Ozzie Ball

From Mike Newman (scoutingthesally.com) via Twitter: Bartolo Colon tonight - 88-92 FB, 85-87 Cut FB, 80 CH, 84 SL? Colon looked great for 5 IP before tiring in the 6th. He was toying with hitters at this level.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 06:12 PM) I'm guessing it is a week of vacation. Just a little break to get things in order after his college career. He's had three weeks off already and there's less than 2 months to go on the Minor League season, f*** giving him a rest lets see him out there.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 02:15 AM) I think alot of us are going to be very disappointed with how Carlos is with this injury. His defense will be maddening. His defense already is maddening.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 11:12 PM) No one answered it before and I want to ask it one more time... Were there really no better USA Shortstop prospects than Danny Espinosa? Tim Beckham. But you're right, it's a very weak group.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 02:05 AM) Wow, bit of a suprise. I imagine this'll be the end of Donny Lucy. Tough on Armstrong also who has been ridiculous at the plate this last 2+ weeks.

Flowers to Triple-A, apparently. http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5565195

What pitches do you throw? What was the draft experience like for you not seeing your name called? And how did that affect you and your game/work ethic/hunger? Favourite team growing up? Favourite players growing up? Anyone who you model your game after? Have the organisation given you any plans for the future or timetables for your progression? What do you think is the main thing that you need to work on? How did you find the transition from college to pro ball and what was the most difficult adjustment for you?

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 03:58 AM) I have to say, even with it being very early, Phegley is really, really struggling. He's hitting into extremely poor luck (.207 BABIP), making Phegley just another example of why batting average isn't useful as an evaluation of true ability. His strikeout rates (8.8% swinging strikeout and 0.0% called strikeout) are both great so he clearly hasn't been over matched at the plate. He does have a high fly ball rate thus far which would bring his expected batting average down some but it should also result in a very strong home run rate, which is obviously a good thing. Like other have said though, it's too small of a sample size to make any kind of true evaluation but I don't see anything to be worried about. In fact, if there's one thing I'm most certain about from this draft class it's Phegley's ability to hit, he was a very polished, advanced college hitter and those guys have by far the highest rate of reaching the Majors and turning into average or better players.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 01:05 AM) Hmmm... didn't see Mitchell in the lineup tonight... Then I looked on the Kanny roster and he's listed as being on the 7-day DL. ??? WTH... stub his toe getting off the airplane or what? Strange, it's up in the SAL league transactions report also. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...16&sid=l116

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:42 PM) It's funny that Cortes was given the pitcher of the year award in the organization and then repeated AA. I wouldn't call him a non-prospect yet, but it looks like the Sox didn't lose much there. I knew he was having a bad year but I didn't realise his numbers were this bad. 50BB/57K in 80 IP, that's awful. His batted ball rates are pretty good though.

QUOTE (beautox @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 06:53 AM) I'm very excited about Morel, I remember hearing sickels say he could potentially end up being a Joe Randa type, and i remember him having an above average glove in college so I'm glad to see him starting to hit well again. I would love to see a very solid bat and glove anchoring 3B with Beckham moving back to 2B in the not too distant future; something along the lines of 750-815OPS for frame of reference Joe Crede's career OPS .752 Joe Randa's career OPS .765 There's nothing about Joe Crede type offense at 3B that gets me excited. For his career Crede was worth around 27.6 runs less than an average 3B, the only way you can get away with that type of offense is if you play, well, Joe Crede like defense.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 11:10 PM) Looks like David Cook has finally been promoted to AAA. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...&pid=449803 http://futuresox.com/frontpage/?p=705

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 10:41 PM) I forgot to mention when and where this game takes place, he’ll be a September call up for the Royals Well played.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 10:29 PM) I exp ect to see some very good things from Jared Mitchell over the next couple of years. I can see it now....Three years from now, Hawk. "Little Carlos Gomez at the plate, Hell of a player, right there, hits the ball sharply to right field, sinking, uh-oh HE WENT TO JARED!!!! YES! HELL YES! What a catch by The (insert slightly clever nickname.)" Carlos Gomez will still be in the league in three years time?

QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 03:40 AM) The '06 draft was a disaster Yes it was.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 02:43 AM) If that's the case, then the move was terrible for the Sox. But somehow I doubt that will pan out. The Sox have done a great job of scouting their own talent in recent years. There is no reason to think, as of right now, that this was a mistake. I don't see your logic. Just because you're a starter doesn't mean you're good especially in Arizona.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 01:56 AM) Even I'll grant that Pena has more value than a simple 27 YO RP with a 4.23 ERA just based on stuff. If we want to look into some more advanced statistics (which obviously we do), we see that Pena's tRA and FIP over the past couple of years are very good and both those metrics are far better for predicting future success than ERA. But why hasn't his actual production matched his true ability? Bad luck? Whatever it is I'm sure Coop'll fix it.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 01:18 AM) we may overvalue Allen a bit, but his power is real. Just looked at what he did in B-Ham last year in so few at-bats, and mind you B-Ham is a brutal hitter's park. He also is pretty darn athletic at first base and really has cut his strikeouts down. I just don't understand how a guy like Shelby can't net you a mediocre, 27-year-old reliever, because he probably could have. Allen's HR/BIA% was more than fluky last year at B'ham and he definitely shouldn't have been considered untradeable (and obviously wasn't), but still, a f***ing reliever? Are you kidding us Kenny?

From Baseball America's July 2 expert Ben Badler via Twitter: http://twitter.com/BenBadler/status/2416294380 And he later reiterated this in his team by team previews: I won't post the rest of it because Badler's content is great and deserves to be subscribed for but here's the link http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/pros...009/268476.html

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 2, 2009 -> 02:15 AM) Hudson and Flowers have separated themselves from the rest of the pitchers/position players regarding being our top prospects. Yeah definitely, Flowers in particular.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 04:57 PM) On a 1-10 scale with 10 being very good/Brian Anderson-esque, how would you rate Danks' defense? Well if Anderson is a 10, and statistically over the course of his ML career he's been just slightly above average then I'd have to put Danks at a 13-14 since Danks is reportedly very good in the field. Admittedly I'm basing my opinion on Danks off of reports from people who have maybe seen him 15 times in his career, so this could change when we get some real statistical analysis on Danks' defense.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 07:28 PM) I keep wondering whether we'll be able to keep Podsednik as a stolen base coach after his legs finally give out. He's not that fast any more and it kills him on the basepaths this year, but he knows when to run and he has the technique down pat. He'd be an ideal guy to have working with people who have speed but need to develop stolen base skill (Owens, Mitchell, perhaps D2: the Mighty Danks) When would you say Podsednik lost his speed? Because all of his stolen bases since 2004 have come at a net loss for his teams, his SB%'s are terrible.

A whole host of draft signing being reported by Baseball America: Kyle Colligan (12), Dan Black (14), Daniel Wagner (16), Phil Negus (18), Brady Shoemaker (19), Zach Kayne (22), Goldy Simmons (23), Jeff Tezak (24), Matt Harughty (26), Kyle Davis (27), Robby Cummngs (28), Trey Delk (29), Rob Vaughn (30), Ryan Hamme (31), Jake Wilson (32), Chase Cooney (33), Alex Farotto (34), Joe Serafin (37), A.J. Casario (38), Paul Burnside (39), Ryan Lee (41). http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/200...m.php?team=1026

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 03:10 AM) We could always link the MiLB.com player profiles from the site. If someone sees a players name listed on Future Sox, like the tags, it links to that particular player's profile. Maybe a fancy shmancy intro just for the hell of it? Or even better, instead of linking to MiLB.com player profiles it could link to FutureSox player profiles with full scouting reports, kind of like what they do at Soxprospects.com. This would obviously take some time to get done but it would be really good.

Baines Jr. Signs. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,6811383.story