caulfield12

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,0,695140.story Ventura splitting the difference on the SABES, "feel/instinct" argument....leaning more towards "feel" until he gets completely comfortable with the supporting numbers that validate them.

Would trade Wilkins in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Thornton and Crain for down the stretch. Unfortunately, the price will be a lot higher.

Cue PT Barnum comments if Keon is a bust, lol. The White Sox operation is like a circus, etc. At least he has a cool name, like Keyon Dooling of Missouri/NBA fame.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 09:29 PM) You don't make a draft decision based on Hector Santiago, Jose Quintana or the like. But you do based on money, at least the White Sox history with the draft. And they apparently feel pretty confident in their ability to find pitching talent (at least at the present moment) from other sources. Who knows, in 2-3 weeks, we might be wondering what happened to Quintana as he's outrighted for assignment...or he might turn out to be the biggest "stealth" acquisition in the history of KW's tenure. The presence of Danks and Sale probably have a little something to do with this, though. Although $$$>BPA.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 10:21 PM) Also fun that last year, the Sox have more picks and I think got a better pick in the comp round then what we took last year in our 1st pick (47th overall) in Walker. Not saying I don't like Walker, but there is just something fun about getting a couple guys with the ability to grow into potential middle of the order hitters. You always worry about those speed guys. KW has struggled for a decade to find a competent leadoff hitter but finally "lucked" into one with DeAza. From everything you read, Buxton doesn't seem like he projects to give them much power...but, then again, in that huge stadium, they need defense and XB hitters, not unlike the old Cardinals/Royals rosters that were built for Astroturf.

The other thing with Smoral is that we already have another guy in our bullpen in Hector Santiago who has similar or better stuff to make the transition to starter, along with Quintana. Young impact hitters=GOOD The more of them, the better. Last time we had this was the 2009 BIRM roster at the beginning of the season.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 09:15 PM) Did Sox/Blue Jays share the same scouts? Sox were rumored to like Nay as well. See the Marco Paddy Nexus/Paradigm Shift. Did he bring anyone else over with him?

Can't get TOO upset about Smoral. If we can just dig up players like Quintana out of nowhere and they can come in and contribute...we don't have any 1B candidates legitimately besides POSSIBLY Wilkins, and he's still more of a fringe prospect at this point.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 09:00 PM) I'd be interested in seeing Viciedo's stats on what kinds of pitches he's been getting his HR's. We keep hearing he hits the curve better than the fastball. So the league might try to adjust to him then we'll see how he adjusts back. In any case no need to lock anyone up at this point. Mostly sliders. The difference is that he's been taking fastballs to the opposite field for singles...so opposing pitchers are going to have to make another adjustment, since he's striking out much less frequently. The one of Seattle's Pryor, pretty sure it was an 88 MPH slider...the one he jacked to straightaway RF.

What would be very hilarious...if the White Sox drafted Ozney Guillen just to spite Ozzie, lol.

Wonder how far Smoral does end up dropping...? Has to be signability, right?

Cue Eddie Pearson/Brandon Allen comparisons. Guess Smoral's a big signability question.

With the 13th-overall pick the White Sox selected high school outfielder Courtney Hawkins from Carroll High in Corpus Christi, Texas. This is the first time the White Sox have gone with a high school player in the first round since 2001. Hawkins stands 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. He's a freak athlete who fits the power-hitting right field profile to a T. He shows excellent power potential and a strong arm, as he's also been up to 95 mph off the mound. Hawkins is playing in the Texas high school semi-finals this week. The highlight of my spring was Hawkins doing a backflip at USA Baseball's National High School Invitation. Watch the video here. baseballamerica.com KW, in the contract, an insurance rider...no back-flips!!

Duke has had plenty of first-round picks in basketball, but 5-foot-9 righthander Marcus Stroman became the school's first first-rounder in the June MLB draft. The Blue Jays made it happen with the No. 22 overall selection—their second first-round selection, following prep outfielder D.J. Davis at No. 17 overall. Stroman jumped into first-round consideration last summer when he struck out 17 of the 25 batters he faced with USA Baseball's college national team as the closer. Then he performed consistently all spring for a poor Duke team, ranking second in the nation in strikeouts (136, behind Andrew Heaney's 140) and third in strikeouts per nine innings. Stroman gets strikeouts both with his fastball, which sits 92-94 mph, and he has added a changeup and cutter in the last year as he evolved from an infielder/closer into a starter. He always has had his wipeout slider that can make hitters look silly. He should be one of the fastest players to the majors in this year's class, and some scouts think he can start. But they all know he can be a big league reliever in short order. www.baseballamerica.com

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 09:37 PM) McCullers + Hawkins would make for a hell of a talented 1-2 draft punch Any relation of Lance, the former SD Padre?

