harfman77

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 06:28 PM) Is there any chance Jackson could be persuaded to go back to catching or he's 100% OF/DH/1B material right now? Has anyone actually seen him play? How athletic is he, in terms of playing the outfield? Comps? Are we talking Brandon Inge? The problem isn't his willingness to catch, it's that you don't hold back a bat like that by making him catch. Comp is closer to Wil Myers than Inge.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 03:39 PM) Minor league? Sure Charlotte has the AAA equivalent of 90's Barves pitching at this point, right? Maybe Hanson then is the version of Smoltz that goes to the bullpen and dominates.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 03:13 PM) I feel the exact opposite. Hoffman or Kolek is who I'd take. I am feeling more and more like the Astros take the local kid Kolek at #1. The Marlins are kind of a wildcard cause I think they could any of Rodon, Aiken, or Hoffman. It will be really interesting to see where the Sox go if Kolek and Hoffman are off the board at 1 and 2. They seem to be out on Rodon, Beede seems to be a #2/3 at his ceiling, and Aiken is a high school pitcher, so drafting him may make Hawks head explode.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 01:34 PM) What better time to start developing you own position players than now? The issue isn't that you shouldn't take a position player, its that there isn't a position player in the draft that warrants being selected in the top 3 picks. You always pick the best player that you can sign. Trying to fill major league holes with the draft is a path to disappointment. Once Beck or Danish are ready, RH can move Danks or Johnson to fill offensive holes on the ML roster. People get stuck on Jackson because of his position, but he will not be a C in the majors, and probably never in the minors either. There are several position player prospects that are going to be appealing to the Sox in round 2, but again, I think they will take a guy that slips from the first round with that pick.

I think re-location becomes a very real possibility once JR dies and the team is sold. That is going to be a heck of a mess anyway as none of the other members in the group seem to know how much of the team they own, you can bet that is going to be a messy court battle when the Reinsdorfs reveal they have secretly acquired 80%(random number) of the team in deals over the years. With the current membership group and the overlap with the Bulls organization, there is little chance that anything happens in the next 4-5 years.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 03:13 PM) Any word on what has happened to him? Injury? He has a bum shoulder, and its probably cost him his career. If he could ever get things back it would be a heck of a deal, but thats far from likely at this point. There are some people that have said that his mechanics are jacked up from pitching through the injury, but I think the Rangers cutting him loose probably shows he has little left in the tank.

An NL scout on aggressive assignments: ""What you're trying to avoid is something like the [2012 White Sox first-round pick] Courtney Hawkins situation; a situation where you put a kid at a level that he's not ready for -- injured shoulder or not -- and you have no choice but to have him repeat the level again. There's nothing inherently wrong with having a kid spend two years in the same place, but it's less than ideal, especially for the player's confidence." "

Notes from ESPN Draft Blog: They say Rodon no longer a lock for top 3, but won't last beyond 6. Says destinations are Houston, Marlins, Cubs, or Mariners. Scouts were impressed with Beede battling back after giving up 3R in the first inning. Beede has been linked with Twins, Sox, and Rockies. Brady Aiken K'd 10 in a no-hitter last week. Now has 40K/24IP. Mentions prep Grant Holmes, says he will be a quick mover, no ace potential but a solid #2. Lack of projection will keep him from a top 5 pick. Scout says Turner may just be a utility guy, likely mid-first rounder. Kyle Schwarber is #1 C now, Pentecost's stock has slipped. http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/mlb-draft/post?id=1499

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 6, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) Anyone who doesn't want their ballplayers to have extreme confidence has no idea what they are talking about. It is a game that is 70% failure, and will eat you up if you are soft at all. Ahem....Buddy Bell

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 09:54 AM) That Mariners deal is also based on the fact that they are the primary team in Oregon, Idaho, and Northern California. That gets split in half if a team moves to Portland. The Mariners deal is also with DirecTV, so if FSN wants to get back in the region they will need a primary team to cover the same territory, and a team in Portland would be the primary team in the regions listed, so it may depreciate the value of the Mariners deal to DirecTV, it would not preclude a Portland team from getting a similar deal. Personally, I think Portland is a terrible re-location site, I am not sure the area has enough interest in baseball to warrant a team being placed there.

This weeks stat update: Carlos Rodon - 8 IP 11H 6R 3ER 0BB 5K Season - 8 GS 2.44 ERA 55.1 IP 49H 30R 15ER 18BB 60K Tyler Beede - 8 IP 5H 4R 4ER 2BB 6K Season - 8 GS 2.81 ERA 48 IP 30H 24R 15ER 16BB 52K Jeff Hoffman - 8 IP 7H 1R 1ER 1BB 7K Season - 8 GS 3.40 ERA 53 IP 42H 23R 20ER 19BB 52K Sean Newcomb - 6.1 IP 6H 4R 4ER 3BB 8K Season - 7 GS 0.78 ERA 46 IP 20H 5R 4ER 22BB 54K Newcomb had a poor start and gave up his first ER of the year and Rodon got hit pretty hard, but still managed 8IP. Hoffman had probably his best start of the season against one of the best teams in the conference. Rodon's arrow is pointing down, Houston has to be weighing their options now between Aiken, Kolek, Rodon, and Hoffman.

