MnSoxFan

Now we can let Harris and ARow platoon and we now can save some runs with defense. As well as now we have a number two hitter who can move hitter around. I gotta totally disagree with you Jim. Great deal.

Get over the closer thing, jeesh. Most good closers convert from starters, we are not going to miss Valentine or Ring, at least not enough to not go for it this year.

Might not be any compensation, remember last year, we gave up Durham assuming no compensation would be done, it was overturned. Not sure it will be there this year. If it is, we have to offer arbitration, not sure we would do that. if he makes 8M a year, we take chance he accepts and we are stuck. But maybe he takes less to play on same team as Sandy again. Who knows. If he leaves, and we offer arb, we get a #1 and a tweener (between 1st and 2nd round choice) if team is good, if team is bad we get two tweeners.

Whoever called Almonte a stud reliever just plain does not follow the minors, he sucks. How could we be slower?? Alomar can run rings around Jimenez, and Harris/Rowand plattoon in CF, why is it so difficult to get excited. His defense alone is worth Ring, any offense we get will be super, and he can friggin bunt.

Salvo is a backup infielder in A ball, nothing more. Almonte is toast. Jim Fainter, Ring is good in AA, does he have enough heat to close in majors? Let the Mets find out. Most good closers convert from starters, we did not lose much. Ring may make it, may not.

We signed #10 and #19, neither show up under BA yet. Draft and Follows, we signed 3. Here they are. All 3 starting well, especially watch the hard thrower Hernandez. CHICAGO (AL) Boone Logan, lhp, Temple (Texas) JC (20) Jay Marshall, lhp, Jefferson (Mo.) JC (25) Fernando Hernandez, rhp, Broward County (Fla.) CC (49)

He is 6FT 2inches tall and 170 pounds, very thin kid, so by big I hope you meant height. Was 10th rounder out of West Palm Beach, projected lower, we took early shot at him. Think we liked his breaking ball. He was in 17 games, only 3 starts. 1-4 with 3 saves and 3.97 ERA in 34 IP with 31 Hits allowed, 11 BBs and 38 Ks. .244 batting average against.

Yes, we were told that he was a real 'stretch' in 2nd round. Best outlook for him at that time was a possible 4th outfielder, no arm, decent speed, only thing he did that anyone liked was led a team in hitting in Pan-am games with a wood bat. His last year in college his average really went down, to about .338 or something. So he was projected at 'best' a top 5 round draftee, round 3-5 being his best outlook.

Great Falls has more of the college guys, Bristol more HS, tho it has its share of college guys too. My guess is Bristol is old for its league.

Too early to talk about possibility of majors for Hummel, lets wait and see what he does at next levels. He may be hardest thrower in our org and 23 (or going to be this year) so a little old for low A ball. But this is his first full season in the org, drafted last June.

Durham has been caught stealing more times than he has stolen. I think Sandoval is better leadoff man. I get the scores from BA in the morning, cause they give the Batting Average and ERA with each player. I like that.

Bjorn Ivy just came off DL for Kannapolis. I would expect Anderson and Nanita would both possibly move up. I know Jon Cavin was released a bit ago by Kannapolis. Would not doubt to see Ciraco and some others let go before next season.

