July 2, 200916 yr I was thinking about the mix of players on the Sox. Over the last couple of years Kenny Williams has obviously tired to infuse some youth to go along with the aging core of Konerko, Thome, Dye, and AJ, etc.... In doing so he has brought up or traded for the following guys who I would consider to be the "core young guys." I am only talking about guys on the major league roster. Danks Floyd Clayton Richard Alexei Ramirez Gordon Beckham Quentin Poreda Jenks has been around for a while but I'd still put him in this group These guys are more youthful but I probably wouldn't catrogize them as core guys. Josh Fields Jayson Nix Chris Getz BA In all seriousness where would the top group rank amongst other MLB teams core young guys? If you ask me I think that is a solid group of players. Even though 2005 wasn't too long ago I feel like this team is taking on a new identity in front of ours eyes. There is a lot of baseball left in 2009 but after watching this team play over the last couple weeks my optimism for this year and beyond is definitely growing. So really I guess my question is what team/teams have done a better job retooling on the fly the way KW has?
July 2, 200916 yr That's a beautiful set of young core guys. I remember a lot of chicken little's (not just this board, White Sox fans in general) just a couple years ago panicking about the lack of youth. I will never doubt Kenny Williams.
July 2, 200916 yr QUOTE (rangercal @ Jul 2, 2009 -> 12:26 PM) That's a beautiful set of young core guys. I remember a lot of chicken little's (not just this board, White Sox fans in general) just a couple years ago panicking about the lack of youth. I will never doubt Kenny Williams. This organization looked like it was in a whole world of trouble in 2007. Two years later, the future has never looked better. We already have a very nice young core in the majors, not to mention this is the best farm system we've had in years. Kenny definitely changed the whole tide of this organization in just 2 seasons, just awesome.
July 2, 200916 yr Arizona and Milwaukee have an argument Drew Upton Young Haren Scherzer Reynolds Gallardo Villanueva Hart Braun Fielder Weeks Gamel Hardy Then you have Texas with Kinsler/Andrus/Salty/Teagarden/Ramirez and a glut of pitchers. Also the Orioles have Jones/Wieters/Markakis and I dont know who else but thats quite the trio. But I'd say that group of young core players we have has gotta be one of, if not the, best group in the majors without a doubt.
July 2, 200916 yr QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 2, 2009 -> 01:03 PM) Arizona and Milwaukee have an argument Drew Upton Young Haren Scherzer Reynolds Gallardo Villanueva Hart Braun Fielder Weeks Gamel Hardy Then you have Texas with Kinsler/Andrus/Salty/Teagarden/Ramirez and a glut of pitchers. Also the Orioles have Jones/Wieters/Markakis and I dont know who else but thats quite the trio. But I'd say that group of young core players we have has gotta be one of, if not the, best group in the majors without a doubt. Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta make the Orioles look like they could have a Tampa type season in a few years to go along with the guys you mentioned.
July 3, 200916 yr If Danks/Mitchell/Viciedo/Flowers/Allen can develop (two or three of those guys), we get some off-the-bench contributions from Retherford or Shelby and one of the relievers with a big arm like Omogrosso, Nunez or Santeliz catch fire, we should be in great shape. We are still short legit starting prospects at the AA/AAA level, with D. Hudson being perhaps the most closely-scrutinized these days.
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