BearSox

They win using the awesomeness of Laynce Nix.

Make wave for more overreaction... Whats the over/under on how many "Gordon Beckham isn't ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" posts? I'm not saying swinging at all 3 first pitches is a good thing, but it's not like they were bad pitches to hit. He just didn't hit them.

I feel silly after having hope after that 9 game span and the first game against Oakland. This team isn't good.

I can understand why some people might not mind abortion, but why does anyone support late term abortion (if the child and mother aren't in serious risk). It's sickening how all the far left media is making Tiller into some type or martyr, while they avoid reporting about the asshole islamic terrorist who killed an army recruiter (and if they do report it, they'll forget to mention he's black and a muslim terrorist). I mean, I'm sorry Tiller got assassinated and in all of places in a church with probably his friends and family, but this guy was a bum who would kill any baby for 5 grand, and he deserved to be in jail. And now the media is blaming Fox News and talk radio for Tiller's death? What crap. Fine, conservatives are to blame for Tiller's death. But that means NBC and far left media is to blame for the Army Recruiters death.

Yeah, IIRC, we almost signed him. Thank goodness in retrospect. However, I wouldn't mind if we signed him to a minor league deal and hope he regained some of that form he had with Detroit. I mean, look at the two lefties we have in the pen, outside of Thornton. The only thing that bringing him in could hurt is Charlotte.

Homers are great, but I really don't care. All that matters is getting runs and when you get them. If you get good hitters, you'll score runs... you don't have to hit 200+ homers to score runs. As for Beckham, right now 3B is the best spot for him on this team. However, that doesn't mean he can't shift over to 2B or SS next year or even after the deadline.

Hudson with a really good game today, rebounding from a rough start last time out. Got the 7 inning CG... 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 5, 2009 -> 11:48 AM) Once the Barons clinch the first half, first place, I expect both Allen and Danks to be promoted assuming they still are playing well. Retherford might also, but that would mean three AAA people have to be demoted or released, which is a lot. Yeah, I agree with this. The org. is gonna make sure the Barons clinch the first half. and put some fans in the seat before they promote 2 or 3 of the top prospects. Also, by the time the first half is up, the draft will be over, right? If we go college heavy like we usually do, we could see a lot of those guys go straight to Kanny, have some Kanny guys get promoted to W-S, have some W-S guy go to Birmingham, have Danks, Allen, and maybe Viciedo or Retherford go up to Charlotte, and you get rid of the dead wood in Charlotte.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 5, 2009 -> 06:55 AM) Sounds like a certain someone I already know of... and his names rhymes with wields... It makes sense for the Rockies to stick with Stewart. It does not make sense for the Sox to stick with...whats his name now? Completely different and SoxFan101 said a lot of it already. 1.) Stewart is younger and was always considered a better prospect than Fields. 2.) Stewart actually has a good stance at bat with a very nice swing. Fields changes his swing, stance, and approach almost daily is seems like. 3.) Stewart provides a ton of power from the left side, and that's always a plus. 4.) I'm not sure how his D is, but with him being able to play 2B and LF fairly decent, I'd say he's on par with Fields. 5.) Stewart shown the ability to hit a major league fastball. 6.) While both have poor K rates and have pretty putrid averages (Stewart's is actually quite worse), Stewart has provided a lot more power. 7.) This is really Stewart's first go around in the major leagues with some consistent playing time. I really don't see the similarities.

Another thing about McLouth's D, his inability to get good reads on the ball wouldn't be much of a factor at the cell, since we have one of the smaller outfields.

I think McLouth is getting to much bashing on here. He isn't this superstar player some in the media make him out to be, but he's a good, solid player. He isn't a stud in CF and not GG caliber, but he's decent. He has very good speed and can steal about 20-30 bags a year. Also, he's got good pop and run producing ability and he can knock 20+ homers, get a lot of doubles, and drive in a good amount (depending on where he's batting in the lineup). Superstar? No, but a very solid player.

