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So when I posed this suggestion to the board two weeks ago, specifically if you are willing to trade Sale for the right offer, 70% of the board voted no. I like how people are more open to the idea right now, just proves I am not crazy with my idea. I would trade Sale for the right offer in a heart beat, and I love rooting for the guy. As Rosenthal point out, none of our current players can net us a premium, top prospect, with the exception of Alexei + Rios in a deal. We have plenty of average to good prospects in the farm, but we badly need some premium prospects who can hit and are close to major league ready. Also the risk of Sale getting injured or losing effectiveness over the duration of his deal is pretty high, I wouldn't want to take that risk.

I have no problem with Zapata not being ranked for uncertainty. Like I said before, he can be the top prospect for us after his first season, or sitting outside of Top 20. If you look at the Top 25 list, Zapata would have been the most raw prospect on that list, even more so than Danish and Zewski. At least the latter are more than capable of playing for Bristol, while Zapata is at least a year or two away from reaching that level. But I do think Zewski is ranked a bit too high at this point. I am not sure if his hot first 5 games bumped up his ranking a little bit.

After getting swept by the Cubs for the first time in the history of mankind, beating up on Verlander and the Tigers just feels.. unreal.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 01:58 PM) Because it's a lot more likely that the White Sox try to find guys like the names mentioned (for 1B/3B) than giving Andy Wilkins a shot...players that are in the doghouse with their teams, which might make them more available than would otherwise be the case. Pretty random name to say the least given there were no rumors about Sox and Lawrie so far. Even in the slightest chance we do acquire Lawrie, his defense is gold glove caliber at third, and his bat profiles more of a 3B than 1B.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) Why aren't we talking about this guy more?? Oh wait his age. Damn that age. Who cares about age, if he is 30 and gets to the big leagues and produces, that is all that matters. Age sure does matter. If he's 20 years old and put up these types of numbers, he has a much higher chance of making it to the majors. He's almost 27, way to old for the level, it is expected that he will dominate 21-22 year old pitchers in their 2nd or 3 year in baseball. Take a look at our good friend Seth Loman. He was a year younger than Curley when he put up the same type of raw numbers in 2010. Yet he's approaching 28 now and struggling to hit in Triple A. There is a 0.1% chance a player makes it to the majors by 30 years and actually have a productive career.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 09:46 PM) Why does is it matter what age he is when the rankings come out though? Why should he be punished for being born in December rather than March? He'll play the entire 2013 season as a 22 year old...that's what should matter when discussing if he's age appropriate. Not saying I agree with it, but that' usually how the rankings work. There are so many great prospects in the minors, a "23 year" old just finished A+ usually give ways to the younger or more hyped prospects when it comes to the rankings. And let's be real, those rankings don't usually get it right. To be honest, I don't even care much about the Top 100 rankings. The Sox has placed more minor leaguers into the big leagues in the past few years than some of the "better farms" out there, yet we often get looked down upon because we didn't have more than one Top 100 'spect in a given year. Micah Johnson has a chance be a very solid regular by age 24/25, regardless he makes some arbitrary ranking.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 08:55 PM) he's only 22 which makes him totally age appropriate for the level he's at right now. Wont be 23 til december, considering how he's raking he'll almost definitely be a top 100 next year unless he falls off in the second half. Between the high BA, good XBH numbers and silly SB #'s, you absolutely have a top prospect in the making. He also plays a premium middle infield position He will be 23 when the rankings comes out. Those Top 100 rankings usually look heavily age and the league they played in. The only 23 year old in the BA Top 100 list last year that played entire year below AA was Alex Meyer of the Twins, and he was a first round pick in 2011. I think he's on the bubble right now, but if he makes it to BHam by year end, then he's in.

Only way Micah would crack the Top 100 prospect is if he continues to hit like this and gets promoted to AA by the end of the year, or if he flat out dominates AFL. Very rarely would you see a 23 year old player finishing A+ considered a Top 100 player. On a side note, it's tough to be Courtney Hawkins on some days. EDIT: Uh oh... Rangel Ravelo 2nd homerun in as many days.

Who cares about where he ranks in our system? He could be #1 or outside of the 25, after he plays his first full season. The real question is can we develop him? He is extremely raw right now, and is another prospect who has issue with pitch recognition and is susceptible to off speed stuff. As some pointed out, his bat is rated as a 3/8 right now, and projects as a 4/8. Given our track record with these type of raw, athletic bats, or just bats in general, this concerns me a little.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 12:54 AM) 6 titles? Me likey. Did Oz/KW hate each other from the start? Make it 7. Seems like we already forgot the VDN Pax scuffle didn't end so well.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:58 PM) Maybe its the 117 degree heat in Las Vegas making me crazy, but what if we decided to be buyers instead of sellers? We are only 10.5 games out of first place and no one seems prepared to run away with this division. Lets go out and trade for a 1B, 3B, C, OF, DH, and a couple of pitchers. If we have the opportunity, lets upgrade at other positions as well. We can turn this thing around with the pickup of 8 or 10 new players who contribute strongly. Wouldn't it be a hoot if we won the division after this start?? You just simplified the complexity of baseball and solved every issue of the team with one statement. Bravo.

