NorthSideSox72

FYI, the interview is up, link and discussion are in PHT (pinned). I did ask some of the questions that were proposed here, though may have couched them differently.

Here's my interview with Chris Beck for FutureSox. Some interesting stuff in there, responding to a few questions some people here have had. Any thoughts?

Recap posted.

I'm working on interviewing Chris Beck tomorrow (Monday), though I am still trying to work out a time. Assuming I can get it set up, what questions would you like to see asked of him? I've got some in mind, but looking for more ideas. Let's hear 'em!

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 01:45 PM) Scary to read about Micah's lack of defense as well as Anderson. Also is Hawkins good or not? On Hawkins, it's way too early to say if he's good or not. All you can really say right now is that he has some big semi-raw tools, that he's improved a lot since last year, he's young for the level he's playing at, and next year will tell us a lot. Micah's lack of defense has been known for a while, but it is still very possible he improves enough to be an average defensive 2B. Heck, even if his glove is slightly below average, if he can play his speed into his range, he'd make up for it and then some. Anderson is very, very raw, and it is too early to say how (and where) he ends up defensively.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 09:09 AM) There's been more than just a few negative reports coming on Hawkins. He's young, as you say. There's definitely hope. I have him between 5-6. I'm much more concerned about Davidson's prospects. He just looks a guy whose contact issues will overwhelm any usefulness against advanced pitching. Struggling mightily in repeat full year of AAA in apparent hitter's paradise. I have him between 11-13. And you can spare the condescending attitude about the relative meaning of MiLB numbers - been following this s*** a long time, and I think I know what I'm seeing and not seeing. One thing that is hard not to notice, is that when a player such as Davidson repeats an upper level of the minors, for a full season, and he regresses badly in it, and it's not due to injury, and the previous season was already a significant downgrade from the prior, and he doesn't have the physical gifts or the youth/inexperience (like a Hawkins) to earn the complimentary raw label - then his chances of becoming an effective big league player are miniscule. I wasn't trying to be condescending. Look around this thread - there are people in here with a wide range of knowledge on this stuff. I don't really know how much you do or don't know, so I start simple. Wasn't meant to offend.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 07:54 AM) Hawkins and Davidson especially are ridiculously too high. Apparently the "still looks awful" scouting reports about Hawkins are being largely ignored. Davidson's the only guy in Charlotte who can't hit. I have serious doubt that either contributes anything at the MLB level. Don't let anyone give you crap about Davidson, oldsox. Denial dies hard. Adams also a little crazy-high due to SSS. Evaluating talent in the minors cannot be as fully about stats as you want it to be. The question being asked is about future MLB value, not who is doing best in the minors. Those are sometimes two different things. On Hawkins, you have to keep in mind: A) He was assigned far too aggressively last year, B) He's still quite young, C) his physical tools in a number of areas dwarf that of some of the prospects you'd bump him for and D) no one is ignoring any reports. On that last point, there's one particularly loud BP kid who fancies himself as a younger Jason Parks, who has been saying his ceiling is a 4th OF. Ceiling. Someone like that should be ignored - and if you read the rest of his tweets, he's obviously immature and lacking in much idea of the gray reality of prospects. Hawkins has improved, a lot, while still quite young for his level. On both Hawkins AND Davidson, you can't fully abandon ship based on part of a, or even one entire, season. You have to look at the complete picture. It's easy to ask what someone as done for you lately, but that isn't always the right question to ask. Numbers in the minors can tell you things, especially if you look at the right ones. But they are only part of the picture, especially at the younger/lower levels.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 10:02 PM) Announcers were saying Ravelo only played 2 years of HS ball.... Family settled in late on arriving in the States. Was known to be raw at draft time as a result. Yet, he's doing what he's doing at AA at age 22, al the more impressive.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 05:43 PM) Pretty good rankings right down the line -- except for one guy. Davidson. I just don't understand why he is ranked so high after the year he had, like it doesn't count. I can see somewhere in the bottom half of the top 25, but not #7. He's a tough read right now, but just as you can't dismiss his awful season (which is why he fell back), you also can't dismiss the rest of his career. If he tanks next year, you'll see him drop a LOT further.

