2015 MLB Draft

[LDF]

Kenny Williams.

 

some blame can go to people beneath him failing at their jobs but he's the guy at the top. He was the one who made poor draft choices based on a philosophy of finding guys who would be tradeable like Broadway and McCullough, he was the guy who made the decisions to trade away the guys we did produce like Gio, he's the guy who chose to spend money on the big league roster while limiting spending on the draft, he's the guy who was willing to give up draft picks to sign Adam Dunn and Scott Linebrink, he's the guy who employed Dave Wilder who screwed over this frachise for several years by fraudulently promoting international prospects and falsifying their ages.

 

They spent more than half a decade with an official policy of neglecting the farm system in favor of the big league team. In the meantime they happened to ignore the fact that they were being defrauded. The end result is exactly what you'd expect.

in spite of all that bull crap, we won a world series the first in in how many wonderful yrs. the

yrs that has a little of history in itself.

 

dang it hard to be a loyal sox fan, sometimes.

 

psst, the next will be sooner that that.

[Balta1701]

in spite of all that bull crap, we won a world series the first in in how many wonderful yrs. the

yrs that has a little of history in itself.

 

dang it hard to be a loyal sox fan, sometimes.

 

psst, the next will be sooner that that.

The remarkable thing about that is...you can say in no small part that the White Sox won that world series thanks to the system that Kenny Williams helped build in the last years of the 90s when he was head of minor league development.

 

Guys including Buehrle, Garland, Crede, Konerko were part of that system and other pieces (Carlos Lee) from it were used as trades to fill in other holes.

 

They would not have had the ammo to build that team had they not relied on a strong minor league organization.

[LDF]

The remarkable thing about that is...you can say in no small part that the White Sox won that world series thanks to the system that Kenny Williams helped build in the last years of the 90s when he was head of minor league development.

 

Guys including Buehrle, Garland, Crede, Konerko were part of that system and other pieces (Carlos Lee) from it were used as trades to fill in other holes.

 

They would not have had the ammo to build that team had they not relied on a strong minor league organization.

 

excellent and all true. too bad it was only (oops) 1 ring that was won.

 

now that torch, the rebuilding lie squarely on Hahn shoulders.

 

dang, i can't wait for spring trng.

Edited December 29, 2014 by LDF

[TaylorStSox]

The remarkable thing about that is...you can say in no small part that the White Sox won that world series thanks to the system that Kenny Williams helped build in the last years of the 90s when he was head of minor league development.

 

Guys including Buehrle, Garland, Crede, Konerko were part of that system and other pieces (Carlos Lee) from it were used as trades to fill in other holes.

 

They would not have had the ammo to build that team had they not relied on a strong minor league organization.

Garland and Konerko? That's a huge, huge stretch.

[Balta1701]

Garland and Konerko? That's a huge, huge stretch.

Jon Garland was absolutely a key part of that "Top ranked system" in 2000. Konerko wasn't because he was up before that but he was absolutely part of the "The Kids can Play" movement in '99.

[LDF]

Jon Garland was absolutely a key part of that "Top ranked system" in 2000. Konerko wasn't because he was up before that but he was absolutely part of the "The Kids can Play" movement in '99.

 

that was a cool slogan as was the good guys were black

[LDF]

Thomas and Durham were a huge part of those teams. I just feel like society is too sensitive to accept a slogan like this in modern times.

 

i just don't know. society has grown alot.

[witesoxfan]

Saying that I am wrong is a stupid thing to say, I just diagree with you.

 

If you're confident in your system and your player development process then you shoul feel confident in your team's ability to develop those picks into solid players. The more draft picks you have, the greater influx of talent that enters the system, the more players you develop into major league caliber players and more you don't have to go out and sign players to big contacts and the flexibility you have as an organization. Look at the Cardinals.

 

Well to each their own on the former, but I think this is greater than just trusting your player development. This was an opportunity to add some very good players while giving up merely draft picks and money for them.

 

You say look at the Cardinals, but the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles have been incredibly successful too and they have incredibly varied and diversified rosters. The San Francisco Giants have brought in a ton glue guys from outside the organization while they've developed their core pieces. There's more than one way to build organizationally. The idea that the Sox keep developing their prospects to fill these holes at a later time period (because they could not do so at this juncture) has not been thrown out the window, but they also wanted to be competitive this year. I feel they've put themselves in a position to do so, many here do as well, they haven't crippled themselves financially at this point with overly cumbersome long-term contracts, and the best prospect they gave up during this entire process was Marcus Semien.

 

This wasn't just going out and blindly spending money and trading away all the prospects. They give up a 2nd and 3rd round pick (and the respective slot values), but that doesn't mean they've abandoned the idea of building from within. Had they gone out and sold the farm for this year, I'd be upset and I wouldn't be the only one. But they haven't and the long-term term prospects of the minor league system itself are still intact. These were good moves the Sox made.

[LDF]

Well to each their own on the former, but I think this is greater than just trusting your player development. This was an opportunity to add some very good players while giving up merely draft picks and money for them.