Option 1: Free Wil Myers! Bringing Myers’ hot bat up to KC is probably the favorite option amongst Royals fans, but the question is, where? Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon are both under contract for at least the next two years and the club still has no idea what it has in Lorenzo Cain. Mike Moustakas is firmly entrenched at third. The only real option this season would be to send Eric Hosmer down for seasoning and bring Myers up to DH and spell outfielders while Billy Butler plays first. I don’t like the idea of Hosmer in Omaha or Billy Butler playing first base. Of course you could avoid that whole mess by trading one of these big leaguers for starting pitching help…but who? I doubt anyone wants Gordon’s new contract until he proves last year wasn’t a fluke, and then Dayton Moore wouldn’t trade him anyway. Francoeur is coveted by no one as much as he is by Dayton Moore. Lorenzo Cain is injured. So that leaves Mike Moustakas…but really, if you’re going to trade Moustakas why wouldn’t you just… Option 2: Trade Wil Myers There is something to be said for trading players at their peak values, but this is not something the Royals have excelled at. Myers would probably bring a nice haul of prospect arms, but the Royals have shown that prospect arms rarely turn into starting rotation arms. Trading Myers for a starting pitcher would prove even more difficult. Most of the pitchers available on the market are free agents at the end of this season. Why in the world would you trade a prospect that you control for the next 6 years for a rent-a-starter when you are 10 games under .500? So that leaves the only option as packaging Myers with other prospects for a pitcher you can control for 2+ years. Honestly, the list of good young pitchers locked up for 2+ years and available is ridiculously short. Of course, that lack of supply makes demand ridiculously high, which to me means trading Wil Myers is probably a bad solution. Option 3: Platoon Wil Myers I kid, I kid. I assume the Royals will not give Myers the Johnny Giavotella treatment. However, as much as this organization loves utility infielders, can we completely rule out the utility slugger? Myers can conceivably play all three outfield positions, third base and first base. Obviously he could fill in at DH as well. I wouldn’t put it past this organization to bring Myers up and play him 5 days a week at a different position each day. Honestly, I am not sure I have the solution. Even though I hate option three, it would at least help the lineup. Best case scenario? Frenchy keeps up his current streak and we trade him and Broxton for a couple of AA All Stars in July, freeing up Wil Myers to play RF and Kelvin Herrera to get a chance to close. Of course, the idea of Dayton Moore trading Frenchy is like asking my 10 year old to give up his Xbox…you can’t fight love. http://www.i70baseball.com/2012/05/29/is-i...rade-wil-myers/ Loved the post at the bottom about how the Braves "almost" pried Adam Jones away from the Orioles for Jurrjens and Prado. I suppose Royals fans want the same deal for the unproven Myers.

That was seven outfielders taken in the first round. Buxton, Almora, Hawkins, DJ Davis and Lewis Brinson, plus collegiate outfielders Roache and Naquin. Who knows how they will all turn out, that's the thing that drives you crazy about baseball drafting and scouting (especially prep players), compared to the more refined NFL and NBA prospects (although that's definitely changed with so many high schoolers coming out in the 1st round).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 09:01 PM) If Brent Morel hit .350 the rest of the year with 20 HR's, I wouldn't even think of extending him. Not with a "Back thing". The last guy who I thought it would have been a good idea to give the 8 year extension to was Quentin in 2008. I'm kind of glad that the team did not listen to me. Thus, consider me chastened. Maybe talk about Viciedo at the end of the year. Beckham too inconsistent. Sale too scary. Also good choices (year by year) with Joe Crede and Bobby Jenks. They've always been astute in their judgements with players on their own roster...except for how to handle Swisher, perhaps. And we really don't know how much of that was Ozzie and how much of it was "self-induced" to use a Hawkism.

Update: Jared Mitchell is NOT being converted to a relief pitcher for the White Sox stretch drive. Now back to previously scheduled programming, folks. And Hawkins will have kindred spirits in the Danks brothers already in the organization to bond with.

The Texas high school product was shooting up draft boards as the 2012 spring season began, thanks to a very successful summer. While he pitches and will touch 90 mph, his future is in the outfield. He has some swing-and-miss to his game, but he does have power. He has shown the ability to hit any fastball and can show pop to all fields, though he needs to improve his approach at the plate, where his over-aggressiveness leads to those misses. An average to a tick-above-average runner, he'll play center field for his high school team, but with his size, strength, power profile and at-least-average arm, the University of Texas commit profiles best as a corner outfielder in the future. mlb.com I've always thought Thompson's basketball frame worked against him as a baseball player (yeah, I know there are counter-examples like Alex Rios and Daryll Strawberry). This kid looks like some combination of Kevin Mitchell, Viciedo, Cespedes and Adrian Beltre physically. He's a man among boys, the LeBron James of Texas high school baseball, lol. And you have to like the fact that he's not from some obscure state where it's really hard to get a good read on the level of high school competition and make worthwhile projections.

Never even knew Mitchell had anything resembling a "plus" arm. Always considered that one of his biggest weaknesses, particularly in CF.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 08:55 PM) I'll make one thing for clear, everything is in dire need in the system. However, with Beckham maybe figuring it out and Viciedo, Sale and Reed developing (along with De Aza looking good), all of a sudden things don't look near as barren (as the system has developed 4 of those guys; won't count De Aza). Don't forget Nathan Jones. He might end up being the best of all those relievers when all is said and done.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 08:53 PM) Too bad sox aren't expanding their options. Would love to see throw a curveball and take Roache, but pitching is a dire need in our system. Moreso than position prospects? With our system, almost every position except for relief pitcher could use some huge improvement...although OF's definitely looking a lot better TODAY than it has ever since the Rowand/Chris Young/Anthony Webster/Brian Anderson/Reed days.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 07:51 PM) Sergio Santos "Touches" 98. I bet the Royals wish they had that Colt Griffin pick back, speaking of Texas high school pitchers who "touch/ed" 100. Another name that comes to mind is Todd Van Poppel.

Keith Staab has been a Texas area (based out of College Station, TX) scout for the Chicago White Sox. He signed Boone Logan, Lance Broadway, Kyle McCulloch, Jordan Danks, Matthew Long, Carlos Torres, Brandon Allen and John Ely. baseball-reference.com Mr. Molina in Birmingham also says hi (about the position change from hitter to pitcher)! Well, suffice it say, you don't want another set-up guy out of the 13th pick in the first round.