Lillian

The unanticipated emergence of offensive production from Avi, Davidson, Leury and Sanchez means that the Sox may not have to completely tear it down, in order to rebuild. Although probably no one expects Avi to win a batting title, for which he is currently in the lead, he does appear to be a legitimate offensive weapon. Davidson's 17 homers, in just 196 at bats, represent a home run, every 11.5 at bats, which puts him in the very top echelon of sluggers. If he is for real, the Sox could be just one left handed bat short of a very formidable middle of the order. Leury and Sanchez now appear to both be at least adequate offensive contributors, while filling two important defensive positions. It should be noted that all 4 of them are still young enough to be part of the core, going forward. It's great that they have the next wave of players coming, which should afford them an opportunity to realize the stated goal of "sustained success". When Moncada, Robert, Collins, Burger and some of the other very promising youngsters are ready, they could have a terrific core, going forward, however that probably won't happen until 2020. In the meantime, there may be a way to compete as early as next year, providing they don't trade Quintana, a move for which there now appears to be much less urgency. If they can fill that seemingly perennial need for a middle of the order left handed bat, and find at least 2 starters, out of that stacked pipeline, to fill out the rotation of Rodon and Quintana, couldn't they compete in the very winnable Central Division? Among the top prospects, who are the two most likely to be able to contribute to next year's starting rotation? Giolito, Kopech, Hansen, Dunning, Lopez, Fulmer and ??? What do think of the following moves?: 1) Trade Frazier, Melky and Robertson 2) Keep the young relievers and make either Jones or Kahnle the closer. 3) Sign a veteran free agent, left handed hitting, high OBP slugger to play either Left, First or DH. "Caulfield" suggested a first baseman, which could make sense. Starting lineup next year: CF Leury Garcia, or maybe Engel has figured it out. RF Avi Garcia 1B/DH Abreu 1B/DH LH Bat? 3B Davidson SS Anderson 2B Sanchez LF Delmonico C Navaerez/Smith

Anderson has taken a lot of pitches, out of the zone, in his last couple of at bats. That would obviously pay off for him, if he could learn to do it consistently.

Davidson is the type of hitter who would probably not succeed at being a bench player. He is the slugger type, who needs to get in a groove, as he seems to be, at the moment. He's young enough, and has several years of control. It would make more sense to keep developing him, including his defense, and let him hold down 3RD. No one is pushing him, and it will likely be at least 2020, before Burger is ready to challenge anyone for that spot.

Davidson has now hit one homer in every 12 at bats, almost all of them vs. RHP. Having watched Avi develop, it's hard not to be optimistic that Matt may be emerging as a regular part of this rebuild.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jun 13, 2017 -> 04:52 PM) Lillian... Thanks for acknowledging my previous input. I already posted the following comment, in the "Day One Draft" thread, in response to "bmags," who also mentioned how pleased he thought I must be: I'm especially pleased at the underlying philosophy. You can imagine my reaction to this quote from Hostetler: "We needed power, especially left-handed power," said Hostetler, before preparing for Day 2 of the Draft. "When you look at the pieces [general manager] Rick [Hahn] brought in through trade and what we did last year in the Draft, the middle of the order bats were important for us." I'm obviously very happy with the picks.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 09:58 PM) Lillian will be happy. ABSOLUTELY!! I'm especially pleased at the underlying philosophy. You can imagine my reaction to this quote from Hostetler: "We needed power, especially left-handed power," said Hostetler, before preparing for Day 2 of the Draft. "When you look at the pieces [general manager] Rick [Hahn] brought in through trade and what we did last year in the Draft, the middle of the order bats were important for us."

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 11, 2017 -> 07:39 PM) http://www.hardballtimes.com/how-many-stri...ts-is-too-many/ Thanks "Caulfield," that's exactly what I wanted to see. It reaffirms my concerns over Kendall's extraordinarily high strike out rate.

Can any of you recall a collegiate player with a strike out rate comparable to Kendall's, who became an outstanding Major League hitter?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 01:12 PM) Guys that make the majors and become serviceable players are not a dime a dozen. "A dime, a dozen" is just a figure of speech, of course. What I was attempting to say is that it doesn't require a lot of talent, or money, to acquire them. If you need a serviceable player, he is usually available. It's the big run producers that demand significant talent, in return, if a team attempts to trade for them, or acquire them through free agency.

"Does he have like a Cameron Maybin middle, ending up as a good fielder with huge Ks, but still a serviceable player?" Again, guys like that are "a dime, a dozen". Why waste a number 11 pick, on that?

QUOTE (oneofthemikes @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 09:13 AM) Gross. Way too much swing and miss in his game. Don't want another toolsy athlete that will be great if we can teach him how to hit. I can just see him becoming another Mitchell or Hawkins. I agree with you, entirely. From an economic perspective; position players who can play good defense and have speed, can always be acquired relatively inexpensively. It is the middle of the order, good hitters whose contracts create a strain on the payroll. Kendall does not profile as that kind of player. My preference is for a potentially big run producer, ideally from the left side, regardless of the position they play. I know some of you are not high on Pavin Smith, but if he were still there, I can't imagine that the Sox would take Kendall over him.

