29andPoplar

Weren't you also one of the people here who wanted Williams to do a total rebuild and go with prospects? Not to rain on the parade here, but I wonder where all those people are. I would rather a GM constructs a team that can compete, which apparantly this team has the ability to do. It goes to show, baseball is an interesting game, with all sorts of things that can happen. I'll post tomorrow about the slump this team will inevitably encounter, and how people shouldn't panic, because it's a long season and there are ups and downs.

Why would you want somebody from the system for that role anyway? It's a perfect role for a veteran, a guy who you don't worry about developing. Just have him eat innings. Even if his stuff isn't the same, he knows how to get people out and is by all accounts a good guy to have on the team. Of course I am biased about having veterans who know what they're doing, especially when you're contending.

The Austin, TX newspaper and the Texas Longhorn people expect Danks to forego his sr. season and go pro: http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sp...5basedraft.html The Sox will have the special asst. to Reinsdorf / designated-you-deal-with-Boras guy Dennis Gilbert handle the negotiations. I expect this to get done, it makes too much sense not to. Then again, it's Boras we're talking about.

Loaiza looked rusty. His role will be garbage time or if one of these starters wears down which is entirely possible, likely even. My guess is they give Loaiza to the end of this month or mid July to see if he's still got it. As stated above, he was released and usually teams have good reasons to release someone. They have very little invested in him and if they need to replace him I'm sure they can by 7/31. Nonetheless I think a bit of patience is in order. He's a pro, he knows how to get hitters out, and it's worth noting he battled an injury earlier this year and he may need some time to round into top form, whatever that is at this stage of his career.

Callis appears to need either electro shock therapy, a Red Bull I.V., a personality transplant, or all of the above. Again it has nothing to do with the actual draft but if they're trying to PR this thing on ESPN2, get someone who doesn't come off as a bored librarian.

The only thing cool about that is he spells his last name backwards and forwards the same way. That said it's nice to draft local products I suppose. Not to mention Otto's dad does some scouting for the Sox. All in the family as they say.

Oh and by the way, in the Baseball America chat someone asked that mealy mouthed Jim Callis about his impressions of the White Sox draft. He said he loves Gordon Beckham but that the rest of the draft class looks ordinary. Which makes me optimistic. And why is that? Because I have learned to take everything Baseball America says with a huge grain of salt. More than a grain actually, a whole salt lick. Not that it matters but did anyone see Callis on the ESPN2 draft coverage, I mean come on, does the guy realize he's on tv, does he understand how to smile and not look like he's been turned to stone? This is two years in a row that he came across like a zombie. Which has nothing to do with anything, just an off the cuff observation. As always, time will tell with this draft. I feel the same way after every draft, could have done better, could have done worse, why didn't they draft a true leadoff hitter type in the early rounds, etc. etc.

First off, yes, you always do look for an angle. Or curves for that matter. Yesterday you had your eye on lots of curves, you know exactly what I'm sayin'. On the 3B thing, yes I do believe that very quietly the Sox brass has begun considering whether or not Fields is their guy. Just a hunch on my part. He has been nicked up by injuries this year but the strikeout rate continues to be alarming. Again, just my hunch. Reflecting on this, my biggest disappointment is I did not see a true leadoff hitter type drafted early (first 5 rounds lets say). It needs to be done. How long have we looked for a leadoff hitter? I would say almost as long as you've been looking at curves. That's a long time.

General comments on this draft ... Laumann says they went after potentially high impact guys. Good strategy but now the challenge is to get these kids signed. Doubtful that many of these raw high school types will sign, especially those taken after round 20. They tend to want to go to college and increase their draft status for later. Some curious picks, obviously starting with the GM's son. I love the Danks pick even if he flames out. Danks is a good fit with this organization and it appears he wants to start pro baseball and I believe they'll get him signed in August. Supposedly they targeted the 3rd round pick, 3B Morel. He merits watching closely because if you target a guy who wasn't rated that highly, it's a judge of the scouting staff. Also I find it extremely interesting they'd spend a high draft pick on a 3B. Several CF and SS types were selected which is a good strategy in my book. Those are generally the best athletes and this organization needs good athletes. A few intriguing pitchers, it appears they targeted O'Neill for his ground ball tendancies and possibly he can move up fast. The other thing I noticed with their pitching selections is they took quite a few guys who just had poor seasons. So obviously they see something they like and are looking past stats. Again, a good way to see if these scouts know what they're doing. Also it will be a big test for the development people. It is unreasonable to expect much more than 10% of these picks to work out but this was a critical draft for a weak farm system. Hopefully they did the right things scouting these players and didn't get blinded by the halo effect. Sometimes scouts fall in love with a player and even with a bad year, they see only the positive. All in all, it seems they did the right things in this draft. One thing I did not like though is they took a lot of college seniors which to me screams organizational filler. Should also add, one more thing I did not like - I didn't see them draft any potential leadoff hitters. Possibly some of the high school players have that potential, the speedy kid Thorpe might be one. But really, they should have focused on taking 5-6 of this type of player and hope that one works out.

