NorthSideSox72

Here's something new. I hadn't seen anything like this done before, so it's a bit of an experiment. We invited a writer from each of three other White Sox blogs, to join us (Future Sox) in answering a few questions about the minor leagues and prospects around the White Sox. Just to get some different perspectives. Here is the roundtable discussion. It was really fun to see the different styles and approaches from these other writers. I picked those three because they are, to me, the other three high quality blogs in our space (along with FS). Do people here already read those blogs regularly? Who do you like to read?

Hayes out again, no DL trip though. That's why Shuck has been at 1B. QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 15, 2016 -> 09:16 PM) Who's the pitching coach in Charlotte again? Britt Burns? Richard Dotson? Dotson.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ May 13, 2016 -> 10:03 AM) That makes sense. I guess we just hear so much about how he could be up with the team next season taking Jackson's spot. Makes sense if that's not in their plans for next season. If he has a shot at being in the majors next season though he should be getting as many AB's as possible. They can move him up as the season goes on. I personally am not as high on May as others, I don't think he's a starting CF in the majors. But I'd be happy to be wrong.

QUOTE (Dunt @ May 13, 2016 -> 09:58 AM) Dakota Hudson would really be an underwhelming pick, I hope to god they stay away. If they do stick to college players, I hope Collins does drop and they have the ability to go underslot with him. I would be totally ok going prep player at 10 though, the crop this year seems to have really good upside. Any of Perez, Rutherford, Moniak, Pint, Jones, or Anderson would be fine with me. As a side note, why do people feel that Collins doesnt have the pop that Schwarber had? He has a better SLG% in a better baseball conference than Schwarber had when he was drafted. Also, how much of a disaster would last years draft have been if the Sox drafted Funkhouser? Woof. I think you have to look at the totality of the draft to judge it. Especially in the new structure. Even if they get a guy at 10 that was seen as more 15-20, if they save money and then get a second 10-20 guy at 27, that's a win.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 12, 2016 -> 11:56 AM) Hayes left the game. Involved in a base running play the inning before. I asked a guy I use to get info from Charlotte who usually can help, but he wasn't at that particular game. Tried the Charlotte Media Relations guy too, no word back, but that is the usual stance from them on anything injury-related. So I still don't know how bad it actually was.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ May 12, 2016 -> 02:29 PM) I know this has been brought up before, but I never saw a good answer. Why is Jacob May hitting in the 9 spot all season instead or 1 of 2 to get him more at bats? I think I mentioned this before, but remember, May only effectively had half a season in AA. Now he's in AAA, and coming off his concussion recovery. They're protecting him. He's not a guy they need today, so they want to leave all the pressure off as he adjusts to the level. QUOTE (Rowand44 @ May 12, 2016 -> 04:17 PM) I was going to say the same thing. All over it. Thanks guys.

The draft, in general, is the biggest thing we do at Future Sox each year (at least in terms of traffic). We've been waiting for the picture to get at least a small bit of clarity to get rolling on pre-draft work, and now it's underway. The first salvo comes from Brian (raBBit), who gives us some history and trends, the current picture, and focuses on the college versus high school discussion. You should read it if you want some background going into the June amateur Rule 4 draft. We will be doing deep dives into specific potential targets as we approach the draft, as well as some other draft-related features. This is just the first chapter.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 11, 2016 -> 08:31 AM) I am wondering how different his swing really is. I think this might all be mental. Sure he starts with his hands lower, but if you notice ,they go back up to where they used to start pretty quickly. That's setup though, not swing. His setup changes have been since Spring Training. I could be wrong, but it looks to me like he's stopped chopping/slicing the ball and has a plane more conducive to loft.

