NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 05:44 PM) Worth stressing that a couple of those guys were considered elite defenders. And being a converted 3B, it is possible Ravelo could become that. There just isn't enough data available to really evaluate his defense at first base yet, and he's still relatively new to the position.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 04:00 PM) But we may need to work the system a bit by making the Nats think we're willing to keep him on the roster, so that they're more willing to trade for very little. A game of GM "chicken", so to speak. I really don't think the Nats would fall for that sort of game. The whole world realizes the chances of this guy, or any other A-ball catcher, of making the majors, are incredibly slim. Sox just need to decide if they see Nieto as a potential future starter, and if they do, offer a prospect of similar value (someone in like the 20-25 range in our system, give or take) at a different position, and the Nats would likely take it.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 03:51 PM) I think this is the right call. And if Nieto looks capable of handling 150 ABs and not letting too many balls to the backstop, I'd go ahead and keep him and put Phegs in AAA. If Flowers can't keep his head above .200 after a few months, Flowers gets released and Phegley gets called up, probably to become starter Making Nieto a backup doesn't make any sense. If you think he's a prospect, you want to make a trade to keep him in the minors where he can actually play and develop. If on the very, very, very slim chance you think he can start in the majors, go for it. If you don't think he's a prospect, he hasn't played above A ball and will be terrible in the majors. There is no scenario where keeping him as the backup is a good idea.

QUOTE (Señor Ding-Dong @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 02:50 PM) So Charlotte only has 57 pitchers now... New list of guys who seem like they should be pitching in AAA this year (no particular order)... Andre Rienzo Eric Surkamp (L) Charlie Leesman (L) Spencer Arroyo (L) Stephen McCray Jake Petricka Deunte Heath Brian Omogrosso David Purcey (L) Taylor Thompson Evan Crawford (L) Nestor Molina Matt Zaleski Scott Carroll Salvador Sanchez Ryan Kussmaul Dan Remenowsky Parker Frazier Tony Pena Jr Dylan Axelrod Frank De Los Santos (L) Terry Doyle Maikel Cleto*** Omar Poveda Mauricio Robles (L) That's two pitching staffs PLUS a couple more guys. I'm guessing you'll see a whole bunch of other trades, for cash or some other org need, between now and 3/31. *** = Out of Options

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 12:54 PM) Mark Grace hit a ton of doubles, not many homers. not much speed. Great career. If RR hits over .300 again this year with a bunch of two baggers, he should pass a lot of players on the White Sox prospect list. Could be. We may see a re-emergence of the Mark Grace, Wally Joyner, Don Mattingly types at 1B in the current era of baseball. Would be an interesting shift.

I really disagree with Stoltz about him maybe moving back to 3B. As he pointed out in the article, he had NO competition there. None. And he's young. The only reason he gets moved to 1B is if they are damn sure he can't handle 3B. He's not moving back, much as we'd all like it if he could handle the hot corner.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) Its too bad he could not hang at 3B, where he would be a top 10 prospect at that position, his lack of power will hold him back at 1B. He has the makings of a great hitter, but without a true defensive position he may never get a shot. That's the key factor, power. He's needs to hit a lot more long balls. The good news, in addition to the videos from that article showing just how hard he CAN hit it... is the doubles. Despite having very little speed, he hit 31 doubles in 413 PA. Or look at it from this perspective - he hit 27 doubles in 84 games with Winston-Salem. Only about 15 guys had more in the Carolina League, and they all had at least 100 games played, most more like 120-130. If he had 125 games at a similar rate, he'd have hit about 41 doubles, good for a tie for leading the entire league (and the guy he'd be tied with had 133 games). Given those doubles are likely not speed-aided (many of the guys above him have double digit SB's), he's hitting the ball hard, a lot. That's sometimes a positive future indicator of home run power.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 10:08 AM) I haven't read up a ton on this so maybe it's been answered, but don't planes have transponders that allow them to be tracked on radar? Yes, and I believe they still have a LORAN pulse too (though I haven't flown a plane or been up on that stuff in almost 20 years). But as I understand it from what I've read, those two beacon emissions don't generally survive a crash. The two black boxes can send out a signal too, and the casing is very tough, but it isn't impenetrable. With that Air France flight, they got a few weak signals but it disappeared after a while.

Nathaniel Stoltz with another very detailed piece, this one on potential sleeper prospect Rangel Ravelo. High contact rates, lots of walks, lots of doubles, hints of emerging power, playing young for level. Plays 1B though, and so far at least, few homers. Anyone else have this guy on their radar? To add a little color to the piece, he went on the Restricted List for personal/family reasons when he missed a half season. We have some information as to the cause, but aren't publishing it. Suffice to say it wasn't baseball-related, in case people were wondering.

SSS has a heavily borrowed overview that is better than whatever I could slap into a post here.