You and I are in lock step on this one. I'm not a betting man but if I were, and the White Sox had a hole in the next 6 weeks, he's the primary trade bait and they worry about next year's 3B after the season. But this is the draft thread so I'll leave it at that.

Can someone take over, got to run.

Round 31: James McCann, catcher, Dos Pueblos High School. Switch hitter, 6'2, 185. 6/13/90.

Round 30: Kevin Asselin, RHP, Sonoma St. University, California. 6'1, 185. 2/16/85, looks like a 5th yr. senior. If someone can take over ... thanks.

This is exactly the type of guy you take on day two. Two problems though ... one, signing him. Two, the White Sox development people aren't really known for taking below average hitters and turning them into something good.

Very tough to say. Other teams are picking similarly interesting (and non interesting) players. Detroit picked the son of their asst. GM in the 5th round, I'm sure Tigers Talk.com or whatever their site is probably is skewering them too. Especially with the year they're having. Anyway, this is all a crap shoot. You try to pick projectable players with good athletic skills and maybe a baseball tool or two that's above average. Then you turn them over to your development people and check back in a year or two.

Round 29: Randall Thorpe, CF, Heritage HS, Texas. Bats and throws right, 6/0, 170, 4/2/89.

Round 28 is Brandon Short, a CF from St. John's River CC in Maryland. 6'1, 195. Bats and throws right handed. 9/9/88.

Round 27 is Doug Thennis, a right handed hitting 1B, out of Texas Tech, a senior, 6'3 210. He hit .283 this year with 36 walks and 45 K's, had a better year in 2007 when he was the team's leading hitter. Formerly drafted by the Washington Nationals.

Round 26 is Jorge Castillo, a right handed hitting 1B out of Florida Int'l University. 6'2, 225, 9/26/86, a senior. He transferred from Univ. of Lousville after three years. Of Cuban descent, his grandfather played for the Cuban Nat'l team. Might be one to watch, .367 average, high OBP, very few strikeouts.

Round 25 is Taylor Thompson, a big RHP out of Auburn University. He's just a sophomore and is from Alabama. Bad stats this year and bad stats last year, so obviously the Sox are looking at projectablity here.

Out of 50 picks, the White Sox usually sign about 25 to maybe 30. They generally do a good job getting guys signed in the first 20 rounds because they planned it ahead of time, i.e. they usually know what a player wants. Very seldom in the past do they draft guys who are expected to be extremely difficult signs, although maybe the better word is occasionally. Most of these college jr. and sr. guys will sign and play in places like Great Falls and maybe Kannapolis and then you'll never hear from them again. Generally when you see a high school kid drafted late and they appear talented, it's likely they have a firm college commitment (scholarship) and are therefore much more difficult to sign. There are exceptions, like Jordan Danks, who's already a college jr. so one would think he'd be an easier sign, but his agent is Boras so all bets are off. A lot of these guys drafted will be on Great Falls roster in about 10 days, maybe a few at Bristol too. Others might sign a bit later, not play this year, and go to instructional league in the fall and you'll see them on a roster next year. But frankly, if a team can get 3-4 decent major leaguers out of a draft and maybe 1-2 more that end up being good trade bait, they've done extremely well.

Yeah but what about those Univ. of Texas women, you know what I'm talkin' about.

Here is an article mentioning Tyler Kuhn: http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?sport...&show=12821 Seems like he sees himself as a 2b in pro baseball.

A former Twins draftee.

I looked up a few things on him in the last few minutes. Univ. of Texas shifted him from LF to CF this year. Last year he set a team record by stealing 19 bases in a row, this year he stole about the same amount but was caught a few times. Looks like he had the exact same kind of year at the plate, average slightly lower than last year but not by much. Strikeouts and walks almost exactly even, same as last year. He played in all or most of UT's games this year and last year as well, so he looks to be durable. Not any injury history to speak of other than a fractured ankle his freshman year. Stats don't tell the whole story but if one relies strictly on stats it doesn't appear he progressed much after a very good year last year. Not sure what that's worth or what it means. Boras seems to think it means a whole lot regardless. Obviously the kid wanted to play for Univ. of Texas where his dad and mom graduated from and I'm sure he wants the degree. The Sox should have an advantage here, they know the family and the relationship is good. But I would bet this situation goes all the way up to 8/15.