All-Sox Prospect Team

[Grebeck Fan Club]

Since we're about halfway through the season, I thought it would be fun to challenge the uber posters here. List the top Sox prospects by position. Try to list a couple of sleepers as well.

[LDF]

Since we're about halfway through the season, I thought it would be fun to challenge the uber posters here.  List the top Sox prospects by position.  Try to list a couple of sleepers as well.

cat - none

1b - casey rogowski sleeper sleeper: t. brice who is now playing of. but this one is a iffy

2b - miles, hummel sleeper: pedro lopez

3b - hummel sleeper: m. schnurstein and e. varela this one may overtake schnurstein.

ss - andy gonzalez sleeper: g. reyes

of'er - j borchard, j reed, a. webster. or even b anderson, even thou he was drafted this yr. sleepers; brice

 

pit - j rauch, k honel, f diaz, n cotts, ryan wing sleepers: h phillips, d. haigwood.

 

i am seeing these as long relief or relief pit.

 

almonted, bullard, munoz, royce ring, west, sleeper: t. yofu (?), todd deininger, this guy may develop into a great rp.

[SoxFan1]

Thats a pretty good team. Add Valido to the SS's !

[Rex Hudler]

Allow me to take a stab at this....

 

1B - Casey Rogowski (Winston-Salem), Brandon Bounds (Great Falls)

Neither are considered high level prospects, but both have potential.

The only other 1B you could possibly call a prospect is Ross Gload

(Charlotte). I still think he is a long shot, but he keeps hitting so you

never know.

 

2B - Ruddy Yan (Winston-Salem), Aaron Miles (Charlotte), Pedro Lopez

(Kannapolis), Antoin Gray (Great Falls)

The Sox deepest position other than pitcher. I rated Yan first

because he has the most upside with his speed. There are still

questions about his bat, however. Repeating high A may have

helped him early on, but it is only holding him back now. Do you

promote a guy now while he is struggling? Miles is the only

one ready for the Show at this point, but it is still questionable how

well he would do at that level, esp. longer term. Lopez might

be the biggest sleeper. He is only 19 and is playing at full season

Kannapolis after two seasons in rookie ball. He is hitting a

respectable .271. He was listed by BA as the Sox #19 prospect and

also the Best Defensive Infielder in the Sox system.

Gray is the unknown. He was the Sox 25th round pick this year

as a 3Bman out of Southern, the school that produced Rickie Weeks.

He has been converted to 3B and has hit right out of the gate, which

college players must in Rookie ball if they are to be taken seriously.

 

SS - Andy Gonzalez (Kannapolis), Robert Valido (Bristol)

I ranked Gonzalez higher here because he is still only 21 and

has had some success already. He really struggled with the bat early

this year including a horrific .160 for the Month of May. He has

rebounded and hit .318 for the month of June so far. Valido

was the Sox 4th round pick in this year's draft. Below is a scouting

report from BA's draft preview.

 

Robert Valido, ss

Valido is part of a rich Coral Park shortstop tradition that also includes 2000's No. 3 overall pick, Luis Montanez. His defensive skills (strong arm, smooth actions, reliable hands) enabled him to hold off Rodriguez. He's the best defensive shortstop in Florida, though not quite in the same class as Robert Andino, a Marlins second-round pick out of a Miami high school last year. Offensively, he can't match Rodriguez' ceiling, but a team that believes Valido will produce at the plate could pop him as early as the second round.

[Rex Hudler]

3B - Micah Schnurstein (Great Falls), Edgar Varela (Kannapolis), Tim

Hummel (Charlotte), Ryan Hankins (Charlotte)

Schnurstein was a surprise from last year's draft. He hit from

day 1 and has never stopped. He is a HS draftee so the Sox are not

rushing him. I would have liked to see him in Kannapolis this year,

but they moved Edgar Varela there instead. Varela was

drafted last year as well but came out of Long Beach St. He will be 23

by season's end so he will need to keep moving up the ladder. He hit

.330 last year in Bristol but is struggling somewhat at .241 this year.

I included both Hummel and Hankins here for lack of a

better place to put them. Hummel could end up back at 2B and can

play SS as well. Hankins is a 1B/3B type, but has dabbled at 2B and

even C as well. Hankins is a clutch hitter and a great organizational

player, but will be a long shot because of a lack of a real position and

lack of power. Hummel, you should all know about already.

[Rex Hudler]

OF - Joe Borchard, Jeremy Reed, Anthony Webster, Mike Spidale, Clint

King, Ricardo Nanita, Thomas Brice, Chris Young

Borchard (Charlotte) remains #1 on this list at least for the rest

of this year. He has started to hit better once he went back to

Charlotte and started working with Gregg Ritchie again. Reed

(Birmingham) has done nothing but make everyone take notice. He

would be in the Future's Game if more than 2 players per MLB team

were allowed. Webster (Kannapolis) has also been much

ballyhooed in the past year. He was BA's #3 prospect for the Sox and

named Best Hitter for Average in the Sox system. He is hitting right

around .300 in his first season of baseball. Hopefully, he can sustain

it for 140 games and continue to be highly regarded. Spidale

(Winston-Salem) may surprise some that I have him rated

this highly. He is a speedy CF that BA rated as the Best Defensive OF

in the Sox system. He repeated Kannapolis last year after struggling

at the plate in 2001 and an early season injury. He bounced back to

hit .291 in 93 games and is hitting .302 with 15 SB at Winston this

year, after again suffering an early season injury. He has little or no

power, but walks a decent amount. Could be an interesting top of

the order guy.

