caulfield12

I’m resigned to starting a Nick Madrigal thread to go along with Voldemort... Collins not in the starting line-up, sigh. Basabe and Adolfo the only 800+ ops guys now at W-S of the legit prospects.

The White Sox (and no other MLB team) would have drafted him at #8 if they believed that... Other than Royce Ring, Poreda...Burdi in the supplemental round, I can’t remember ANY teams in Major League Baseball taking guys who projected to come out of the bullpen in the 1st round. It’s just not done, except for a once in a generation reliever, who’s undoubtedly being drafted as a starter and will fail in that quest along with way.

If the average major league starter is averaging 94-95 right now...why would we want a pitcher with only two pitches who’s below that line or peaking at it right now? When’s the last time a White Sox-developed minor league pitcher with a “plus” slider or curve or changeup (other than Rodon’s slider) actually came to the big leagues and sustained that initial “plus” scouting report from college as a major league pitcher? Why not just go out and do the scouting to find a Mikolas (like the Cards did) in another organization that’s close/r to the big leagues? There’s going to be Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi (hell of an arm, but most potential unrealized), Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Keuchel, Lance Lynn (could be a bargain), Charlie Morton, Pomeranz, Garrett Richards, JA Happ, Tyson Ross, Ryu, Ervin Santana....surely they can FIND one bargain from that list when all of the big money will be going to Machado/Harper at the top of the class.

Who have been the five best position players the White Sox have identified in the last 5-7 years (other than Abreu)? They’re all middle infielders: Semien Eduardo Escobar Tim Anderson Fernando Tatis, Jr. Yoan Moncada (I’ll admit that’s a bit of a stretch, as he was a 3B but was projected by many at 2B) You can even add Carlos Sanchez, Leury Garcia and Tyler Saladino (starting over Arcia this year before he went down with the ankle injury) if you want... That’s a much better track record than the pitching, where you have Rodon (that was as obvious as Moncada), Alec Hansen...and, what else?

We’re #4 (or #27 depending on how you look at it). Actually, that’s NOT a good thing, in terms of RS/RA differential. Marlins, Orioles (especially after trading Machado/Britton), Royals (see Orioles) and Reds (much tough division in terms of depth/quality) probably are going to push us back to picking #4/5 (again)...especially if they bring up Kopech/Jimenez.

You’re saying Singer for that reason....I’ll choose to go with Madrigal, who is the ultimate “gym rat” if there was such a thing for the sport of baseball.

http://amp.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/hometown-report/article212010339.html Blueprint of a Baseball Player: Nick Madrigal There’s no doubt in my mind if you look at all his intangibles, work/practice ethic, leadership, baseball IQ....he’s the pick of the “new direction” of White Sox scouting/talent evaluation. Just because they haven’t turned the corner with Giolito and Fulmer doesn’t naturally make Singer the better choice...any more than they shouldn’t have picked SInger if Fulmer were duplicating their August/September numbers from last year.

Only because of the new Takatsu frisbee pitch...

Pitchforks out if it’s Singer...

freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control We can argue about libertarianism (freedom from government intrusion in their healthcare, freedom to have marijuana be legalized, etc.) vs. Trump’s arbitrary or despotic government. Other than attempting to limit assault weapons, ObamaCare and drone attacks in the Middle East, what has the “other side” done to take away your freedoms and liberties (keeping in mind that we have sacrificed a LOT of them due to the Patriot Act in the wake of 9/11)? Isn’t America still the best place to be an entrepreneur, to launch a start up? The least amount of government restrictions (now) on businesses small and large (of course, that’s not incorporating the very real costs of environmental damage being done, but short-term profits and more jobs, so more or less okay)? As a libertarian, surely you don’t want more intrusion of “Christian-first” theology into political life, do you? The problem is that you don’t see how your posts come off because none of us can be truly objective about our prejudices and biases...in this case, throwing all of those controversial/divisive beliefs behind something vague or innocuous-sounding like “freedom/liberty” doesn’t mean they’re just swept under the rug and other posters will ignore them. Today, you attacked me on religion and I’m pretty sure you can’t even come up with a single thing I’ve ever argued about religion (positive or negative) simply because, well, Strange Sox, Soxbadger, Illinilaw, Rock Raines, PTAC, Dick Allen and myself (along with Reddy) have been a FEW of the most consistent posters in Filibuster over the last year or so and we’re easy targets. And the “flippant” back and forth we now get (that substitutes for real/substantive political conversation) is simply a reflection of the fact that 95% of Americans don’t have the time or inclination to really learn the in’s and out’s of the policies that are being discussed by our leaders. Distractions. Do you really believe that our president wants to talk about policy, and to learn some nuances...? That’s a bridge too far, even for his supporters.

Also, amazing how much Latin American hitting talent CLE has unearthed...basically donated a DH/cleanup hitter to the best team in the NL. That doesn’t even include the best catching prospect in baseball, Mejia.

