danman31

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 22, 2013 -> 01:58 PM) Is anyone worried that Micah Johnson is 22 years old in A ball? He will be 23 in December. Isn't he a guy that should be moving through the system fairly quickly? Yes. This is a concern. He's in his first full season of pro ball and doing what he needs to though. It's only a knock on him if he struggles to adjust to High A, for example. He needs to be in AA at the start of next year.

The digital games argument will solve itself. Physical discs aren't going anywhere any time soon, but digital will become more and more prevalent. Just about every PS3 game is already on PSN and every game is available digitally for the Vita. The way digital works is that the prices on PSN don't drop often because they don't want to undercut retailers. The funny part about killing the used game market is that it also kills places like Gamestop (f*** em I say). Sony and Microsoft have to decide whether they want to help developers at the cost of retailers that they currently rely on for distribution. It's at least a little tricky. The only problem with digital now is that it takes forever to download games. They seem to have found a way to download while you're playing or download parts first (single player or multiplayer first so you can start playing sooner) on next gen, but as much as I'd love to download all games digitally it takes hours upon hours to download a AAA game and it slows down my internet while I'm doing it so I can't watch youtube or stream something on my laptop while I let the PS3 download a game for a few hours. It sounds like they have worked most of this out, but as the kinks get worked out digital will eventually become more and more popular. There's no question.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 22, 2013 -> 10:38 AM) I'm surprised they're giving him that stop. I just assumed he'd go straight to Chicago Maybe it's a move with the thought that he'll only be there until the trade deadline.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jun 22, 2013 -> 12:10 AM) last 3 starts for Holmberg: 23 innings, 10 hits, 4 walks, 13 Ks. He's no lock. But I sure wish Kenny Williams didn't package him in that deal for Jackson. I'm not sure if those three starts are supposed to convince me of anything. The 13 Ks in 23 innings is simply not cutting it. He's not a groundball pitcher either.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 09:54 PM) So what are your thoughts on Anderson? (Not in 2 games, just in general.) I liked the pick initially, but I'm souring a bit. He's another raw project and I'm not sure the Sox can develop a guy like him. That said, I love everything I've read about his personality and work ethic. I have hope he can do what's necessary to improve. The Kannapolis assignment will test his confidence. I just hope he has a good approach at the plate and let's the skills catch up naturally. Like someone said above, it's best not to think of him as a shortstop long-term. If he improves leaps and bounds, great, but otherwise expect him to move at some point.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 09:42 PM) Not going to get an elite prospect, but need to find somebody willing to give up a young guy like Holmberg, just to pick another Kenny Williams scab. Holmberg is still just 21 and in AA, but his K rate fell off the planet when he moved to AA. I wouldn't be so sure he makes it.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 03:09 PM) I realize it's a meaningless tournament and it's fine when New Zealand makes it, but I just don't see the point in having Tahiti show up to lose 3 games by a total score of 20-1. New Zealand should make it most times anyway. It was a huge enough upset that they didn't get there.

QUOTE (MnSoxFan @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 06:09 PM) I had a list of 3 guys unaccounted for, but saw Bryce Mosier, C, was released. I also found Zach Toney appears to have retired (he had a nice season last year too). The only guy I have no idea on is Kevin Moran. Assuming he is out with arm surgery or something. Good catches on all 3. I just noticed Mosier and Toney last night myself. It's a shame about Mosier because the guy was drafted out of high school and missed out on the chance to play college baseball for two summers of pro ball. Moran was hurt last year with Tommy John (pretty sure) and I'm not sure he fully recovered. Odds are very high it's injury related with him.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 03:30 PM) So you're saying he just has good negotiating skills? He had leverage because he had two years of eligibility and likely a DI commitment. JuCo players will almost always go overslot after the first round.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 19, 2013 -> 08:29 PM) Mitchell with 2 home runs He lives!

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Jun 19, 2013 -> 06:48 PM) If this proves anything, its that a lot of people severely overreacted. If it proves anything, people overreacting was what made the change so I don't think that's accurate at all.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 09:39 PM) I like how I'm sitting at this hotel in South Florida and when I turn to ESPN to watch the game, FSN Florida is in its place to show the Marlins game. Of course ESPN2 is up and running and showing some college world series game. Love how the hotel decided to get rid of ESPN instead of ESPN2. And I cant watch it on ESPN3 b/c its blacked out since I'm in an ESPN market. unbelievable... You didn't miss much. The US dominated possession, but didn't create much and when they did couldn't finish. Then they finished one.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Jun 17, 2013 -> 08:11 PM) I'm also interested in seeing how Nick Basto does in his second year too. Yeah, that's a curious one. He was so awful last year that I'm wondering if there's anything to him.

