caulfield12

Sorry, completely forgot Kyle Teel. Ooops!!!!!

Debate/discuss the possibilities.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jacob-gonzalez-finally-looks-player-193704446.html

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jacob-gonzalez-finally-looks-player-193704446.html “Gonzalez’s name was coming up as high as No. 5 to the Twins. With a solid approach, Gonzalez works counts and draws walks, and he did a better job in 2023 of not getting power-happy while still finishing with a .999 OPS. The left-handed hitter has the chance to be an above-average hitter with better than average power.” That quote comes from an article written by Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline after day one of the 2023 MLB Draft, following the White Sox selecting Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez with the 15th overall pick. ... Now, obviously, the White Sox aren’t going to call up Gonzalez to be the regular shortstop at the MLB level. There’s already plenty of competition at that spot, and given his defensive ability, Chicago has no reason to move Colson Montgomery around the diamond. Quite frankly, it’s not entirely clear where Gonzalez would play if the White Sox did give him a chance in Chicago. At best, you could see him working in at second base when Chase Meidroth needs a day off, and maybe getting the occasional start at third base for Miguel Vargas.

What scouts are saying about White Sox additions Miguel V...The sum of the return for Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech and Tommy Pham is less than the individually appreciated parts, which makes the White Sox an appropriate landing spot

Wechsler met Anderson IN native Mike Shirley (who also played for Stoudt at Pendleton Heights) as a high schooler. “He was one of those guys I met at a younger age when I needed guidance and advice,” says Wechsler. “I know I got lucky.” Shirley is now Director of Amateur Scouting for the White Sox and operates The Barn training facility in Anderson. Wechsler has been one of the pitching instructors at the facility and witnessed a long list of talent walk through the door. “(Wapahani High School alum and St. Louis Cardinals left-hander) Zack Thompson grew up in our building,” says Wechsler. John Miles was Wechsler’s manager with Anderson George H. Hockett American Legion Post 127. “We were good,” says Wechsler of that Legion ball team. At Ball State, the 6-foot, 255-pound righty learned from Cardinals head coach Rich Maloney. Over the years, he has watched him recruit players that went high in the MLB Draft (65 players have been selected 72 times with six first-rounders). “He likes long athletic bodies,” says Wechsler of Maloney. “I probably didn’t fit his mold.” Projectability is another key. “You have to do that at that level,” says Wechsler. The scout takes some credit for telling Maloney about right-hander Drey Jameson (Greenfield-Central Class of 2017), who came out of high school as a 6-foot, 145-pounder and pitched two seasons at Ball State (2018 and 2019) before being chosen in the first round in 2019 by the Diamondbacks. “Drey is one of the most competitive human beings I’ve ever met,” says Wechsler. “He has a chip on his shoulder. “He’s wired different than most guys.” In 2022, 6-foot southpaw Tyler Schweitzer (Hamilton Southeastern) was drafted in the fifth round out of Ball State by the White Sox. “He was light-tossing lefty who dove in the weight room and brought up his velocity,” says Wechsler of Schweitzer. Justin Wechsler IndianaRBIFormer pro pitcher Wechsler hunts for gems as White Sox a...BY STEVE KRAHwww.IndianaRBI.com Justin Wechsler grew up playing baseball in Madison County, Ind.Born in Anderson in 1980 and briefly residing in Texas, he landed in Pendleton and was educated there…

Schultz was Sox scouts JJ Lally and Wechsler... "In summary, Lally feels that Schultz’s ceiling offers true ace potential. The scout suggests that at full evolution, his pitch mix may feature an 80-grade fastball, 70 slider and 60 changeup. Fellow Sox scout Justin Wechsler, who also has a history with Schultz adds, “He’s unique, being that long and commanding his body like that. He throws strikes, the slider is disgusting, and he’s the most even-keeled kid on the field. He’s extremely bright, never looks stressed by a situation, he’s in control all the time. It’s interesting, he has the chance to be different… different good.” Lally adds, “If you can’t dream on this guy, then you just can’t dream.” https://whitesoxdaily.substack.com/p/coming-soon His signing scout JJ Lally is clearly a believer and shared some background, “Kenny Williams told us, don’t be afraid to shoot the moon, let’s give ourselves a chance to take a real impact player.” Lally felt that sentiment resonated on draft day and reinforced the scouting department’s decision to land Schultz.

Sox Midwest scout for seven years prior to 2023...also signed Alex Call and Schweitzer, from David Letterman's Ball State Cardinals. https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-white-sox-sign-first-round-pick-colson-montgomery&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjQrcvrgr-UAxX8lmoFHXbjJuwQFnoECAYQAg&usg=AOvVaw1UrX5PNRckjQ6-0ebu1eV3

Ball State University AthleticsJustin Wechsler - Assistant Coach / Pitching Coach - Sta...Justin Wechsler was named the pitching coach in June of 2023. He begins his third season as an assistant coach in 2026. Ball State had a pair of All-Conferen...