Also, watching Ravelo hit from that front angle, getting a better idea of his bat speed. He starts late, but he's real quick the bat and makes up for it. I like it. And still like Smith's swing, short and quick, with some power.

Anyone else watching the Barons game on TV? They're on CBS Sports Net right now. Weird 5th inning against Recchia. Flare single, triple that should have been a fly-out but Richmond broke the wrong way, another pop-up flare behind the 3B, and one well-hit slice-shot. 2 runs, and that's the difference.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 04:52 PM) Snodgress also from I think 14 to my un-ranked. Yes you're right, missed that one when I scanned the list. Seems he's a reliever now, which we kind of thought was the eventual course but it happened quicker than anticipated.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 01:22 PM) Birmingham is on CBS Sports Network tonight at 8 Set to record. I've already seen Recchia in person, and some of these BHAM hitters too, but some I haven't gotten to watch at all.

Actually now that I look at it, Carlos Sanchez also had a wide range. Anywhere from 5th to 13th.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 04:08 PM) Good job per usual, guys. Not sure how you do it, I have enough trouble putting together a top 10 with out arguing with myself. Oh, there's some arguing. Not a lot though. On most guys, all six of us were close, like within 3-4 slots or less of each other most of the time. In case people are curious, the players who had the widest differences between voters (standard regression, if you will), and might be the hardest to evaluate: Adams (4 to 11) Adolfo (11 to 18) Rondon (8 to 19) May (10 to 26) Fry (12 to 25) Thompson (13 to 24) Barnum (16 to 29) Not surpisingly, most of those guys are on the raw side. Thompson not so much, but he's just a tough guy to project right now.

Johnson has a higher ceiling than Sanchez in my view. More power potential, much more speed, and better gap power now. Keep in mind too, while Sanchez CAN play SS, he is considered average there at best and he's likely a 2B in the future. His defense is better than Micah's, so that makes him close. But you also have to take more than their current AAA lines into consideration. Sanchez does have a higher floor. They aren't dramatically different, but I'll stick with Johnson above Sanchez right now. And since Blake threw down, here is the Top 30 I voted... 1 Carlos Rodon 2 Tim Anderson 3 Courtney Hawkins 4 Micah Johnson 5 Matt Davidson 6 Spencer Adams 7 Francellis Montas 8 Carlos Sanchez 9 Trey Michalczewski 10 Tyler Danish 11 Chris Beck 12 Rangel Ravelo 13 Jacob May 14 Jace Fry 15 Trayce Thompson 16 Micker Adolfo 17 Kevan Smith 18 Cleuluis Rondon 19 Keon Barnum 20 Mike Recchia 21 Scott Snodgress 22 Chris Bassitt 23 Jefferson Olacio 24 Jason Coats 25 Tyler Saladino 26 Andy Wilkins 27 Jake Jarvis 28 Taylor Thompson 29 Adam Engel 30 James Dykstra Keep in mind too, in case it matters, these lists were made a couple weeks ago.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 09:39 AM) This is a really, really good list with really, really good write-ups. Only things I'd disagree with are: Adolfo's ranking seems very aggressive, Engel's ranking seems a bit low. I'm getting more comfortable with seeing Davidson below Montas and Adams, but I think it's spot on that he's still above Danish. Good list, guys. Thanks Thanks, we really like doing the twice-annual rankings. Lots of good discussion. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 10:11 AM) -Adams was a first round talent that fell, and we judged him as such. And, even if it's the AZL, he's putting up gaudy minor league numbers too - a K/BB of 20, K/9 of 12.6, and HR/9 of 0.9 are incredible. He's given up hits but that means very, very little to me personally in the AZL due to how inexperienced those fielders are. -Adolfo has hit for very good power as a 17 year old and at this point, that's what we wanted to see. Reports are that he has incredible measurables and you want to see that right way. As he improves and refines his swing, his consistency should improve as well. -By all accounts, Rondon's glove IS that good. He's also hit .252/.320/.360/.680 at A+ as a 20 year old, which to me is really encouraging. Rondon's a guy that's really only going to have to hit about .250 to have really positive value at the MLB level. -Regarding Trey, I'm really excited about him too, but his overall line is still just .273/.352/.439/.790 with a 3 K/BB and a 27.8% K rate. There is a lot of improvement needed there, but it has been an encouraging season thus far. I will follow up and say that I won't disagree if you feel that Danish is the #2 pitching prospect. Regarding the pitching prospects, it seems to me we have: 1. Rodon 2a. Adams 2b. Montas 2c. Danish 3. Everybody else I'll add two more responses. Smith: I personally had him slightly higher than the final list, but not a LOT higher. He's well behind the age curve, the org is keeping him behind Phegley, and we have only sporadic and incomplete reports on his defense. I like him more than many, but he needs to hit in AAA (hopefully this year) and we need some idea how he his behind the plate (beyond the few stats available and a couple scattered reports). Adams: He jumped a few slots on my list because of the scouting reports we are seeing of him in AZL. He's 18 and people are putting CURRENT 6-grade marks on two of his breaking pitches, and he has a late-tailing mid-90's fastball.

