NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (peppers312 @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 11:58 AM) i just saw that the Twins are going to sign Kurt Suzuki and i'm not sure if anyone else has made a topic about this kid, but what are people's thoughts on the White Sox drafting this kid next June. i've seen a few mock drafts that have the Sox picking Jackson. even though he's not a lefty, he's 6'2" and listed at 210 lbs (looks bigger to me). i think this kid has the potential to solve our problems at catcher for years to come. the ball sounds like it POPS off his bat! thoughts? If you go to the FutureSox forum part of the board, there are some good draft discussions there, and Jackson is mentioned. Thing is... you never, ever draft for positional need in the high rounds of the draft. You take the best player available. There are many reasons for this, but primarily it is just that players take years (almost always) to reach the majors and be valuable, and you have no idea what positional needs the team will have at that point. So, if you draft by positional need, you needlessly reduce your talent pool and don't get as much out of the draft. Later rounds, sure, you eventually start plugging organizational holes. But not in the top 10, or really even the top half of the draft.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 08:02 AM) Really? That'd be great to hear some positive about him, it's been excessively quiet on him since he was drafted. I haven't seen quiet. Jason Parks was raving about him not that long ago, and BA hinted he's among the Top 3 in the Sox system (which now means something a little more, since the other two are Abreu and Johnson). He's raw, but I've seen raves about his tools.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) North, considering that organizations have 100+ prospects (or at least players) in the minors, how do these organizations (like BA) or persons (Keith Law) really evaluate the strength of an organization. Do they look at the top 10, top 20 or do they purport to look at the entire system? And then I think about players like Semien, Webb and Erik Johnson...these guys are valuable to the Sox, near ML ready, yet aren't top 100 prospects by any ranking system. Do the higher ranked organizations have 5 or 10 Semiens? Jake pretty much covers it here... QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 12:09 AM) I'd say they're mostly thinking about your top 20 versus everyone else's. They'll also have an impression of each of your recent drafts, though, which will certainly overlap with some of your top 20 but they may also like guys from your recent drafts that haven't yet made a name enough to crack the top XX list. Erik Johnson is a top 100 prospect -- someone even mentioned that he probably gets too little love due to BNS (Boring Name Syndrome). Better organizations would have several guys in a given year that look just like Semien. Guys who didn't have any great tools, but really broke out and took a pretty good performance to really really good levels. Some of those guys don't pan out. For us, we need our guy like that to pan out. I will note though, I saw a BA writer hint that Semien may be in the T100 coming up. Johnson already is/was, Hawkins has been previously. Tim Anderson might show up too.

Are you in the City of Chicago? Might have missed that earlier. If you are, be very careful. There are some labrynthine and burdensome laws regarding the tenant/landlord relationship, especially about security deposits. I had to sit down with a calculator, a few pages of legaleze, and take like an hour or two just to figure out what to pay back the people who were renting my old condo from me.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 05:46 PM) Funny you mention this. My father a few years back had a massive heart attack in SW Michigan. The ambulance, hospital and helicopter crew all saved his life en route to Kalamazoo. The EMT's in particular saved his life in the first several minutes. Last year the township decided to cancel their service and use a neighboring towns private service as it was a cost savings. My father stood up in front of the entire town and told them his story. They voted overwhelmingly to cut the costs and cancel the service. QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 06:25 PM) Crazy, everyone was totally straight out of the "well, it won't happen to me so I'm not worried about it" camp. Yeah pretty much. Glad to hear your father made it through that, Rock. I get that people want to see governments cut costs, I really do. But to me, if I had to make a list of priorities as to where to NOT cut, public safety (police, fire, EMS) are probably the MOST important to make whole and invest in.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 05:39 PM) I'm excited enough about the system that I'll be trying to convince the Mrs. to take a trip to the Carolinas next year. I figure if I can work in a trip to the Biltmore, and a carriage ride in Charleston, I can likely get her to 2-3 Milb games. Like these lists a lot. I posted an early-offseason one that would obviously be much different now. The consensus seems to have Danish a bit lower than I did - I see him as a potential #1 or #2 starter and can't wait to see him in live action If you do head down there, make sure you tell us about it after!