 

King (Great Falls) was the Sox 3rd round pick this year, so the

jury is still out. He is listed at 6-2 190 and is a LH hitting OF with

power. He hit .394 with 23 HR and 77 RBI for Southern Miss who lost

in the NCAA Regionals. He also walked 25 times in 254 AB, which is

respectable. Nanita (Great Falls) could surprise. He was the

Sox 14th round pick this year out of Florida International. He just

turned 22, so he is a little older and will need to succeed from Day 1.

He has done that so far hitting .455 in his first 6 games. He hit .388

with 12 HR and 52 RBI at FIU and walked 39 times in 194 AB, while

striking out only 34 times. Like King, Reed and Webster, he is also a

LH hitter.

 

Brice (Kannapolis) was rated the #30 prospect by BA so he may

deserve to be a little higher on this list. He is 21 and was drafted last

year out of Juco in Alabama. He is a native Australian who also hits

LH. He is hitting .275 at Kannapolis but has no HRs. He hit .327 at

Bristol last year. He goes 6-5 210 and has played 1B as well. Lastly,

another possible surprise is Young (Bristol). He is only 20 and

was the Sox 16th round pick in last year's draft. He struggled with

average at Tucson last year, but had 13 doubles, 5 home runs and

walked 19 times. He did strikeout a lot, however. He was a 1st team

All-Stater out of talent-laden Texas. He is currently hitting .429 in

his first 6 games this year. He may be a long shot, but I felt he was

worth mentioning.

[Rex Hudler]

Chisoxfn or MSF, it's your turn to take us home with the pitchers and catchers. I have to try and get some work done. LOL

[MnSoxFan]

Well done Rex.

 

I will take Lopez behind Yan at 2B.

 

I will take Brice at 1B over Rogo. Bounds 2nd there. I just am not enthused over Rogo.

 

Only C I am enthused about, tho he has not hit, is Lisk.

 

No way Almonte is on this team, I was not even high on him coming into this season and all he has done is stink it up.

[MnSoxFan]

Pitchers:

 

Starters: Rauch, Honel, Wing, Cotts and Yofu, with Lamura and Allen deserving of some respect for having decent seasons so far.

 

Haigwood cannot be on there, he is out for season I have heard.

 

Relievers: Ring, Ginter (he has had a nice season), Meaux, and for LH and RH specialists for a couple hitters Munoz and Stumm.

[Chisoxfn]

Behind the plate we don't have much, so I'll have to say Mike Rivera is number one on that list. Lisk isn't bad and I think its too early to judge the guys we just drafted.

 

Pitching:

Kris Honel

Ryan Wing

Neal Cotts

Royce Ring

Jon Rauch

Felix Diaz

Emencio Pacheco

Arnaldo Munoz

BJ Lamura

 

Quite a few pitchers I'm high on like McCarthy, Haigwood, Miller, Rupe.

[Grebeck Fan Club]

Did we draft any catchers of note this year? Olivo's looking good, but we need depth. Rivera's a guy who most likely will be in another team's system next year.

 

Excellent work Rex.

[Chisoxfn]

No catchers that will blow your mind.

 

I'd like to see them take Ryan Garko (may of spelled that wrong) out of Stanford.

[SI1020]

Behind the plate we don't have much, so I'll have to say Mike Rivera is number one on that list.  Lisk isn't bad and I think its too early to judge the guys we just drafted. 

 

Pitching:

Kris Honel

Ryan Wing

Neal Cotts

Royce Ring

Jon Rauch

Felix Diaz

Emencio Pacheco

Arnaldo Munoz

BJ Lamura

 

Quite a few pitchers I'm high on like McCarthy, Haigwood, Miller, Rupe.

Many of you here know this stuff much better than I do but it appears if we have a strength is it pitching. It seems like we're thin elsewhere. I have some high hopes for Webster and Reed.

[Rex Hudler]

No catchers that will blow your mind. 

 

I'd like to see them take Ryan Garko (may of spelled that wrong) out of Stanford.

Garko was just a 3rd round pick by Cleveland. He was a senior this year. Went undrafted as a junior.

[Chisoxfn]

I'd say that pitching was the strength, but this draft really got the Sox a ton of good position players. They also got some good arms, but those arms are tough signs, so it will be interesting to see how it plays off.

 

Still, to me before I classify arms as super studs, they got to hit AA, unless they are just moving through the system super quick.