Here it is - the full Midseason Top 25 Prospects list by FutureSox. Let's hear your thoughts! And of course, feel free to spread the link around if you see fit.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 08:17 PM) Too soon to include Brett Austin or Jake Peter? Maybe. You'll see the list of just-missed very soon, but both of those guys' names came up in discussion. Austin got a few votes on people s' T30's, and I think someone had Jake Peter at the back end of theirs but then made a last minute change. Thing is, as wite said above, there is significantly more depth in that lower end than I can ever remember seeing. There are guys I'd consider interesting all the way down to about 40, maybe even slightly more that.

Full T25 goes up tomorrow morning. I'll update the thread and OP then. That will also have a list of the guys who received votes but fell short of the list (there are a lot of those this year for some reason).

Sammy Ayala was released. Good thread ideas though, I may put lists in here too.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 08:40 AM) We did about 3 miles up the Hoh River Trail one afternoon. Great trail, but never really got to the steep parts. I don't know that I'd say one park was better than they other, but Olympic was really more like three or four separate parks than one big, cohesive park. You have the coasts and tide pools, several different rain forests, and then the mountains and ridges. I'm slowly working on convincing my wife to do some backpacking. I think she's up for a short overnight or maybe two nights at this point. The Hoh trail is like a highway the first few miles, pretty level, wide and full of people. But as soon as you hit the steep climb, all the day hikers fall away and you are in an almost-wilderness at that point. By the time we got to our 2nd day-in camp, about 17 miles into the park, there were very few people. Also made for a nice day hike from the base camp up to the glaciers.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 08:23 AM) Both Olympic and Mt. Rainier were amazing. Add Washington to the list of states I'd rather live in than Illinois. Did Olympic once, 5 days up and down the Hoh River Trail, it was great. Haven't done Rainier yet. QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 12:32 PM) We stayed at Hillside Resort on Lac Vieux Desert. I havent been there in 15 years, the weather was great, the bugs werent bad, the food and fishing was great. On the way back we stopped and visited some friends staying on Little St Germain at Elberts resort, and rode the go karts at Elmers. And then did the scenic route through Minocqua. It really was a great trip. We are looking to do 2 weeks next year Its the unofficial Chicago suburban living thing, have to take summer vacations with the kids to northern Wisconsin or the UP. We did Eagle River most years, Hayward once. Went back as adults some years ago, felt odd, but looked EXACTLY the same.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 5, 2014 -> 06:07 PM) Interesting list. Wendelkin should be close to the top 25. Wendelken was one of the names that fell short but wasn't far out from the T25.

Recap posted.