NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 10:11 PM) Braulio Ortiz is starting to become an interesting name. Can touch 95-96 with the FB. Has only one breaking pitch right now though, at least that he can control. But some good raw tools there. QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 06:13 AM) Kanny waking up after slow start. A couple of new faces who joined them a week or 2 ago are hitting well. Josh Richmond and Jake Brown. Brown is a 30th round pick who put up a .652 OPS in Bristol last year as a 22 year old. Richmond is in his 4th year in A ball. Neither are anything to get excited about, but, they are definitely helping out their team and that's worth something. W-S has been winning lately too. B-Ham is rockin'.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 11:23 PM) Ok, but the REST of his game wasn't the point. The conversation was about Micah's apparently bad defense in the IF. You told the story of Derek Jeter being a terrible defender in the minors, and in your opinion, he turned his defense around to be one of the best defensive SS ever (according to the media/uninformed). My point was that using Jeter as an example of a best-case-scenario for Micah isn't a comforting one, because in reality Jeter was a s***-defensive SS his whole career. Yes, yes, one of the best OFFENSIVE SS to ever play, I'll agree w/ that, but the defense was the topic of discussion here. The topic of Jeter's defense really does bring out the hyperbole. He wasn't a terrible defensive SS his whole career. He was a decent defensive SS for a lot of years, but has slowly descended into sub-par later in his career. He was no gold glover, ever, but he wasn't bad until very recently.

Intimidators threw a no-hitter in their Game 2.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 01:27 PM) If I remember correctly, Black finished really strong last year. If he does it again this year, why not consider him? He is hitting around .300 with power and a bunch of walks. Big, strong kid, improving each year. What else do you want? Would love to see him promoted to Charlotte by end of June. So, there are 4 1B's between Charlotte and B-Ham: Loman, McDade, Black and Wilkins. None of them are more than marginal prospects, so let's not get too excited. That said... Loman is in Charlotte as insurance on PK and Dunn, in case they get hurt or traded or whatever. McDade was, IMO, a strange pickup. I'm actually a little more intrigued by Wilkins and Black than either Loman or McDade. I would love to see both Wilkins and Black in AAA this year, and if the Sox sell off big, I would not be opposed to seeing them as September call-ups. I think the chances of Black or Wilkins being a starting MLB 1B are probably slim, but if the team is going to sell off anyway, why not get a look at them and see?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 12:33 PM) The kid is in his first season of pro ball out of high school. Even a month is too early. Give him a season at least. Even in a best case scenario, the kid is years away from Chicago. Right now his approach is more important than any statistic. I think I wasn't clear. I am not saying you make some overall evaluation in a month. I mean you need a month of plate appearances before you look at any substantial change in K rate and have it be meaningful.

For whatever the micro-sample size means, he's had 2 K's in the last 3 games (11 AB). In reality, we need to look at this in a month or so before it means much though.

Way too early to change Micah's position on the field. Reports from games indicate that some of his errors are due to attempting to do too much - trying to make flashy or impossible plays, playing them into errors. That is very fixable. He has the speed to have good range. The hands, could improve, just too early to say. He may go to the OF, but the guy has played 2 months of A-ball. A little early to go moving him around.

We put a draft preview up on FutureSox, leveraging material that our own bbilek1 posted in the pre-draft thread (and added a few things). Check it out here. We will of course be following the draft on the blog and the twitter when it starts, and we will have a draft-day thread on here for discussion.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 12:25 PM) Given that he hit .187 in April in his first month in AA, if he hits .270+ on the seaosn that means he hit ~.290+ from May 1 on. He hit .292 in May. If he can be .270+ for another month or two, and keep the K rates down where he's been lately, I think he's ready for AAA. I don't think he's out of the question for 2014 if he does that, though 2015 may be more realistic.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 09:59 AM) Lot more. Except Santos was locked up cheap and long term, and Reed isn't. So maybe only a little more.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 08:02 PM) Among our catching prospects in low minors (Ayala, Mosier, Marjama) who are we most high on? Ayala and Mosier are not playing and obviously ticketed for another year with one of the Rookie Leagues. Marjama is with Kanny. Barraza, the other HS catcher from last year's draft (with Ayala), had TJ surgery and misses this season. Ayala is in extended ST, probably ticketed for rookie. Not sure on Mosier. Marjama is a step ahead of those guys, either he succeeds and goes to W-S at some point this year, or he doesn't and someone else takes the Kanny slot late this year or next.

