"John Van Benschoten, the 8th overall pick in the 2001 draft, chose minor league free agency over re-signing with the Pirates."

 

Of course, you know KW will swoop in right away and sign him, turning him over to Champion and Hanging With Don Cooper.

 

 

RHP John Van Benschoten-28-The 8th overall pick in the 2001 draft has been LeVale Speigner-esque in his parts of 3 seasons in the bigs, allowing 100 runs (92 earned) in only 90 innings pitched. Ouch. His minor league numbers continue to get worse little by little, but they're still decent enough to make me think he's got SOMETHING in the tank. Maybe try him out as a reliever?

from nationals blog

Edited November 21, 200817 yr by caulfield12

It depends on what the Sox scouts have to say. I'm glad Sox scouts seem to do a good job identifying minor league players within other systems who have potential flaws that can be fixable.

The irony, of course, is that it seems KW is making a living finding other big-time talent that's underachieving or overcoached (or through injury) and making lemonade out of it...and now they seem to be on a big-time roll with Jord. Danks, Beckham, Viciedo and Poreda (and hopefully a healthy Fields).

Edited November 21, 200817 yr by caulfield12

It looks as if Van Bosch has just never been able to fill the gap between AAA and the Majors. I don't know the reasoning but in addition to that he has had injuries cost him well over a season (over the long haul). Wouldn't be a bad guy to grab, hope you can make some minor mechanical switches to and maybe he pans out (but more importantly he's a very good AAA pickup because he would help the Knights win).

The irony, of course, is that it seems KW is making a living finding other big-time talent that's underachieving or overcoached (or through injury) and making lemonade out of it...and now they seem to be on a big-time roll with Jord. Danks, Beckham, Viciedo and Poreda (and hopefully a healthy Fields).

I like how you chose the "period" versus the extra letter that it would have taken to type "an".

 

That is hilarious.

When Van Bendenschoten was drafted the consensus opinion was that it was as a hitter rather than a pitcher. The pirates naturally, disagreed and instead tried to exploit his (admittedly) excellent arm and decent pitching numbers and turn him into a top of the rotation starter. This was a poor move from the start as he’s never really figured the distinction between strikes and balls outs. So, what I imagine will eventually, happen is that he’ll quit pitching and pull an Ankeil. I do not, however, think this opportunity will come as a part of the Sox’s organization.