High Class A Notebook Dreams draw closer to reality for Winston-Salem righthander Edited by Alan Matthews June 23, 2003 BY DAVE UTNIK PRINCE WILLIAM, Va.—The Winston-Salem Warthogs were watching “The Rookie” during their bus ride to Potomac, and 20-year-old righthander Kris Honel imagined for a moment that, like Jim Morris, he’d just been promoted to the majors. For the first time in his promising career, the Warthogs’ ace was completely overwhelmed. “When he got told about making the big leagues that must have been awesome,” Honel said. “I don’t even know how I’d react. I’d probably be speechless.” Like baseball, words typically come easily to Honel. He is charismatic and self-assured. He’s known for years that he is a big-time prospect whose father Mike always claimed “would do something special.” But the dream of putting on a major league uniform is as humbling as it is inspiring, which is why Honel doesn’t take his talent or his prospect status for granted. “The summer between my junior and senior year I knew I was going to be a first-round draft pick,” Honel said. “But first-rounders still have to live up to expectations. “My dad had a saying, fear no one, but respect everyone. He taught me how to play the game right and to respect the game.” Honel has been around a diamond most of his life. When he wasn’t playing in a Little League game, he was usually watching his father coach at the University of Evansville. Back then, Honel was a shortstop, but it wasn’t long before his strong arm led him to the mound. “I’d take pitching over shortstop any day,” he said. “When you’re pitching, you control the game and all eyes are on you. That’s what I love. I love performing under that pressure. I play at a better level when it’s like that.” The Limelight By the time Honel reached high school, scouts and television crews were part of the scenery at Providence Catholic High of New Lenox, Ill. The first start of his senior season attracted 90 scouts on a day when it was 32 degrees and snowing. “That was a really fun year. Most of the guys had never seen scouts before,” said Honel, who went 8-0, 1.09 with 73 strikeouts in 45 innings that spring before the White Sox selected him with the 16th overall pick. “It was great because it was an opportunity to showcase some of the other guys.” The main attraction, however, was Honel, whose knuckle-curve was recognized as the best breaking pitch among high school pitchers in 2001. “I picked it up at a pitching clinic when I was a freshman,” Honel said. “It’s a little awkward and being 14 it took me about a year to get it down, but it’s a great pitch and I recommend it.” The knuckle-curve is a popular pitch among some of baseball’s premier strikeout pitchers. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior both throw it. Honel refers to it as a “fool pitch” because “it drops out of sight.” Its exceptional movement and his ability to control it makes the knuckle-curve Honel’s best pitch, though he has an excellent changeup and a fastball that averages in the low 90s with good movement as well. “Kris is going to pitch in the big leagues. He has the mentality, the makeup and most importantly, the arm,” Winston-Salem manager Razor Shines said. “He can throw three or four pitches for strikes and he doesn’t rattle.” On Track In just his third minor league season, Honel (6-4, 2.51) is one of the White Sox’ top prospects. He turned down a scholarship offer from Arizona State to sign with the White Sox for $1.5 million. The highest drafted prep pitcher from Illinois since Bob Kipper in 1982, Honel hasn’t disappointed the organization. He was 4-3, 2.89 between the Rookie-level Arizona and Appalachian leagues in 2001. A year later he led all White Sox minor leaguers with 160 strikeouts and a 2.78 ERA as a South Atlantic League all-star at low Class A Kannapolis. Honel is now part of one of the best pitching staffs in the high Class A Carolina League. Along with lefties Ryan Wing, Byeong An and Ryan Meaux and righthanders Wyatt Allen and Frank Francisco, Honel helped the Warthogs stay atop the Southern Division standings much of the first half. “Look at our rotation. We have two first-rounders, a second-rounder and Frank was a top prospect with Boston before coming here,” Honel said. “That’s great to have. It’s fun because we learn from each other and we challenge each other. That’s what the game is about, being challenged.”

If not for that bum Almonte, we would not have lost yesterday at any level.

