danman31

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 11:52 AM) I think we all like Barnum because he looks like he might actually have a 50 grade hit tool. We're all so tired of seeing guys never develop the contact skills to reach their potential. Are we thinking of the same player? Barnum is another high power, low contact hitter for now.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 06:50 PM) Hawkins with the whiff....now has fanned 14 times his last 18 AB. The fact that this is not improving has to be a concern to the White Sox. 14 in 19 and he has a walk in there so more like 20, but point well made.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 11:43 AM) I think you can argue that Jacobs is higher than Sanchez, but you can make arguments for a lot of those guys too. I think it's safe saying he's top 12 or so. He profiles better than Barnum. Most everyone has Barnum top 10. They're comparable prospects and Jacobs is better just about across the board. I have him ahead of Sanchez at 6.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 11:17 AM) If you get a major leaguer out of any draft pick, it is hard to call it at disappointment, especially if you aren't talking ARod, KGJr, or someone like that. Right, but if Hawkins is nothing more than a power bat off the bench than we need to reevaluate him as a prospect. He has plenty of time, but this season is a more than a red flag.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 11:51 PM) He will definitely be up this season after the trade deadline, if not, as a September call up. I feel like he was a miss for the FS Mid Season top 25 list. I would put him over Santos Rodriguez. He was the 11th best prospect in our system according to Fangraphs last year. Scouting report says his stuff is that of a AAAA player, and he's been overachieving in the minors. We will see how he fares as a lefty out of then pen later this year. He was removed from the 40-man roster and cleared waivers, which means no team in baseball thought he was worth a 40-man roster spot. The Sox re-signed him after he was a free agent. The stats are great, but he's not a prospect if he cleared waivers at 26 years old. QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 12:54 AM) Gillaspie, on the other hand, may not have had an opportunity without good scouting and development by the White Sox. That's a pretty home grown team (I don't know if it's a good one, but it isn't exactly cluttered with FAs, etc.) Your definition of home grown is strange and contrived IMO. Even then, Gillaspie was another team's supplemental pick, he didn't play in the minors with the Sox and he's not even that good anyway. I'll give you Axelrod and Quintana because they play in the minors with the Sox, but De Aza is another bad choice. He already lost his rookie status before coming to the Sox. Still, by my count 13 of the current 25 are home grown (I didn't count John Danks either). 13 is a good number, but given the team's record we'd probably be happier if it was closer to 8.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) Also regarding Hawkins' troubles this season, can you imagine if you were a Royals fan right now? Bubba Starling, who at one point was compared to Mickey f***ing Mantle is barely hitting above the Mendoza line in the Sally league, so let's cut Hawkins a little slack for struggling. What does another prospect having a crappy season have to do with Hawkins? Starling might not be any good either. The problem with Hawkins is there is no precedent for a player sucking as pathetically as him to then turn it around. He's overmatched and it's not a good sign. Sure, there's hope, but it's sickening to see a player go through this.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 09:12 PM) I have no idea, what's the relevance? EDIT: But to attempt to actually give you a name, Russell Branyan had a 33% K-rate in the minors. Branyan's K rate is still better than Hawkins and even then, he was only a full-time player for a couple seasons in his entire career. If Hawkins turns into a Branyan, he's really not that valuable of a prospect then is he? QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 09:18 PM) That's not very close at this point - though it's not necessarily true that Courtney will maintain a 50% rate the entire season Hawkins entered today striking out in 44.3% of his PA, for the record. Also, how many players are 19 in High-A? Ryan Sweeney was for the Sox and he struggled with a .721 OPS, but at the same time he was the player he is in the Majors. Good contact rate, but not enough walks or power to hit for high enough average/obp. Hawkins should repeat Winston-Salem next year and if we don't see the 2012 Hawkins, it might be time to talk to him about being a pitcher. That said, I don't think it will come to that. I would expect improvement over the next year and two months.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 08:47 PM) Maybe it has already been discussed, but if Jacobs was 11 on the Red Sox prospect list, he must be a top 10 guy in ours right? Somewhere around 8-10? I'd put him at 6.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 08:22 PM) Brandon Jacobs not yet arrived in B'ham, or at least he is not on their roster yet. How long does it take to ge there from Portland? The Barons are off during the all-star break. The Southern League All-Star Game is also coming up. I expect him to join after.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 01:47 PM) Rienzo to pitch in the Futures Game this inning 1-2-3, 2 groundouts and a K. Fastball around 90-91 with a 12-6 curve that didn't look good, but he only threw 9 pitches.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jul 13, 2013 -> 11:48 PM) Brek Shea is starting to venture into the category that I have Kljestan in. Just a horrible performance. I cant see him being needed in Brazil next summer. Still time for the 18 cycle. I think he can fit in as a sub if you're desperate for wide play and down a goal. He is awful 90% of the time, but he can make the big play happen. In soccer the big play can be everything. It's between him and Josh Gatt out wide for me. One of them needs to make the WC roster because who else brings true wide play? Donovan pinches in a bit so that's not quite the same.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 13, 2013 -> 06:49 PM) Hawkins BB. Whoa. He has 19 walks this year. It's not a great walk rate, but it ain't bad. That's not the part of his game that's worrying.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 13, 2013 -> 03:42 PM) And, Michael Earley, who has better numbers at AA than Jacobs at High A. Someone should be going to Charlotte. Honestly, I'd rather see Earley get the ABs than Mitchell. Mitchell could be released and I wouldn't worry about it.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jul 13, 2013 -> 01:59 PM) As far as the Tim Anderson debate, I really think its being understated how RAW Anderson really is. He has played two years of JuCo and 1-2 seasons in HS. I would argue he is more raw than your traditional HS 1st RD picks who played baseball 9-12 months a year since they were 9 or 10. I hope we take it very slow with Anderson and stop this "challenging" bulls*** aka moving guys up rapidly through the system. I really hope he sticks in Kanny for the remainder of '13. I don't think you have to worry about him moving up to Winston-Salem. Even if the Dash are in the playoffs and Kanny isn't, DeMichele and Micah Johnson have enough prospect status to not be bumped for a one-week stint in the playoffs. I fully expect Anderson to start 2014 in Winston-Salem, which is definitely a tough assignment for a first full season.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jul 13, 2013 -> 12:56 AM) Because we are on the verge of trading away half of our team and there isn't a single hitter we can plug into our starting lineup this season or next season to fill the void, with the exception of Phegley. Some of us are hoping this is going to be a a short rebuild, but it ain't going to happen with these types of players we are targeting, we are always going to be a few years away. The Sox should be planning for 2015. The pitching core could/should be very strong the next couple years at least and like you said the offensive talent isn't that close. 2014 is another throw away year where they should let some young guys break in (Johnson, Rienzo, Petricka, Webb, Castro and maybe Thompson, Sanchez, Semien later in the year) to see what they have. Use the 2015 offseason to fill in the gaps after you've figured out what you have. A lot of things can change from now to then.

