danman31

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 15, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) Looking at articles in the past, usually the Appy and Pioneer Leagues are very similar in terms of level of competition, though I've seen the Appy be slightly higher. The Sox however, tend to use them differently - the older, more polished guys go to Great Falls, the younger and more raw ones to Bristol. So, Great Falls is an almost perrenial playoff team, while Bristol is usually rock bottom. 5 of the 9 organizations with affiliates in the Appy League have short season affiliates in the New York Penn League or Northwest League (clearly a higher level). 4 of those 5 have 3 short season affiliates. KC has 3 teams in rookie leagues (Appy, Pioneer, Arizona). The Sox treating the Voyagers as a higher level means at least 6 of the 9 teams in the Appy League (without knowing how KC uses their 3) treat it as the second highest short season team in the org. Minnesota and Atlanta put their top rookie teams in the Appy. 4 of the 8 organizations with affiliates in the Pioneer League have teams in the Arizona League (the complex leagues, Arizona and Gulf Coast, are the lowest leagues). Throwing in the Sox that's 5 of 8 that put their top rookie team in the Pioneer League. KC again has a team in the Pioneer League so they are on the bubble so it could be 6. Colorado and Arizona have affiliates in the NYPL and the NWL so they put their second best rookie team in the Pioneer. So no, the Appy is not higher. The difference may not be that large, but the Pioneer is used as a higher league by more teams.

I don't have high hopes for Garcia. He can be very good for a utility player, but I don't think he will hit enough to be a regular.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 15, 2013 -> 08:16 AM) Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley are f***ing phenomenal. Johannsson looked really good in his short time too. Really pumped for the next two WCQs Yeah, Bradley, Jozy plus the glut of technically sound midfielders in the low and mid 20s and the youth on the backline makes for an exciting time ahead for US Soccer.

QUOTE (MnSoxFan @ Aug 12, 2013 -> 08:39 AM) Ouch, you jinxed the heck out of him there. heh In fairness, he had already given up a hit when I posted that and given the delay of the milb.com box scores, he could have already been shelled and I didn't know.

Also, Taylor Thompson had 15 K and 0 BB in 8 innings for Charlotte this year. That's pretty legit. He's on the mound now for the Knights.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20130811 BTW, anyone notice that Micah Johnson's OPS is below .700 with Winston-Salem? He's in an awful slump and he's still not walking or hitting for power since his promotion.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 11, 2013 -> 06:07 PM) HS pitcher would def be out of the norm for the Sox. Last was Honel? Before that Stumm? Not a great track record with those guys. Although we did trade for Danks/Floyd. Gio was also a good pick by the Sox. He was a supp pick.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Aug 11, 2013 -> 01:55 PM) Seriously love this 4 person booth combining the 2 teams for a good inning. Yeah, they should do that once per series. Of course, it depends on the broadcast teams. Obviously Blyleven knows Stone and Paciorek so it's more comfortable for them to blend together for a few minutes.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 10, 2013 -> 11:29 PM) Is Anderson still struggling with the XBH issue? Haven't been following the minors recently... He's kind of just struggling overall. Not much power (0 HR) and he's striking out in almost 25% of his PA.

Somehow this thread didn't exist yet. http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20130810 Semien went ofer. Thompson had a double and a walk. Ravelo had 2 doubles and 2 walks. Cose threw 7 scoreless. Anderson had 3 hits.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 09:18 PM) Jacob Morris was horrible at Arkansas this year, but he's crushing the ball for Great Falls http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/ViewArti...p;ATCLID=189941 Huge power and a very nice walk rate, but still an awful K rate. I'd chalk it up to a player coming from an advanced DI college baseball conference and doing well against younger competition in rookie ball.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 08:42 PM) Yeah. Garcia can actually hit a little bit. ...Not really. Sanchez has a better hitting pedigree in his minor league career. That's why it's not a good comparison.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 08:25 PM) I think his curve and changeup look great but he has no control at all thus far. Even his strikes seem to be missing. I'm not sure I like specialists with no control. That said I would love to see him work with Cooper for the rest of the year. That's what I think. He has the stuff and he's already making the lefties uncomfortable, but if he's in for one or two batters and falls behind 1-0, 2-0 that's a problem. I had the same thought about Cooper though. QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 08:27 PM) Viciedo getting blown away by this awful pitcher He swung through two low 90s straight fastballs in the strike zone. Viciedo didn't used to do that. The swing on the last one looked like a U.

I like Leesman's stuff enough to think he has a job. His two at bats against Morneau show he has value to a big league team. I'm not sure he has a lot though. His fastball control is poor.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 06:04 PM) Eduardo Escobar with more speed We have a winner. The Carlos Sanchez comparisons aren't as good of a fit.

Leesman showing what we thought he was. Passable low 90s fastball, decent curve, plus change, hard on lefties, control problems. Even though his best pitch is his change up I tend to think he's best suited as a reliever.

With Tekotte and Avisail up with the Sox, Adam Heisler is filling in as an outfielder for Charlotte.

I'm not sure whether to put him ahead of Sanchez or not. Sanchez does profile better offensively, but Garcia probably holds more value if they both turn into a utility players because of his better speed. Garcia loses his rookie eligibility after this year anyway so it's not a question we will have to worry about.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 08:16 PM) Semien walk and homer He's settling into AAA quickly. It's hard to doubt him at this point. Hopefully he stays near this pace the rest of the season.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 11:56 PM) I still like Santos Rodriguez as well. How? He can't throw strikes.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 07:56 AM) Everton's quite solid in the front six right now though. Fellaini, Oviedo, Pienaar, Deulofeu, Jelavic, Koné, Anichebe...Playing time won't be super easy for him there. I would rate Donovan ahead of Pienaar and he's on par with at least a few more of those players. He would have to battle, but if someone goes down to injury (remember this would be a midseason move) or they are losing a player in the January window he would be a free transfer for good value.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 08:32 PM) Any chance the infield is Semien Alexei and Bacon next year? Bacon back to third? Semien at third? Seems far-fetched and also powerless. It's a possibility. Given what the Sox have gotten out of third so far this year, Semien could be an upgrade across the board.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Aug 5, 2013 -> 07:14 PM) Chris Beck promoted to AA Birmingham! Excellent news. I wonder if his K/9 can drop to 3.0.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 5, 2013 -> 10:34 AM) In an ironic twist, given what Dempsey just did, rumors are circulating that Landon Donovan is going to Europe after his contract with LA is up in December. Apparently has received interest from multiple clubs in multiple countries I'd like to see him go back to Everton because they liked him so much there and he was so good with them. By that time, I'm not 100% sure they will get the same player they got then though.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Aug 4, 2013 -> 10:09 PM) Age, Rienzo is obviously enjoying some nice MLB success which is helping his cause a lot but he also had a 4.07 era at AAA and his whip there was a lot higher than it had been the previous few seasons. I think they are really close to each other in terms of prospect status though, which is middle of the rotation type starter and showing success at AA+. To look at Rienzo's overall ERA doesn't tell the whole picture. His month-by-month makes it seem like he figured something out. April: 7.71. May: 5.74. June: 2.30. July: 1.23.