I think that the next step in his development should be the ability to draw more walks. Being more selective, will also provide him with more opportunities to hit the kinds of pitches which he can drive for extra bases. He's still swinging at too many balls out of the zone, although he has nevertheless been able to maintain his average.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jun 5, 2017 -> 02:02 PM) Its amazing how many hitting experts there are out there. Amazing anyone could play baseball before Youtube. Yes, but do you agree with his analysis? I hope that Kendall has learned to point his front foot more toward the pitcher. Maintaining his foot angle toward the plate, while striding, is not only not conducive to generating power, but it looks like it would put a lot of stress on that leg.

I just watched this interesting analysis of Kendall's mechanics, by "Rebellion" and it's a little alarming: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/3/6/14...lb-draft-report It's the last video on the page and it may have already been posted here, but just in case it hasn't, it's worth watching.

Perhaps that thumb is still bothering him. I hope that's the reason. He was 0 for 5 today and drew the "hat trick". His S.O. are getting to be a little alarming.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Jun 4, 2017 -> 03:47 PM) Meh, he's 1 WAR right now, which is fine, but his BABIP is high, his strikeout percentage is 20%. Good for him for batting .300 though. Moncada should be a higher ceiling than that. Is someone suggesting that Sanchez is the better player, either now, or in the future? The question is; if they were both good enough to play, where should they fit defensively? Sanchez is an outstanding defensive second baseman. Not only is Moncada not a very good defender, at that position, but several of us have made the obvious point that his tools are much better suited to centerfield. Having a great arm and speed are kind of wasted at second.

Do you guys agree with this assessment of Pavin Smith, in this just published article linked below? What am I missing? I don't understand why anyone wouldn't be overwhelmingly impressed with a college hitter, with his rare combination of plate discipline and power, especially from the left side. I realize that he doesn't play a premium position, but you probably know how much I value middle of the order, left handed hitters. It's a lot easier to fill holes in the lineup, with average hitters, who provide plus defense. Big offensive production is harder to come by and very costly through free agency, even if it has to come from first base, or DH. Although he's expected to go in the first round, there doesn't seem to be a consensus regarding exactly where. Would you take him, if he were available, at #11: http://www.athleticsnation.com/2017/6/2/15...kland-as-rumors

I watched the MLB "Gameday" for the last 3 innings Giolito pitched. It looked to me like the umpire was squeezing him pretty tightly on the strike zone. I saw an awful lot of pitches that were right on the lower and upper edge of the strike zone, which were called balls.

Roberto is pronounced Ro bear to. When you eliminate the last letter, it becomes Ro bear. In Spanish, "E" is always pronounced like the English long "A", as in "late". Therefore, it would never be pronounced like our "Robert". Spanish is not my native language, but I've lived in Costa Rica for 27 years, and that is my best understanding. If someone has perfect Spanish, please correct me if I'm wrong.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ May 21, 2017 -> 07:40 PM) Eh.. Borchard was never a speedster/base stealer at any point as a prospect. Borchard wasn't a base stealing threat, but I seem to remember that he did have good foot speed, much like Avi. Perhaps I'm mistaken. Wasn't he signed as a center fielder?

Of course, he is not going to keep up this pace. After all, in addition to hitting .350, he is also on pace to have 80 extra base hits, and drive in 136 runs. That would put him in an elite class, with Trout and Harper. I doubt that even the most optimistic of us would expect that. However, If he can hit around .300 with 30 doubles and 30 homers, while driving in about 100 runs, he would be an extremely valuable offensive contributor. That's my hope, and this first 1/4 of the season is certainly encouraging.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 21, 2017 -> 07:08 PM) Maybe I'm crazy but I'd take George Kenneth Griffey Jr. and his 5 tool talents over Avi anyday. Hawk was not quoted as having said that Avi is the best 5 too player he has ever seen. What he said was; "Avi is the best 5 tool prospect that the Sox have had", in Hawk's many years with the organization. He went on to list some of the outstanding 5 tool prospects, such as Daryl Boston, Kenny Williams and Brian Anderson. He forgot to mention Joe Borchard, but that was another one, whom I sure that he would include in that group.

The only thing that he could still improve upon is his ability to draw more bases on balls. I suspect that teams will begin to more frequently pitch around him and if he can take his walks, then his offensive game will be complete. During last nights romp in Seattle, Hawk said that Avi is the best 5 tool talent that the Sox have had, in his entire career, in the booth.

Just an interesting observation: In 2015, Charlotte had another young switch hitting second baseman. He was a year older than Moncada is now, and he didn't have his power or speed, but he did put up some very impressive numbers at AAA that year. His name was Carlos Sanchez, a.k.a. Yolmer Sanchez. Here are the comparative stats for Moncada's season to date, and below are the 2015's AAA totals, for Sanchez, who spent most of the season in Chicago: (Sorry I can't seem to format it better) G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS 33 135 27 45 69 4 1 6 13 17 1 42 10 2 .333 .405 .511 .916 29 131 17 45 61 10 0 2 17 4 0 28 5 2 .344 .368 .466 .833 Note Moncada's 31% strike out rate, vs. Yolmer's 21%. Maybe we shouldn't be shocked that Sanchez is enjoying success, so far with the Sox.

The 30% strike out rate doesn't concern anyone? Although he is on pace to hit 30 homers, he only has 3 doubles and 1 triple, which isn't much for a guy with his speed. I don't think that it is accurate to say that he is dominating AAA. He certainly has not done enough to suggest that he has nothing more to prove, at that level. Striking out 30% of the time, while compiling 10 extra base hits, and driving in only 11 runs, in the first 28 games, is not awe-inspiring. Considering his age, what exactly is the hurry?