 

You say look at the Cardinals, but the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles have been incredibly successful too and they have incredibly varied and diversified rosters. The San Francisco Giants have brought in a ton glue guys from outside the organization while they've developed their core pieces. There's more than one way to build organizationally. The idea that the Sox keep developing their prospects to fill these holes at a later time period (because they could not do so at this juncture) has not been thrown out the window, but they also wanted to be competitive this year. I feel they've put themselves in a position to do so, many here do as well, they haven't crippled themselves financially at this point with overly cumbersome long-term contracts, and the best prospect they gave up during this entire process was Marcus Semien.

 

This wasn't just going out and blindly spending money and trading away all the prospects. They give up a 2nd and 3rd round pick (and the respective slot values), but that doesn't mean they've abandoned the idea of building from within. Had they gone out and sold the farm for this year, I'd be upset and I wouldn't be the only one. But they haven't and the long-term term prospects of the minor league system itself are still intact. These were good moves the Sox made.

 

Wite, i hope you don't take this wrong. this is another well thought out post.

you have been on a roll for the last several days with great post.

 

 

[Jerksticks]

I'll take the pick, and better chance for sustained success.

 

Na man. We can't allow you to disagree here. You must switch over to the dark side We all love the idea of solid drafts producing sustained success, it's not a new thought whatsoever OR an idea that anybody can disagree with. EVERY single sox fan wants the team to draft well and develop talent. Duh.

 

Popping a 3rd round pick to close out the Viciedo Era is a no-brainer. How can you honestly argue that saying F-YOU to Sale & Abreu is a good idea? That's what you're saying, right? You're saying the Sox should trade them and rebuild with 2nd & 3rd round picks?

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

i just don't know. society has grown alot.

 

You may have caught this, but he was making a joke about your misspelling of wear/were.

[LDF]

You may have caught this, but he was making a joke about your misspelling of wear/were.

 

oh crap. i had to go back and look it up to see what you were or is it wear

talking about. my fault for trying to get my fat fingers to type.

 

thanks for the update.

[LDF]

exactly, the sox still need to address the farm. this draft, according to the experts

is weak, so the sox need to be spot on in their pick.

 

i will start this yr draft possibilities of players who may be at the sox pick #8.

the draft and where the team is now, add to this draft, where the sox in 2 pick

shy b/c of FA signings. this drafting needs to be spot on. so the sox needs and

this yrs players, for me, i am going to based this on college players.

 

at #8 the sox may have have a hard time, it all depends on how the other 7 picks

falls. which team will draft the unsuspected pick or will they all fall as many mock

draft sites predicted.

 

Nathan Kirby, out side the top 3 arms is slotted to be there. he is my #1 pick and

maybe the fastest in getting to the majors.

 

Phil Bickford, is another arm that may be there, as well.

 

Walker Buehler arm some are saying that is lack of height will not stop him from succeeding

he like Kirby may be there. my #2 pick if he is there.

 

some other arms may be there as well but they are looking at this date to be relievers

of some sort. there are 2 hitters who may be there as well.

 

Ian Happ my favorite pick. ss / 2b / of

 

Dansby Swanson ss / 2b he is the best ss coming out but with Anderson at SS and

Johnson at 2b he should start learning a different position like 3b. or OF.

 

ref the 2 hitters, they both can be fast track to the majors, so who is the better hitter?

Edited January 5, 2015 by LDF

[thxfrthmmrs]

Saying that I am wrong is a stupid thing to say, I just diagree with you.

 

If you're confident in your system and your player development process then you shoul feel confident in your team's ability to develop those picks into solid players. The more draft picks you have, the greater influx of talent that enters the system, the more players you develop into major league caliber players and more you don't have to go out and sign players to big contacts and the flexibility you have as an organization. Look at the Cardinals.

 

You might not want to hear this, but prospect developing is more about luck than anything else. Until statisticians and sabes can invent a scientific method that could predict the success of prospects with great success, it will always be the case. Even for the model farm system like the Cardinals who you assumed have better ability to develop draft picks, they only developed 2 major leaguers with their 3rd round picks from 2003 to 2011. Joe Kelly and Daniel Descalso. To top it off, none of the said draft picks even made any Top 100 lists.

 

So let me ask, would you take the pick with less than 20% of even reaching the major leagues, or would you take Melky Cabrera, a proven major leaguer that fills a need?

 

So far, we aren't even taking into account the timing of the resource. The Sox have a need now, not 4 years from now. Timing of the sources is extremely important, that's why teams overpaid for needs at the trade deadline (see A's trade for Samardzija). The Cardinals are a smart organization, they do not have just one strategy to build their roster. I think any smart organization would have done what the Sox had done to fill a need. The 3rd round pick is just the cost of doing business.

[Ozzie Ball]

Matt Garrioch at John Sickels' site just posted his early 2015 draft rankings. Follow the link for the full list (top 300).

