Once the Barons clinch the first half, first place, I expect both Allen and Danks to be promoted assuming they still are playing well. Retherford might also, but that would mean three AAA people have to be demoted or released, which is a lot. I don't think they would go from AA to the majors with Danks, giving him some AAA time would be good. Allen could also be test more and I think his prodigious power would show up more in Charlotte.

That's exactly why I don't want him anywhere near Charlotte. I loved his game in Spring, and by all accounts he's kept it up all season so far. No need to put him in a park where he'll be prone to swing for the fences. It's his current approach only that will get him to the bigs.

 

Retherford OTOH I want to see get time in Charlotte. He must be struggling though because it says he's only hitting .307. Maybe he needs more seasoning because he's supposed to be hitting north of .330 right now.

FWIW, Adam Jones had a poor K rate in MLB last year, and in the minors had about a 1:3 BB:K rate while Danks's is about 1:2.

 

that is true, also Jones is a year older thank danks, and was at least getting his feet wet at age 20 with Seattle.

that is true, also Jones is a year older thank danks, and was at least getting his feet wet at age 20 with Seattle.

They aren't very similar players though.

Once the Barons clinch the first half, first place, I expect both Allen and Danks to be promoted assuming they still are playing well. Retherford might also, but that would mean three AAA people have to be demoted or released, which is a lot. I don't think they would go from AA to the majors with Danks, giving him some AAA time would be good. Allen could also be test more and I think his prodigious power would show up more in Charlotte.

Charlotte has a lot of flotsam on its roster that should get cleaned out. I'd like to see Danks, Allen, Retherford, Cook, and a few pitchers from B-Ham in Charlotte after the first half ends. Guys like Ward, Myrow, E. Torres... they are just taking up space. Pitchers becomes more complicated, but I think Contreras ends up back on the Sox anyway, and possibly C. Torres, leaving room for guys like Omogrosso, Poreda and/or McColluch. Also in the pen, Fernando Hernandez has no reason left to be in AA, he needs to be in Charlotte eventually this season.

 

Would you say as of right now Jordan Danks is better than Brian Anderson?

Charlotte has a lot of flotsam on its roster that should get cleaned out. I'd like to see Danks, Allen, Retherford, Cook, and a few pitchers from B-Ham in Charlotte after the first half ends. Guys like Ward, Myrow, E. Torres... they are just taking up space. Pitchers becomes more complicated, but I think Contreras ends up back on the Sox anyway, and possibly C. Torres, leaving room for guys like Omogrosso, Poreda and/or McColluch. Also in the pen, Fernando Hernandez has no reason left to be in AA, he needs to be in Charlotte eventually this season.

 

Maybe this was the plan all along and WHY KW filled the Charlotte roster with re-treads.

 

Would you say as of right now Jordan Danks is better than Brian Anderson?

At hitting major league pitching? No.

At hitting major league pitching? No.

Agree. Anderson has been pretty solid this year and Danks has to go through the adjustment period that Brian did.

Once the Barons clinch the first half, first place, I expect both Allen and Danks to be promoted assuming they still are playing well. Retherford might also, but that would mean three AAA people have to be demoted or released, which is a lot.

Yeah, I agree with this. The org. is gonna make sure the Barons clinch the first half. and put some fans in the seat before they promote 2 or 3 of the top prospects.

 

Also, by the time the first half is up, the draft will be over, right? If we go college heavy like we usually do, we could see a lot of those guys go straight to Kanny, have some Kanny guys get promoted to W-S, have some W-S guy go to Birmingham, have Danks, Allen, and maybe Viciedo or Retherford go up to Charlotte, and you get rid of the dead wood in Charlotte.

Would you say as of right now Jordan Danks is better than Brian Anderson?

I might, but thats not really a compliment to Danks, rather just a comment on how bad I think BA the hitter is. Danks probably isn't ready yet, but maybe they feel that what he needs to do to improve can be done at the big league level. I don't expect Danks to put up good numbers if he's promoted, but I think he has a good swing that doesn't have the massive holes that ANderson's has which means he should be able to figure things out.

 

The question is, will the Sox have the mentality that they will be extra patient since they did in fact rush him.

At hitting major league pitching? No.

I realize Anderson's numbers are improved but I still look at him and just come away wondering. Crede never had the prettied swing either though so who knows.

DL for Jordan. Velcro brace on his right wrist received June 14. Hopefully he gets back soon. The minor league DL is only 7 says so he'll be eligible to come back in a few days, though I doubt he comes back that fast. He's already been promoted and is succeeding at the higher level, no reason to rush him back from an injury after he has proved so much this season.

On a 1-10 scale with 10 being very good/Brian Anderson-esque, how would you rate Danks' defense?