Well I have to admit, I was ready to write off Avi a few weeks ago. Happy I'm wrong. Not sure if he sustains it, but I will say this isn't just BABIP luck or the like. He does look different up there - different approach, different swing plane, more restraint, driving the ball better.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ May 11, 2016 -> 07:54 AM) Sox absence on international front in the year when clearly should go all-in is consistent with the way they've viewed their minor-leagues for most of Williams' tenure. Very little interest or patience in building an organization, despite Hahn's words to the contrary. Watch for mature, but low ceiling, reaches in the draft this year. Not only is this very premature (it's May, not August), it's completely inaccurate. The Sox draft strategy has changed dramatically in recent years, they've used their full pool or virtually so every year and even went over into penalty range for Rodon. They haven't been doing safe "reaches" with key picks in years. They actually work the draft to get a handful of signability guys by playing with the pool. In the international world, they've gone from a 2008-2012 period of being basically dead, to now spending at or near their pool limits and bringing in legit prospects, some of whom are now in full season ball. If you want to argue this was a year to go over, I actually agree with you. But the rest of your post is hyperbole not grounded in any fact, unless the clock went back to 2009 or something.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 10, 2016 -> 05:11 PM) Do they play a shift on him? They didn't when I last saw him play. It's hard to tell on the MiLB.tv feed, but I didn't notice one. I also didn't see the bunt in person so I am not sure if that's what he was doing, but if he was, good on him.

lol, Danny Hayes just BUNTED for a base hit. Like he's trolling - the slow-footed 1B with 5 HR in the last week and a half decides to bunt.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ May 10, 2016 -> 01:27 PM) http://mlbfarm.com/index.php?team=CWS&date=2016-05-10 http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?c...mp;ymd=20160510 Doubleheader for the Knights with Erik Johnson getting game one. No starter announced for game two. Birmingham-Guerrero Winston-Salem-Brennan Kannapolis-TBA Barnette for Charlotte game 2 Comito for Kanny. he had a rough debut.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:11 AM) Thats tough to implement though. One year you could have 200 players worthy of getting signed but can't be because teams are hard capped. Or other years when there isn't as much talent where the pools are artificially inflated for the shorter supply of talent that would have the same affect as the current system. Really the only reason that Sox fans feel that there should be a hard cap is because it feels unfair to us that other teams utilize the rules to their advantage while for one reason or another our FO refuses to take that approach. All that said, there isn't really a team that has benefited tremendously from the overspending approach. I don't see a practical way to fix the current system other than going to an international draft. I think it's quite easy to set up. There won't be 200 one year and 2 the next, it never works that way. The variance is much, much smaller. I mean, you could use the same argument with the regular draft. My feeling on this has zero to do with being a Sox fan anyway. I think the system as it stands is broken. I'd rather it was, not 100% identical for all teams, but prevents a few teams from going bonkers like that.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 9, 2016 -> 11:31 AM) Does anybody else have kids who are really bright and intelligent, honor students even, and sometimes they do things where you're like "you are a total f***ing imbecile"? Yes. Regularly. Also I'm pretty sure I was that kid too. My mother actually told a girlfriend at the time (my wife now) when she go to know her, that raising me was like "raising a retarded child, but because he was so smart". Thanks, Mom. I think. Or not.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ May 9, 2016 -> 12:27 PM) Any theories as to what that might be? Don't get it purely from a statistically point of view. They obviously see something. This isn't a stats thing. The fact that he's walking a ton but hitting below the Mendoza line indicates he may be lacking a good approach, so he waits and hopes. But I haven't seen him play in person yet this year so I can't really say.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ May 9, 2016 -> 11:47 AM) Very strange to demote Engel. Yeah he has a low batting average but his BABIP is at .225 when the lowest it had been at any other level was .304. He was walking loads and had a 89 wRC+ despite the low BABIP. If it's purely to make room for Basto, I don't get it either, he's not a serious prospect in my eyes. Zero chance they demote Engel purely to make room for Basto. This has to be because something is very wrong on Engel. Basto just happens to be the one most deserving of the slot opened up.

