter account has been very helpful. Interesting points. Our Twitter seems to be doing very well, glad you like it. As for the recaps, if you plan to look at each box score, you can still get something out of the recaps. We have links to all the boxes from there anyway, but we also sometimes put information on the games there that isn't in the box. If there was an injury or ejection, or some interesting info about the game that the box wouldn't reflect, we try to put it in there. So the recap has the box links, and more. Just FYI.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 03:16 PM) the sox don't have depth in order to trade from. i am meaning quality depth that would make the other team mouth water. the only 1 to use is the pitching. the sox will have, hopefully a top 10 pick, who knows who they will pick. rodon adams and others who are producing. this is the only area where the depth is. re Johnson, again i hate repeating the same word is unknown. which side are the sox going to see? the side of him struggling or the side of him pitching well. 1 of the pitchers can net the sox top quality prospects in rtn. If you want a good tradeable asset, the one to look at (IMO) is Alexei. If the Sox feel that Sanchez or Semien (or both) is/are ready to be major league shortstops, Alexei will get you good value in return in a trade. There are other pieces that could be traded as well, but either for lesser returns, or at the profound detriment of the starting rotation.

I should also mention that when we interviewed Bassitt last year, he said he was more comfortable working out of the bullpen. It's not his decision of course, but it does tell you something.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 01:21 PM) Disagree about Bassitt also BTW....Didn't show it in his start Saturday but as a starter dude has been good in the minors. I didn't even get to see his MLB start. I'm going on what I know of him as a prospect, as I've been following him for years. Bassitt has a nice fastball that runs 92-96 with life. He also has a slider that is getting better, but is still major league average if that. He also gets some deception from his delivery. The rest of his pitches are WIP's, and aren't major league caliber at this point. He's also tended to do a lot better against righties than lefties, lacking that change-up or cutter to equalize against them. As a reliever, this can be covered a bit better with fewer pitches. It's possible he's a back end starter, but I think it is far more likely he's a 7th/8th inning reliever. And I do think he's got a good shot at doing well in that role.

I really don't think the White Sox have the starting pitching depth at this point to be trading Quintana, unless they are blown away with an offer. Looking at next year, you currently have Sale, Quintana and Danks... and who? Some two from this list: Hector Noesi Carlos Rodon Erik Johnson Chris Beck Scott Carroll Bassitt is, to my eyes, a reliever (and could be a good one). So I don't include him. Looking at those five, Rodon likely makes it, and Noesi can work as a #5. But that isn't exactly an ideal rotation anyway. Between Johnson and Beck, you'd think one of them may turn into something, but you don't know. If you trade Quintana, you really have a major pitching problem unless you acquire another arm.