NorthSideSox72

We are going to do a #AskFutureSox mail bag of sorts about the rankings. Various writers would answer, depending on the question. So, if you have in-depth questions, post them here and we'll put them in an article in a few days. Go!

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 08:28 AM) Was just realizing there's no UDFAs in the MLB, all drafted or signed internationally, rooting for McRee to break that Only domestic UDFA I can remember making it for the White Sox in recent memory is Ehren Wassermann (who was signed via an open tryout, believe it or not). Mike Recchia got pretty close.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 09:25 AM) So Fulmer has bad mechanics, poor control, and his fastball tops out at 92. Why did they draft him again? The first two are really one thing, and the fastball tops more like 95-96. Are you evaluating based on one outing? The Sox rushed him. He was just starting to get a good rhythm as a starter in BHAM, and I think they made a huge mistake doing what they did.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 08:48 AM) would you rather have Call or Coats? What's the downside with Danny Hayes? One of the few guys we have with decent plate discipline. On Call vs Coats, I have some bias because I'm higher on Coats than others. But it's really a matter of ceiling versus floor. Coats is already probably a competent 4th OF, which has major league value. Call is years away from ensuring that, if he does at all. Call has better plate approach and speed, so he may have a higher ceiling. On Hayes, it's a few factors. One, his early 2016 performance was short enough that we don't really know if it was a breakout or a streak. Two, he's injured and has been for a couple months now. Three, he's a first baseman who until 2016 didn't show GAME power enough. He's still a prospect, but very fringy.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 08:32 AM) MLB.com has Collins behind Fulmer by a good margin, not siding with any ranking but curious as to why you have Fulmer behind Collins. The system looks stronger than recent memory so I'm very happy Well for the record, not every writer had Collins number 1 - in fact Collins had just barely more top votes. So it was a close call. MLB.com's list is primarily led by Jim Callis, who is unabashedly a huge Fulmer fan. I think the questions around Fulmer are about command (which he may never had oodles of) and whether or not he is a starter long-term (I think he is, but some others don't). That latter question, about starting, is huge.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 08:54 AM) Typo: Hansen's draft year is listed as 2014 Oh my, surprised we missed that with the extra reviews we did. Just fixed it though, thanks for noting it.

It's here - the Midseason 2016 Top 30 White Sox Prospects list from FutureSox. Eight writers contributed to this effort. Our writers saw every US affiliate in person in the past year or so. Lots of work goes into this, and we hope you enjoy the results. What are your thoughts on the list? On the system? Any questions on specific prospects?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 27, 2016 -> 06:50 PM) Winston Salem has really seemed to hit better recently and can't put that all on Collins. Robbins has been raking. I like him as a deep sleeper prospect (in fact I'm mid-way through writing an article about him right now). They also have some ringer types like Nash and Davis that really should rake at that age and level, but they aren't prospects.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 27, 2016 -> 11:06 AM) I think it's just rarely do we see OBP mastery like this even early. Every game its like he has 2 BB. I think it's encouraging that the Sox took guys in the 1st, 3rd and 4th rounds who have very good plate approaches. In fact, they got the numbers 1 and 2 in all of all of Division I in OBP in 2016.

It's great to see Call doing well, but I think some of you are assigning WAY too much value to a month's worth of stats, mostly in rookie ball, for a college draftee. Let's put it in perspective. Call was seen as a rounds 6-10 guy by some pundits, and a reach generally in the 3rd. He's got three years of college exposure. He should have raked in Great Falls, and did. It's a good thing, but no way should he even be in the discussion for Top 5 in the Sox system at this point.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 26, 2016 -> 03:47 PM) Nice list Matt. IMO, I might have Peter and Zavala a tad higher, but otherwise I tend to agree with your rankings. With Anderson gone now, I think my top 15 would look like: 1.) Zack Collins 2.) Carson Fulmer 3.) Alec Hansen 4.) Spencer Adams 5.) Adam Engel 6.) Zach Burdi 7.) Trey Michalczewski 8.) Alex Call 9.) Jordan Stephens 10.) Jameson Fisher 11.) Jordan Guerrero 12.) Micker Adolfo 13.) Jhoandro Alfaro 14.) Amado Nunez 15.) Matt Davidson? Thanks. But while I wrote the article, the list was done by 8 writers, with my votes having no more or less value than the others. Two of your names didn't make the Top 30, with two others in the T15 you didn't mention. I won't say which.

QUOTE (RegionSox @ Jul 26, 2016 -> 11:18 AM) Aren't all teams lucky to get an everyday player or SP out of their 15-30 prospects though? Yes. Also, reducing the back half of the list to simply "C" prospects is missing key differentiation, particularly in floor and ceiling.