I get that the pools should be different, and I am all for trading slots. But I also think it needs to be plain old capped. You get X dollars. You go over up to XX% (maybe 20%), you pay a luxury penalty. After that? No signings approved in the period. End of discussion.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 9, 2016 -> 09:32 AM) The three worst hitters in the lineup right now are Navarro, Rollins and Jackson. Hayes can't play C or SS. He can't play CF either, but he could bump Garcia to RF and Eaton to CF, but even then you're giving up a ton of defense to get his bat in the lineup. Well obviously he's not going to be any help at catcher or shortstop. He can, by transit, help the OF. The slots he'd be targeted for are really just Garcia and Sands - and obviously neither are screaming problems at the moment. They could become ones though, and honestly I don't believe Garcia's turnaround yet. The team has 5 OF's right now. Also, it's always good to know what players could help where if a need arises - that's more what this was intended for. If Garcia or Sands fall back again (which seems pretty likely), or there's an injury to certain players, or the team can't really pull off a trade for a more serious bat... Hayes is in the picture.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2016 -> 06:29 PM) .307 average against. In his career, opposition is at .282 against him. QUOTE (southside hitman @ May 9, 2016 -> 07:33 AM) Adams intentionally pounds the strike zone. He told me back in August he would rather give him a hit than a walk "100%" of the time. As he refines his stuff, I am sure J.R. Perdew (Birmingham) and Richard Dotson (Charlotte) will work with him on playing inside and outside the zone. As for now, I think the pitching coaches are thrilled to have a 20 year-old who has given up 29 walks in 208 professional innings. This is true. But it is also a concern, though not one I find alarming just yet. I can tell you his velo has been low 90's on the fastball usually, so far. He's definitely throwing strikes. That Salem team was tough. But Adams is challenged at this level, and he's not yet comfortable enough in his modified delivery to really let it rip like he used to. I'd give it time to get there. QUOTE (GreenSox @ May 8, 2016 -> 07:04 PM) Some guys in Kanny are looking promising. The Dash figured to struggle some this year, but it's really rough right now. I said going into the year the Kanny team might be the most exciting. Lots of fun guys to watch there. The Dash offense is really rough. Pitching has some real talent though. QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 8, 2016 -> 08:08 PM) batting average keeps rising for Jacob May. Jake Peter keeps hitting. Basto cooling off. Basto was screaming for regression to the mean. Wasn't going to keep hitting .430.

When discussing the need for a bat - assuming Avisail Garcia's recent improvement isn't sustainable, or Jerry Sands slumps - the discussion has mostly been around players outside the organization. And that's where the most talent is going to be found. But a trade may not be found that works. What then? There's a left-handed hitting bat in AAA right now that most people don't know much about, who might actually be of some help in 2016. Not a star-ceiling player, but a contributor. You should get to know him.

QUOTE (Dunt @ May 4, 2016 -> 02:34 PM) Micker Adolfo getting Soler-itis Both his injuries are from freak game events. Not like Barnum or Hawkins, who get wear and tear injuries to muscles and joints.

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 4, 2016 -> 02:40 PM) Same question with Keon Barnum. Been on the DL for almost a month. No idea on him, but it's chronic in his career. QUOTE (bmags @ May 4, 2016 -> 02:42 PM) Also Adolfo injured. Not good for our big power players. Hit in hand by pitch. Not sure of final diagnosis. But they replaced him with a clearly bench guy, so, probably Adolfo isn't out long.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2016 -> 12:50 PM) Walks of late are nice to see, but he has too much talent to have so few extra base hits so far. Well first... QUOTE (raBBit @ May 4, 2016 -> 12:59 PM) He was out for like a week with a wrist thing in the middle of April. Second, as noted in the article, the power tends to come later. He's never going to be a huge power guy, but he'll knock a few out here and there.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 4, 2016 -> 12:17 PM) Wasn't he hitting in the .100s like a week ago or am I imagining things From yesterday's game thread... Danny Hayes, first 7 games: .000/.125/.000, 14 K in 24 PA Danny Hayes, 10 games since: .500/.579/.906, 3 HR, 5 K in 38 PA I mean, it's really small samples, but... that's a ridiculous turnaround. He went hitless his first 7 games, and here after 17 games his SEASON line is now .302/.403/.547. It's perhaps not crazy to suggest he could help the MLB club at some point this year.