Reymond Fuentes, CF, HS Puerto Rico - 6'0", 160 lbs. (Bats L | Throws L) Scouting Report Strengths: Could be the fastest player in the whole draft and was clocked running the 60 yard dash in 6.3 seconds. The ball jumps off his bat and could potentially be a .300+ hitter with gap-to-gap power. Has great range and gets good reads from CF. Profiles as a leadoff hitter. Has good pedigree and is related to Carlos Beltran. Negatives: His arm is considered average at best, although it has looked better recently. Has a slight frame and needs to bulk up some. Doesn't have much power and won't hit many homers. Raw? Scouting Report Links http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2009/i...%3fid%3d4207135 http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/Articles/Dis...spx?article=543 http://baseballfactory.com/top100/?page=5 (ranked no. 85) http://forum.newbergreport.com/viewtopic.p...28&start=30 Statistics None recorded/can't find any. Bio From Puerto Rico and one of the fastest players in the whole draft. Is related to Carlos Beltran (mixed reports on if it's his Uncle or Cousin though). Born February 12, 1991. Video http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_i...tent_id=4521017 Projected Draft Slot Mid-Late 1st Round, won't fall past pick no. 44 (or so I've read) Player Comparison Not sure, maybe Kenny Lofton. My Take He's been really rising up draft boards lately, and we've been rumored to be interested in him. I don't know if I'd go with him at pick 23 as there seems to be a good deal of risk with him, but if he fell to 38, I'd definitely pull the trigger. Very interesting player, and unfortunately, there isn't a bunch of info out there on him.

Do you have a link for the interview?

Kyle Heckathorn, RHSP, Kennesaw St. - 6'6", 240 lbs. (Bats R | Throws R) Scouting Report Strengths: Good frame and build, and has a very good power arsenal. Has a fastball that can get up to 98, and sits around 92-94 in games. Has a hard power slider that's an out pitch which sits in the 86-90 mph range. Has a change which has shown a feel for at times. Has decent command. Negatives: More of a thrower right now and not really a pitcher. Can overthrow at times and lose his command. His mechanics need refining. His fastball has very little movement and is very straight. Throws his changeup too hard. Has had a past of some injuries and his results haven't really matched his stuff. Could be a bit of a hot head at times. Could he be destined for a bullpen role? Scouting Report Links http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/...tent=heckathorn http://forum-soxprospects.com/sreply/17107...ng-Reports.html http://www.minorleagueball.com/2009/5/29/8...rs-for-the-2009 Statistics 2009 - 3.44 ERA | 4-1 W-L | 13 GS | 1 CG | 86.1 IP | 98 SO | 27 BB | 85 H | 33 ER-42 R | 6 HR | .251 Opp. BA 2007 & 2008 - http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/H/K...eckathorn.shtml Bio http://ksuowls.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mt...orn_Kyle00.html Video http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_i...tent_id=4674625 Projected Draft Slot Mid-Late 1st Round Player Comparison Kyle Farnsworth, which might not be a bad thing if he isn't as stupid of a pitcher as Farnsworth is. Their body type's and stuff are similar though. Hard, but straight fastball with a power slider, and both did started out as starters. My Take Seems almost like a right handed version of Poreda except his fastball is straight but he has better secondary stuff (including a very good slider) coming out. We've been rumored to be interested in him and have been scouting him quite a bit (or so I've heard/read). He would definitely need some refining and is a bit of a project, but he has more upside than his teammate Chad Jenkins. I prefer Jenkins, but I wouldn't be terribly upset with Heckathorn. You can't teach the power arsenal he has. Amd, we've been having success in the past couple years, snagging guys with good pure stuff but need refining (see Poreda, Hudson, Carter, etc.).

Chad Jenkins, RHSP, Kennesaw St. - 6'4", 225 lbs. (Bats R | Throws R) Scouting Report Strengths: Work horse on the mound and a very smart pitcher. Has a low 90's heavy 2-seam fastball with late movement that induces a lot of ground balls, and a low-mid 90's 4-seamer that he can elevate for K's. A very solid changeup that is a plus pitch with late movement and a slider that is an out pitch. Has very good command of all 4 pitches and knows how to get guys out. Should be able to advance fairly quickly and should be an easy sign. Negatives: Has a soft body and conditioning might be a problem. Some question his mechanics and think he might need more refining. Has a tendency to try and over throw. Didn't face the greatest competition and doesn't have a great track record of success before this year. Scouting Report Links http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/...ontent=cjenkins http://nationalsreview.wordpress.com/2009/...w-chad-jenkins/ http://www.minorleagueball.com/2009/5/29/8...rs-for-the-2009 Statistics 2009 - 2.54 ERA | 8-1 W-L | 13 GS | 5 CG | 92 IP | 98 SO | 15 BB | 80 H | 26 ER-37 R | 3 HR | .229 Opp. BA 2007 & 2008 - http://www.thebaseballcube.com/Players/J/C...Jenkins-2.shtml Bio http://ksuowls.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mt...ins_Chad00.html Video http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_i...tent_id=4674513 Projected Draft Slot Mid-Late 1st Round, could possibly sneak into the top 10. Player Comparison Not sure, I'll say pre-injury Bartolo Colon My Take He seems like our guy at no. 23 if we decide to go with a pitcher. We've been rumored to really like his teammate Kyle Heckathorn, but Jenkins seems to me as the type of guy we'd prefer. He can advance fairly quickly, is a big work horse, and he has a very good sinker which would play nicely in U.S. Cellular Field. Plus, he's one of the safer and cheaper options in the first round. I really like him, and wouldn't be upset if we went with him. You can say he'd be too much like Broadway and McCulloch, but Jenkins' stuff is a lot better.