By the way, fun fact... the private ambulance company I was analyzing is (or was) owned by a conglomerate company called Laidlaw. Yeah, the one who runs garbage truck fleets, among other things.

Private ambulance companies are to be avoided at all costs. Those medics are usually EMT-Basics, and the worst paid of those folks. The good ones get jobs with municipalities, that pay more, have better benefits, better equipment, and protect their people. Private ambulance companies are trying to keep costs as low as possible, so... you get the worst possible care. Just the way that works. If somewhere you live is every considering abandoning their own Fire/EMS ambulance department in favor of contracting a private company to save a few bucks, consider what that means. Is THAT the place you want to save 50 cents on your property taxes? The thing you almost never use, but when you do, your life depends on it? I once had to write a special report that involved this. The difference in quality and timeliness of care between the private and public services was astounding.

It isn't about can/can't. They could, it would just require a TON to go exactly right. This team will be better, probably a lot better, than last year. And more fun to watch. I don't doubt that. If they could find a way to significantly upgrade at catcher (or get upgraded performance from existing players), if all the youngsters (Davidson, Eaton, anyone who may replace Beckham) perform close to projected ceiling, defense and baserunning improve, pitching stays healthy, and the veterans play up to expectations for the most part... then sure, this could be a playoff team. They seem to have the pitching for it. But it is pretty unlikely ALL those things happen.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 03:19 PM) I thought for sure we were going to acquire a veteran MI bat. That makes no sense to me. I mean, I guess if you can get rid of two of Gillaspinger/Beckham, then you can pick up a LHH utility IF. But I would rather just use Leury Garcia (switch hitter) for that purpose, or someone cheap. I don't get the need.

Solid. I had said before, bullpen-wise, the left side was the only remaining concern. Downs+Veal is OK, though I'd bet the Sox invite a handful of scrappers to ST and have a contest with Veal and Santos Rodriguez for that 2nd lefty slot. I highly doubt they spend this kind of money on another FA. Right side looks fine, I see no reason to acquire a vet reliever on that side. Jones, Lindstrom, Webb, Bellisario, Petricka/Rienzo looks great to me. Young yes, but this whole team is geared towards going younger, and I don't mind the auditions while the likes of Taylor Thompson and Brad Goldberg (and maybe Chris Bassitt) polish their stuff. Really at this point, the team just needs to find a way to get value for one of Viciedo/De Aza (preferably De Aza), and one or two of Beckham/Gillaspie/Keppinger (won't get much, but need to cut back by one or two guys there). And improve at catcher. No other needs stand out to me, for what they are trying to do with this team.

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 01:49 PM) I still think their is still a lot of potential in Walker. Last year was a wasted year in the off-season he had major shoulder surgery and knee surgery. The problem was Walker and Sox rushed him back and was never fully healthy at the start of the season. Sox should insisted and made Walker rehab those injuries a little longer and I believe we would saw better results. I think Walker probably has the best plate discipline in our entire system, defense is solid, potential lead-off type hitter, and has above average speed on the base-paths. This is a make or break year for Walker. Hopefully it was the injuries that made for a disappointing season in 2013. Hit tool is the key question in the equation. Thanks, good synopsis. I'd feel better if he didn't strike out as much as he does, especially being a non-power hitter. But he certainly could surprise this year.

I'm surprised how many people have Tim Anderson outside their top 5. QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 08:20 PM) 1. Abreu 2. Davidson 3. E. Johnson 4. T. Anderson 5. Hawkins 6. Semien 7. Beck 8. M. Johnson 9. Thompson 10. Webb 11. C. Sanchez 12. Danish 13. Snodgress 14. May 15. Olacio 16. Engel 17. Barnum 18. Michelczewski 18. Walker 19. Montas 20. A. Mitchell Walker at 18 is interesting. I'd be curious what your thoughts are on him at this point. QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 10:31 PM) Looking at these lists...damn our system improved a lot. Definitely.

