He was well within the top 10 in the SF organization, so shouldn't be a surprise. He figures to be a useful major league starter

At one time, last in 2011. 25th in 2012, and has since had surgery and missed a lot of time.

 

I like the pickup and think he may be useful, but he is in no way a T10 prospect in any org right now. Always take those MLB.com rankings with a huge pile of salt (though now with Callis in there, it may improve).

 

Maybe so in this organization but 16 teams didn't find him to be worth a claim.

 

Yeah, I agree. It is really surprising that not a single NL club put in a claim on him, even if he just profiles as a 5th starter.

Yeah, I agree. It is really surprising that not a single NL club put in a claim on him, even if he just profiles as a 5th starter.

How many had filled up their 40 man due to the rule 5 draft?

How many had filled up their 40 man due to the rule 5 draft?

 

Doesn't matter. How many times does a minimum wage, left-handed, 5th starter come available... at no additional charge? The Sox 40 man roster was full too.

I'm just glad we'll have competition for the roster spot in ST.

The nice thing is that we can legitimately say "we have a number of other potential starters at the high levels of the organization right now" so there's a reason why Hawkins or Webb might be a little low. There's simply more above them right now.

 

No doubt. The farm still has a ways to go, but it's exciting that we have a semi-legitimate top 10 and *gasp* some argument about guys missing it.

Very excited to see what Hahn directed farm system could look like say, prior to the 2016 season.

 

I am more excited to see Kenny get back to actually doing some of the scouting and directing stuff. The Sox system had its best years with him doing exactly that.

Nice article on Carlos Sanchez on the White Sox Home Page. After his great winter league season in Venezuela, I sure hope we don't trade this kid.

Edited January 15, 201412 yr by oldsox

1. Davidson

2. Beck

3. Sanchez

4. Johnson

5. Semien

6. Hawkins

7. Danish

8. Anderson

9. Webb

10. Mitchell

Yeah, I really like Beck, but there's no way I could put him 2.

 

Which Mitchell?

This looks like you took the Sox top 15 prospects, picked 9 out of hat and then threw Mittchell at 10.

 

Thats fair enough, I think I value some of these guys a lot differently than other people. I am willing to give Mitchell another chance after the AFL. There is a thought that sometime players number suffer due to "level fatigue", not sure that is the case here, but it is worth a roll of the dice.

 

Davidson is one of the closest to his ceiling, so there is not as much projection left. He seems to have a floor of Mark Reynolds and a ceiling around Matt Williams.

 

I like Becks combination of upside and polish. I think he is a guy that can be a 2-3 in another year.

 

Sanchez is a young guy that can get on base and handle the bat. He is an ideal #2 hitter for me. This years numbers weren't great on his "challenge assignment" but he winter league numbers showed he is still legit.

 

EJ is the closest pitcher to the show, but I think his upside is probably a back of the rotation arm.

 

Semien is a solid prospect, close to being ready, just isn't really exceptional at one thing.

 

Hawkins has more upside than anyone in the system, numbers were down thanks to the incompetent handling of the farm director, but still has a boatload of talent.

 

Danish is the highest upside SP in the system, but has very little track record yet.

 

Anderson has a lower ceiling than Hawkins and played at a lower level at the same age. He has a chance to make a big jump to show his legit this year in high A.

 

I think Webb is one of the best closing prospects in all of baseball, but relievers have less value because they have less impact in a game than any other position.

 

 

EJ is the closest pitcher to the show, but I think his upside is probably a back of the rotation arm.

 

Semien is a solid prospect, close to being ready, just isn't really exceptional at one thing.

Here's my two differences with you. No idea why EJ is thought to be "only a back of the rotation arm". His stuff is legitimate and he's had solid success at every level. He doesn't have Chris Sale stuff but I don't know why you'd judge from what we've seen so far that he's only a back of the rotation arm.

 

Secondly...Semien is pretty exceptional in his batting eye/approach, based on his AA numbers from last year. Getting a guy from the middle infield who can work a count into his favor and force a pitcher to either walk him or throw a hittable pitch is a skill we've missed a lot and he's shown a lot of promise in that.

You guys did not include Micah Johnson. I would get him in the Top Ten somewhere.

1. E. Johnson

2. Davidson

3. Semien

4. Hawkins

5. Anderson

6. Danish

7. Sanchez

8. M. Johnson

9. Beck

10. Bassit

11. Thompson

12. Webb

13. Rienzo

14. Engel

15. Snodgress

 

Lower-ceilinged but close to the Majors guys like Webb/Rienzo would be MUCH higher in seasons past. The system depth has definitely improved.

You guys did not include Micah Johnson. I would get him in the Top Ten somewhere.

 

He is tough to project because he hasn't found a defensive position yet that he can play to be a regular. His bat is obviously not good enough to DH and his glove was bad (29 errors). His numbers in A+ were OK, but not eye popping. He dominated A- as a 22 year old should, but we'll see what he can do in a full season at AA this year.

1. E. Johnson

2. Davidson

3. Semien

4. Hawkins

5. Anderson

6. Danish

7. Sanchez

8. M. Johnson

9. Beck

10. Bassit

11. Thompson

12. Webb

13. Rienzo

14. Engel

15. Snodgress

 

Lower-ceilinged but close to the Majors guys like Webb/Rienzo would be MUCH higher in seasons past. The system depth has definitely improved.

