NorthSideSox72

Put me in the "none" category.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jul 6, 2012 -> 04:01 AM) This Clown Well, he's got the skin tone to be in Canada. Also looks like he just finished inhaling with Slick Willie didn't.

I just noticed I passed 30,000 posts on SoxTalk. Not sure if I should be happy or sad.

Kyle Hansen is in the Bristol box score, but facing zero batters. Odd. Hopefully he didn't get hurt warming up or something.

2 of 3 at Minny, split 2-2 at NYY, sweep TEX in 3. Not a bad run the team is on. Good time to get hot, against their toughest schedule month.

Promoted to B-Ham.

Kevin Moran with yet another signature appearance: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 0 K. At least he didn't hit anyone this time. I actually missed his 7/2 game, when he looked like a pitcher: 1 scoreless inning. His season line is now: 2 IP, 1 H, 12 ER, 13 BB, 4 HBP, 2 K, 6 WP (ERA of 54.00, WHIP of 7.00, BAA .143, OBPA .750)

Keegan Linza sure does throw strikes. He also gets hit a lot, and apparently needs a pickoff move - 6 SB against him tonight, no CS. DeMichele looking good in his 2 games so far for Kanny.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 12:33 PM) Ha that answer seemed so obvious to me that I didn't just say that. I guess that explains why none of the answers seem to clue you in on what you were confused about. Yeah, apparently I somehow missed the key element when I read about the new rules. Or I forgot. Either way, my bad. Sorry fathom, for being a little obnoxious.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 09:25 AM) That is the cutoff date for kids who turned 16 in the previous year. If you turn it after July 2, you have to wait until 2013 to be signed. ah, OK, so it is an age eligibility thing. That makes some sense, thanks.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 12:04 AM) July 2 is the first day you can sign a new crop of foreign-born players. Forget the signing cap. That still doesn't explain why there was a rush to sign guys AFTER the deadline. Why not before? How is it determined what the "crop" is?

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 07:37 AM) Salvador Sanchez up in W-S now. Any word on his stuff? I know when he was an OF his arm in RF was said to be pretty good I noticed that, they are moving him up in a hurry - Bristol, Kanny, now W-S already. No idea on stuff, but would love to know.

Kyle Robinson, 2011 28th round pick, outfielder. Spent last year at Bristol at age 22, put up a pretty bad .204/.273/.382/.655 line, and struck out a lot. This year at 23 at GF, so far in 15 games: .446/.544/.625/1.169. More walks than strikeouts, and a much lower K rate. That's quite a turnaround. Justin Jirschele just keeps hitting, and seems impossible to strike out. Sort of fun to watch for an NDFA, and not a super-old one at 22 years old.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:31 PM) I guess not. These are signed, sealed and delivered. If all this signing period is, is an annual bonus cap renewal date... then why would there be a huge rush at the beginning? Furthermore, if before that date you had no cap to face, why was the rush not BEFORE the period? Something doesn't make sense here, I must be misunderstanding something.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:12 PM) So what if it was only the first day? While the BA list is not the end-all, be-all, 14 of the top 20 on their list have already been signed. The longer you wait to dance, the fewer partners available. QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:13 PM) 15 out the Top 20 ranked international players have already been signed. 21 of the Top 30 already signed. Stupid comment about first day. First day is huge. QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:13 PM) +1 Wait, I thought deals couldn't be negotiated and players couldn't be contacted until the period started? WTF? What you are describing sounds like its just the first day deals can become official. That is not what I thought was going on.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:10 PM) Walks, as usual with him. 3 in 5 innings. Seriously, open a cold one. Thompson looking nice lately.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 08:35 PM) So it looks like the White Sox were quiet on the first day of international signings. Disappointing, as they said last they were going to be more active in this area.

Monthly update... So, Charlie was one of the surprises of the minor league rosters, getting the OD start for Charlotte. He did OK in April, but just as he had in previous years, he then started to see his numbers tail off in May: K/9 Rate went from 7.8 to 3.9, BAA went from .252 to .296, and his walks went up a bit (but those were still fine). Seemed like, yet again, he was showing that he really needs to be a reliever. Then June happened. His ERA went from the 4's to 2.43, BAA dropped to .243, walk rate stayed the same, but his K/9 rate went back up to 7.5. I'm not sure what happened, but, maybe he got the right coaching and made a positive adjustment. Shirek is a guy who can hit 95, has a good sinker, throws strikes and induces a lot of ground balls. His road to AAA has been rocky, and he's 26, but if he keeps up his June numbers, he may surprise a lot of people and be in the hunt for a big league job in 2013.