One wonders why the Expos ever traded him in the first place.

I have a Randy Johnson Expos Rookie card that might go up to about 10 dollars worth of value after today.

Laynce Nix seems to be really coming into his own in Cincinnati, really hitting the ball well. Also, big fan of Ian Stewart. Saw him for the first time in a while yesterday, and he's got a really nice approach at bat and has a nice swing with some serious pop. Just looked his mlb page and looked at his highlights, and man, he hits the ball hard. However, the question is when he hits it, and he's batting below .200 right now, and still K's a lot. I'd love to get him if the Rockies give up on him after this year and decide to trade him. However, I severly doubt they'll give up on him after a rough first quarter to his first year playing in the majoirty of the games in the bigs. I also watched some clips of Jeff Clement the other day, and I really like his style as well. He's been raking in AAA. Looks like he'll be limited to DH, 1B, or even LF though.

Nix really needs to stop being all pull happy. Today, with Wise on second, he got an easy pitch to poke through the right side for an easy RBI single, and instead he tried to pull it and rolled over it for an easy ground ball out to the left side. Ramirez gets into that habbit much too often as well.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jun 4, 2009 -> 04:36 PM) From everything I've read, both Jeff Locke and Gorkys Hernandez are considered pretty solid prospects. I might give you that Poreda is a better prospect than Locke, but it's not like the guys the Pirates got are scrubs or anything. I only know what I've been reading, but it seems like we would have had to overpay a lot to get him, and frankly McLouth isn't worth that. And for the record, BA has Gorkys Hernandez ranked as the 62nd best prospect in their 2009 rankings. #63? Poreda. Unless the Pirates have their own Coop, Locke's gonna be a major project. Apparently the stuff is there, but he isn't much of a pitcher.

Hopefully they get him the no. 6 jersey soon... However, with the no. 6 jersey, you have to contend with the ghost of Charley Lau... on the other hand though, that might be a good thing, since Lau was a great hitting coach. hmmmm... But you definitely don't want 15, that's the curse of the Betemit.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 4, 2009 -> 10:21 AM) Their #4 and #7 prospect with Charlie Morton as an add-in is a nothing package? Huh... I'm looking at the minor league numbers, and they aren't crap. Morton could be decent, as he has done good in AAA, but then again, before he hit AAA, he got hit good in all his previous stops and had an ERA of over 6 in the majors. Could go either way, depending on if he just figured out minor league hitters, or if he's figured it out altogether. Jeff Locke has had 1 good year in the minors, but other than that, he has sucked and his peripherals are terrible. Hernandez might hit for a high average, but he doesn't walk a lot, and has really no power. He's the best prospect the Pirates got back in return, and he isn't all that great of a prospect, IMO. You don't trade your best player for a mediocre group of prospects.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jun 4, 2009 -> 10:00 AM) or Merle Haggard I hope the Slayer has broad shoulders casue if we lose and he goes o-fer and make an error then this site will go nuts and demand he be sent down for more seasoning. Merle Haggard is some good s***. I think my favorite song of his is White Line Fever.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Jun 4, 2009 -> 09:48 AM) Marist died a little for me when they changed from the Redskins to the Redhawks. luckily for me, they made the change in 97. I was 6 at the time, and didn't know they changed their name until after I already started school there. So for me, it was always the Redhawks. But I can easily understand why for some Marist would die a little for them when they gave in and changed their names. In retrospect, I think it would have been badass if we stayed as the Redskins.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 4, 2009 -> 09:55 AM) Because Prior and Tom House decided a long time ago that nothing needs to be changed, because its sooooo perfect. So anytime the subject comes up, Prior says nothing needs to be changed and his elbow injuries and shoulder capsule injuries are freak injuries, nothign to do with his mechanics. Whatever, IIRC Mike Marshall predicted this stuff happening to Prior Mike Marshall probably predicts every pitcher who doesn't throw his way will get injured.