AL Central Farm Report

[Gene Honda Civic]

http://www.all-baseball.com/nextyear/archives/015355.html

 

Sox portion:

Chicago White Sox

1. Brandon McCarthy

2. Brian Anderson

3. Chris Young

4. Kris Honel

5. Ryan Sweeney

6. Josh Fields

7. Orionny Lopez

8. Francisco Hernandez

9. Gio Gonzalez

10. Antoin Gray

 

When Ken Williams traded Jeremy Reed to acquire Freddy Garcia, I looked to the Sox system and saw nothing. Brian Anderson was putting together a nice season in the Carolina League, but Kris Honel was hurt and Ryan Sweeney had fallen on his face. What was once ranked Baseball America’s top system was decimated, possibly last in the Majors. And then the Brandon McCarthy show began…it hasn’t stopped yet.

 

I don’t know what to make of McCarthy, whether he is the next Black Jack or simply a right-handed Joe Kennedy. Hell, he could be another Jon Rauch. The White Sox are sure trying to make him that, pitching him in excess of 170 innings this year. Plain and simple, that should be illegal. Tell him nice season, and to shut it down until the AFL, where he can get his extra 25 innings. But don’t send him to AA, c’mon. Didn’t you learn something from Rauch, and now Honel?

 

What I also don’t understand is taking Orionny Lopez and Ryan Rodriguez, enjoying modest seasons in the Sally League, and promoting them to AAA. Hopefully someone could explain this to me, because I can’t understand why anyone would challenge a 21-year-old this much. Doesn’t the scouting director know anything in excess is bad?

 

And like I did with the Twins, let me close with a comment on the draft, and then a sleeper. Gio Gonzalez, a southpaw from Florida, should also be chalked up for having a stellar debut. Josh Fields was decent in the Carolina League, but Gonzalez absolutely dominated short-season league, and should be ready for full-season ball next year. My sleeper? Francisco Hernandez. The 18-year-old, switch-hitting catcher, was promoted to the Sally League late after a .326/.372/.492 line in Bristol. It’s too early to start calling anyone the next Victor Martinez, but just keep your eye on Hernandez.

[Rex Hudler]

The guy is half an idiot

[Gene Honda Civic]

I knew I'd get that reaction from the Minor league experts round here.

[southsider2k5]

The guy is half an idiot

For us laypeople, what parts bothered you? Just curious.

[soxman352000]

He makes it sound like we don't have anything. we have a little something

[Guest JimH]

For us laypeople, what parts bothered you?  Just curious.

Well put, Mike.

 

Rex, what is with all the one sentence cloak-and-dagger posts lately? Tell us what you mean when you say stuff like that, we don't bite.

[Chisoxfn]

Wow...that was bad.

[DBAHO]

At least Hernandez will give us something to watch next season, to see how he does out of rookie ball.

[winninguglyin83]

Hard to understand how anybody could say Ryan Sweeney had falled on his face when he was a 19 year old playing in HIgh A ball and finished second in the league in hits.

 

That's dumb.

 

 

And I think there is one major omission from his list -- Mike Spidale.

 

Showed he can hit, get on base and score runs.

 

if Spidale was in the Oakland farm system, he'd be considered the next great thing.

[Rex Hudler]

For us laypeople, what parts bothered you?  Just curious.

a couple of things......

 

1. His whole rant on the promotion of Rodriguez and Lopez to AAA. That is VERY simple to explain. Charlotte needed players for the final week of the season and they weren't going to upset their playoff rosters in Birmingham and Winston. So they took a few players from Kannapolis and used them as fill-ins. Lopez had two appearances and Rodriguez one. So what. It's not like they plan to start those guys in AAA next season. All he had to do is ask.

 

2. He criticizes the promotion of McCarthy to AA. If he wasn't pitching in AA, he would be in Winston. They aren't going to shut down a pitcher in the middle of a great season and a pennant race, just because his innings might be a bit high. Does this guy know McCarthy? Does he know what his pitch counts usually are? Blind criticism like that is just stupid.

