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QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 29, 2013 -> 04:20 PM) Trading for an a pitcher with an injured shoulder makes him a great GM? I'm not saying he isn't but this trade really shouldn't be what makes or breaks the reputation. It does. This moves swoops Crain out of the Red Sox's hands. And it's a minimal risk, you pay for what you get type of deal. At worst, Crain only pitches a couple of inning for them and Rays only give up little in return. At best, they get one of the best relivers in the game, and they pay the right premium for his service. Either way, Rays won't lose in this deal, I think it's brilliant.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 29, 2013 -> 09:18 AM) If Bundy is the centerpiece of a Peavy deal, then Rick Hahn failed miserably. I don't care how talented Bundy is. You don't give up the top pitcher on the market for a guy who just had major surgery. The Sox aren't trading Paul Malholm here. Not everybody recovers well from Tommy John either. Didn't Strasburg also came back from a TJS last season and still struck out 200 in 160 innings while still hitting 95-97 MPH consistently? TJS is very common these days, there's no reason Bundy can't revert back to his old self in 2 years. Plus, the possibility of Sale and Bundy atop the rotation for the decade or so is too good to turn away from.

It's fitting how Semien and the opposing team's SS are total different players. It will be fun to see who actually pans out for their major league team.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 28, 2013 -> 05:32 PM) Trayce Thompson homer. Spencer Arroyo pulled after 4 innings (traded!) I blame you for another unfruitful visit to the Trade Wind section and MLBTR

It's safe to say Chris Beck has the hitters where he want them.

Here's hoping John Danks pitches a perfecto his next start so we can trade his ass too. Heading into next year our starting rotation could be Sale, Santiago, Quintana, Johnson and Rienzo. All guys are products of our farm the past few years. Pretty impressive.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 25, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) Crap, didn't realize this was a day game. How did Peavy look? Brilliant, other than the three homeruns he gave up.

BREAKING NEWS: Derrick Rose announces he will be the best player in the NBA.

I would also like to point out Semien is the type of guy who improves a lot every season. This guy wasn't even on the radar two years ago. His improvement in plate discipline and pitch recognition this season is pretty much incredible. However, he still hasn't hit over .280 in a season yet, and it probably won't translate into anything more than a .250 hitter in the majors. He's still 22, so I wouldn't rush him to the majors just yet. I would let him stay in the minors for another half a year or so, and hope he can improve his hitting next year. If he's still raking like this next season, I would call him up around June or July.

QUOTE (onedude @ Jul 24, 2013 -> 08:11 PM) That's almost 2 times better than Bonds best year...you probably meant ops? Oh no, you got me QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 24, 2013 -> 08:11 PM) Our leadoff hitter is perhaps the strongest spot in our lineup He's a hitter acting as a leadoff hitter. An OBP in the .330's with little speed to boot, and who's becoming more and more home run happy isn't your ideal leadoff hitter, according to the traditional definition or the Joe Maddon definition. And I am probably discrediting him a little bit more than I should because I couldn't get over his -15 uzr/150 this year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 23, 2013 -> 07:00 PM) I don't think the sox really have "multiple holes" to fill as of now, particularly since they now have a starting catcher. That could change within the week though. Why not? Just because we got an average at best catcher in the long run, and our pseudo lead off hitter is getting on a hot streak, but is still clueless on defense? I also do not believe Beckham is a long term solution just because his BABIP is at an unsustainable .370 clip, and he has sacrificed all his power in the process. Yes, we don't have any glaring offensive weakness at this point, outside of third base. Gillaspie's offense just isn't going to cut it. The bigger issue is we don't have an above average offensive player at any position outside of Rios. A good offense would feature at least two all stars and one borderline all star. Rios is a borderline all star at best, and should be batting 5th or 6th in a good offense. By the way, none of our hitters have an OBP of over .800 From a typical lineup stand point, I would say we are missing a legit leadoff hitter, and legit number 3 and 4 hitters. Frankly they are the most important holes to fill.

