danman31

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 11:38 AM) Nice read, and this coincides with Balta's impression of him too. I feel a lot better about him in the top 10 now. Yeah, we actually do our research and put a lot of thought into the rankings. Who knew? It's hard not to like what Webb brings. He is the rare scenario of a minor league reliever holding strong value. Big velocity and closer upside.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 07:10 PM) It really bothers me to see Hawkins struggling. Question, did the Sox start Hawkins in high A or was he ever with Kannapolis? He was with Kannapolis last season for 16 games.

Micah's basestealing technique is so weird that I think the Sox just let him run like crazy and didn't care about his percentage. He had 80 stolen base attempts in 77 games with Kannapolis. So far he's only got 4 in 7 games with the Dash. Maybe they will make him be more selective from now on.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 11:19 PM) He's a refreshing prospect compared to the all or nothing, raw, athletic outfield prospects we currently have. Outside of his amazing walk rate, his strikeout rate has also improved a lot this year, to a point he's striking out once every 7 PA. He plays at a premium position, albeit not spectacular defense, but he is on pace to hit 15 HR and steal 20 bases while boasting an almost .400 OBP, as a 22 year old in Double A. If you add that together, that is pretty impressive. The gap between him and Sanchez is a lot closer in my books. You nailed it though. He's refreshing. I wonder if people are overrating his performance based on the fact that no one else in the system resembles that.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 10:08 PM) He's 22 and in his first year at AA. I think he's been fine. That's it though. He's been fine. I'm not going to get excited about that.

QUOTE (Dizzy Sox @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 09:35 PM) Last quick comment: I'd probably try to sneak Kevan Smith in the Top 25 somewhere--possibly booting Rodriguez, his control is shaky, and lord knows we don't need another Donny Veal out of the pen. Carlos Sanchez hit a combined .323 between High-A/AA/AAA last year at 20 years old. Given his age and much better defensive ability that's a far more impressive season than what Micah is doing now. Not to mention, the floor of Micah isn't a fourth outfielder. The floor of any player in A ball is they don't make the Majors. Also, I don't buy that you can put a fast 2B and stick him in CF. CF is not an easy position and defense matters quite a bit there. If Micah can't play 2B, which you conceded is possible, he doesn't have a position. His bat won't play in the corners and we have no idea if he can play another premium defensive position in CF. I'm not defending Santos Rodriguez, I didn't vote for him. However, Kevan Smith is 25 and in High-A ball. Not a prospect.

QUOTE (QuickJones81 @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 07:25 PM) I'm most happy that they resisted the temptation to allow Jared Mitchell to remain in the top 25 strictly because of his athleticism and high draft pick. He's a bust, it's fare to say at this point. I don't think there was much temptation. Mitchell was only voted by one of the five of us, and he came in at 30 on that list.

Semien's performance is very average to me. He has nice peripheral stats, but overall it's not a dominant season or anything. I'm still a bit skeptical about him.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 06:19 PM) Personally, I wouldn't have Zewski over Rienzo and Castro right now. I like Trey, and I feel like got a steal in the 7th round for only $500,000, he was a third round talent who projects to be a good contact hitter. But it's not a sure bet that he reaches the majors, and we haven't seen enough of him to put him over prospects who will be in the majors this year. Castro looks like he can be a very good reliever in the majors, and Rienzo who is likely to make his major league debut this year, either as a reliever or as a back of rotation starter. I agree about Rienzo. I'm not as sure about Castro though. I'm starting to believe Rienzo can start in the Majors, and I've thought he would wind up in the pen for a few years now.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 06:01 PM) This team is really coming together at the right time. Should be a fun team to watch next summer, hopefully we catch a nice grouping. The way the draw goes it's hard to get a better group than what they had in 2010. At least they took advantage and won that group. You're going to get a top tier team (England was about as weak as those go), another European country (Slovenia below average for a second tier European team IMO) and another non-European team (Algeria? come on). I don't know if the US needs a nice grouping. They just need to beat a European team and not get stuck with Ghana lol. QUOTE (zenryan @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 06:03 PM) I like JP. Maybe its because I'm use to him and associate him with US soccer. Cobi Jones is a f***ing trainwreck. For a guy as accomplished as he is, you'd think he'd atleast sound like he's got a clue. I agree on both counts. I miss JP on US games.

I'm glad there's so much debate over the list, but I wish it wasn't all about Zapata. I guess no one cares (maybe fairly so) about the 11-25 prospects.