I think a few people are too bullish on Michalczewski. He got third round type money, not first round. He's a nice get and a good prospect, but he shouldn't be near Barnum.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 17, 2013 -> 05:44 PM) Lol, he attacked me first. What are you, 12? Sheesh. It's not a contest. Just behave and be nice. As for Last of Us, I'm 11 hours in and it says I'm at 49%. I'm going super slow because I'm stealthing and I'm literally clearing out every room to scavenge. It's kind of tedious, but I like it and I get to see all the incredible little details they put into the game.

I saw the Sox signed David Cales. He pitched at Mizzou as a freshman when I was a freshman. He had a really good year out of the bullpen and had the best intro song. I think he wanted to hit more or something like that and transferred to UIC. His mom works in Sox ticket sales or something in the front office.

I think we had one of these only a few weeks ago, but give me your top 5 prospects in the system now that the draft is complete and the Sox have signed all their top guys. Plus, we've had a lot of Hawkins discussions leaking into various threads and I'm curious where people stand on him. For me: 1. Erik Johnson 2. Tim Anderson 3. Trayce Thompson 4. Courtney Hawkins 5. Chris Beck (although depending on the day I could go with Carlos Sanchez here)

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 06:26 PM) This Confederations Cup appears to be a waste of time for Spain. I cant imagine any team giving them the slightest of scares. I cant wait for the Tahiti vs Spain match haha. Italy and Brazil could pose threats, but Spain should romp the group phase.

It sure is going to be tough to go from these Confederations Cup matches to watching the US labor through a home match against a Central American team.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 05:02 PM) On the contrast, even if the perceived level of pitching is roughly the same in Low A, a demotion might actually fuel a fire under him and encourage him to work harder to move back up. A demotion could also be a change of scenery and a fresh start that he needed. Also, he might have a better chemistry and he can work better with the hitting coach in Kanny, which could be a possibility given he performed quite well in his short stint in Kanny last year. He also performed quite well in a short stint with Winston-Salem last year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 03:48 PM) I'm just not a fan of a player that projects to have absolutely no power playing 81 games in our park. By no means am I writing him off, I just think Johnson and Semien are better prospects. He can be an above average utility guy IMO. He's far more likely to reach that level while Semien probably never plays in the Majors and Johnson is still a ways off.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 03:22 PM) Yep, IMO Micah Johnson is a better prospect, and I would put Semien above him as well. I think you're being a bit reactionary. Sanchez is the youngest of the three and it's not like Semien is setting the world on fire in AA. Sub .750 OPS.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 03:21 PM) I don't think the level of play has anything to do with it, which is the only reason I say he stays there. Could be a huge blow emotionally to get sent down and I would assume that the K rate would be just as high if he goes down to low A and doesn't change anythign else. I agree that the level has nothing to do with it, but if being demoted is such a huge blow emotionally he probably isn't cut out for MLB anyway.

Hawkins is the only one on the team not to reach base today.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 15, 2013 -> 02:33 AM) Did you guys know we drafted but obviously failed to sign Audry Santana back in 2010? Also, we drafted Marcus Semien in 2008, failed to sign him, and then redrafted and obviously signed him in 2011. They do that on a semi-regular basis. Obviously if they liked the player in the first place there's a good chance they still like him a few years later. QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jun 15, 2013 -> 09:17 AM) So the Sox have about $420K to play with right now, that's not including the Trey Michalczewski and Matt Ball signing. It will be hard to sign all of those two, Octavio Rodriguez, and Adam Engel with the said amount. I would say they should go up to 5% over pool and pay the 75% tax if they have a chance to sign all 4 players. The Sox have almost $800k for those players. If Michalczewski and Freudenberg signed for slot - I think they probably signed for more than slot - the Sox would have $420k for overslot players outside the top 10 rounds. The $420k is the combined amount underslot the bonuses for the eight players that we know the bonuses for. So the Sox have those numbers plus the slot bonuses for Michalczewski and Freudenberg as far as we know. Either way, I doubt $300-400k is enough for Rodriguez. Maybe Engel bites for that much, but honestly, he doesn't interest me at all.