I think the Sox grab Hoffman and they give him the slot value for the number four pick which saves them $1.1M, if you add that to their second round money that makes their second selection worth ~$2.4M or about the same as the 16th pick. That would be huge in grabbing someone that slips due to signability issues, like a Toussaint, Gatewood, Newcomb, or Davidson. The Sox have to offer at least 4,577,200 to the number three pick in order to receive compensation. I think they get the guy they want underslot and have a really good draft.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 09:43 AM) Someone said OKC and Indianapolis were the two best markets in terms of local t.v. rights/shares. Always thought Charlotte would be viable. Louisville, Salt Lake City and Buffalo used to have the biggest AAA attendance once upon a time. Las Vegas, but they have the same issues with non-permanent residents/tourism as the Florida teams do. And just too hot in the middle of the summer, unless you build a domed stadium, and nobody really wants those anymore. That said, nothing can touch the Chicago media market in terms of competitive advantage, even for the second team in a city. That was based on the regional sports networks not currently having any summer sports inventory and having the financial track record of giving out big deals. SLC is an interesting place as one of the fastest growing markets, they share a regional sports network with Colorado so they have all the Rockies games currently, but if another group, like FS wanted to get into the region they would have a chance at getting a huge deal. Or they could start a network with the Jazz and pay themselves whatever.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 08:34 AM) Outside of calling Oakland --> San Jose relocation, there really isn't a viable relocation option out there for teams. The article also neglects to mention the massive cut in TV revenue a Chicago team would suffer moving to Portland. The supposed increase in attendance wouldn't even make a dent in that difference. Actually, based on recent TV agreements, the Sox would get a significant bump in TV revenue. Using the Mariners as an example, their new TV deal provides them $2B over 17 years. Thats ~118M/year, almost $70M more per season than the current Sox deal. The deal also included a majority equity stake in the network. The Sox will re-negotiate their deal in 2018 as it expires in 2019, but their is a lot of speculation that the live sports "bubble" will pop in the near future. Re-location makes a ton of sense for the Sox financially, but there is too much history for that ever to be a reality.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 11:09 PM) Throw out the college stats. You scout on what can be. Hoffman has the most upside. Verlander & Wainwright are legit comps. He's a stellar athlete with velo, body and feel. Flashes 70FB/60CB/55CH already. Lauman has been all over him since before the cape. So with all that said, the Marlins will surely take him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 4, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) Trouble is, we've got what, 3 guys we might be able to say are best fit at 2b? Semien, Sanchez, Johnson, all of them with promise. If more than 1 of them are big leaguers, someone's going to have to play a position other than 2b. I agree, I think they need to start working Johnson out in CF.

The pen is a work in progress as most expected it would be. I think it will be a very good pen when we get deeper into the season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 4, 2014 -> 08:48 AM) I feel like I've seen this movie before. (and no, I'm not saying Sandoval will turn into Dunn, but he's such a streaky and inconsistent hitter that I just don't want them investing a ton into him) I like Sandoval, though he doesn't have tremendous power, he does get on base at a pretty good clip. I still prefer Headley for this team above everyone else that will be available in FA, though he turns 30 in a month and may be on the decline by the time the Sox are ready to contend. I think Headley would put up a line near .268/27/100 every season at the Cell.

If Semien doesn't pan out, I still have high hopes for Sanchez, just 21 starting his second full season at AAA after a tremendous performance in the DSL. I think he is a better option at 2B than SS in the long run defensively.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 04:43 PM) Lindstrom has blown every closing opportunity he's been given for the past decade. But hey, our staff knows better I guess. '...except for two days ago.

The good news about Jones is that people wanted him gone for the first couple months of last season, so we know he can turn it around when he starts throwing strikes.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 04:40 PM) LOL, this pen is terrible today. This season. In three games.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 11:11 AM) Flowers has a track record of poor performance and his first two starts has yielded a 66% K rate. Semien is 4 years younger, in his first real stint, and has put barrel on the ball at a much greater rate so far. Sample size aside, feel free to give me one good reason why Flowers should be starting over Nieto today? His defense? lol I have as many hits above A ball as Nieto does perhaps?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 10:28 AM) Very annoyed that Nieto isn't starting I think Nieto ends up being Danks personal catcher and sees very few starts beyond that.

Whoa...Guess Leury only hits in the clutch.