 

3. Saying Sweeney had "fallen on his face" is ridiculous. Sweeney is a 19 year old kid who struggled adapting to a higher level. He made the necessary adjustments and ended up with a nice season. Anyone who thought Sweeney was going to bust out hitting .320 with 25 HR and 100 RBI making that jump is naive. Say he struggled early, but came on late. The fact Sweeney struggled early on has no bearing on the state of the farm system.

 

Some of what he said made sense. Hence my "half an idiot" comment.

 

That help?

[southsider2k5]

Some of what he said made sense.  Hence my "half an idiot" comment. 

 

That help? 

Sure does. Thanks Rex

 

Pretty much I count on most of my minor league info from you guys, so if I ask questions like that it is just to better understand what you all are talking about. If I didn't ask, I would be completely clueless for some of the stuff you guys just assume.

 

And as usual, great job with getting us tons of info. I think I speak for everyone when I say, we appreciate it tons.

[Rex Hudler]

Sure does.  Thanks Rex

 

Pretty much I count on most of my minor league info from you guys, so if I ask questions like that it is just to better understand what you all are talking about.  If I didn't ask, I would be completely clueless for some of the stuff you guys just assume.

 

And as usual, great job with getting us tons of info.  I think I speak for everyone when I say, we appreciate it tons.

Thanks man.... It is late in the season and I am a bit irritable with things coming to an end. Birmingham's season could be over as soon as Friday (don't see that happening) so then I will have tons of free time. What the hell is a guy supposed to do? Get a girlfriend? lol

 

So bear with me if I seem a bit short or assumptive for a while.

[southsider2k5]

Thanks man.... It is late in the season and I am a bit irritable with things coming to an end.  Birmingham's season could be over as soon as Friday (don't see that happening) so then I will have tons of free time.  What the hell is a guy supposed to do?  Get a girlfriend?  lol

 

So bear with me if I seem a bit short or assumptive for a while. 

Well all too soon we can talk Indiana high school basketball...

[Rex Hudler]

Well all too soon we can talk Indiana high school basketball...

I'll talk it when they go back to the one class system...........

 

or when I move back to Indiana and have a clue what is going on. LOL

[WilliamTell]

Wow....... that's all I can say.

[Cerbaho-WG]

The instant I saw Antoin Gray at #10, don't get me wrong, he's a good prospect, I knew everything was going downhill.

[SoxFanForever]

The instant I saw Antoin Gray at #10, don't get me wrong, he's a good prospect, I knew everything was going downhill.

 

This guy is clueless on about half the stuff he threw into that report.

[dasox24]

a couple of things...... 

 

1. His whole rant on the promotion of Rodriguez and Lopez to AAA.  That is VERY simple to explain.  Charlotte needed players for the final week of the season and they weren't going to upset their playoff rosters in Birmingham and Winston.  So they took a few players from Kannapolis and used them as fill-ins.  Lopez had two appearances and Rodriguez one.  So what.  It's not like they plan to start those guys in AAA next season.  All he had to do is ask.

 

2.  He criticizes the promotion of McCarthy to AA.  If he wasn't pitching in AA, he would be in Winston.  They aren't going to shut down a pitcher in the middle of a great season and a pennant race, just because his innings might be a bit high.  Does this guy know McCarthy?  Does he know what his pitch counts usually are?  Blind criticism like that is just stupid. 

 

3.  Saying Sweeney had "fallen on his face" is ridiculous.  Sweeney is a 19 year old kid who struggled adapting to a higher level.  He made the necessary adjustments and ended up with a nice season.  Anyone who thought Sweeney was going to bust out hitting .320 with 25 HR and 100 RBI making that jump is naive.  Say he struggled early, but came on late.  The fact Sweeney struggled early on has no bearing on the state of the farm system.

