Bruce_Blixton

Trayce Thompson hit his 20th homer today for Kannapolis; I know his average is still pretty low and K rate is still high but I think if we're patient enough with him he'll develop into a pretty good ballplayer. The Winston-Salem team should be fun to follow next season, it's going to be packed with some interesting prospects.

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 12, 2011 -> 12:25 PM) What's that boy? You say that Oney got pushed down into a well? How did that happen? We can only dream...

QUOTE (Espy.Teahen @ Aug 12, 2011 -> 08:09 AM) Bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark What's that boy? Mark's average is trapped below the Mendoza line? We'll get Greg Walker right away!

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 11, 2011 -> 10:07 AM) Well his defense is supposed to be top notch and SS isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut of a position anymore so he has a shot. He's only 22 still so it'd be nice if he could develop better on base ability. His K rate is about 20% right now so if he can get it down a little more and hit for a higher average he could do alright. He'll probably at the very least end up as a decent utility infielder. His game is quite similar to Omar Vizquel and if you compare Escobar's stats to Vizquel's they are eerily similar. If his glove is as good as it has been billed Escobar could have a pretty decent big league career.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 08:16 PM) No doubt, though it's crazy to see Smith struggling this much which seemed like a seamless "jump" (if you even wanna call it that) to GF from Bristol. Still early for him though. Good point, I wonder if he was pissed that he was promoted all the way out to Great Falls and not Kanny, he could've just mentally given up on the season out of frustration. There's no way that he's this overmatched by Pioneer League pitching.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 05:50 PM) Damn shame that Johnson and Buckner are the only two guys carrying that Bristol team. To be fair that team has lost a lot of pretty solid players so far this season like Ravelo, Collin Kuhn, Kevan Smith, Carlos Sanchez, etc. On the other hand Great Falls has been mediocre and extremely underwhelming all year.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 06:48 PM) Yeah with Kuhn and Lillibridge, we have two players who can play every position except catcher (though both are athletic enough to do it in a pinch). That is huge for the team. It will be interesting to see what they do with Lillibridge next season if Kuhn has an impressive enough Spring Training to earn a spot on the team as the utility. If that's the case I'd like to see KW try to move Lillibridge for a Thornton/Humber/Floyd type project.

Rangel Ravelo went 4-5 with 2 2B and 4 RBI, now hitting .500 at Kanny. Even more encouraging is that he's committed only 2 errors in 73 chances over 24 games this season. It should also be noted that Bradley Salgado has been quietly heating up over his last 10 games hitting .343/.410/.600/1.010. Hopefully the kid is turning a corner this season, can't have enough SS prospects.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 08:00 PM) Even Pittsburgh fleeced Kenny a few years ago. What was the pitcher's name we got? I'm guessing 2003. Of course, he couldn't get anybody out, and he was going to be our #2 starter. Todd Ritchie...yuck, I'm going to take a shower ala Ace Ventura now.

So Collin Kuhn has been impressive so far in Bristol, maybe he develops as the sleeper of the 2011 draft?

I think we have enough options down in the minors to fill any bullpen needs with Reed, Infante, Remenowsky, Lindsay, etc. I have no problem trading away Carlos, his value with us will probably never be any higher (unless Carlos enters the Home Run Derby and kills the competition like Abreu did a few years back) and would probably be a pretty shrewd decision to move him for the best package available. I don't see the reason behind trading for a SP just to turn around and trade another SP for prospects when you could probably get a pretty compelling package of prospects for Quentin anyway. KW should be working the phones with the Giants 24/7 to pry away some of their better prospects, they desperately need some offense to stay in first in the West and might be desperate enough to give up some of their better prospects. I'd start discussions around a package around Zack Wheeler and one of Francisco Peguero, Gary Brown or Jarrett Parker first but would settle for something like 1 of Peguero, Brown or Parker, Eric Surkamp and Michael Main.

And Tyler Saladino...

I'd really like to see the Bulls trade up to the 17-20 pick and nab Kenneth Faried, looks like a Ben Wallace-type of player that could become a beast under Thibs' coaching. If we keep the picks I'd go with Chandler Parsons, not flashy but a solid basketball player that I think could contribute off the bench right away, and a Euro prospect that can season overseas for a couple more years. Mirotic and Bertrans are my top picks but wouldn't be disappointed with Bogdanovich either.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 23, 2011 -> 06:11 AM) Wasn't Mike Lowell quite good on defense before the injuries piled up? Yeah I thought Lowell won a Gold Glove at third, I know he wasn't Brooks Robinson but he was definitely above-average.