Rupe with 2nd good start in a row after a poor 1st start, if not that outing, he has ERA under 1.00 for season. LEXINGTON AB R H BI AVG KANNAPOLIS AB R H BI AVG D.Hawkins LF 4 1 1 0 .204 P.Lopez SS 4 0 0 0 .275 R.Kochen SS 5 0 0 0 .241 A.Salvo 2B 3 1 1 0 .234 T.Soto 2B 4 1 1 0 .350 A.Webster CF 4 1 1 0 .300 J.Humphries DH 4 0 0 0 .307 M.Christense DH 4 2 2 2 .292 P.Peavey 3B 4 1 3 0 .253 T.Brice 1B 4 0 2 1 .276 F.Acevedo RF 3 0 0 0 .223 J.Terrell RF 2 0 1 1 .303 J.f**an 1B 2 0 0 0 .248 D.Barnett CAT 3 0 0 0 .214 G.Melendez CAT 4 0 0 0 .224 E.Varela 3B 3 0 1 0 .234 W.Alvarez CF 4 0 1 0 .204 B.Ivy LF 3 0 0 0 .200 F.Nieve PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Rupe PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.McLemore PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Perez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 E.Sinclair PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Larson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 34 3 6 0 TOTALS 30 4 8 4 LEXINGTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0- 3 6 1 KANNAPOLIS 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 X- 4 8 1 E--G.Melendez, J.Terrell. DP--LEXINGTON 0, KANNAPOLIS 0. LOB--LEXINGTON 8, KANNAPOLIS 6. 2B--W.Alvarez (8), M.Christense (6), T.Brice (17), E.Varela (12). CS--A.Salvo, T.Brice. CI--D.Barnett. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA LEXINGTON F.Nieve (L,6-7) 2.2 6 4 4 2 2 0 4.34 M.McLemore 3.1 2 0 0 0 1 0 5.16 E.Sinclair 2.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0.00 KANNAPOLIS J.Rupe (W,4-3) 6.0 3 0 0 2 4 0 3.09 A.Perez 1.2 3 3 0 1 2 0 3.52 A.Larson 1.1 0 0 0 1 3 0 3.71 WP--F.Nieve. PB--G.Melendez. SO--D.Hawkins, R.Kochen, T.Soto, P.Peavey, F.Acevedo 2, G.Melendez 2, W.Alvarez, P.Lopez, A.Salvo, A.Webster, T.Brice, D.Barnett, B.Ivy. BB--D.Hawkins, F.Acevedo, J.f**an 2, A.Salvo, J.Terrell 2. T--2:22. A--3032

Nanita with 2 more hits. GREAT FALLS AB R H BI AVG PROVO AB R H BI AVG A.Gray 2B 4 0 0 0 .316 R.Willits CF 3 0 1 0 .200 R.Nanita LF 3 0 2 0 .432 A.Peel DH 4 0 2 0 .362 B.Anderson CF 3 0 0 1 .474 A.Pavkovich SS 3 0 1 0 .375 D.Cook RF 3 0 0 0 .273 M.Brown 3B 3 0 1 0 .333 B.Bounds 1B 3 1 1 0 .364 B.Balkcom LF 3 0 0 0 .167 M.Schnurstei 3B 3 0 1 0 .279 W.Madrigal RF 3 0 1 0 .279 M.Deuchler CAT 3 0 1 0 .333 H.Kendrick 2B 3 0 0 0 .100 C.King DH 3 1 1 0 .205 T.Duenas CAT 3 0 0 0 .258 C.Haggerty SS 2 0 1 0 .375 M.Pali 1B 3 0 1 0 .130 T.Jacquez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Davidson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 S.Tracey PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Moreno PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Carroll PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Goas PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 27 2 7 1 TOTALS 28 0 7 0 GREAT FALLS 0 1 0 0 1 0 0- 2 7 1 PROVO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0- 0 7 2 E--C.Haggerty, M.Brown, B.Balkcom. DP--GREAT FALLS 0, PROVO 1. LOB--GREAT FALLS 6, PROVO 9. SB--C.Haggerty (1). CS--C.Haggerty. HBP--C.Haggerty. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA GREAT FALLS T.Jacquez 3.0 4 0 0 1 2 0 3.86 S.Tracey (W,2-1) 4.0 3 0 0 1 4 0 4.09 PROVO D.Davidson (L,1-1) 2.0 4 1 1 0 1 0 0.82 A.Moreno 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.93 J.Carroll 2.0 2 1 1 1 3 0 3.24 A.Goas 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.57 HB--A.Goas. WP--T.Jacquez, S.Tracey, A.Moreno. SO--A.Gray 2, D.Cook, M.Deuchler, C.Haggerty, A.Peel, A.Pavkovich, B.Balkcom, W.Madrigal, H.Kendrick, M.Pali. BB--R.Nanita, R.Willits, A.Pavkovich. T--1:55.

