Lillian

Nobody mentioned Rose's grand slam. He is putting up a solid slugging %. He's on a pace of 40 doubles and 25 homers, in a full season. I'm intrigued because he is purportedly a very good defensive third baseman, although he has played more first base, thus far. We may ultimately see a battle between Burger and Rose for the hot corner, with Davidson becoming a DH, if he isn't traded. Whether, or not, Burger can stick at third, is the biggest question. He is 2 years younger than Rose, so perhaps we will get a chance to see both of them get a shot on the parent club, before it all shakes out. At any rate, so far they are the 2 best hot corner prospects, in the system. However, no one should ignore Curbelo, who very well could be in the mix.

What do you think of Moncada leading off? After watching him run the bases, I'm beginning to think of him as potentially the most dynamic lead off hitter, since Ricky Henderson. As I posted the other day, he has a good eye and sees a lot of pitches. I'd rather not saddle him with the extra burden of having to hit in the #2 hole. Just let him concentrate on getting on and then turn him loose. Versus RHP 2B - Moncada RF - A. Garcia 1B - Abreu DH - Delmonico 3B - Davidson LF - Cordell CF - L. Garcia C - Narvaez/Smith SS - Anderson

They are going to need a defense first receiver, to work with all of the young arms, who will be promoted to the parent club, over the next two years. Especially next year, it won't matter how good the offensive production is, from behind the plate. The emphasis has to be on helping the pitchers. Who could they acquire, while they wait to see what they have with Collins?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 02:24 AM) Moncada's speed and the fact that he plays second base, are two factors that should hold him in good stead. As bad as he has looked, he is seeing a ton of pitches and taking his walks. He is only .25 points from posting a solid .350 OBP. With his speed, that would, at the least, make him a solid lead off hitter. If he can become a good base stealer, see lot's of pitches and post a good OBP, he might be a Ricky Henderson type player, although of course there was only one Ricky Henderson. I had originally thought that he was going to be a middle of the order bat, based upon all of the hype. However, even if that doesn't transpire, he could be an important contributor, playing solid defense, as a middle infielder and effective switch hitting lead off hitter, with significant power, at least from the left side. As is the case with so many players, I'd love to see him choke up, when hitting right handed, to see if he could at least be a good contact hitter, from that side of the plate. In any case, he has to cut down on the strike outs. With his speed, he would probably get a good share of infield hits. In any case, it's way too early to be overly concerned, and a guy with his tools should be able to ultimately be productive. I just watched last night's game, on the MLB replay video. Stone commented on Moncada's quick acceleration, and likened it to Ricky Henderson's. So, Stoney and I are thinking the same thing.

I don't know what it would take to sign Rodon to an early extension, but if I were a young pitcher, I would take the kind of deal that Sale took, rather than risk getting hurt and never getting a big pay day. The risk of an arm, or shoulder injury, which ends a career is too great, for the difference in the money. If we were talking about the difference between comfortable and rich, I could understand taking the risk. However, here we are talking about the difference between very rich and more money than one can spend. I would settle for the security, while being very rich, in a heart beat!!! I know that I'm not the first person to make this argument, but it seemed appropriate to reiterate it. Avarice is a human failing.

Moncada's speed and the fact that he plays second base, are two factors that should hold him in good stead. As bad as he has looked, he is seeing a ton of pitches and taking his walks. He is only .25 points from posting a solid .350 OBP. With his speed, that would, at the least, make him a solid lead off hitter. If he can become a good base stealer, see lot's of pitches and post a good OBP, he might be a Ricky Henderson type player, although of course there was only one Ricky Henderson. I had originally thought that he was going to be a middle of the order bat, based upon all of the hype. However, even if that doesn't transpire, he could be an important contributor, playing solid defense, as a middle infielder and effective switch hitting lead off hitter, with significant power, at least from the left side. As is the case with so many players, I'd love to see him choke up, when hitting right handed, to see if he could at least be a good contact hitter, from that side of the plate. In any case, he has to cut down on the strike outs. With his speed, he would probably get a good share of infield hits. In any case, it's way too early to be overly concerned, and a guy with his tools should be able to ultimately be productive.