Cubs vs White Sox Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (-110)Taillon is flirting with a 4.0 ERA despite a .214 BABIP, and 85.5 LOB%. He has benefited from great batted ball luck, stranded baserunners at an unsustainably high rate, and is still giving up plenty of runs. Martin is a very good pitcher, but he has also gotten lucky. His xERA is 3.91, more than two full runs higher than his actual ERA of 1.62. He may come back to earth against a dangerous Chicago Cubs offense that leads the majors in OBP and slots third in runs per game...

The k/ip is insane for that high an ERA.

His glove has been much better than average, and third base is no longer a power position across the majors....so players that can do both, field and hit for power, are worth their weight in gold. Ofc, he has to sustain this into the summer months. A 775-800 ops would still be a major victory.

Do we get an apology for the Jordan Hicks trade?

It seemingly has swung at least to 1/3 vs. 2/3…but the reality is that’s probably more of a reflection of the Midwest regional bias due to Harry Carey/WGN. In particular, a touristic fanbase represented by Des Moines grannies’ (hats cluttered with pins/fanny packs) bus trips, reveries over historic Wrigley and shopping tours of Northshore Chicago. But 60/40 Cubs in Chicago (considering the last three Sox seasons) for right now feels pretty fair. Still probably 85/15 merchandise/jerseys spread in favor of the Cubs, notwithstanding the arrivals of Murakami and Colson to a lesser extent…let’s say at a Dick’s Sporting Goods in the Quad Cities. It all depends on the quality/excitement level and location of the new stadium, and, ultimately, the competitiveness of the team itself.

Had really pushed the bullpen against KC. Pretty much no choice but to use Richards Hicks and Schweitzer. Hudson collapsed at the end of his outing, too.

What did you expect after three straight 100+ loss seasons? A number of those Sox fans probably sold their tickets in April at a profit when they didn’t look competitive. If you went to Dodgers at Angels, or Yankees at Mets, pretty much the same phenomenon would occur. Brewers at the Twins, Cardinals at Royals, Phillies @ Pitt, Giants at A’s, etc.

Chat GPT just eliminated three unavailable players in this draft to select Cholowsky. Another one hasn't adjusted for the freefall in Justin Lebron's stock. None of them had Lombard as a top option.

Condon is falling like a rock, too.

Sandlin hasn't demonstrated he can be a legit starter...can barely get through 2-3 innings. Sox have lost 13 of last 15 to the Cubs at home or its 13/15 overall between the two teams?

right no relation to Mike of 2007 infamy

Any updates on McDaniel/Shane Smith?

I think so...some services apply the rookie status of 50 IP and 130 at bats/pa's, etc. Schultz will be removed soon, for example. Then it will be back down to four on that list, but draft day automatically puts whoever we take anywhere from 10-25. Some would even argue Cholowsky will be in the 6-9 range right off the bat.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kentucky-derby-winning-jockeys-mlb-100554162.html Now there's the Edwin Diaz cockfighting scandal in Puerto Rico...

Lots of good stuff here. Would love to hear the internal conversations in the Boston war room on Meidroth Teel Braden K.Campbell M.Mayer and Anthony, who essentially was the "budding star/folk hero" Andrew Benintendi of that Chris Sale deal...he was NEVER going to be included, maybe not even one for one, for Crochet. Brings back memories of Courtney Hawkins and Jared Mitchell, and that other kid who was the Sox first selection but not a first founder back in the day. Keenyn Walker.

Gonzalez made sense in that he was from a winning program at Ole Miss and they were (eventually) trying to turn around a losing culture, but the high upside tools were just never there in the beginning to justify it. And likely still aren't... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Major_League_Baseball_draft Cags Wetherholt and Griffin are going to be beaten to death, but JJ also had his limitations as a future 2B as well as the injury concerns at WVU. Cags hasn't realized his power potential yet...at least not in "in game" situations. Bad luck on the front side missing on #2 Chase Burns and #4 Kurtz as well. (Maybe Nick Kurtz wasn't even a possibility after Vaughn? Also not yet convinced Bazzana or Condon will have meaningful big league careers either, but we shall see.) At any rate, a good number of teams also missed on Griffin. So the Sox now essentially have Mune instead of Kurtz and Colson/Roch or Emerson and Carlson instead of Griffin. And then Braden was #12 there in that draft as well. That's an acceptable trade off if if if: 1) They can extend those 2-3 guys AND 2) Spend $$$$ in FA or trade prospects to shore up the starting rotation with a legit frontline starter to go along with Davis Martin. Then there's the lockout and a real dearth of FA pitchers who even qualify for Point 2, maybe Peralta King Imanaga, but none of those three are even close to guarantees, either.