We need a strike thrower who won’t throw 90-100 pitches in 3+ innings (Fister-esque). Easier said than done apparently.

Not sure what the heck Moncada was doing (ensuring the RBI with no outs?)...guess he assumed the throw was going through to home. Pretty sloppy baserunning and fielding the last 10 days. Hopefully he’s bottomed out.

Isn’t that reactive stance something we are trying to get away from...?

Except this (attendance dominance) didn’t happen for good until the 1984-1989 abyss for the Sox. We all know the reasons. At least 50% self inflicted.

Needs to attack that 3-1 fastball...guess he was looking offspeed, outguessed himself.

You just described most of America. How many would you consider to be well-informed? Fox News, CNN, MSNBC...but how many Americans also read The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, etc.? Reading is a critical skill that’s rapidly decreasing in an age where people are more obsessed with posting their latest meals, vacation photos and selfies at Instagram. And, IMO, until you spend years and years outside of America, you don’t really understand the positives and negatives of what it’s like on the outside. Things like civil rights and privacy (in China, there’s a camera every 50 meters and police are now using real time AI ingrained into their sunglasses to track criminals), poverty/homelessness, education, infrastructure, technology....are all quite eye-opening. Try spending one year in Kansas City, Kansas, as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow and you’ll see the real America that exists only in your imagination (and the news). See the poverty in Mumbai (Kibera). Try walking down streets with soldiers armed with machine guns posted every 100 meters like in Colombia. Visit Laos/Cambodia/Bangladesh and interact with begging children who should be in school but are forced by parents or gangs into street life. You’ll be singing a different tune about privilege and “us” having it so easy and “you” having it so rough.

It does suck for single mothers or 75-85 year old greeters at Wal-Mart...

Rick Hahn never curses!

But those are not for franchise value...

If you went by the HoF examples, you’d only have Chris Sale and Mark Buehrle (a few votes, let’s say 10%). So we suck at drafting (especially position players)...well, there’s some earth-shattering news.

Obviously, their numbers in both those categories were Top 10 in 2006 or 2007...so what does that make them? The potential (untapped) of a major market franchise trapped by a decade of mediocrity forcing them back into mid-market status, I guess? We don’t know for sure because we’ve never had a consistently-winning White Sox team in any of our lifetimes....unless you go back to the 50’s and 60’s, when the Yankees and playoff format usually blocked them.

I’m 48. I watched a ton of those Bulls’ games back at that time. Pippen is a Top 50 All-Time NBA player, but if he’s drafted by an expansion team and has to play all by himself...I’m not even sure he becomes anything resembling the final product in Chicago. And Irving or Love (especially Irving if he can overcome injuries) both have a chance to be Top 50 (at least top 75-100) talents by the ends of their playing careers. As someone said, Jordan just had the the heart and soul of an assassin. That competitiveness has caused him so many problems both on and off the court, but it’s one divider between the two. Not saying I’m buying into all this “Lebron’s a nice guy, but not as good in the clutch” stuff either, but if you watched the Bulls like I did...well, it’s easy to have recency bias, there’s no way to compare the different defensive schemes both faced, we can go around and around in circles. Lebron’s definitely a more creative passer and has improved his outside shooting well beyond anything Michael did (of course, MJ would have adjusted and figured out a way to get more arc on his outside shots in today’s game IMO). He didn’t ever need to score from WAY outside, so he didn’t work as hard to add that one element. But Jordan, on a consistent basis, was clearly the better defensive player as well.

Reed in the 3rd? Nate Jones in the 5th? Hector Santiago went really late in the draft he came out of...although taking relievers in the 3rd-5th round is (still) higher than many/most organizations go. I would have to look him up again, but Marcus Semien would be a pretty good example. Trayce Thompson went relatively high, but he’s been disappointing (obviously). Micah Johnson? Saladino?

The one area that makes sense is due to our division...but we still can’t PUSH too much (although I do think they have to make some free agent splashes as quickly as this offseason, and I’ve already addressed who). Minnesota already find themselves 6 1/2 GB and could be knocked out with a sweep by CLE this early. They also are going to have to start rebuilding/reloading because they have expiring contracts for guys like Mauer (another competitor for Abreu?), Dozier, Santana, etc. Maybe Logan Morrison, can’t remember if he signed for 1 or 2. Odorrizi also becomes an interesting trade/don’t trade case. Addison Reed, who they just acquired as a FA? At any rate, what’s their core to rebuild? Well, Berrios and Sano, but both are having disappointing seasons and won’t sign long-term extensions into FA. Buxton is closing in on official bust status after the strong ending to last year. Finally, Romero and Kepler are “good/really good” players but not All-Stars. They’re really STUCK, after bringing in a bunch of reinforcements this offseason. The White Sox will have three divisional opponents WELL behind them in the rebuilding and only the Indians ahead of us...that’s awfully tempting to try to chase down CLE (who will lose Brantley, Kipnis and Encarnacion is falling off year by year) in 2019 instead of waiting for 2020/2021.