Draftniks-What do the Sox need most?

[farmteam]

Eh, possibly; I wasn't following the draft yet when Honel was drafted.

 

Edit: One more thing to note on Bowden-- when listing who had contacted him so far, he mentioned the Sox and Cubs. He proceeded to say something along the lines of "I'd love to play in Wrigley Field, but the Cell would be ok too."

Edited May 14, 2005 by farmteam

[Hatchetman]

i don't think i'd ever draft a closer in the first round. the only two closers that were drafted as closers (i think) and amounted to anything were gregg olson and randy myers.

[Chisoxfn]

Alright, 2 names to throw out there: Mike Bowden, a prep righty out of Waubonsie Valley (Could the local factor play a role?), and Craig Hansen, a closer out of St. John's.  Here's the BA dealie on him:

 

"With 96 mph fastball, 90 mph slider, could nation's premier closer be first to reach majors?"

 

Now, I normally don't advocate taking closers in the first round, but this guys sounds like he has lights out stuff; given our recent closer troubles, would taking this guy in the first round be a good idea?  We could have our own home grown closer.

 

NOTE:  I'm not saying we SHOULD take either of them, I'm just throwing the names out there.

No, because he won't sign this year anyway. He's a Boras client. And while I don't advocate taking closers, if he weren't a Boras client I really wouldn't have a problem with him. Of course having said that if he weren't a Boras client he wouldn'be around when the Sox pick.

 

I do think there is a shot Wade Townsend will be there when the Sox pick. If you talk about getting a lot of your 15th selection, he'd be that type of guy. At the same time you don't know what a year off can do and whether he'll sit out yet again.

[Chisoxfn]

i don't think i'd ever draft a closer in the first round. the only two closers that were drafted as closers (i think) and amounted to anything were gregg olson and randy myers.

Koch was drafted as a closer. Maybe not the greatest example, but its hard to overlook what he did in Oakland and Toronto. He did have some good/solid seasons.

[GoodAsGould]

Chad Cordero was drafted as a closer wasnt he? and he sky-rocketed through the minors and is the nationals closer now.

[Chisoxfn]

Chad Cordero was drafted as a closer wasnt he? and he sky-rocketed through the minors and is the nationals closer now.

Yep, out of Cal State Fullerton.

[Palehosefan]

Chad Cordero was also a 1st round closer I believe, he's pitching very well right now for the Nationals. Ryan Wagner also for Cincinatti and he's doing decent so far. I have to admit I was very unhappy when we drafted Royce Ring in the 1st round. I think its a waste to draft a closer in the 1st round unless his stuff is just amazing. I would rather draft a few high school pitchers later on with decent stuff and convert them later on to closer. I would rather trade for a guy with a good arm and let him become a closer, or convert someone we already have. Thats how alot of the good closers in MLB were found, they just had good arms and tried their hand at closing and it worked.

 

If I'm drafting a college player in the 1st round, I'm looking for a guy who's pretty close to MLB ready, otherwise I'm drafting a high school guy with talent and potential over the college guy with talent and potential. I don't really like it when teams draft college pitchers that have good stuff but put up bad numbers in college, guys like Wyatt Allen etc. I watched him pitch in college a few games and he always had 93-94mph stuff, yet couldn't find the plate. By the time the college guy realizes his potential, he might be 26-27 years old and not even in our system or in baseball anymore. Alot of teams always want to feel like they can be the team to "fix" the pitcher, and usually end up failing.

[Guest JimH]

Alot of teams always want to feel like they can be the team to "fix" the pitcher, and usually end up failing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You're right, and the White Sox are one of those teams. Examples, among many, are Dan Wright, Wyatt Allen, Rylan Reed, Rob Purvis, and from last years draft Nick Lemon.

 

The guys who appear to be on track for success are guys who pound the strike zone ... Brandon McCarthy and a guy like Dan Haigwood is starting to come on nicely. There's a school of thought to draft talent and try to harness it, and of course the flip side to that is to draft somebody who has already accomplished success.

 

Personally, I prefer to take a more finished product. There's less chance of hitting the lotto on a pick but you're likely to have more guys who will reach the majors either in your own organization or by trade.

 

With all these Boras clients, it will be an interesting 1st round. The White Sox may face a dilemna at #15 where a guy is sitting there unexpectedly.