He's baaaaaack....

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 08:09 AM) That one I actually kind of get...D2 didn't have a terrible year last year. You'd really have to be paying attention to how he was used to know he was only being used sparingly. If you just were watching the stats, on September 1 he was hitting .258 with an OPS in the .720's. A guy who can't spend 100% of his time on every team could see "26 year old outfielder with decent pedigree being moderately productive in a MLB stint". I actually like JorDanks a lot as the 4th OF. I liked him for that role when the inexplicably signed DWise again too. Danks the younger is a plus OF defender that handles all three slots well, runs well enough to be useful as a PR, he's got a little pop with the bat, and he costs the league minimum. Can't write a much better 4th OF profile than that. I hope they can find a way to trade De Aza, and don't do something stupid like sign another Wise/Tekotte or the like to take that spot.

Looking at prospect sites for other teams, FutureSox stacks up pretty darn well. We do more interviews than anyone as far as I can tell, do some great analysis, do in-person views, rankings, news, and will soon have a video channel of our exclusive content. Our twitter (@FutureSox) is pretty active. We have a Facebook page. But one thing most of the other sites do, that FS doesn't, is daily recaps of the games played during the season. We do tweets with a couple bits from each game, but no article. We'd like to change this. FutureSox has 4 writers on staff right now, with only 2 doing most of the writing. All the writers have a lot on their plates, and we just don't have the time to do these every day along with everything else. So we are looking for volunteers to take on the job of writing a recap after each day's slate of games. This could be one person doing it every day, or a few people splitting days. The core writers can pitch in to help. And if you do well with the recaps, there is the opportunity to join the feature writing team in the future. The recaps would just be a blurb for each game, in a format something like this: The blurb repeats for each game, and that's basically the whole article. You can add a link to the FS article on SoxTalk in the daily games thread too. It wouldn't take long to write, just a few minutes for each blurb. You'd have access to the FS back end to do the writing at your leisure. If anyone is interested in doing this for 2014, either on some days or all, please send me a direct message on SoxTalk. Or email FutureSox ([email protected]) and identify who you are on here, if you are a registered user. Thanks!

So, there have been some trades. There are new prospects and "prospects" in the system - Abreu and Davidson are both eligible. So is Nieto. Brandon Jacobs is gone. BP and a couple others sites have released their lists. BA is coming out January 6th, FutureSox in January also. Meanwhile, just to prompt discussion... give us your current Top Prospects list. You can to Top 10, or Top 25 or more if you'd like. Just thought it would be a fun discussion. Also feel free to provide prospects you think are under/over-rated, or who may breakout or disappoint in 2014. Go...

QUOTE (Kevtrem @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 11:59 AM) I definitely agree with you in that sense, but Josh Phegley is in the line up... c'mon. If I am paying money to go to SoxFest, I think most people would rather see the Tank then Phegley Phegley will be in the Sox org somewhere in 2014, almost guaranteed. May not be in Chicago on Opening Day, but he's not got much value in trade, so he's probably in Charlotte if not Chicago. So he's a pretty safe guy to run out there, and he did seem to have some fan appeal last year. Plus, as you may note, the Sox have a number of prospects going this year, which is new: Micah Johnson and Marcus Semien are in the lineup.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 10:49 AM) Welcome to Soxtalk 2? Where is Soxtalk 1? Tragically destroyed in a fiery crash. Gaged.