Rangel Ravelo is off to a hot start in Bristol, really like this kid. He's drawn comparisons to Mike Lowell, projectable power, hope his defense lets him stick at 3B.

QUOTE (OilCan @ Jun 18, 2011 -> 01:47 PM) Gallagher - the more he hits, he SHOULD be viewed at the very least as a viable bench option. I mean, the guy has hit at every level, and he has extra base power. What's not to like? And he's a left handed bat. I think he could replace Teahen without missing a beat, he has a great eye at the plate. I wonder if he could develop some power as he gets older like Jayson Werth did.

I'm surprised that Brandon Short has created more excitement around here, only 22 years old in AA and has been able to adapt and excel at every level he's been promoted to. Looks like he could develop to a legit 20/20 guy in the future, maybe he becomes the player Alex Rios could've been minus the stellar D. Also, I think you can consider Dan Remenosky a legit prospect at this point, his K-BB rate is unbelievable.

Even though they won, Winston-Salem had an ugly day on the basepaths; 3 caught stealing and 2 picked off. Mercy!

Trayce Thompson stole home for Kannapolis which is pretty awesome. Looks like Kanny's bats woke up today too.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 14, 2011 -> 02:37 PM) White Sox System Breakdown: Infielders Gordon Beckham was a gem for the White Sox infield. He rushed through the minors and made an impact with the big league team not long after being drafted. Once Beckham graduated to the bigs the minor league system has lacked depth around the horn. Brent Morel and Dayan Viciedo (if the outfield experiment doesn't work out) are good talents at the top, but there are also some interesting names in the lower minors that could add that depth. Who else is worth getting excited about? ------ Who does everyone like among our younger infield prospects? Escobar is an easy pick, but what about the recent draft picks? Like a lot of people, I like Saladino and think he could be really solid for us up the middle, but I'm keeping my eye on Rangel Ravelo. I think he was a 7th round pick last year and has drawn comparisons to Mike Lowell for his size and bat, hopefully he can stay at the hot corner, but probably will have to shift to 1B or corner OF as do most 3B prospects. I found this tidbit about him that definitely piques my interest: http://blog.daily-times.com/smith/2009/07/...r_connie_m.html

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 06:37 PM) I like the pic of Kenny doing his best to look relaxed And rolling with TWO pairs of sunglasses, dude is straight pimpin'.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jan 24, 2011 -> 01:50 PM) Here's a link to my big board organizational projections. NorthSideSox72 said he would have a board up too. JPN366's 2011 Big Board 1.0 Awesome job with the Big Board! Is it confirmed that Ryan Buch is being moved to the bullpen? If so, any reason why? It seemed like he was really excelling as a starter last season, I was excited to see his progression this year.

QUOTE (scotty22hotty @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 09:43 PM) Why not Tony Gwynn Jr., instead? (if healthy) An elite defending CF with a 1.7 WAR in '10 (2.4 in '09) Looks like a great 8/9th place hitter when guys in the OF need rest... I like the fact that Milledge can play all OF positions and has the potential for some pop as well. Tony Gwynn Jr. is a great defender but he's too similar to Pierre. If/when CQ goes down in 2011 Milledge could bat closer to the middle of the order whereas with Gwynn you'd be left with Pierre and Pierre 2.0 taking up two spots in the lineup. To be honest, either one of them wouldn't be a choice along with several other players. I was worried we might miss Andruw next year, now...not so worried.

Some pretty solid players getting non-tendered, I wouldn't mind seeing Lastings Milledge replace Andruw Jones as our 4th OF and try to sign Eugenio Velez to a minor league contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2010 -> 03:23 PM) In this economy, unless we pay a sizable chunk of Buehrles salary, we aren't getting much in terms of quality for him. True, his salary has become an albatross, but I don't think he's lost all his value. A lot of people (me included) were saying the same thing about Javy before we traded him to the Braves and we all klnow how that ended up. I'm willing to bet we could get a similar trade package for Buerhle if we agreed to send $4.5 mil with him.