[Palehosefan]

Most of the years I've followed the draft which is probably only since around 1999, we have taken the player/pitcher everyone thought we would. Most of the time its been the player that was thought to be the best value at the pick. The year I didn't listen to the draft, we drafted Royce Ring. I learned my lesson :-P. I expect us to do the same this year, someone will fall to us that is very talented and I'm sure it will be our pick. I just don't expect it to be a Boras pick, even though we do have more money possibly to sign a 1st round pick. We seemed to have been really phased by the Borchard huge signing bonus and flop, I don't see us taking a chance again for a few years atleast. Also if you think about it, it could end up being a disastrous draft if we draft a Boras client that doesn't sign and we end up with no picks until 105 or whatever our 3rd round pick will be. I'm expecting us to sign a talented yet signable 1st round pick and spend the possible extra money on either a 3-4-5 round pick that slipped through, or a draft-and-follow player or two leading up to the draft.

Edited May 14, 2005 by Palehosefan

[Chisoxfn]

You're right, and the White Sox are one of those teams.  Examples, among many, are Dan Wright, Wyatt Allen, Rylan Reed, Rob Purvis, and from last years draft Nick Lemon.

 

The guys who appear to be on track for success are guys who pound the strike zone ... Brandon McCarthy and a guy like Dan Haigwood is starting to come on nicely.  There's a school of thought to draft talent and try to harness it, and of course the flip side to that is to draft somebody who has already accomplished success.

 

Personally, I prefer to take a more finished product.  There's less chance of hitting the lotto on a pick but you're likely to have more guys who will reach the majors either in your own organization or by trade.

 

With all these Boras clients, it will be an interesting 1st round.  The White Sox may face a dilemna at #15 where a guy is sitting there unexpectedly.

Count Wes Whisler in that group that could be similar. He was a really high pick for a guy that never succeeded at the college level from the mound (IIRC). However definately has a nice arm and low mileage. Very projectable as well.

 

But hey you do a mix of both and if you like a guys arm you draft him, especially in latter rounds. It just seems like the Sox have taken a little more risk earlier then some teams, but they also appear to try and balance that by drafting tons of college guys overall and they are the safer pick in general (not to say you should not draft high schoolers cause you should, especially now when so many GM's are focusing on college level players and because of this they are getting overdrafted and the high schoolers are sliding.

[Randar68]

Count Wes Whisler in that group that could be similar.  He was a really high pick for a guy that never succeeded at the college level from the mound (IIRC).  However definately has a nice arm and low mileage.  Very projectable as well. 

 

But hey you do a mix of both and if you like a guys arm you draft him, especially in latter rounds.  It just seems like the Sox have taken a little more risk earlier then some teams, but they also appear to try and balance that by drafting tons of college guys overall and they are the safer pick in general (not to say you should not draft high schoolers cause you should, especially now when so many GM's are focusing on college level players and because of this they are getting overdrafted and the high schoolers are sliding.

 

 

Do you take a guy who's only had limited experience at a position and who is easier to coach out of their bad habits? Or a guy like Wyatt Allen who was abused beyong belief in college, had a ton of bad habits, and just was never able to harness it.

 

If you take a guy with the million dollar arm, you have the potential to end up with a guy like Randy Johnson. Teams would rather draft guys who project to staff aces if they can fix whatever their flaw is, than to draft guys who are refined and polished (Jim Parque) but whose ceiling is a 5th starter. 5th starters are easier to find than the Sox have made it out to be the last couple years. Aces are rare, and developing your own is the only way to get one without paying out your ass.

 

People love to b**** about failed pitching draft picks, but I'm sorry, it's a numbers game you're gonna lose no matter what, you just hope you end up with a few diamonds every now and then. BUT, you have to play the game to have that chance.

Edited May 15, 2005 by Randar68

[Guest JimH]

This morning's BA Draft Blog talks about Miami RHP and White Sox fan Cesar Carillo.

 

They mention he'll likely go in the top half of the 1st round and quite possibly the top 10, due to teams wanting to avoid Boras clients, specifically starting pitchers.

[Randar68]

This morning's BA Draft Blog talks about Miami RHP and White Sox fan Cesar Carillo.

 

They mention he'll likely go in the top half of the 1st round and quite possibly the top 10, due to teams wanting to avoid Boras clients, specifically starting pitchers.

 

Always the wild card when we get down to the last few weeks prior to a draft. And people wonder why the baseball draft needs reform, teams like the Rangers, Yanks, and a few others that have dealt with lot's of Boras clients end up with multiple top 15 talent in some drafts no matter where their pick is.

 

I really would like to see a slotted draft similar to the NBA. Bonuses are slotted, teams can then take the best players available and players know ahead of time what is realistic and what isn't.