QUOTE (peppers312 @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 10:43 AM) hello white sox fans! this is my first post on this forum and i just wanted to chime in on this thread. i've lurked on this board for a while now and it's great to see all these Sox fans talking about our team. there's a LOT of good information on here as well as some hilarious comments. but i want to talk about Rick Hahn and our White Sox. this is going to be TLDR, but here goes. people who think Siemien is MLB ready should pump the brakes on this kid. i think another season at the AAA level isn't going to kill him. as much as i want to see Beckham succeed, he's had 5 years to improve and all i've seen is a perennial .250 hitter with barely a .300 OBP. sure his defense is solid, but that's just not enough for someone who's already been given that amount of time at the MLB level. we did see some improvement at the beginning of last season, so i think the Sox give him one more year at 2B and see what he can do. if he turns the corner, obviously we keep him. if he struggles again, we move on with Siemien. i super pleased with what Hahn has done with this roster. he basically moved Peavy, Thornton, Santiago, and Reed for Garcia, Abreu, Eaton and Davidson. he was able to get younger players with high upside, potentially keeping us competitive this season and in the future, and he shed payroll. who knows what Danks is going to bring to the rotation this season. he'll be 2 years removed from surgery and if he can get back to his 2010 form, we'll have a VERY nice starting rotation. and Dunn coming off the books by the end of the year, if not moved in a trade before the deadline if the Sox are not contending, Hahn has positioned the Sox nicely moving forward. there's a lot to be excited about on the south side and i like what Ricky is doing. GO WHITE SOX! Welcome aboard!

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 04:55 AM) I'm going to take your word for it, because that'd be a strange thing to lie about. But none of you others start taking ownership of what Quinarvy did. I know that's going to be your gut reaction, rally around the herd, but you're going after myself the individual and you better have the balls to do it as individuals. What a depressing outlook you have. If I don't send some teddy bears, I don't care about those kids? And it must be a political thing? That is just beyond warped. Politics is the last thing on my mind when I see these school shootings. And I can care about a lot of things - most people do - without investing time in every single one of them. I've done mission work in Haiti, I've volunteered in a number of charity or related organizations, I donate significant money every year to a number of them... and more than anything, I try to be the guy who helps the old lady out of her car. Little stuff every day. All that is expression of caring about strangers. But because I don't do anything for some one specific thing, that means I don't care? Sorry but that is ridiculous.

FutureSox look at Matt Davidson On a related note, I'm seeing some pretty odd stuff said about Semien. Scrounging defensive reports, watching video and asking around, the reviews of Semien at SS I've read range from fringe-average to above average. I haven't seen anyone say he can't handle it, and in fact more people seem to think he's above average (or at least average) there than anything else. He's not likely to be Alexei Ramirez, or Leury Garcia over there. But I'm pretty confident he can handle the position. He's plus at 2B though, so that's more ideal in the long run. And 3B is a work in progress. He has solid footwork and a decent but not spectacular arm. Range is good but not great at SS, based on what little data I've seen. As for wondering if Semien is ready offensively, I think he probably is... but what someone said earlier about the only hesitation with him being age is missing a couple key things. For one, his K:BB numbers declined a lot in AAA, and a lot again in MLB. And his AFL appearance wasn't good. So there are some reasons to worry, though I think those things will work themselves out. I'm just saying, he's likely to struggle a bit at first, but probably adjust and do quite well as the year goes on.

I see no reason to get a veteran reliever, at least not a RH one, at this point. I'd rather go in with some combination of Jones (who a year-plus in now), Lindstrom (who IS a vet), Webb, Petricka, Rienzo and the low level FA pickups we already made. If some of those flop and by some miracle the team is competing mid-season, they can acquire a reliever having a good year. If not, re-evaluate next offseason. The team DOES need at least one good lefty reliever though, and that may have to be an FA.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 03:57 PM) I do know Phil Rogers has had a lot of input with BA on White Sox lists in the past. It was all part of Wilder's scheme. He would talk the frauds up with Phil to kind of hide his crime. I got the impression this was more BA guys doing the list this time. But maybe Rogers is still involved, I don't know. I hope not.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 03:52 PM) BP top 3 is Johnson, Anderson , Hawkins BP BA BA list comes out in January, as does the FutureSox list.