Monthly update... Mark has cooled a bit from his torrid May (.383/.441/.551/.992), but still put up good numbers in June at the plate: .305/.385/.421/.806. His K:BB rate has improved each month of the year: 23:12, 16:9, 16:12, getting close to parity. The home runs haven't come as much this year as last yet, but he has more hits, walks, doubles and triples at a similar point, and his K rate (17.4%) has improved notably over last year (23.6%). That was his biggest weak spot coming in, contact rate, so that is very encouraging. His season line at this point is .323/.401/469/.869. He's 24 in A ball, and has plus defensive skills. He should really be in High A at this point, but he's just plain blocked right now. Hopefully something happens and he sees W-S this season.

Monthly update... June wasn't as kind to Rangel at the plate - his slash line on the month was .240/.282/.350. Things have picked up slightly in recent days, but nothing to wrote home about. His K rate has dropped each month, which is good to see: 15.8% in April, 11.1%, 10.5%. Still not walking much. The league adjusted to him, and now this 20 year old needs to adjust back. His season line sits at .296/.348/.407/.755. He's making good contact and hitting for average, but he's made 15 errors too. He needs to up the power and/or OBP, and/or improve his defense, if he wants to remain a prospect to watch. At 20 years old in A Ball, this doesn't need to happen overnight.

Monthly update... Keegan has done pretty well with his chance to start, though its only in three games so far. Pitching in a typically offense-heavy league, so far in 3 starts... 16.2 IP, 17 H, 7 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 15 K 3.78 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, .266 BAA, 1.46 GO/AO, 1.1 BB/9, 8.1 K/9 Not bad for a 38th round pick who was a reliever last year. He's about a year older than you'd like him to be at that level, but if he keeps those K/BB numbers where they are and doesn't get shelled too heavily, he'll get his chances to move up.

Time for end of month updates... Dan was promoted to Charlotte, and has only appeared in four games so far, but the results are encouraging... 8.2 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K 2.08 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .297 BAA, 0 BB/9, 10.4 K/9 The walk rate won't stay zero, but I'd also beut that BAA goes down. This certainly looks better (so far) than his 2011 at AAA. As has been said before, what Dan does in Charlotte this year is huge for his chances. The Sox system is pretty stacked with young relief talent, so he has a tough road. But if he can put numbers up in Charlotte somewhat like his B-Ham numbers, he could be in the conversation for a job next year. If not with the Sox, with someone else.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 01:24 PM) Shoemaker is entering cult status territory. Leo Daigle and David Cook among others had similar resumes and didn't make the bigs. Cook has mystery "off field" issues that, I think, probably held him back (in part). Daigle was a 1B who never had success above A+, and even that was after repeating it thrice. Shoemaker now gets a chance to show something against AA pitching, and I think that will show whether or not he's a prospect.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 10:25 AM) Glad to see those guys getting moved up. Especially Gallagher and Shoe. Definitely good on Shoemaker, he's been deserving for a while, and I want to see what he does in AA. Gallagher was part of an OF/1B/DH rotation, so now Shoemaker becomes part of that. Not sure I get moving Ross Wilson up though. He's been playing OF lately, but he's been an IF until recently, and he's not exactly crushing the ball in Kanny for a 24 year old repeating it (though he is drawing a lot of walks). Would have thought for sure it would be Haddow.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 1, 2012 -> 06:31 PM) Yes, because then you can't hind behind the farce of it NOT being a tax increase. Kinda like putting that computer on sale for 10% off, after you jacked it up 20% first. Any way you slice it, the tax burden that is now there was NOT there before. So this bill increased taxes. Yes of course it did. It increased taxes, in the form of a penalty, for the 1-2% of the population that will be without health insurance for a significant length of time, even though they can afford it. One could argue this is a good or bad thing, but it only effects a small % of people. And Balta, you need to get past this idea that this is comparable to a tax credit based on elective commerce. The logical leap you are making is laughably huge.