We release our twice-annual Top White Sox Prospects list in two parts. The first article is a "teaser" of sorts, listing the names of prospects ranked 16th-30th with detailed capsules on each (and links to their profiles). The second is the full Top 30, with capsules on 1-15, as well as a list of players who just missed the Top 30. Here is the 16-30 list, hot off the press. What do you think? Who were we too high or too low on? Who do you think is in the Top 15?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 25, 2016 -> 10:30 AM) Second. First year (age 17) wasn't great, but he was 17 in the AZL. Last year he improved, but got hurt. This year he's been hurt, but is a 19-year-old in A ball. His injuries have constantly been freak accidents, so no real reason to write him off yet. Well, not all his injuries were freak accidents. He missed time with a hammy. And this year it was a broken hook of hamate bone from swinging. Those are both use injuries.

For the record, I think this is a rush. I think he's got a lot of development left to do, physically even, and I hope the Sox aren't thinking about him for MLB in 2017 spring. He's a different pitcher now than he was before too, a lot of people don't know that. Detailed in his profile on FS.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 20, 2016 -> 12:55 PM) There is no way they'd move Call to WS if he keeps hitting like this...right? He just got to Kanny. Let's not Courtney Hawkins this guy. Let him bash there the rest of the year, unless some slot opens up in W-S and they really need a player anyway.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jul 19, 2016 -> 03:23 PM) Is Mason Robbins a legit OF prospect? Sort of. Confession: He's possibly my favorite sleeper name in the system, but even I wouldn't have him ranked higher than maybe just outside the Top 30 names. Before the draft, I might have T30'd him. Robbins is the prototypical example of a prospect that gets missed but stat line scouting. He shows very little HR power, doesn't show speed in stolen bases, and doesn't take walks. But here's what you don't see: --He leads the CAR in outfield assists and has a very good arm --He's got 60 or 65 grade speed (I've clocked him multiple times), but just isn't doing the base stealing thing yet --He's got very strong hands, and I've seen him flick a laser off the wall while in a poor hitting position with no leverage --He shows very good barrel control and plate coverage (this you can sort of see in his contact rate - K/PA around 15%, and in July it's just 7.5%) In other words, he's got a 60 or better arm, 60 or better speed, makes good contact despite being no threat to walk, and has substantial raw power that isn't yet game power. Here's where he hurts himself, and it's two-fold. For one thing, he does actually work counts, but once he gets to two strikes he wildly expands the zone. He's got good enough bat control and coverage to not strike out a ton, but he makes weak contact in those instances. Second, because he's expanding the zone so much, he sells out leverage (and therefore power) for coverage, so he doesn't allow himself to get into a good hitting position. Those things are fixable, which is why I don't consider him a non-prospect. If he changed his deep-count approach and kept himself back in a good hitting position, this is a legit MLB outfield prospect. But so far, he hasn't been able to do that.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 18, 2016 -> 08:08 PM) Came in to post about him. Sneaky solid player, might have some decent support coming up between him and Engel. Anyone have reports on his defense? He's got a strong arm - pitched in college and hit 95 from the mound. Glove at second is supposed to be quite good, decent range. He was passable at third in the AFL. Beyond that, I don't have any reports from other positions. But he's already played every infield position and both corner OF slots this season.

QUOTE (Sleepy Harold @ Jul 18, 2016 -> 03:26 PM) Engel Promoted to Charlotte And we interviewed him while he was packing.

Adam Engel was just promoted to AAA Charlotte. By amazing coincidence (not really - we knew it was coming), we got an interview with him over the weekend just prior to his move. He went into detail on what he's changed recently, and we included some video of before and after to see his changes. This is some exclusive stuff, and great work from Rob. Check it out here.

Recap posted Zack/h's left and right. Hansen filthy, Thompson bounces back, Remillard hits his first pro bomb, Collins keeps hitting them.

FutureSox write-up on the potential call-up, with links to profile and other details.

He's got my vote.

First of all, congrats to our own Matt Lynch (MDL27 on SoxTalk). He is about to start a baseball analyst job with a major sports agency. He's the third of our writers to move on to a paid sports media gig in the past year (with others going to Baseball Prospectus and Comcast SportsNet). While that's really cool, we also need to find another writer, maybe even two. It's not a paid gig. We're hoping for someone to take on a few recaps the rest of the year, and of course do some feature writing too. Someone who can go see a White Sox affiliate in person is a big plus, but not a requirement. Baseball knowledge, especially on the prospect side, is important. But writing skills are equally so. We have no money to offer, but you will get plenty of exposure. You don't need to be a professional sports journalist (obviously), and we can offer plenty of help along the way, so that you can increase your knowledge and skill sets. If anyone here is interested, DM me, or email FutureSox (futuresox at gmail). We can then talk more details, see if it's a good fit, etc.

I took a look at the 2015 and 2016 drafts (Hostetler regime), versus the 2012-2014 previous period, in terms of the height of players selected. I did this because I noticed last year, they seemed to draft a lot of smaller guys. Turns out, there is indeed a pattern here. Here is the analysis, with all the numbers and showing the team's tendencies. I also got a couple statements from Hostetler about it, FWIW. The question now is, will it play out in how the draftees perform?