 

Some of what he said made sense.  Hence my "half an idiot" comment. 

 

That help? 

Well done, Rex!

[SoxAce]

:rolly

[danman31]

Basically what Rex and Cerb said sum up what I thought was wrong with the list. And Orionny Lopez at 7? Wow.

[Rex Hudler]

Basically what Rex and Cerb said sum up what I thought was wrong with the list. And Orionny Lopez at 7? Wow.

Honestly, I wasn't even concerned with his list..... I haven't processed all of that info yet to try and rank them. But off the top of my head, #7 seems high for Lopez and I don't see Gray being in the top 10.

[danman31]

Honestly, I wasn't even concerned with his list.....  I haven't processed all of that info yet to try and rank them.  But off the top of my head, #7 seems high for Lopez and I don't see Gray being in the top 10.

Exactly. I didn't really think of a ranking, but Lopez wouldn't be in my top 10.

[Bryan Smith]

Hi guys, I'm the half-idiot that created this list, Bryan Smith. I saw through my list of referrers that I was linked here, and wanted to come over and respond. I should start off by saying that I'm from Chicago, and while I lean to the Cubs, definitely like the Sox. I went to probably 8 games during the summer, because my family has season tickets there.

 

First of all, in response to Soxman, I definitely didn't try to make it sound like the Sox have nothing. Ken Williams has sacrificed the farm system in recent years, and it shows. But the Sox have proven very resilient, and keep finding players worth talking about. And now to my largest critic, Rex...

 

I will definitely stand by the fact that Lopez and Rodriguez shouldn't have been promoted to AAA, and McCarthy shut down. The fact is that prospects need to be treated like the bonus babies they are. Kris Honel threw more than 300 innings in 2002-2003, and it proved to hurt the system. I like Honel, I saw him in high school, and I would hate for what happened to him to happen to a talent like McCarthy. Is a minor league playoff push worth the second coming of Black Jack? Do you honestly care about your minor league teams that much? Same thing for Lopez and Rodriguez. Both handled the promotion well, and it probably won't turn out to be a big deal. But, the potential damage to a pitcher's psyche was not worth it.

 

And yes, my wording was hard on Ryan Sweeney. No, he didn't fall flat on his face. But if I remember correctly, and I'll try to find the link, the Sox were saying in Spring Trainining that Sweeney was advanced enough to go to AA and possibly be up by year's end. He's a good prospect, in the Brad Nelson mold, but he isn't what they thought in Spring Training. I'm sure from Ozzie's expectations, it's fair to say he fell on his face.

 

Maybe I dropped the ball down the rankings, and I'm sorry for that. Spidale looks solid to me, and probably shouold have been before Gray. I like constructive criticism a lot, as it helps me learn what I did wrong. You guys probably know the system better than I do, this was what my bird's eye look did. Thanks for calling me out on it.

[danman31]

And yes, my wording was hard on Ryan Sweeney.  No, he didn't fall flat on his face.  But if I remember correctly, and I'll try to find the link, the Sox were saying in Spring Trainining that Sweeney was advanced enough to go to AA and possibly be up by year's end.  He's a good prospect, in the Brad Nelson mold, but he isn't what they thought in Spring Training.  I'm sure from Ozzie's expectations, it's fair to say he fell on his face.

Agreed on the Sweeney front, and I'm one of the few on here. I wouldn't say fell flat on his face, but his first half was atrocious. For a guy that was called a God by a scout or some baseball guy on the inside, .283 just doesn't cut it imo. He isn't that great of a prospect. Next season is make or break time. If he doesn't have a great season next year, he isn't a great prospect. It's that simple. That's not me saying that he won't be any good, or won't make the majors, but he has to start producing in regular season ball (not Spring Training) before I think he is as good as advertised.

[He_Gawn]

Well welcome Bryan Smith. Anyways, I'm going to have to agree about Sweeney. You get called a god then you should start producing within the next few years. I think he'll have a hell of year next year though.