Chicago White Sox

Good to see Jose Barraza back in action. IIRC, he was an over-slot signing we took in the 8th round the same year we drafted Ayala. He missed all of 2013 with an injury, but is still just 19 years old, so he's got plenty of opportunity to make up for lost time. He should be a fun prospect to follow. Also, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Barraza getting the opening day start over Ayala is pretty telling to me, given that Ayala is a repeater and should be considered the veteran. Purely speculation, but it seems like the organization may not be as high on Ayala as they previously were.

We desperately need to find a legitimate starting catcher between now and next March. Grandal seems like the perfect target, as he solves two offensive needs (left-handed bat, high OBP). He won't come cheap, but his poor season may make him a little more affordable. Regardless, Flowers needs to go.

f***ing A, this s*** is painful to watch.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 07:47 PM) Really is great for his overall value that he seems to have developed some plate discipline. Means his relative lack of a hit tool hurts a lot less. Really is critical for his development. Honestly though, he's having a pretty good season. 7th in the league in OPS entering tonight and most of the guys above him aren't really prospects outside of Joey Gallo. Given how he performed last year, I think season has to be considered a great success even if his numbers aren't eye popping.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 08:25 PM) God knows why Kannapolis continue to bat him #2. Because they want to give him more at-bats than all of the non-prospects on the team.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 02:27 PM) Is this post serious? Unfortunately yes.

Forgive my ignorance, but are FIP & xFIP really going to be predictive when using a 13 inning sample?

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 04:05 PM) Even when they're getting worse year-on-year? Viciedo's wRC+ for the Sox: 2010/11 (combined 219 PA): 99 2012: 98 2013: 96 2014: 85 Give him a full season before including 2014 in that trend. He looked like a completely different hitter in April, taking pitches and drawing walks. While I'm not optimistic, I'm not going to automatically write this season just because of an epically bad June. The talent is there and maybe Steverson can get him close to the hitter he was earlier this year.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 08:27 PM) I would be more inclined if his SB numbers weren't terrible this year. As it stands, he does has one plus tool (speed) and all of the rest are not special. And his plus tool is not even manifesting itself this year in the SB column. While it can appear in other ways, SBs are a large component in grading the speed tool. Agree to disagree. He was among the lead leaders in OPS prior to his promotion to AAA. His plate discipline was extremely good and he demonstrated decent power for a leadoff hitter type. I get the SB numbers are way down, but I'm not sure that really matters. We've seen the scouting reports and know the speed is plus. Honestly, I think in most other organizations he'd be hyped up by their fans. The guy isn't a Juan Pierre type, he's got way more athleticism and can become an all-around dangerous hitter IMO. I was high on him last year and his Southern League performance only makes me more optimistic.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 08:16 PM) Come the end of this season, I believe Anderson and Rodon will be ranked in the top 100, with Montas being the next closest. I've said this before, but Johnson/Davidson have to be two of the worst performing top 100 prospects this season. Micah Johnson has a decent chance of being a top 100 guy IMO.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:02 PM)

Getting a legit starting catcher is probably our #1 offseason priority.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 14, 2014 -> 07:28 PM) De Aza was pretty close to awful most of last year, and Hahn gave him another contract this year and has kept him on the team even though he has no business in MLB. Not the biggest deal, I agree, but he is in the category of bad Hahn moves. Not as ridiculous as Paulino or Cleto or Boggs or as costly as Davidson/Reed, but Mr. Hahn is not yet qualified for Sainthood. You really need to get over the loss of Reed, he's a reliever and not an elite one by any means. I was never a huge Davidson fan, but I even I would never pass up on making that trade.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) But he has three years as an elite college pitcher, which should be given much more weight than a high school arm. Honest question, but had we selected Aiken with our first pick would he not be our #1 prospect? Adams was a borderline 1st round talent, he should definitely be our top 10 and I'd have him around #8.

f*** this s***.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 09:22 PM) Dayan is now officially having a worse year than De Aza, per WAR Then it's decided, De Aza > Viciedo, as WAR is the end all be all.

Could use an old-fashioned triple play right about now.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 09:15 PM) Viciedo's average now down 63 points over the last month. This is one awful outfield the Sox have. His BABIP in June is .077. Honestly, he hasn't looked good, but he's also been extremely unlucky these past few weeks.

That half inning may have lasted less than 2 minutes. Holy f*** this is frustrating to watch.

Tank is more than f***ing due. Hopefully he transfer that adrenaline from that nice catch into an XBH here.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 05:28 PM) IMO he's fielded very well for us and he's looked pretty good at the dish at times, too. Before ADA heated up, he deserved a shot to take his place IMO, Sierra has looked awful defensively. Not sure what defensive metrics would say, but simply from the eye test he's looked pretty bad so far.

Wow, nice play Beckham. Hope some other teams' scouts were watching!

Outside of an unlucky batting average (.185 BABIP), Semien has picked up right where he left off at AAA with a .850 OPS & 144 wRC+ coming into tonight game. He'll be a regular with the big league club again before the season is over.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 12:59 PM) Excellent point but teams like the Yankees will probably overpay based on desperation at the deadline. If he is traded max levarage will be in July, not the off season. I agree, 2B is not a position teams typically pay a premium to fill. That said, there should definitely be less supply of quality 2B available next month than in the offseason and hopefully a few teams in need of one right now. Get two teams bidding for him, say the Blue Jays & Yankees, and maybe you can get something of decent value. If so, you take that offer immediately and put Semien at 2B the rest of the season. Banking on a transformed Gordon Beckham at $6M+ next year does not seem like great use of resources when we have three cheaper & promising alternatives in AAA.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 11:44 PM) E3 couldn't be more boring if it tried. Hopefully tomorrow improves. Microsoft had a decent conference, although no crazy surprises. Sony's conference seemed pretty lackluster. Nintendo has a chance to gain some momentum, but I remain skeptical they'll pull off something special.