 

Agree, the system has gone from bottom feeder to mid-tier, probably in the 18-19 range now. There is still work to be done, but based on draft position and international money available, its not out of the realm of possibility that this is a top 10 system a year from now.

 

Semien, Webb, and Davidson all likely graduate, perhaps EJ depending on the ST competition with Surkamp and Paulino and if there are injuries.

Agree, the system has gone from bottom feeder to mid-tier, probably in the 18-19 range now. There is still work to be done, but based on draft position and international money available, its not out of the realm of possibility that this is a top 10 system a year from now.

 

Semien, Webb, and Davidson all likely graduate, perhaps EJ depending on the ST competition with Surkamp and Paulino and if there are injuries.

Semien is simply not big league ready right now IMO. Webb, maybe not, they loaded up the bullpen like they thought he needed more AAA time as well.

Semien is simply not big league ready right now IMO. Webb, maybe not, they loaded up the bullpen like they thought he needed more AAA time as well.

 

No, but he could be ready around the training deadline.

My Top Ten:

 

1 Abreu

2 E Johnson

3 Davidson

4 Semien

5 Webb

6 Anderson

7 Hawkins

8 Beck

9 Danish

10 M Johnson

A composite ranking so far from 16 responses. I assigned #1=10 points down to #10=1 point. For consistency's sake, I want ahead and assigned Abreu as #1 to the couple of people who didn't think he was a prospect and bumped everybody else down one notch, because he technically qualifies as a prospect and I think we all agree he should be #1.

 

1. Abreu 160 points

2. E Johnson 139 points

3. Davidson 129 points

4. Semien 98 points

5. Hawkins 84 points

6. Anderson 82 points

7. Beck 54 points

8. Danish 37 points

9. M Johnson 35 points

10. Webb 22 points

 

11. Sanchez 17 points

12. Thompson 13 points

13. Barnum 4 points

14. May 3 points

15. Bassitt 2 points

T-16. Snodgrezz/Zapata 1 point

A composite ranking so far from 16 responses. I assigned #1=10 points down to #10=1 point. For consistency's sake, I want ahead and assigned Abreu as #1 to the couple of people who didn't think he was a prospect and bumped everybody else down one notch, because he technically qualifies as a prospect and I think we all agree he should be #1.

 

1. Abreu 160 points

2. E Johnson 139 points

3. Davidson 129 points

4. Semien 98 points

5. Hawkins 84 points

6. Anderson 82 points

7. Beck 54 points

8. Danish 37 points

9. M Johnson 35 points

10. Webb 22 points

 

11. Sanchez 17 points

12. Thompson 13 points

13. Barnum 4 points

14. May 3 points

15. Bassitt 2 points

T-16. Snodgrezz/Zapata 1 point

Heh. I'll give you a teaser... the FutureSox T25 list is coming out next week, but the list itself is complete, and the Top 10 looks very close to that.

 

A composite ranking so far from 16 responses. I assigned #1=10 points down to #10=1 point. For consistency's sake, I want ahead and assigned Abreu as #1 to the couple of people who didn't think he was a prospect and bumped everybody else down one notch, because he technically qualifies as a prospect and I think we all agree he should be #1.

 

1. Abreu 160 points

2. E Johnson 139 points

3. Davidson 129 points

4. Semien 98 points

5. Hawkins 84 points

6. Anderson 82 points

7. Beck 54 points

8. Danish 37 points

9. M Johnson 35 points

10. Webb 22 points

 

11. Sanchez 17 points

12. Thompson 13 points

13. Barnum 4 points

14. May 3 points

15. Bassitt 2 points

T-16. Snodgrezz/Zapata 1 point

 

Good idea. You know, it would be cool to have a section of the site that listed our top prospects lists. It could include the FS list and a 'crowdsourced' one like this.

Good idea. You know, it would be cool to have a section of the site that listed our top prospects lists. It could include the FS list and a 'crowdsourced' one like this.

 

That is cool. We actually do that for our top 25...a few of us submit our top 30 prospects and we combine them. Getting the site's top 10 list would be cool though too.

 

It's also funny how similar they are. Either we as a board develop favorites and biases towards prospects and we're totally off, we pay too much attention to numbers and not enough to tools, or we are more dialed in than so called experts.

Edited January 17, 201412 yr by witesoxfan

That is cool. We actually do that for our top 25...a few of us submit our top 30 prospects and we combine them. Getting the site's top 10 list would be cool though too.

 

It's also funny how similar they are. Either we as a board develop favorites and biases towards prospects and we're totally off, we pay too much attention to numbers and not enough to tools, or we are more dialed in than so called experts.

 

There probably is a good deal of groupthink going on, but we also mostly consume info from the same sources haha

I think a lot of it is what have you done for me lately too. People see the years Marcus Semien and Micah Jonhson had last year and fall in love with them. I am not ready to bring Semien up to the bigs and I think Micah Johnson will probably take a step back this year. Rightfully so, there's no love Courtney Hawkins anymore and he has the best potential in our system and I don't even think it's that close. I had him at #4 or #5 on my list but most posters had him at #7, #8, #9ish.

Regardless of potential....I will always give credit to guys performing well at higher levels.