So the Cubs were able to trade Garza, and the Soriano to NY trade is gaining a lot of steam. We have similar trade pieces in Peavy and Rios, and whether those two are better trade assets than Garza and Soriano is debatable. Yet we aren't even close to be in serious discussions in any trade talks with Peavy and Rios. From the several sources around, it seems the Sox are asking for a little too much in return. Yet the Garza haul for the Cubs is pretty much what we can dream of, and they still got it done. Part of me thinks the Sox are just reluctant to trade those pieces, and are still toying with the retool vs rebuild idea. We will be able see who's really in charge after the trade deadline, and it probably won't be Hahn. I would be really disappointed if we end up not making any majors moves at the deadline. There is no way we can be productive in the long term without trading away these pieces to replenish our farm, and none of the guys on our offense currently are players you can build an offense around.

What are the chances of the Sox stand pat and not make a major move? I would hate to see Rios, Peavy and Ramirez's contract not being moved.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 10:46 AM) NSIS Anyways, Carlos is Spanish for Charles. Charles and Carlos are in fact brothers, and they look very much alike. Your acronym was even more obscure than the fact lol

There are even a few guys at the gym I go to who can pull off something like that in practice. And what seems a little troubling is his release is a little slow for the NBA level, especially for a sharpshooter with no lateral quickness.

http://www.nba.com/games/20130718/MIACHI/gameinfo.html Very nice game for Teague, and he's still 20 years old with high ceiling. Looking at the bottom of the Bulls box score and I spotted R. Allen and C. Boozer and thought we somehow stole Ray Ray from the Heat. But turns out it was just some scrubs named Ryan Allen and Charles Boozer.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jul 18, 2013 -> 04:26 PM) Kind of surprised at the outrage. Wasn't much reaction when the Tigers received one last year. That's even more puzzling. Detroit isn't in the top 10 for small teams, and they had the 10th highest revenue in 2011, unless Bud Selig's crystal ball that predicted Detroit going bankrupt in 2013.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 18, 2013 -> 12:11 PM) If you go purely by population in the metro area, then yes, Saint Louis is definitely one of the 10 smallest. 2012 pop estimates in millions: Milwaukee 2.0 Cincinnati 2.2 Kansas City 2.4 Pittsburgh 2.7 Tampa 2.8 Saint Louis 2.9 San Diego 3.2 Denver 3.2 Cleveland 3.5 Minneapolis 3.8 Phoenix 4.2 Seattle 4.4 Detroit 5.3 Toronto 5.6 Atlanta 6.1 Houston 6.4 Miami 6.4 Dallas 7.1 Philadelphia 7.1 Boston 8.0 San Francisco/Oakland 8.4 Washington/Baltimore 9.3 Chicago 9.9 Los Angeles 18.2 New York 23.4 That is an absurd loophole that baseball needs to fix. If we don't at any other measurements other than the market population, St. Louis definitely ranks in the upper echelon of baseball teams. This team has consistently finished in the Top 5 in attendance for the past decade, 2 world series wins in the past 7 years, currently has one of the top 5 farms systems in the league, and their team has been a perennial playoff contender every year in this century. Business wise, the most recent Forbes ranking had this team ranked 10th in terms of value (Sox at 11th), and 7th in revenue. So I do not really see how the "small" market in St. Louis is preventing the Cardinals from being a successful franchise, or the small population is preventing them from generating revenue and going out to spend $$ on free agents.