Could the shin splints be bothering him? He hasn't really been completely healthy, for a while now. He had the bruised thumb, at Charlotte, then the collision, and now the shin splints.

Anyone know what kind of velocity Kopech is featuring tonight?

The standard comp is Cano, with more speed. Moncada will have to go quite a ways to match Cano's rookie year, at the same age of 22.

Avi 3 for 3, should now be #2 in AL batting average, though a long way behind Altuve.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 04:36 PM) looks like a cutter. Thanks, I couldn't imagine a 95 mph "curveball," which is how Gameday is describing it. 95 is pretty good, even for a cutter.

I'm watching MLB's "Gameday," rather than the live video. What is this 95 mph curveball that the Twins pitcher is throwing?

That performance by Miguel should help Hahn net something decent in a trade, before the 31ST.

Dedelow with a well deserved promotion. Interested to see how he does.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 04:27 PM) I'll be at today's KAN game Do you know what Rutherford's status is? Not in the lineup again, and not listed with the players on the bench.

Welcome to AA and the "pitchers' park" in Birmingham, Eloy. Opposite field homer.

Eloy homers on first at bat.

Anyone know why Rutherford has not been in the lineup, the last couple of games?

Fangraphs' top 10 is the same as MLB Pipeline's, with a slight variation in the order.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 14, 2017 -> 03:07 PM) While MIcker Adolpho has a very high ceiling, he also has the floor of a low minors bust due to his K rate. Rutherford might not have a 40 homer ceiling, but everything else about him is higher than Micker. Which of our top 4 outfield prospects turns out to be the best is unknowable, at this point. So far, Jimenez is the only one who seems like a sure thing. My point was that Rutherford does not need to be a super star, like Trout, to be a big part of the rebuild.

If Rutherford were expected to be anything like the player, that Trout turned out to be, it would have taken a lot more than what the Sox gave up, in order to get him. Failing to be realistic is going to lead to a lot of very serious disappointment. He doesn't need to become a "Super Star' to be an important part of this rebuild. The Sox already have 3 other potential young star outfielders in Jimenez, Robert and Adolfo so he doesn't need to be a big star. Wouldn't you guys be happy with a solid defensive left fielder who hit something like Melky, but with more speed?

The Sox may be competitive, a little earlier than some have believed. I think that would depend upon how quickly the pitchers are ready. If they can get Kopech, Lopez and one more, out of the other top prospects (Giolito, Dunning, Hansen, or Cease) to join Rodon and perform well, then they could be competitive in 2019. It they were to draft a mature college arm, like Brady Singer and if he could be ready after only one year in the Minors, that also could fill out the rotation. It will also depend upon whether guys like Avi, Davidson, Delmonico and Leury Garcia are retained and continue to develop, or whether the front office decides to trade them for more prospects. If the front office elects to keep them and Moncada develops into a super star by 2019, then they might be able to compete. A lineup built around Moncada, Abreu, Delmonico, Avi, Davidson and Anderson, as the core, could be good enough, if the pitching were good. In that scenario, it might make sense to acquire 1 or 2 free agents on shorter term contracts, giving time for Robert, Burger, Rutherford and Jimenez to continue to mature and develop, on the farm. I personally don't favor spending big on long term free agents, such as Machado. I'd prefer that the front office use the big money to extend the best of the young prospects, such as Moncada and Jimenez, once they establish themselves, much as they did with Anderson, premature as that move may have been.

I suppose this is as good a place as any, to get a clarification on a question I have: Using MLB.com's "Pipeline," I don't understand how they derive some of these "overall" grades. For example, here is Alec Hansen's line: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50. How do they compute a 50 overall grade from those numbers?

Blake is the youngest position player on the Kannapolis roster, and holding his own. He turned 20 in May, so it is way too early to be concerned. This video provides some interesting insight into what kind of person he is:

This report and video from 2014 provides a good insight into just how highly he was regarded, back then: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/80378086/sea...shot-at-majors/ Let's just hope that most of our current top prospects don't suffer a similar fate.