NorthSideSox72

Released, closing, sending to archives.

Released. Closing, sending to archive.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 11:33 AM) Do MLB teams get to do any sort of physical work with draft picks (i.e. checking out Hoffman's arm) prior to the draft? I believe the answer is, technically no. The players can certainly go get one and make it public if they choose. But either way, I think (could be wrong) you draft a guy then do a physical. Contract offer may then be effected by the physical. Again, could be wrong, someone can correct me.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 10:49 AM) Why was he switched from 3B 2-3 yrs ago? I remember when it happened, but not why it happened. There was never any official word "why", but there rarely is. It happened when he showed up in ST 2013 and was playing 1B on the back fields. Hasn't been back to 3B since, as far as I know.

Saw the Captain America movie this past weekend. It was fun, snappy, had some good moments. But overall it was pretty empty - just popcorn fun and little else. Which is fine, but nothing specatcular.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) Please don't patronize me. You were happy the Sox bought corn in somebody's stool when they signed Paulino. It isn't pointless. I just want to know why the 2nd round pick was considered so valuable before, but now it's "the Sox will be lucky if higher picks work out, but it's not just them it is everyone". I'm not trolling, just wanting to know why people changed their minds. No one changed their minds. This is a straw man argument - no one is saying the things you are claiming they said.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) So we should expect supplemental draft picks to fail. We should expect #3 draft picks to fail since less than half of the #2 picks had solid careers, but in no circumstance should the White Sox have signed a player this offseason which would have caused them to surrender their second round pick. That pick is way too valuable. It doesn't add up. You have derailed here. No one expects them all to fail, and no one was making the argument you are accusing of. The point is, all draft picks are lottery tickets, and there is no such thing as a can't-miss prospect. Also, the point I was making was, the value of a draft pick (for the purpose of evaluating scouting/drafting or doing the math on what those picks are worth) is not about one player. It is about odds, when looking at the broader picture. If 25% of Supp picks make the majors, and 10% are impact players, and the average impact player in that group is worth (said for argument here) $20M during their 6-year protection career... and you have to pay them, say, $5M during that time in pre-arb and arb... then the SUCCESSFUL pick is worth approximately $15M. 10% of that is $1.5M. And guess what? That's not far off from what those picks are paid on average.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 09:20 AM) He has more value to us than he would in a trade. Not sure if you're just overreacting to the pitching problems in the big leagues or what, but this is a very unlikely scenario. I sure hope you wouldn't want to dump one of our only prospects with a great approach. Eh, I don't think it is far-fetched at all. He's becoming a significant prospect, but the realities of the team above him and his handed-ness, combined with him being far enough along for numbers to mean something but not quite major-league ready, make him a possible trade chip. Not saying I WANT to lose the guy, just that the system needs pitching more than 1B's, and if sending a guy like him to cap off a deal for the right pitcher is there, the team shouldn't hesitate.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Apr 26, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) Too bad about Cose. The system should still get a shot in the arm when Bassitt, Montas, Lopez, Brennan and others return. Anything anyone hears on their recovery is much appreciated. Mentioned Bassitt earlier, he should be back any day. Montas is looking like May last I heard, Lopez June-ish. Brennan is reaching the 1-year mark after his TJ, so he should be back shortly, assuming he's doing OK in Extended ST. IN other words, probably all four will be around by June.

Saw a post about Ravelo's health... he's had a couple very small injuries that resulted in him missing just a few games, I really don't see an issue there. For the record, his missed time from July on in his A ball season was not an injury. QUOTE (GreenSox @ Apr 27, 2014 -> 06:17 PM) His problem, like they said about Abreu, is his bat's too slow. Sarcasm I assume, in terms of Hawkins, right?

QUOTE (LDF @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 06:46 AM) with all due respect, I don't buy it. let's called it what it is without soft-soaping with excuses.... it was horrible drafting and scouting if that is where the blame goes. when was the last first rounder amounted to anything between the late 90's - 2009? and where should the blame falls on? We are talking about Walker, and you should listen to what people are telling you here. Supp picks rarely make the majors, and are even more rarely impact guys. The pick wasn't insane at the time. I will say, I thought Walker would have a good rebound here. He got to repeat a level where he was aggressively assigned, and coming off a year where he just wasn't healthy. Obviously I was wrong. But any indictment of drafting/scouting cannot start and end with any one player, unless you want to say the Sox have the best scouting in baseball because of Chris Sale.

An org guy is playing 3B in Birmingham. Between Davidson (AAA) and Michelczewski (A), there are no actual 3B prospects in the system. Not to mention that his bat would be huge at 3B. If he was even semi-competent out there playing third, that is where he'd be. Clearly he's not.

Thanks everyone. It's good to see Courtney making some changes. The jury is still out on how he winds up, but there's definitely progress.

