winninguglyin83

Baseball America ranked the sox system first in 2000, I believe. Back in the days of Jon Rauch, Matt Ginter, Joe Crede, Rocky Biddle and a few other hits and misses. didn't seem to mean that much. Other than Rowand, Crede and Buehrle, most of the players on the title team were plucked from elsewhere.

as long as the clock keeps tickin and we don't sign anybody else, he's got a shot to be number 5 starter -- scary as that sounds.

Nice cold-weather read on Jeff Marquez, the pitcher the Sox got from the Yankees for Swisher. He sounds pretty pumped to be changing pinstripes and knows he needs to improve his command. http://www.thereporter.com/ci_11441373?source=most_viewed

Who in the heck is going to pitch with Vazquez and Floyd both gone? I don't get this one. We have Beckham in the wings. Getz deserves a shot. Don't understand why you get rid of Floyd. He just turned the corner last season.

better be more than Homer Bailey.

Reds also deny the deal, via the Cincy Enquirer: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/s....cincinnati.com

bad deal if it is Dye for Bailey, mano a mano. watched Bailey pitch in the minors for several years. He has regressed the last two seasons. velocity dropped last year. people around the Reds' AAA team constantly shake their heads at his immaturity. Not at all a grinder, a guy who expects to get by with the magic of his fastball, which hasn't worked too well for him lately. been given every opportunity to succeed with a team with s***ty pitching -- and failed every time. say it ain't so, Kenny.

Baseball America announced its top 20 prospects from AFL. Three guys from Sox Beckham was seventh. flowers was 15th. Poreda 16th. would post a link, but you have to be a subscriber.

Scott Podsednik? oops. already did that.

look at the economy. Wouldn't be surprising at all to me if Jerry cut $20 million from the payroll. Probably a prudent move.

tribune now reporting it is indeed Lillibridge, Flowers, Gilmore and Rodriguez.

like Floyd, Marquez has been pitching in the Arizona Fall League. Kenny Williams and his top scouts are out there watching. I'm sure they had Coop or Kirk Champion take a look. they must see something they like. And they must be convinced Swish can't cut it no mo. Kenny laid it on pretty thick about how he expects Swishy to bounce back. I just hope this doesn't trumpet the arrival of the Jerry Owens Era in CF.

how about this from the New York Daily News: "The Yankees believe Swisher’s poor average was a function of a strained relationship with Chisox manager Ozzie Guillen, major-league sources said." Swishy no likey Ozzie. If true, we'll hear more because Swish likes to talk. But that must be the buzz among scouts.

Joba, Kennedy and Hughes are the three arms everybody in baseball wanted from the Yankees. Not the two we got. Kenny deserves the benefit of the doubt for the deals he made for Danks, Floyd and Quentin. But I hold my breath every time he makes a deal because he is usually runs the risk of paying too much. and he has certainly acquired his share of scrappers.

i am not opposed to dealing Jenks. His price is about to skyrocket. His Ks are declining. He doesn't stay in shape. And he has that screw in his arm. But ... we don't have anybody to fill that role. That's Kenny's dilemma.

story in tomorrow's Tribune says that two NL scouts say Kenny Williams is shopping Jermaine. The Sell High theory. and he will probably have more suitors than Thome or PK. Also says that Jenks could be moved. Sounds like Kenny is trying to be creative and get younger.' http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,7366873.story

Two more hits, including a double, by Beckham today. He's got his batting average up to .404

jon Rauch wasn't worthy of being named the best prospect in the country and BAmerica's minor league player of the year. But he's become a decent relief pitcher. He'd look nice in our pen. in fact, other than Buehrle or Garland, he's had a better career than all the other young guys from that era -- Ginter, Parque, Wells, Purvis, Fogg and the rest of those scrappers.

my dream is that he can become our Longoria. arriving in the big leagues with poise and a big bat in 2010. nice to have a prospect to get really excited about. It's been a good while -- and Joe Borchard doesn't count.

yes, but Beckham went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and 2 RBIs. he started a little slow, but he is flatout mashing.

Baseball America won't release it's Sox Top 10 prospect list until next Monday. But if you read a question that Jim Callis answered on BA's web site, you can find out who the top two prospects are (in this order): 1. Gordon Beckham. 2. Aaron Poreda Here is the entire question and answer, about Poreda's chances of pitching in the big leagues: The White Sox seem to be very high on lefthander Aaron Poreda, and it seems likes he's one of the top two prospects in their system. There's no doubt he has an electric arm. My question is does he legitimately have the chance to develop secondary pitches to stay in the rotation, or is his future as a late-inning reliever? When do you expect him in the big leagues? Nate Rittenbery Chicago Lefthanders who can throw in the high 90s don't often last 25 picks in the draft, but that's what happened with Poreda in 2007, precisely because of concern about his secondary pitches. The White Sox have helped him improve his slider to the point where it shows flashes of becoming a plus pitch, but his changeup is still very much a work in progress. Poreda is one of the organization's best prospects, coming in at No. 2 behind Gordon Beckham on our soon-to-be-unveiled White Sox Top 10 Prospects list. I'd handle him the same way Chicago has, giving him every opportunity to become a starter. At the same time, he has one plus pitch right now and even that fastball can get straight and hittable at times. In some ways, Poreda reminds me of Cubs righthander Jeff Samardzija, who has an electric arm yet couldn't always overmatch hitters with it. A starter in the minors, Samardzija was a weapon for the Cubs out of the bullpen this summer. He may get a chance to make the big league rotation, but I think Samardzija is better suited for relief. That's my gut feel on Poreda, too. There's a good chance you'll see him pitching for the White Sox this year, most likely in the second half and out of the bullpen.

huge, huge, huge day for Gordon Beckham in AFL Two homers, a triple and two singles. 5 for 5 with seven RBis. Also scored five runs. Only downer is that he was DH, not SS or second baseman. Cole Armstrong is having a huge mini-season out there. He had three hits and launched his sixth home run. Jordan Danks went 0 for 5. Poreda did not pitch. Here is the link to the box. : http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?si...scowin_peswin_1

There's a nice picture of Beckham on the official AFL site, publicizing his opening day appearance tonight. You can link to it right here: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/?league=afl

We've got a two-spot in us. got a good feeling.

He saved our pen. He didn't flinch. We can worry about where he fits next year, next year. But there's always a place for a lefty that can throw strikes -- at league minimum.