Why do we insist on pitching Almonte with leads, he sucks and has shown no signs of turning it around. How ya like this 7 inning CG with 12 Ks for McCarthy and Anderson/Nanita keep on keeping on. GREAT FALLS AB R H BI AVG PROVO AB R H BI AVG A.Gray 2B 4 0 0 0 .353 R.Willits CF 3 0 0 0 .190 R.Nanita LF 3 2 1 0 .415 A.Peel DH 3 0 1 0 .349 B.Anderson CF 4 0 3 1 .563 A.Pavkovich SS 2 0 1 0 .378 B.Bounds 1B 4 0 1 0 .366 M.Brown 3B 3 0 0 0 .333 M.Schnurstei 3B 4 0 1 1 .275 B.Balkcom LF 3 0 1 0 .333 C.Kelly DH 3 0 0 0 .167 W.Madrigal RF 3 1 1 1 .275 C.King RF 2 1 2 0 .194 R.Kenning 1B 3 0 0 0 .244 C.Lisk CAT 3 0 0 0 .308 T.Duenas CAT 3 0 0 0 .286 M.Myers SS 3 0 1 1 .303 H.Kendrick 2B 2 0 0 0 .108 B.McCarthy PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Austen PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Pullin PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 30 3 9 3 TOTALS 25 1 4 1 GREAT FALLS 1 1 0 0 0 0 1- 3 9 0 PROVO 0 1 0 0 0 0 0- 1 4 1 E--H.Kendrick. DP--GREAT FALLS 0, PROVO 1. LOB--GREAT FALLS 8, PROVO 4. 2B--C.King (1), M.Myers (2). 3B--R.Nanita (1). HR--W.Madrigal (1). HBP--R.Nanita, A.Pavkovich. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA GREAT FALLS B.McCarthy (W,3-0) 7.0 4 1 1 0 12 1 1.89 PROVO D.Austen (L,1-1) 4.0 6 2 2 0 7 0 2.57 A.Pullin 3.0 3 1 1 1 3 0 1.29 HB--B.McCarthy, D.Austen. WP--B.McCarthy, D.Austen, A.Pullin. SO-- A.Gray 2, R.Nanita, B.Bounds, M.Schnurstei 2, C.Kelly, C.Lisk, M.Myers 2, R.Willits 2, A.Peel, M.Brown 2, B.Balkcom, W.Madrigal, R.Kenning 3, T.Duenas 2. BB--C.King. T--1:50.

Hey 72, good to hear ya buddy. Follow Method's directions, this new Spanish site is not bad.

Dizard LHP out of USC was 10th rounder, Moat a RHP out of San Diego St was 19th rounder (previously drafted by Rockies).

Rex, I noticed Reed too last year, when you added his 11 HBP to his BBs that made a difference. I watched him close since most people said we stretched to take him as early as we did. I do not doubt the other poster noticed him. I am not sure Reed is a CF, most reports call him a LF, since his arm is not so good.

Thanks for the story.

I have been in Minny for 20 years now and I think Blyleven is one of the best announcers I have ever heard, he and Bremer kick ass over any Chicago announcers, Hawk's schtick has gotten old (his fetish over sphincters) and DJ is just plain horrible.

McWhirter is not a real great prospect, he struggled at Win-Salem last year, partly due to run support, he has pitched better this year. Not one of our top 20 pitching prospects, but he could very well surprise I guess.

Frank is so much better at the stretch and catch than Kong, all Kong can do better is throw, pisses me off when they bring him in for Defense, Frank is a much better 1Bman in my mind. I watched Twins telecast last night. They said Sox have been playing better defense right after Valentine's error (or was it Jimenez's misplay into a double on Hocking smash). I agree, D has been better but still not good when compared to Twins, tho many teams lack on D when compared to Twins.

Something there you ought to be interested in, heh heh