In his prime Thornton was incredibly fun to watch. His easy heat, high 90s fastball was always thrown for strikes and he got ahead of everyone. For a few years he also had a decent slider that was just enough to go with his amazing fastball and control.

Here's my FS post on Jacobs.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 10:14 PM) Just off of reading the prospect descriptions, sounds a lot like Thompson. High power, tons of potential, athletic. That's what I thought. Only thing is Thompson plays a good CF, while Jacobs plays an adequate LF. That's a big difference. QUOTE (Knackattack @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 10:25 PM) I don't know if I'm in the minority here but I think this was a really good return for Thornton. I agree. A 36-year-old Thornton wasn't very relevant to this team considering the standings. I think it's a very good move. After doing some reading I have Jacobs at No. 6 in the system behind Johnson, Thompson, Anderson, Hawkins and Phegley. He's clearly more advanced than a guy like Keon Barnum, who is just about a consensus top 10 prospect.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 08:04 PM) 3 more K's for Hawkins. I'd like to know of some examples of good major league players that were ever really bad in the minors. I'm sure there are some examples, but did they ever hit under .200 with astronomical K rates, and horrible OBPs? Great question. Jeromy Burnitz is so far the best example I can come up with. He was pretty terrible in AAA at 23 years old, but his K rate was never anywhere near that bad in the minors.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 05:52 PM) How come Jason is not on the voting team? He has deferred saying he doesn't follow the prospects enough anymore.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 05:46 PM) Just a quick question, with the trade deadline looming, say the White Sox were to get quality, top prospects for guys. Would you reevaluate the prospect list, with new guys possibly coming in and cracking the top 25? Would you evaluate their seasons from this year or just not enough information? Thank you We probably won't make a new list until the offseason so it won't really be a factor, but those guys would definitely be included.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 12:03 PM) You can't rank a guy because someone else took 10 years to develop a tool True and he's wrong about Phillips anyway. He hit 11 HR in the SAL as a 19-year-old.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 11:15 AM) Anderson did show a little power in JuCo, so I wouldn't dismiss him developing that as time goes on. That was my thinking, but his recent Kanny stats are scaring me. I hate to be so reactionary, but I'd probably slot him down to 3 if I had it over. Honestly, I think Hawkins at 4 is too high and that's where I put him. It's hard to like a lot about the guys at 2-4.

I had Anderson 2 and Thompson at 3 personally. One of the big problems is that all the 2-4 guys are sliding performance wise. Thompson is in a scary slump and Hawkins we've beaten to death here. Look at Anderson's stats now and tell me he's not Keenyn Walker 2. It definitely reminds me of how Walker performed in Kannapolis in the first half last year before getting promoted. Decent/good average, good walk rate, awful K rate, no power. That's at least a little concerning, but the walk rate gives hope for improvement.

You can complain about Hawkins' assignment over and over and over, but if he busts it won't be because of his assignments. At some point the player needs to figure things out if they're going to make the bigs.