On a 1-10 scale with 10 being very good/Brian Anderson-esque, how would you rate Danks' defense?

Well if Anderson is a 10, and statistically over the course of his ML career he's been just slightly above average then I'd have to put Danks at a 13-14 since Danks is reportedly very good in the field. Admittedly I'm basing my opinion on Danks off of reports from people who have maybe seen him 15 times in his career, so this could change when we get some real statistical analysis on Danks' defense.

Anderson is certainly more than above average.

 

As for Danks (and I've only seen him 3 times), I thought he was the best defensive CFer I had ever seen at Mizzou through 4 years, by quite a bit. I didn't get a great view of his arm, but it was above average from what I saw. I thought his swing was awfully long for a contact/low-medium power guy, but he hit pretty well throughout college and has done so in the pros as well. Range wise, I thought he was spectacular so I would go with the reports. Seeing him at Texas (considering the Sox already drafted him and he's John's brother, I was paying more attention to Jordan), I thought he was great in center.

This thread needs some updating.

 

Danks played in the AFL this year, and looked darn good doing it. Still striking out a little more than we'd like to see, but otherwise was very impressive:

 

26 G, 99 AB

.343/.458/.505/.963

7 2B, 3 HR, 23 RBI

5 SB, 2 CS

20 BB vs 26 K

 

That's a lot of K's, but its also a lot of walks. There is talk of Danks possibly making the big league club in 2010, but that seems like a long shot. He should likely be in Charlotte, and we'll get to see how he does against some better breaking pitches.

 

Project Prospect posted a review of players' speed in the AFL. Personally I always thought Danks had good speed, but according to this review, he's barely above average. I hope their small sample size is a bit off.

 

http://projectprospect.com/article/2009/12/08/afl-speed-data

BA gave Danks 'best outfield arm' in the system. Last year he was given best defensive outfielder, but they gave that to Mitchell this year. I'm pretty surprised by the Mitchell statement since he wasn't even playing centerfield at LSU, but still some respect for Jordan's D.

Danks will be a NRI in spring training. I'm excited to see what happens to him.

Project Prospect posted a review of players' speed in the AFL. Personally I always thought Danks had good speed, but according to this review, he's barely above average. I hope their small sample size is a bit off.

 

http://projectprospect.com/article/2009/12/08/afl-speed-data

 

The speed number itself (average time = 4.15 seconds going from home to first) based on very small sample (2 at-bats?) tells us very little. Especially when you consider that the difference between "average" and "above average" is only 1/10th of a second.

 

I think it's more significant that out of the 45 players evaluated, only 10 had a higher scouting grade than Danks' 55.

 

The scouting grades that surprised me were: Starlin Castro (40) and Josh Vitters (20). Looks like the Cubs may have to hire a surgeon to remove the lead from their a**es.

Edited January 19, 201016 yr by scenario

The speed number itself (average time = 4.15 seconds going from home to first) based on very small sample (2 at-bats?) tells us very little. Especially when you consider that the difference between "average" and "above average" is only 1/10th of a second.

 

I think it's more significant that out of the 45 players evaluated, only 10 had a higher grade.

 

He covers a lot of ground in the outfield, I think his speed is good enough.

The speed number itself (average time = 4.15 seconds going from home to first) based on very small sample (2 at-bats?) tells us very little. Especially when you consider that the difference between "average" and "above average" is only 1/10th of a second.

 

I think it's more significant that out of the 45 players evaluated, only 10 had a higher scouting grade than Danks' 55.

 

The scouting grades that surprised me were: Starlin Castro (40) and Josh Vitters (20). Looks like the Cubs may have to hire a surgeon to remove the lead from their a**es.

I found that speed data really funny. Adam Foster likes his stats, he preaches sample sizes and not getting pulled in without a significant amount of data and then he turns around with speed grades after 1-3 AB's. Matt Angle's 75 grade after one drag bunt was ridiculous.

 

That said, most of what they do at Project Prospect is very good and I think their Digital Prospect Guide looks fantastic.

 

And as the name Starlin Castro came up, I want to get on the record as saying that he is one of the most overrated prospects in baseball. Someone also needs to tell Josh Vitters that walks are good, because he apparently doesn't understand.

Danks article from the Austin Statesman

Danks had a huge power surge in May and the strikeout numbers took a drop, but not enough. Still, progress gives hope.

Encouraging: Jordan Danks - May stats alone:

 

.286/.336/.582/.918 That .918 stands out A TON. Great to see.

Also, his K to AB ratio shows improvement: 21ks, 98 ABs, almost a 1:5.

20 runs and 20 RBIs for the month is great too.