 

I think if the Sox are picking high up next year, they should go for a great catcher if there is one there or take a stud college pitcher.

[Chisoxfn]

No catchers that will blow your mind. 

 

I'd like to see them take Ryan Garko (may of spelled that wrong) out of Stanford.

Garko was just a 3rd round pick by Cleveland. He was a senior this year. Went undrafted as a junior.

Damn, shows what I know, lol. I swore he was a junior that went undrafted and was going to come back next year.

[Rex Hudler]

You're accurate, but a year behind.

[MnSoxFan]

I do not ever want us taking a catcher with a high pick again. We have wasted too many over the years, as have most teams. Take some shots in top 10 rounds, but not too high. We signed two so far this year, 21st rounder from HS in Texas and a college guy from aroud the 35th round or so.

[method]

Beautiful job Rex. Thanks for the insight.

[Rex Hudler]

Beautiful job Rex. Thanks for the insight.

Why thank ya

[LDF]

I do not ever want us taking a catcher with a high pick again. We have wasted too many over the years, as have most teams. Take some shots in top 10 rounds, but not too high. We signed two so far this year, 21st rounder from HS in Texas and a college guy from aroud the 35th round or so.

i don't know about that. next yr if there is a college cat avail or hs cat avail that is ranked high and not a boras kid. i would like to draft him. we need help in the cat department.

 

i am surprise on how well m olivio has developed. don't let hsc hear me say this.

 

we need to sign this kids and look in getting help at cat.

 

if i remember right, they even tried this kid hankins(sp) behind the plate a couple of time. i may have gotten the player wrong, but the point is we need cat prospects.

[LDF]

Allow me to take a stab at this....

 

1B - Casey Rogowski (Winston-Salem), Brandon Bounds (Great Falls) 

    Neither are considered high level prospects, but both have potential. 

    The only other 1B you could possibly call a prospect is Ross Gload

    (Charlotte).  I still think he is a long shot, but he keeps hitting so you

    never know.

 

2B - Ruddy Yan (Winston-Salem), Aaron Miles (Charlotte), Pedro Lopez

    (Kannapolis), Antoin Gray (Great Falls)

    The Sox deepest position other than pitcher.  I rated Yan first

    because he has the most upside with his speed.  There are still

    questions about his bat, however.  Repeating high A may have   

    helped him early on, but it is only holding him back now.  Do you

    promote a guy now while he is struggling?  Miles is the only 

    one ready for the Show at this point, but it is still questionable how

    well he would do at that level, esp. longer term.  Lopez might

    be the biggest sleeper.  He is only 19 and is playing at full season

    Kannapolis after two seasons in rookie ball.  He is hitting a

    respectable .271.  He was listed by BA as the Sox #19 prospect and

    also the Best Defensive Infielder in the Sox system.

    Gray is the unknown.  He was the Sox 25th round pick this year

    as a 3Bman out of Southern, the school that produced Rickie Weeks.

    He has been converted to 3B and has hit right out of the gate, which

    college players must in Rookie ball if they are to be taken seriously.

   

SS - Andy Gonzalez (Kannapolis), Robert Valido (Bristol)

    I ranked Gonzalez higher here because he is still only 21 and

    has had some success already.  He really struggled with the bat early

    this year including a horrific .160 for the Month of May.  He has

    rebounded and hit .318 for the month of June so far.  Valido

    was the Sox 4th round pick in this year's draft.  Below is a scouting

    report from BA's draft preview.

   

    Robert Valido, ss

Valido is part of a rich Coral Park shortstop tradition that also includes 2000's No. 3 overall pick, Luis Montanez. His defensive skills (strong arm, smooth actions, reliable hands) enabled him to hold off Rodriguez. He's the best defensive shortstop in Florida, though not quite in the same class as Robert Andino, a Marlins second-round pick out of a Miami high school last year. Offensively, he can't match Rodriguez' ceiling, but a team that believes Valido will produce at the plate could pop him as early as the second round.

good job, but i still question yan hitting and that is why i don't see him as a bona-fide prospect.

[Grebeck Fan Club]

Hankins would be intriguing as a catcher because he isn't going to make it otherwise.

[MnSoxFan]

Carlos Lee in the Rookie League, who I believe is actually Carlos Lee's brother, (why do they do that? ) has caught a little bit this season.

 

I just do not want to waste high draft pick on a catcher, almost 99% of the time they do not pan out. Toughest position to draft for.

[Rex Hudler]

Allow me to take a stab at this....

 

 

 

2B - Ruddy Yan (Winston-Salem), Aaron Miles (Charlotte), Pedro Lopez

    (Kannapolis), Antoin Gray (Great Falls)

    The Sox deepest position other than pitcher.  I rated Yan first

    because he has the most upside with his speed.  There are still

    questions about his bat, however.  Repeating high A may have   

    helped him early on, but it is only holding him back now.  Do you

    promote a guy now while he is struggling?

good job, but i still question yan hitting and that is why i don't see him as a bona-fide prospect.

Isn't that what I said??