Jump to content

John Sickels


Gene Honda Civic
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

i'm bumping this cuz sickels is doing an "all questions answered" thread all day today. think it'd be cool to flood him with questions about the sox system, especially since he's a twinkies fan. actually i'd take just a trickle of sox questions; there hasn't been one so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Mar 9, 2005 -> 03:46 PM)
Just saw this thread.  I'm in the process of sifting through the thread, and seeing if there's anything White Sox related/AL Central related in there...

yeah, I wasn't around... I searched for a bunch of white sox related names. The only thing that came up was McCarthy in a fantasy question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Mar 9, 2005 -> 09:52 PM)
yeah, I wasn't around... I searched for a bunch of white sox related names.  The only thing that came up was McCarthy in a fantasy question.

 

What time is this AQA till? I'd like to know what he thinks about Honel, or what the leaguewide view of him/his injury is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sickels opinion on Bobby Jenks...

 

Question:

 

John - couple players I wonder about - Bobby Jenks (injuries), John Hudgins and Jason Arnold? Jenks especially seemed to be a big prospect and has now been traded after some arm problems.

 

 

Answer:

 

I'd forget about Jenks. Given his injuries and control problems, I doubt he will ever live up to his potential.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brandon McCarthy, RHP, A-

Gio Gonzalez, LHP, B+

Brian Anderson, OF, B

Ryan Sweeney, OF, B

Josh D. Fields, 3B, B

Francisco Hernandez, C, B

Tyler Lumsden, LHP, B-

Chris Young, OF, B-

Ray Liotta, LHP, B-

Sean Tracey, RHP, B-

Jeremy Owens, OF, C+

Casey Rogowski, 1B, C+

Kris Honel, RHP, C+

Wes Whisler, LHP, C+

Mike Spidale, OF, C+

Pedro Lopez, SS, C

Adam Ricks, C-2B, C

Paulino Reynoso, LHP, C

Dennis Ulacia, LHP, C

Antoin Gray, 2B, C

 

Some good quality at the top, but the system thins out quickly.

Brandon McCarthy doesn't get the same sort of attention as other pitching prospects. But he should. The guy posted a 202/30 K/BB ratio last year, and he isn't a soft-tosser.

 

Gio Gonzalez is a risky high school guy. He also posted a 3.03 ERA and 27/13 K/BB in 33 innings in the South Atlantic League three months out of high school. He needs to sharpen up his control, but his pro debut was very impressive and I think he will emerge as a top prospect this year.

 

I'm less impressed with Brian Anderson than some people are. I mean, I think he's a good solid prospect. Has some power, some speed, has hit .307/.386/.494 through his first 130 pro games, although his production did tail off after his promotion to Double-A. The White Sox are high enough on him that they were more willing to trade Jeremy Reed. But there's just something about Anderson that makes me think he's as good now as he's ever going to get. I can't prove that, of course. But the feeling is there, and sometimes these "intuitive feelings" are actually subconscious pattern recognition. Sometimes.

 

Ryan Sweeney held his own in the Carolina League at age 19. He hit .283/.342/.379, which isn't that hot. But he was VERY young for the competition, and I think he will improve significantly with more experience.

 

Josh Fields needs to cut down on his strikeouts (74 in 66 pro games) but he has good power, and enough athleticism to be a fine defensive third baseman with more experience. I don't think he'll be ready until 2007, but by that time the Sox should be thoroughly tired of Joe Crede.

 

Francisco Hernandez is another overlooked prospect, a Dominican catcher with a career .311/.393/.465 line in the low minors. If he continues to develop, he will be among the elite prospects in the game a year from now.

 

Ray Liotta and Tyler Lumsden are 2004 draftees, power-armed lefties who will move quickly if their command holds up. Chris Young is a tools outfielder, producer of 24 home runs and 31 stolen bases last year in the Sally League. He also struck out 145 times in 135 games, so he is far from a sure thing.

 

Sean Tracey owns a 95 MPH power sinker, but has struggled with his command and control. He made progress last year, but Double-A will be a challenge for him.

 

After that you get into a big group of C+/C guys. Jeremy Owens, recently acquired from the Nationals, has potential as a leadoff man due to his speed and surprisingly good plate discipline. Rogowski has big power and plate discipline, but was a league-repeater last year and has to prove himself in Double-A. Honel was a major disappointment last season, and has to prove that he is 1) healthy and 2) confident. Both are questions. Whisler has a great arm but no refinement. Spidale projects as a useful fourth outfielder. Lefties Ulacia and Reynoso could earn LOOGY spots eventually. Lopez, Ricks, and Gray all have potential but are too far away from the Majors to be sure of at this point. Ricks has the best bat of the trio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has Sickels gone mad? Saying that Rogo is a power guy? Rogo is a hitter, but last season was the first year he showed much any power and still he projects as a 15-20 guy at this point although he's strong enough that those projections could change, but he's done nothing at this point to show that he'll be a 30 HR type guy.

 

Sickels is definately right in in regards to Whisler. He's gonna be a project and I think he's saying something similar to I in Anderson. I Think Anderson will be good, great...no. Mainly I think the Sox are nuts because they are rushing him.

 

He didn't blow up AA and some more seasoning will do him some good, especially since he won't be playing as a starter in the majors this year unless some really bad things happen on the southside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 12, 2005 -> 05:17 AM)
Has Sickels gone mad?  Saying that Rogo is a power guy?  Rogo is a hitter, but last season was the first year he showed much any power and still he projects as a 15-20 guy at this point although he's strong enough that those projections could change, but he's done nothing at this point to show that he'll be a 30 HR type guy. 

 

Sickels is definately right in in regards to Whisler.  He's gonna be a project and I think he's saying something similar to I in Anderson.  I Think Anderson will be good, great...no.  Mainly I think the Sox are nuts because they are rushing him. 

 

He didn't blow up AA and some more seasoning will do him some good, especially since he won't be playing as a starter in the majors this year unless some really bad things happen on the southside.

That's exactly my thinking with Anderson. But I guess KW, Dave Wilder and the Sox feel that since Charlotte has a hitters park and B-Ham doesn't, the change in stats from moving to AAA from AA won't be as bad (if that makes any sense). Like I've said before with B-Mac, I'd like both guys to start the year in AA and finish in AAA, but that's unlikely to happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Anderson shouldn't be labeled by his performance with Birmingham yet. He definitely struggled towards the end of his Barons' stint, but it could have been because of injury. We'll have to see how he does. I think he should start at AAA.

 

BMac is the kind of guy that I think could live with a couple lumps at AAA because he has a great mindset. I wouldn't get too worried if his ERA is barely under 4 and his K/BB were to fall to around 4 to 1, ho hum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got some issue with putting Rookie League guys as higher prospects than others. I couldn't put Gio ahead of Anderson or Sweeney. You can't tell a lot on an prospect until they reach AA. I also don't think that Honel should be as high as he is. His stock drops a little bit each day.

 

It's also very difficult to get me excited about a prospect infielder. I was about Ricks, but since all indications point to him behind the plate, I hope he's challenging Donny Lucy and (shudder) Chris Stewart and Jon Aceves before long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...