Bulls are apparently in pursuit of Mo Williams and Will Bynum. I am in disgust... This FO baffles me sometimes. We still have Hinrich and Teague to back up Rose, unless he's not ready to go to start the season. They are also not likely to retain Belinelli at this point. Our biggest needs are a shooting wing, and a backup center, not another PG who can't shoot. We can't go into the season with our two best shooters being rookies who aren't likely to get enough burn.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 07:18 PM) Kevan Smith has recovered from a slow start to the season and now sporting over an 800 OPS. Overall, perhaps the best catching prospect in the system, although Phegley's more major league ready, obviously. Doubt it. They are both the same age. Phegley is dominating Triple A this year, Smith is having decent success at a league he's too old for. Phegley even has better defensive potential from what I've read.

With DeMichele seemingly getting enough burn at SS in WS, I wonder what the hold up is to promote Micah. I think it's beneficial for him to get a more challenging assignment at this point, he has gotta passed all the checklist in Low A if there is one.

I am not saying you couldn't keep ranting and micro analyzing about Hawkins every single day. If it adds any value to you, by all means. I don't see how one poster can't give honest opinion/feedback on another poster who practices a habit regularly when no personal attack is involved. Maybe learn to respond in a more constructive way? It's early, but Michalczewski is looking to be one of the best contact hitting prospects we had in a while, and he's ONLY 18 years old. Hard not to get excited about him.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 07:58 PM) FINE, oh wise one, it also doesn't do any good to say his day to day results or if he walks or homers either....we should REALLY just ignore him for the rest of the season and then look at the final results at the end of the year, like you would with a mutual fund. I won't mention his FREAKING batting average for the rest of the season, because I'll be specifically waiting for your oh so insightful night-by-night analysis of what we actually SHOULD be looking for based on your extensive experience of assessing minor league prospects. I think you are forgetting that you are bringing up these stat lines/observations for discussion. Other posters can certainly go on the box score and look at the stat line themselves. A great game, bad game, new trend, new observation, consistent trend, things beyond the box score, etc are usually discussion worthy. 0/1, 0/2, 1/3, 1/4 games aren't usually going to garner much discussion. Like I said, if you get pleasure from doing it, and want to continue to be your one man TMZ, and use the forum as a ranting and spamming ground, keep up the good work. Take it for what it's worth, this is the last time I am commenting on your posting type.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 07:38 PM) What, if anything, do we really have to actually care about for the rest of the season? Hawkins' development is the single most important factor for the organization going forward, along with Sale staying healthy. Of course, it's going to be analyzed, reanalyzed and micro-analyzed. Because it adds no value if you analyze his batting average every game? It doesn't make a difference if he's hitting .188 or .191. He is far far away from producing at the major league level. Unless you get pleasure from watching a minor leaguer's BA jump 0.03 in one day.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 26, 2013 -> 02:14 PM) And Conor Gillaspie's wife opens up the door for Morel. Now Morel will go 1 for 11 with a poke double for the double entendre

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 10:08 PM) Really? I mean, I do think Earley is a guy worth keeping an eye on. Probably in the 30-40 range on a top prospect list. But you think he's in the majors before Thompson? I'd say Earley's chances of seeing the majors at all are pretty slim. In terms of ceiling, yes. But he does have a higher floor than most of the "prospects" higher than him on that list. If he continues to hit around .300 this year, he would be in Charlotte by next year and will be worth a call up if someone goes down, or just as a September flyer. I, along with most poster, believe that we should not rush Thompson to the majors, there is no reason to. Let him take his time and he could be a solid regular by 2015.

I stand by my prediction that Michael Earley will make it to the majors before the trio of Thompson, Walker and Mitchell, although Thompson's stock is trending up in past weeks.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 06:17 PM) Wow, seems eerily similar to our argument weeks back. In fact, there is several arguments that match both this argument and ours. The words "tangent", "unnecessary" and "comparisons" show up in every one of your riffs. Instead of calling everyone else kindergartners, look at the facts. You get in several of the same arguments over and over again. If you're up against everyone else, it's probably you and not everyone else. You're not the victim, you have bad habits. Michalzewski has been compared to Troy Glaus. Troy Glaus hit 41 HRs in 2001. Whether Michalzewski can cut it from both sides of the plate remains to be seen. Either way he probably doesn't crack the majors until '16. With that said, do you think Hahn shells out the money for a McCann/Utely type FA? Even if we did, we still need to develop our own all star position players. While Hawkins can be that guy, I don't see him exploding on the scene like say, Yasiel Puig. LOL this is golden. Caufield, I have no hidden agenda against you. But when you pose an argument to someone, you always take them on a merry go round. You are quoting on another poster, but it's hard for others to read and follow your thoughts. If you have a new idea to point out, feel free to make a new post or save it for another time. I think other posters other than bbilek and myself would appreciate it as well.

And quietly, Semien making strides on his pitch recognition. A 51 to 49 BB/K rate in 74 games is definitely an encouraging development for a 22 year old shortstop in Double A

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 01:43 PM) Guys, stop it! Can't you see Courtney Hawkins is tearing us apart?!?! Naw, it's just Caufield's irrelevant comparisons, unnecessary details, and constant tangents are finally driving people to insanity.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 10:40 AM) Could not disagree more, except for the jump between High A and AA. That's the biggest, this, the second. WOW. this guy. This is the same guy that thinks demotion would not help Hawkins, two weeks ago, and the talent level between low A and high A is pretty much similar. This is also the guy who suggest to promote Hawkins to Double A 2 weeks ago. Caufield, as a poster, how about you stick to what you really believe in, stop flip flopping positions every week. And for the love of God, spare us from your irrelevant player comparisons.

So much for me being the only extremist on the Hawkins demotion front two week ago. What do naysayers have to say now? Having him keep aimlessly swing out there is going to break him down even further. Something have to be done at this point.