42 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

It's going that way everywhere.  Parents have to do a better job of informing themselves on where they send their kids for instruction.  There are a lot of bad dudes out there stealing money by selling some crazy ass shit. I can't believe what some of these guys are teaching kids. 

I'm not certain if these guys are selling a dream or parents are buying a dream and found the first hustler. I coach golf and parents hear that there are unused college scholarships for girls. Yes that's true but not at any schools you've heard of and not for the level your kid plays at. No one is offering a scholarship to a kid who can't break 100.

Those guys all seem to need a gimmick. Solid fundamentals,  hard work, a healthy lifestyle are boring concepts so they sell "secrets" while inflating their accomplishments to willing buyers. 

My top players all have private swing  coaches so I try to focus on the mental side of the game and course management. Every once in a while parents will send their kids to a "professional" who rarely is a psychologist or psychiatrist.  At best they may have a MA or a counseling certificate. I laugh when I hear the same themes I've been tell the kids.

 

9 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

It's going that way everywhere.  Parents have to do a better job of informing themselves on where they send their kids for instruction.  There are a lot of bad dudes out there stealing money by selling some crazy ass shit. I can't believe what some of these guys are teaching kids. 

I think some of the private coaches also overdo the stuff that is presented as modern coaching.

For example we now know that good players do use a slight uppercut swing but some coaches overdo this and teach like extreme uppercuts and tell kids strikeouts don't matter as long you hit for power.

I think this swing metrics stuff is valuable and I work with some kids using blast sensors and other stuff but I still think the hit tool is very important and needs to be taught before you worry about power.

Not talking about teaching slapping grounders but this "I only teach pull side bombs because pulled fly balls statistically do best in mlb" imo is not good, kids need to learn to hit liners to all fields first and after they master that they might work a little more on their pull side power. There still has to be a progression.

I also don't teach to hit cage bombs. Some twitter coaches brag with posting rapsodo bombs at 35 degrees in the cage but I prefer to teach to hit high liners about 15-20 degrees (upper back corner of the cage to roof of the cage in its last third of length) be because I feel this gives the most margin for error, if you get on top it is a low liner or hard grounder and slightly under it is a nuke.

If you aim for the bomb you might hit too many pop outs but aiming too low (like they used to teach middle of the L screen) it is not great either because in the cage that low ball (into pitchers balls:)) looks like a liner but after 110 feet to the SS that is probably a one hopper.

The modern stuff is good but some have just overdone it by interpreting mlb data without context. Teach that modern stuff but don't disregard the hit tool and try to make everyone a mini adam dunn:).

I did a mock draft at FutureSox today. Here it is: https://www.futuresox.com/2020/12/18/2021-mlb-mock-draft-1-0/

Good job.  College pitcher is always a safe bet.  I think this is the perfect year for them to go high upside high school position player.  The system is oviously in dire need for that type of player and picking in the back part of the draft is where those types of players are usually land.  This time last year some thought Pete Crow Armstrong was a 1-1 candidate and he ended up going 19th.  They should have a few really good high upside guys to chose from at 22.

2 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Good job.  College pitcher is always a safe bet.  I think this is the perfect year for them to go high upside high school position player.  The system is oviously in dire need for that type of player and picking in the back part of the draft is where those types of players are usually land.  This time last year some thought Pete Crow Armstrong was a 1-1 candidate and he ended up going 19th.  They should have a few really good high upside guys to chose from at 22.

I hope so too. They’ve been opposed in the first round of late but a bonus for that player will be in line with Jared Kelley. 

12 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

I hope so too. They’ve been opposed in the first round of late but a bonus for that player will be in line with Jared Kelley. 

I think the reason they were so risk averse was because they were picking towards the top so they went after safer college players. Now that they are further down I'm hoping they will loosen that up and target higher ceiling players.  It looks like a good draft to do it.

37 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I think the reason they were so risk averse was because they were picking towards the top so they went after safer college players. Now that they are further down I'm hoping they will loosen that up and target higher ceiling players.  It looks like a good draft to do it.

I agree. If you draft top5 overall a college player makes sense as you can get ceiling and floor. For example vaughn is safe but still can become a 3.5 war player.

If you draft at 20 your college players will have limited upside with the exception of some pitchers with injury and command concerns like crochet.

Maybe the can get a walker buehler, gavin lux or forrest whitley. Plenty of those hs picks bust but there is big upside.

Edited December 19, 20205 yr by Dominikk85

First mock has Sox selecting Ryan Cusick, RHP from Wake Forest

15 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

First mock has Sox selecting Ryan Cusick, RHP from Wake Forest

Maybe I’m misremembering but Wood at 8 seems like a big move up compared to others

This is absolutely the year for the Sox to take a high ceiling high school position player in the 1st round. Preferably a center of the diamond player. 

6 hours ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

This is absolutely the year for the Sox to take a high ceiling high school position player in the 1st round. Preferably a center of the diamond player. 

This is my hope as well. The bonus amount should fall into JRs "comfortable" range for teenage players.

9 hours ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

This is absolutely the year for the Sox to take a high ceiling high school position player in the 1st round. Preferably a center of the diamond player. 

I wouldn't be shocked if this isn't the year the Sox go under the draft caps to "save money for the big league team".

top 200 came out for BA. Not surprising stuff if you followed the top college and top prep stuff. Still great stuff, ❤️  BA.

at 21: Isaac Pacheco

 

1 hour ago, bmags said:

top 200 came out for BA. Not surprising stuff if you followed the top college and top prep stuff. Still great stuff, ❤️  BA.

at 21: Isaac Pacheco

 

Here's the link for any interested parties.

also I guess we are 22 so i was wrong.

On 1/5/2021 at 9:52 AM, southsider2k5 said:

I wouldn't be shocked if this isn't the year the Sox go under the draft caps to "save money for the big league team".

Nobody goes under their draft cap anymore. And I don't think the Sox ever have since they went to the bonus pool system. 

It doesn't even make sense what you suggested. Not spending a few hundred K on draft salaries is a drop in the bucket compared to MLB payroll

10 hours ago, CeaseAndExist said:

Nobody goes under their draft cap anymore. And I don't think the Sox ever have since they went to the bonus pool system. 

It doesn't even make sense what you suggested. Not spending a few hundred K on draft salaries is a drop in the bucket compared to MLB payroll

Yet this franchise underspent of the draft for a long, long time.

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Yet this franchise underspent of the draft for a long, long time.

When was the last time they didn't use the whole amount of bonus money ? 

 

@Harold's Leg Lift is this a dude?

I'd say he's more of a guy than a dude.  

On 1/5/2021 at 7:04 AM, Sleepy Harold said:

This is my hope as well. The bonus amount should fall into JRs "comfortable" range for teenage players.

I despise that this is a thing we Sox fans have to deal with. 

If the Sox want to be cheap at the MLB level, they should be spreading their draft picks between NCAA and HS players. 

Also...the international market thing sucks too. However, most teams would kill to be able to grab older Cuban talent like Cespedes/Colas like the Sox do. 

4 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I'd say he's more of a guy than a dude.  

That's an interesting package. I wonder if he's around later.

14 minutes ago, bmags said:

That's an interesting package. I wonder if he's around later.

No doubt.  I love me a projectable lefty but I'm always dubious of the off season indoor bullpen session. Minus at least 2-3 mph.  If he comes out in the spring and is sitting 91-94 he could move into dude status but I would have to see it first.  

 

It doesn't sound like he threw very well.  91-94 with inconsistent command.  Eh.  It's early.