Doug Laumann's White Sox bio

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 11:04 AM) I am not sure that the competition that Zapata faced is not better that what Anderson faced at his JC. Zapata is 16. There aren't a lot of 16 year old Americans that can hang in JuCo. Even if it's just older high school players that's still a tough jump for a player early in his varsity career. I doubt the 16 year old crop of Dominicans is so much better than here to reach that level.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 11:18 PM) Well his OPS is below .600 which isn't going to fly, even if he is the youngest player in the International League. He's still a top 10 prospect IMO, but he definitely should be in the bottom half rather than the top half. I'd also rank Micah Johnson ahead of Sanchez without much hesitation. QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 11:19 PM) Semien is above Sanchez, IMO. Semien's BB/K ratio is great Seeing a lot of people on this board fall in love with the flavor of the month types. I don't see why people on here rate Semien so highly. Sub .800 OPS (granted barely) isn't cutting it. I'm not sure Micah defensively is cutting it. Sanchez is the youngest so I'm sticking with him for a bit longer. The bottom line is none of our middle infield prospects are anything to get excited about.

Hawkins is an embarrassment right now. Hopefully he can get his head right by next year.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 03:14 PM) I still say Hawkins should not be close to #1 ranking. That does not mean I am not pulling for him -- I am. But a #1 prospect should be a very good baseball player whereever he is playing. If he were at Kanny instead of W-S, would his numbers be as good as Micah Johnson's? I doubt it. He is struggling to hit .200 and strikes out over 50% of the time. Those facts should preclude him from that high of a ranking. He is not even close to Phegley. Do you think Hawkins could hit .316 in AAA? No. Is he as good a hitter as Ravelo or Johnson? No. You make a fair point, but your premise is unfair. You can flip it. Hawkins is 19. Would any of the players you mentioned be fairing any better in the Carolina League at 19? It's hard to imagine so.

It's funny. This poll is playing out just like our behind closed doors discussion about whether to include him on the FS list. In other words, we know about as much about how to handle him as we actually do about him.

He's not on the 40-man roster so that's one hurdle. Let's also consider the fact that he's not hitting AAA pitching at the moment. Off to a slow start. There have been plenty of guys that hit AA and couldn't even hack it in AAA. Remember David Cook?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 05:03 PM) Well, we've learned why Trayce plays baseball. When his father was playing on the TrailBlazers, Trayce watched all of Ken Griffey, Jr's game there in the Pacific NW. Guess Mychal and Klay were in the Barons' press box and signing autographs right and left. I'm pretty sure all of the brothers played and were very good as well. Trayce was the only one to choose baseball over basketball.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) They flat out blew it starting him at W-S at 19. The Twins just moved Buxton up to high-A. Why? Because he earned it. That's a fair point, but no one in baseball saw this coming. Everyone was giddy over what he did at the end of last season.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 01:44 PM) Looking forward to this, I am sure you guys will be making a thread for it? Yep. The list will go on FutureSox in two parts and both will be posted here.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 01:43 PM) Rienzo continuing his hot ways with 3 perfect innings to start today. Only needed 23 pitches to do so. Coming into today, of his last six starts, five have been quality. Also, 64 Ks in his last 59.2 innings. His solid run goes further back than that, but yes, he's been good. I'd like to see him in the big in September at least. Considering the Sox have good, young pieces in the rotation (Sale, Quintana, Santiago) and guys like Johnson and Rienzo doing well in AAA the rotation looks good going forward. Throw in some young arms in the bullpen and prospects like Petricka, Castro and Webb MLB ready or close the bullpen doesn't look bad either. I hope the Sox make it a rule to only go after hitting in any firesale trades. Now that Phegley is up I'm not sure there's another bat ready for 2014 in the system (Carlos Sanchez?). Trayce Thompson is maybe the closest and I don't see him being up until September 2014 at the very earliest, if he's even going to get there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 01:21 PM) NOPE...maybe, just maybe, for the BIRM playoffs at the end of the season and/or AFL. Yeah, there's no reason to push him another level. He should be starting 2014 in AA regardless so I wouldn't worry about it. It wouldn't be too shocking to see him move up for the playoffs as you said, but with Semien there I'm not even sure that happens. Plus if the Dash win the second half he definitely won't be going anywhere.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 01:32 PM) When does it come out Hopefully this week. We have the list finalized and are just creating the content to go with it.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20130706 Bristol already lost. Coats with a HR for Kanny.