Jonathan Gray has tested positive for stimulant Adderall in pre-draft screenings by MLB, per Keith Law on ESPN.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 04:01 PM) Santos Rodriguez has been very good I thought? Reasons for his inclusion on the bad list? 13 BB in 15 IP, and a reduced K rate, in AA, after pitching in AAA late last year. Major control issues. Also has been hurt this year, though he's back now. I guess you could say he's OK, because he is not giving up hits. But clearly he's a little all over the place.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 03:06 PM) Only the Peavy extension. And Sale, although if he doesn't get hurt, that's just great arbitrage, when there's a decent likelihood he'll outperform that deal by $70-110 million based on sabermetric values. But you could also say that bringing back Floyd (there's another move about contending now) and Peavy was spinning them off for future assets at some point as Plan B, with the idea all along they were in-between as an organization in terms of being able to compete these two seasons. I don't think the bolded word means what you think it means. This isn't arbitrage. It is a hedge, or speculation, or some of both... but not arbitrage.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) It would be an extremely irresponsible thing to do to his family. Not in the slightest. He probably won't do it, and there are many reasons not to, but to call it "extremely irresponsible" to his family is ridiculous. The guy has made almost $100M to date in baseball salary alone, plus various endorsements, etc. People make decisions about taking 10% less in salary over time all the damn time (i.e. executives who make big bucks and walk away at times), in order to be happy in other ways. It isn't irresponsible, unless he has managed to blow all that money already.

Article here. Discuss.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 02:30 PM) I really doubt he would retire and leave $15 million sitting on the table. Probably not. But players have done it before, a very few times, and Dunn seems like the type that might very well do it. We are talking about a guy who is just playing the worst baseball in MLB right now, and pride is important to these guys. He's already made a ton of money. Not saying it is likely - just that it is possible.

1. I think Adam Dunn is a pretty good guy, and I want to root for him. He's just really been terrible, obviously. Given the two pieces of information, I actually think it is possible he may elect to retire after the season. Craziness, I know, but it might happen. 2. If the Sox do go into fire sale mode in June or July, I'd be all for getting a look at Seth Loman, Andy Wilkins and/or Dan Black at 1B/DH for a few months. Or even Mike McDade. Whomever is hitting in AAA at that point. Why not? Might as well get a look at what you MIGHT have for the future, on the cheap. If they all flop, which is very possible, then you look in another direction for 2014. But it is entirely possible that there will be 1 or even 2 open positions at 1B/DH in 2014, so, best to look at your in-house options if you can. 3. Right now, the season is not yet abandoned, so you really have to stick with Dunn and Konerko, because they are your best chances for production.

Haddow's May wasn't as good as April, posting a .260/.370/.380 line. K rate is up a bit at 18.7%. which is OK, and he continues to draw walks at a solid pace - his 42:30 K:BB ratio is significantly better than previous seasons. But the AVG is down a bit, and power is lacking. The AVG is up again lately (.282 in last 10), but with even less power (.308 SLG). He's still probably the OF most in line for a promotion to AA at this point, if opportunity arises. But that could change quickly.

May update... Trivia question... under what circumstance can a player be promoted, hit .390 at the new level, and still fall down the prospect lists? Answer: when you are moved from 3B to 1B and not showing any power. Ravelo has been on fire in Winston-Salem, putting up a .390/.457/.458 line. He has only 5 K in in 70 PA so far at High A, versus 9 walks. His contact and OBP numbers are fantastic so far. But his Iso SLG is only .068, with 4 doubles the only XBH among his 23 hits. It is possible of course, given his still-young age (21) and relative lack of development time (missed 2nd half of last year), that the power can come. And if it does, he could really be interesting. But for now, it isn't there. He's definitely still work keeping an eye on, but I am not sure he is T25 material as a 1B, at this point.

Rem was activated in early May after his DL stint. With the bullpen struggles in Chicago, there is an opportunity there. But he's struggled so far since returning, either due to rust or otherwise I don't know. His numbers so far: 10.2 IP, 15 H, 7 ER, 6 BB, 7 K. Very unlike his usual numbers, even from his first AAA stint. Hopefully he can put it back together.

End of May update for Brandon... May was statistically no better than April, which is not a good thing. For the month he booked an 8.28 ERA, .369 AvgA, WHIP north of 2, and a 15:13 K:BB ratio. The good news... there appears to be some improvement. Leaving out his first two starts of May, his last 4 starts look like this: 25 IP, 30 H, 16:6 K:BB. There is also word that his mechanics have solidified some, and he's now again throwing the 90-93 FB he was scouted to have. Slider is inconsistent though, as is the change. And he's inducing ground balls pretty well. His first start in June was his best overall of the year, going 8 innings, striking out 7 and walking none. Hopefully he can build on that.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 01:08 PM) Out of curiousity, how many people out there have actually watched a decent amount of Phegley AB's? I am curious what his swing looks like, and if it is something that will translate to the majors. We seem to have a lot of guys come up here with a long swing. Haven't seen any from this season in Charlotte yet, but saw some from ST this year, and video from previous years. Looked pretty level, and no big pre-swing load, at least when I saw him. So his quickness should be OK, and this would explain the relatively low K rates too. In 2012 it looked like he didn't get a lot of leverage behind it, but he also had that hand injury in '11 or '12 (I forget which now, I think it was '11), so he may have taken a while to get the strength back in his hand.

We have seasons in the front row of 536 (UD, over home plate, to 3B side), and I would never move down to the LD at this point because being in the front row is just awesome. We'd be 10 or 20 rows back in the LD. I'll stick with what we have.

Shameless plug, but if you didn't read the article prior to his DL stint, take a look now. That said, I wouldn't worry a TON about his first 2 or 3 games back - he needs to get his baseball eyes back again. That would be true for any player. Once we get to where he's had a couple weeks of AB's, or a month, then let's see where he stands.