Can someone explain why the Cardinals are in the lottery. On paper it says the 10 smallest market teams, and the 10 lowest revenue teams can participate, but the Cardinals, who is 6th in attendance last year, got a pick as well. Are they considered a small market team? I am just a little baffle.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 12:00 AM) It's worth mentioning that Fangraphs LOVES him. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) he registers very well with the advanced metrics. Very good ground ball rates throughout his career as well which is something a team playing in our park would like. He's always fared pretty well in the xFIP department on Fangraphs, and his sinker produces enough ground balls to give him a shot at the big leagues. With his peripherals against lefties this year, even if he doesn't pan out as a back of the rotation option, he should still be a solid LOOGY for a few years.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) I have to echo this sentiment, posters have been too hard on Hawkins this year and have unfairly scrutinized him. I really enjoy visiting Soxtalk and following the minor league action, this community is by far the most knowledgeable about the team's minor league system so I really value everyone's input in the game threads. I feel like I gain a very good understanding of the players within our system but also the system as a whole, the good with the bad. Unfortunately the current trend seems to be to keep a running count of Hawkins' strikeouts and mental errors and not in a constructive manner but a very sardonic, cynical tone. My question is, what's the point of being so cynical and pessimistic? What do you have to gain by scrutinizing a player's performance to the point of not allowing anyone else to have a shred of optimism for that player? Is it some type of Borchard hangover? This isn't a personal attack against any particular poster but rather a deeper, philosophical question on how to view the players in our minor league system. Also regarding Hawkins' troubles this season, can you imagine if you were a Royals fan right now? Bubba Starling, who at one point was compared to Mickey f***ing Mantle is barely hitting above the Mendoza line in the Sally league, so let's cut Hawkins a little slack for struggling. He still has the most talent and best physical tools in our system, let's give him a couple of years (or at least one full season in professional ball!) before we write him off. Sorry for the rant. When your major league team is a major disappointment, and your young phenom and supposedly your best prospect, by far, is having an historically bad season, it's hard to keep people's mouth shut. I think that outside of the Twitter thread, most of the sentiments here aren't really over the edge, or offensive, by any means, and most of them have been constructive. I see a lot of posters are suggesting demoting Hawkins to help him rediscover the basics, giving him extra time off, etc. Some folks are seemingly ready to write him off, but it happens. Personally, I am debating whether some folks are right to have him still best the number 1 prospect in the system, with Erik Johnson having the phenomenal season he's having. But that's just me. I think your post is a great post, it's always good to have optimism around. And that's what makes a fun debate between the pro Hawkins and the down on Hawkins.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 11:40 PM) I would like to see some views on Charlie Leesman. I feel like he was getting slotted somewhere between 10-15 on most prospect lists last year. I know he is 26 but the dude gets lefties out. Vs. LHB: 16.1 IP, 23 Ks and .127 batting average. Fastball only coming in around 90 but he seems to be of the crafty variety and I am sure a transition to a relief role could bump up his fastball a touch. Very deceptive with a lower arm angle. He's has success in several different seasons/levels and seems to be improving in his second straight year at Charlotte. K rate way up. He will definitely be up this season after the trade deadline, if not, as a September call up. I feel like he was a miss for the FS Mid Season top 25 list. I would put him over Santos Rodriguez. He was the 11th best prospect in our system according to Fangraphs last year. Scouting report says his stuff is that of a AAAA player, and he's been overachieving in the minors. We will see how he fares as a lefty out of then pen later this year.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 09:17 PM) Also, here is a real long article on the subject.... http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/4/22/2...-league-k-rates The article proves nothing. It only draws to conclusion that sluggers (players with higher OPS according to study) tend to have a higher strikeout rate, which is perfectly understandable. This only proves Hawkins's approach is that of a slugger, which also isn't anything new. But the article does further reinforce that prospect success rate drops significantly once the prospect's minor league K% goes over 22%. And only 3% of the successful prospect (10 of them in total, since 1990), had a career MiLB K% of higher than 24%. Given Hawkins's K% is at 45% right now (the highest rate by a "successful" prospect being Branyan at 33%), this study definitely causes for greater concern. This is not saying Hawkins won't improve on his K% as he ages, but all signs aren't in his favor, and I definitely won't have him as a Top 3 prospect in our system right now. P.S. I wouldn't take this article seriously, there are several huge issues with the basis of the research.

Toby Thomas, 21st round pick this year, still only a 19 years old SS, is having quite a start to his pro ball career. 5 K's in 70 PA's is also very encouraging for this system.

That's why I am puzzled why some people still have Hawkins as the top prospect on the mid season list. Even if Erik Johnson isn't as good as advertised, he still should be a decent 4th/5th option, and he has the ceiling to be a number 2/3 starter if he pans out. If people are still putting Hawkins as the best prospect, that means they still expect him to hit .280 with around 30 HR and 100 RBI. I honestly can't even picture Hawkins putting up a .300 season in the minors from here on out. He's got a long long long way to go, and something's seriously wrong with his swing.