Some of you may recall, I did a detailed deconstruction and analysis of Courtney Hawkins' plate approach and swing in April of last year, when he was striking out at an absurd pace. Well, using that article, the videos of him I took in August, some new videos from this April and some stats... I've written this one-year-on piece. Take a look and tell me what you think.

I'm not opposed to the idea of a late bloomer, so 26 at AA isn't an automatic dismissal in my eyes. However, look at the rest of the picture here. Curley has some flexibility defensively, but he's not particularly good at any of the positions individually. He's also got a longish swing. He's got a 3% walk rate, which combined with a .434 BABIP suggest that pitchers will adjust soon and his luck will run out. I think Chris is a nice org player. I met him in August and he seems like a good guy, he certainly understands the game well. And yeah, a role as a MLB utility infielder is not out of the question... but the chances are very slim. Let's see how the lague adjusts to him as time goes on. Remember too, he's got Leury Garcia (likely UTIL), Carlos Sanchez (may also only be a UTIL) both playing ahead of him in Charlotte/Chicago, and they are both better defensively, which tends to be valued highly in your bench INF.

Interesting. It seems the numbers rougly parallel walk rates inverse, though not quite exactly.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) 4/23/14 Recap: Barnum breaks out Didn't see this posted here. Thanks for putting these recaps together, FutureSox. Very useful resource. Glad you like them. Brian (raBBit) and Rob (southside hitman) have been doing good work and getting better as they go along, and we have been talking about having daily content for a while. QUOTE (oldsox @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:55 AM) You broke my bubble, Northsider; I thought you knew everything about the farm system.... LOL

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) Let's face it, the experts probably were right. His motion meant an injury waiting to happen. Good luck to Hoffman. He could really deal a fastball when healthy. Well played, sir.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 08:42 AM) Kid is no doubt very raw (and skinny as hell), but his upside is noticeable. I know Jon and myself like him alot. (although me personally I think he'll be on our top prospects list by next year) He'll have his down games, but I think he will get more noticed later down the line. What are you keying on with him? What do you know about him? I know basically nothing so I'd love to hear more.

Fun with odd pitching lines... the three starting pitchers who won games for affiliates yesterday - Heath, Bucciferro, Danish, when combined had only 5 K's in 19 IP... but also allowed just 3 ER (equivalent to a 1.42 ERA). Also walked just 2. 26:8 GB:FB Ratio.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 03:17 PM) A Discectomy can be a tough to recover from for a pitcher. The surgery is done for a disc protrusion in the spine. The disc pushes out of the posterior lateral corner and compresses the nerve. This shoots pain down into the buttock or leg. The difficulty is that the disc pressure increases with spinal flexion. This is what the pitcher must do during his follow through. I'm not surprised that he couldn't relieve the problem conservatively. The problem now becomes strengthening the core muscles. The distance between the vertebrae in decreased (due to the resection of the bulge) thus the spine becomes inherently unstable. Plus they had to cut the muscles to get to the area. This makes it more unstable. Depending on the size of the bulge, he could be in for a long rehab. With a pitcher I would guess more along the 6-8 month range for the completion of the rehab but some of it depends on his strength and stabilty prior to surgery. As usual, you rock. Thanks. Too bad for Jake, seems like he'll miss the season, and is in for a long recovery. Tough road for a guy that was already a marginal prospect.

RHP Jake Cose is undergoing a discectomy (back surgery to alleviate issues with a herniated disc). From limited Googling, looks like a 3-6 month recovery, typically, for pitchers, in terms of being back to baseball activity. So he's likely not pitching anywhere in the org this year. Maybe winter ball. Maybe ptatc can add more color if he notices this post.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Apr 22, 2014 -> 08:02 PM) slightly off topic, but just wondering what Bassitt's injury is? Is he out for the season or will he pitch this season? As mentioned in the transactions thread yesterday, he's told us it is a minor, non-baseball injury, and that he expects to be back very soon. That was, however, a couple weeks ago.

There are a couple guys who could be mid-rotation (Beck, Danish), a handful of guys who have a good shot at back end starters, and a number of "intriguing arm" types. But the system completely lacks depth in terms of #1 or #2 guys (not uncommon, but to have none is not great). Beck is a #3 IF it comes together, in my view. Danish is hard to predict, but I see him as a #4 most likely, assuming his delivery can handle starting. And those are the two guys with a likely major league floor (if healthy) that have the highest ceilings, IMO. There are guys like Ortiz or Montas that have some intrigue, but also high bust likelihood. This is the right draft at the right time for the Sox. There is some pitching depth there, but most of it is back-end starters and relievers.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 22, 2014 -> 04:01 PM) This would continue to be very much a rush with Trayce. He's actually still young and he seems to be showing benefits from the team stopping at AA and taking their time with him. I tend to agree, if he keeps doing this well, he can be in AAA later in the season. But I love that he's putting up big numbers (which he's done a few times before for stretches) AND keeping the K rate down (more rare for him), in fact he has almost as many walks as K's.