I think people are underestimating how hard it is to find aircraft debris in an immense stretch of ocean. If the plane did break up badly in middair, the pieces are so small, you need to fly pretty low to spot them. Flying low also means you have to take a LOT of time to sweep an area of thousands of square miles.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Mar 9, 2014 -> 11:27 PM) Is Micker Zapata in minor league camp? Not sure... but I can tell you that Scott Merkin told FS he's going by Micker Adolfo now. Apparently this is a paternal/maternal name thing, but many players from LatAm take on the more American paternal last name when they get here, which he apparently has. So you won't see the Sox using the Zapata part of his name.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 03:44 PM) Braun is back on the juice, so I've got him. OK, I'll bite. Do tell.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 03:00 PM) Axelrod was waived off of the 40 man roster and brought back on a minor league deal. I thought they did the same for some reason with Leesman, but i still see him listed. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/01/whit...an-axelrod.html Yeah, i forgot they outrighted Axelrod, but the other three are still on there. That (and the fact that he's the worst pitcher of the bunch) makes Axelrod least likely. Rienzo, Surkamp, Leesman, in that order above him, IMO.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 02:58 PM) Can somebody tell me Alex Liddi's story? Doesn't seem to have eye popping minors numbers (or in the majors). He's from Italy, so there's the novelty of that. Here's his BA profile. Was as high as the #5 prospect in the Seattle system in 2009. Was still ranked in 2011. Just kind of hit a wall. Had some big power numbers up through 2011, but he K's a lot, and his major league stints have been less than good. The Sox have a pretty big pile of marginal 1B/3B types ready for Charlotte (Liddi, McDade, Wilkins, Black). They won't all be there come April, some one or two of them will end up elsewhere via trade or release. Seems odd to me we have so many of them, given 3B is already a crowd issue, and so is 1B, looking at the major league club. Maybe they think Liddi can find something he had before, as he was much more highly considered as a prospect than any of those other guys have been.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 02:39 PM) It would shock me for no other reason than he is not currently on the 40 man roster. The other guys are (Rienzo, Surkamp) They're all 4 on the 40, and I believe they all have options remaining.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) When do we start worrying about Paulino? Which brings the question... who is the back-fill if needed, in the short run? Candidates seem to be Rienzo, Surkamp, Leesman and Axelrod, in more or less that order. Longer term you have guys like Beck and a host of possible others, so that is less of a concern right now. But for Opening Day, none of those guys seem great. Rienzo and Surkamp only make me somewhat nervous, the other too are panic-inducing.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 6, 2014 -> 07:41 PM) 2 reliable starters, plus Danks (we'll see) plus Paulino (who's never had an above average season in the majors) plus a high ceiling pitching prospect Johnson who I think will do well. Beyond that, we have little, except for perhaps Rienzo. The pen has Jones plus a mediocre Lindstrom and then retreads and low ceiling younger guys, with the exception of Webb. Some of those guys will be fine, but it's not top shelf by any means. Our farm has really 1 high ceiling starter anywhere near the majors, Danish. Beck looks decent but the low K ratio is concerning. A lot of work to do on the staff. Offensively, we added 3 new hitters, all 3 of whom could be above average and 2 of which could be a lot better than that. Plus Davidson. QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 12:22 PM) The point is that there is very little pitching depth. Mr Great Stuff is in his 30s and it hasn't materialized. We made much bigger strides offensively, more or our prospects are position players. Yea, I think long term, pitching is the bigger issue. On the other side, we're better at developing pitchers. I'd say Beck has a slightly higher ceiling than Danish, and of course is much closer to the majors. Your overall point (as I am reading it), that the farm lacks 1-2 slot starters, I agree with. I think Beck has a mid-rotation ceiling, but a pretty high floor too. Danish has a similar ceiling but a very low floor. I don't think either of them have a strong chance at being better than mid-rotation arms (though it isn't impossible for either). Fortunately, the 2014 draft is likely to bring the Sox a very high end pitcher at least. Also worth mentioning that there are some lottery ticket arms with big tools but high bust potential as well: Montas, Olacio and Ortiz all fit that mold in my view. But in all likelihood, only one of those (give or take one) make the majors, and the chance they put the accompanying parts with the couple big tools to be solid starters is pretty small.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 6, 2014 -> 04:36 PM) Being a liberal news commentator =/= Limbaugh or even O'Reilly-esque trolling Good thing that isn't what I said.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Mar 6, 2014 -> 01:43 PM) Where the f*** is Bellisario. This is starting to get weird. It isn't weird with him, because this exact same thing has happened to him at least two previous seasons. He's also had other off-field issues. Apparently he's yet to get his act together. The Sox were saying last week it wasn't a problem, YET. But I am thinking pretty soon he'll find himself out of a bullpen job. There is probably a clause in his contract about having to actually show up for work.

Just want to throw this out here, I will be selling unused season ticket seats again, as I have for years back here. The seat details: Section 536 (above home plate on 3B side, basically looking straight down the 1B line - great view of game) Row 1 (FRONT ROW) Seats 1-4 (on the aisle) These are season tickets, so if you get the hard tickets, you get LD and UD access. I will be selling for our (STH) face value or less for some games. Our face is typically 20% less than what you'd pay ticketmaster or the box office. And you'll be hard-pressed to find any front row seats close to home plate on Stub Hub for most games unless you want to pay a lot. I can deliver tickets downtown on weekdays or in the north suburbs at other times, or send via snail mail, or email the tickets. BUT, if you get the tickets via email, you may not get LD access - just be advised on that. For payment I can take cash, check, or PayPal. HERE IS THE LIST - THIS WILL BE KEPT UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE SEASON. Bolded games are discounted below face value (all others are at face)... Date Day Time Opp $/Ticket Notes/Promotions 8-Sep Mon 7:10 OAK $12.00 Bark at the Park (dog day?) 11-Sep Thur 1:10 OAK $12.00 Military & First Responder Appreciation Day 25-Sep Thur 7:10 KC $12.00 UPDATED

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 5, 2014 -> 12:34 PM) I watched the Rachel Maddow clip. She didn't say Bush is the reason Putin invaded Ukraine. She was talking how we treat situations like this since the Bush foreign policy. That is an incredible stretch. Even looking at BushCo's foreign policy in the worst possible light, I fail to see a connection. I'll stick with what I said, if we ignored some of these talking heads, we'd all be better off.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 5, 2014 -> 01:15 PM) Bassitt is the only name that intrigues me. He and Smith are the only ones I'd put the term "prospect" on.

Article here. Interesting in that Winston-Salem got a new stadium a couple years ago, Birmingham last year, and Charlotte's new park opens this year.