I really like the idea of a young long reliever--either Stewart or Axelrod, and Reed, Frasor, Ohman, Crain, Thornton, and Santos. That's a pretty solid bullpen I could support. Once they start throwing in a younger lefty, it becomes worse in a hurry.

I'll note again, I think putting Stewart in the bullpen this year is a terrible idea, worse than putting Sale in the pen last year. Stewart is desperate for innings on his arm. He's actually a converted reliever...he started off as a Reliever and then Toronto converted him to a starter recently. He's growing into the position and became one of Toronto's better lower-level starting pitcher prospects when we had him...but he still needs innings, desperately.

 

Putting him in the bullpen, even for 1/2 a season, un-does every bit of good work Toronto did on trying to turn him in to a starter. Sale it was a setback of a season or two maybe...Stewart, you put him in the bullpen one more time and that is it for him being a starter, ever. You cut him down to 50 innings again, he will be 30 before you can get him up to 150.

I have huge hopes that Jones will be great for the Sox.

I have huge hopes that Jones will be great for the Sox.

 

Wait. Who?

Nathan Jones

Nathan Jones

 

Ah. Gotcha now.

JimMargalus Jim Margalus

After @southsidelarry wrote this slightly optimistic post - sbn.to/oN0yRq - Danks struck out in 51 of his final 106 at-bats.

 

Does Nathan Jones need to be protected? Charlie Shirek maybe is being left off too.

 

Does Nathan Jones need to be protected? Charlie Shirek maybe is being left off too.

 

I believe he is already on the 40 man roster..

http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/whitesox-ta...mp;feedID=10338

 

White Sox add two to 40-man roster

November 18, 2011, 11:31 am

 

JJ STANKEVITZ

csnchicago.png

 

The White Sox added pitchers Deunte Heath and Charlie Leesman to the team's 40-man roster, meaning both players will not be available for selection in December's Rule 5 draft.

 

The team did leave a few notable players off the 40-man roster and thus unprotected in the Rule 5 draft including Jordan Danks, Terry Doyle, Tyler Kuhn and Brandon Short (hat-tip to the guys at FutureSox for pointing those names out).

 

Those players could still be added to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 draft, as the Sox still have four open spots on the 40-man. But those spots are likely going to be open, at least for now, in case the team needs to add multiple players coming in via a trade (say, for John Danks).

 

If Danks, Doyle, Kuhn and Short are left off the 40-man for the Rule 5 draft, they can be selected by a team and stay with that organization so long as they're on that team's 25-man major-league roster all season. If a team doesn't want to keep the player in the majors, then that player must be offered back to his original team for $25,000 after clearing waivers. [For more on the Rule 5 draft, check out MLB Trade Rumors' primer]

 

Doyle, Kuhn and Short all aren't likely to crack a major league roster in 2012.

 

Despite a solid minor league track record and success in the Arizona Fall League, Doyle just turned 26 and hasn't pitched above Double-A in his career. That doesn't come close to screaming major leaguer, so he'll likely wind up staying with the White Sox.

 

Kuhn mashed Double-A pitching (with the aid of some batted ball luck) but looked lost when promoted to Triple-A. Unless there's a team out there that has absolutely no internal infield/outfield depth, he'll stay with the Sox as well.

 

Short was an intriguing prospect a year ago, but a poor 2011 in Double-A hurt his stock. He's a long ways away from being a major leaguer, so leaving him unprotected isn't a big deal.

 

Leaving Danks unprotected, though, could lead to his exit from the organization.

 

The brother of John still has major strikeout issues, but his walk rate went up and he posted a decent .344 on-base percentage in his second go-around in Triple-A last year. At 25, he's not someone who should be expected to develop into an every-day major leaguer, but he does have decent value as a fourth outfielder who plays good defense and has a bit of speed.

 

Those guys just don't grow on trees, and with the White Sox thin in their organizational outfield ranks, leaving Danks off the 40-man roster could come back to bite them if one of their starting outfielders goes down with an injury.

 

Of course, there's still time for Danks to be added to the 40-man and it's not guaranteed he'll be selected in the Rule 5 draft. But his status with the organization is something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

 

As for the guys added to the 40-man, Heath is a high-strikeout, high-walk 26-year-old who had a 4.73 ERA with Charlotte in 2011. Leesman has the better chance of cracking into the majors (which may not be saying much), although he repeated Double-A with mixed results in 2011.

This organization continues to confuse me.

This organization continues to confuse me.

 

I've always maintained that the organization never thought highly of Kuhn. I probably would have protected Doyle though. Danks just isn't very good aside from his defensive value.

I agree with you Balta, but don't forget we have a surplus in the OF including a large million dollar albatross non performer in CF we are keeping.

 

Your ignorance just infuriates me. We're keeping him because we can't get rid of him, not because everyone is dumber than you and wants to keep him.

I've never heard of Duente Heath, and I thought Nathan Jones was a wrestler.

Well one thing Heath has going for him, evidently he likes hookers.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5030547

Well one thing Heath has going for him, evidently he likes hookers.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5030547

Interesting. And the Sox signed him just a couple weeks after that article was published.

 

I'm iffy on this one.

 

He does seem like he's got a decent shot at the big leagues, but I'd have to ask my scouts whether they thought he'd be too much of a drag on the roster having to keep him around the entire year next year.

 

I think D2 is an excellent candidate to pick in the rule 5, because even if he doesn't hit well, he's supposedly a plus-defensive CF, which means that he can fill an almost daily role for someone coming in as a defensive replacement. He gives value to a team even if he doesn't hit.

I completely agree. I'm surprised the Sox didn't add him to the 40 man roster. Terry Doyle is another surprise but I'm guessing that teams figure he isn't ready for the majors and they don't want to tie-up a roster spot on him just yet. But at a minimum Danks would be a nice 5th outfielder for an NL squad who could play plus defense, pinch run, etc.

Interesting. And the Sox signed him just a couple weeks after that article was published.

 

Pretty much the same style of signing as we saw with Jenks.

Pretty much the same style of signing as we saw with Jenks.

I thought Jenks was a Rule V pickup?

 

I thought Jenks was a Rule V pickup?

 

He was waived by Anaheim after they got sick of the problems he had.