danman31

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 02:14 PM) I don't have Jordan Danks anywhere near the Top 25. He's a 4th Of at best. Also, I have Dylan Axelrod way down in the rankings again at best a 5th starter on average/below average team/long reliever. Shocked how high Danks and Axelrod were. You're going to tell me that Leesman has a higher upside than Axelrod? Leesman seems like a less polished LH version of Axelrod. What about Heidenreich? What's the upside of a pitcher striking out 6 per 9 IP in A ball?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 02:32 PM) I wonder if he is a Sergio Santos type situation where he is out of options? Yeah, it's do or tie time for him. They have to test him and find out in a hurry what he's capable of.

Right shoulder inflammation for Buch, huh? I still have hope for him. He profiles similarly to the current group of young pitchers in the bullpen.

You're so high on Soptic that you have him at 12 and 15! Ha! You have to love that fastball, but he's gotta control it first.

Most teams draft lots of pitchers, centerfielders and shortstops because those guys can move down a position (to a corner OF or 2B/3B) and still be valuable. If the Sox were trying to build assets to trade you wouldn't go for the boom/bust type because there aren't a lot of teams that would take Trayce Thompson or Keenyn Walker as a centerpiece to a trade right now. You have to hang onto those players until they boom.

I'd like to see other people take a shot at the rankings. You don't have to go 25 deep if you don't know all the prospects, but what's everyone's top 10? I always like seeing which players other people do and don't believe in. My individual top 10 looked like this: Hawkins Mitchell Barnum Castro Molina Saladino (I had him higher than anyone else) Thompson (same as above) Axelrod Beck Leesman (although I was really close to swapping him for Sanchez)

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 12:10 PM) Doesn't mean he couldn't be added though, I feel like the Sox 40-man is always around like 38 players. They're not going to waste a 40-man spot for a guy who doesn't need to be protected and they know won't be in the Majors for three years.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 11:56 AM) Sickels mentioned only Molina and Sanchez in his "Honorable Mentions" section for his recent top 120 update. So he presumably thinks that Sanchez is the second best Sox prospect (not including this year's draft). Not making an argument, just thought it was interesting. We had some discussions on Sanchez. Basically it came down to some people not buying into him because of a lack of power. As a middle infielder you're not looking for much, but it's hard to succeed in the higher levels as a singles only hitter. Regardless, when you factor in his age and level he's having the best season by a White Sox hitting prospect by a mile. It's really not even close.

QUOTE (forrestg @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 12:06 PM) looks like Walker will be in Chicago in september at least as a pinch runner. He's not on the 40-man roster so that won't happen this year. Maybe in a year or two regarding pinch running. He isn't close to big league ready otherwise.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 11:35 AM) The dude has a big league arm and a nice looking slider. Sure sounds like a reliever based on those two things, not that I'm complaining. The Sox have adopted a draft philosophy regarding pitchers that I absolutely love. Take starters with big fastballs. If they can learn a change up and develop the offspeed stuff they can stay a starter. If they can't, that big fastball puts you half way to being a big league reliever. With a guy like Johnson who already has a good slider, you already have something for the pen as a backup plan. Look at Jones and Santiago. Jones had the stuff and just needed to control it. Santiago had the fastball and just needed a secondary pitch (which he got last year). It's a lot of fun to see the Sox draft and develop pitchers currently. Position players, well that's a different story.

Plus Quintana was unprotected by another team so you can tell the Yankees didn't see him as a top 20 prospect. As for Jones, he was on the lists for years, but we finally gave up on him just before it all clicked. We may have bailed too early, but he was certainly on the radar for having Major League talent.

Kanny lost 2-0 Johnson 5 innings and 1 run, but 4 walks. Other than that not much other than Walker picked up stolen base No. 39.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 12:21 PM) More likely, he bluffed and lost. It's hard for the Sox to bend considering they didn't have any more money to offer under the pool limit. It was always a take it or leave it once everyone else signed.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 12:26 AM) So Hawkins is already a bust. 24 K's in 77 AB's. (I'm joking but I assure you some people on this board already do think he's a Bust) He has been bad across the board to this point. I don't put any stock in rookie ball numbers though. Talk to me in a calendar year from now.

To be completely honest, once a pitcher is struggling it's probably a better thing to find out he was hurt. If Buch isn't hurt then it's his stuff that isn't good enough. If he is hurt, he can rehab and be back to full form and become a legit prospect again. It's kind of a weird thing to 'root' for. Rehabbing sucks for the person, but in the long run he probably comes out stronger.

That's what happens when you score 15 runs on 3 extra base hits.

That's early 5th round money for Ayala. Nice pick up. The Sox are almost certainly done since BA has them exactly at their pool limit.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 8, 2012 -> 10:19 PM) I wouldnt say Id pick Murray to out-rally any of the top 3 on a consistent basis either. I didn't say that. I said he could rally with them, but he doesn't have a weapon to win points from a neutral point (a couple shots after a serve).

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 8, 2012 -> 10:55 PM) 4 innings at AAA just doesn't seem enough to me unless he had been throwing a lot before he was activated from the DL. I'd bet he did though. They probably knew what they had since they were following his progress through most of the recovery.

The thing with Murray isn't consistency. Murray just doesn't have any weapons that really hurt these top 3 players. He can play rallies and maybe even outplayed Federer in the longer points, but Federer always had the forehand killers when needed. Murray plays consistent from the baseline and does enough with his serve to beat everyone else, but he needs something more. As for that next tier, Del Potro would have been in the top tier if it wasn't for his injuries. The tennis he played to win that US Open (the only one of the last 30 not won by Fed, Nadal or Djok) was out of this world. He got hurt soon after and that was tough to see.

Norfolk @ Knights Zaleski Barons off Lynchburg @ Dash 4 Collop Greensboro @ Intimidators 4:05 Lane Billings @ Voyagers Linza BriSox @ Greeneville 5 Kibby

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Jul 8, 2012 -> 12:31 PM) Nadal probably doesn't have much longer on any surface outside of clay either. I'd give him 2 more years before Murray is clear 2nd best on all other surfaces unless a new person emerges. That's the thing though. A new person usually does emerge. Murray will remain in the top tier for at least a few more years, but he's probably going to need an upset like Nadal at Wimbledon this year to get a good chance.

Murray's speech after losing is one of the saddest things you'll ever see. It was the realization of a beaten man. Obviously Federer doesn't have long left, but he's the same age as Nadal/Djokovic so he knows his opportunities aren't going to come often.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jul 7, 2012 -> 07:40 PM) Bristol only has 2 hits through 8. Hawkins with one of the two. That offense is getting crushed on a daily basis. Hard to see.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 7, 2012 -> 01:23 PM) Scott Olsen was released. Didn't realize that 5 innings was enough to evaluate the long term. It's possible they decided he was fully healthy and his fastball wasn't hitting high enough or something. It's very likely his stuff hasn't recovered from his injury and the Sox reasoned that it wouldn't.