 

1 Brendan Rodgers SS HS Florida State

2 Carson Fulmer RHP College JR Vanderbilt

3 Kolby Allard LHP HS UCLA

4 Brady Aiken LHP College J1 UCLA

5 Dansby Swanson SS College JR Vanderbilt

6 Walker Buehler RHP College JR Vanderbilt

7 Kyle Funkhouser RHP College JR Louisville

8 Alex Bregman 2B College JR Louisiana State

9 Dazmon Cameron CF HS Florida State

10 Justin Hooper LHP HS UCLA

11 Chris Betts C HS Tennessee

12 Beau Burrows RHP HS Texas A&M

13 Nathan Kirby LHP College JR Virginia

14 Garrett Whitley OF HS Wake Forest

15 D.J. Stewart LF College JR Florida State

16 Cody Ponce RHP College JR Cal Poly Pomona

17 Nick Plummer OF HS Kentucky

18 Ashe Russell RHP HS Texas A&M

19 Ian Happ OF College JR Cincinnati

20 Richie Martin SS College JR Florida

21 Mike Nikorak RHP HS Alabama

22 Ryan Mountcastle SS HS UCF

23 Tyler Ferguson RHP College JR Vanderbilt

24 Riley Ferrell RHP College JR TCU

25 Demi Orimoloye OF HS Oregon

26 Kyle Tucker LF HS Florida

27 Juan Hillman LHP HS UCF

28 Joe DeMers RHP HS Washington

29 Michael Matuella RHP College JR Duke

30 Kyler Murray SS HS Texas A&M

31 Christin Stewart 1B College JR Tennessee

32 Chris Shaw 1B College JR Boston College

33 Jonathan Harris RHP College JR Missouri State

34 Trenton Clark OF HS Texas Tech

35 Gio Brusa OF College JR Pacific

36 Austin Smith RHP HS Florida Atlantic

37 Kyle Molnar RHP HS UCLA

38 Chandler Day RHP HS Vanderbilt

39 Alex Young LHP College JR Texas Christian

40 Devin Davis 1B HS Loyola Marymount

41 Steven Duggar LF College JR Clemson

42 Jonathan India SS HS Florida

43 Phil Bickford RHP College J2 Southern Nevada

44 Ryan Cole McKay RHP HS Louisiana State

45 Luken Baker 1B HS TCU

46 Ryan Burr RHP College JR Arizona State

47 Jacob Nix RHP College J1 UCLA

48 Triston McKenzie RHP HS Vanderbilt

49 Mitchell Hansen LF HS Stanford

50 Tristin English RHP/C HS Georgia Tech

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/1/12/7...-draft-rankings

 

He's much lower on both Matuella (#28) and Bickford (#43) than the experts. He gave the following explanations for this:

 

I've only seen Matuella once

 

and he wasn’t special. He was a guy that was clearly a good arm but the stuff wasn’t eye popping. The TV gun was off as it said he was working 84-91 but he wasn’t hitting upper 90’s. He looked like a top 50 arm but not a top 10 guy to me. Maybe if I see his high end stuff this year, I’ll move him up but his short track record, his spondylolysis and inconsistent stuff, I couldn’t see taking him over many of the guys I have listed ahead of him.

 

 

I've never been high on Bickford.

 

He’s very inconsistent. His career path at this point is puzzling to me. High end pick, walks away to go to CSF. Has an excellent year, walks away to Southern Nevada. Maybe he thinks he can get drafted higher and make more this year.

 

Out of the pen, he has the stuff to be in the 23-26 range, so I probably should have him there. I just can’t see him starting with his current stuff and I ding him for his career decisions because I expect him to be hard to develop.

 

[Quin]

Matt Garrioch at John Sickels' site just posted his early 2015 draft rankings. Follow the link for the full list (top 300).

 

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/1/12/7...-draft-rankings

 

He's much lower on both Matuella (#28) and Bickford (#43) than the experts. He gave the following explanations for this:

 

I'm OK with that because I'd love to get Matuella

[LDF]

I'm OK with that because I'd love to get Matuella

 

those experts have access to info and rpts that we has fans don't.

 

i am surprise on Matuella and i agree with Bickford.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I'll be real disappointed if we pass on Daz Cameron to draft a 2B.

[LDF]

I'll be real disappointed if we pass on Daz Cameron to draft a 2B.

 

i don't know what the sox brass priority will be. i also think it will depends on

how Hawkins does.

[Y2Jimmy0]

i don't know what the sox brass priority will be. i also think it will depends on

how Hawkins does.

 

 

It won't depend on Hawkins. You take the best player on the board. Regardless of anything else.

[LDF]

It won't depend on Hawkins. You take the best player on the board. Regardless of anything else.

 

for many yrs the sox picked a college player instead of a hs'er esp when the

hs'er was the best on the board.

 

so again it will be how the sox address their priority.

[NorthSideSox72]

It won't depend on Hawkins. You take the best player on the board. Regardless of anything else.

 

 

for many yrs the sox picked a college player instead of a hs'er esp when the

hs'er was the best on the board.

 

so again it will be how the sox address their priority.

 

Y2Jimmy0 is correct. No one drafts in the first round for a current MLB team need versus strength. You take the best talent available, period.

 

The HS vs college question is a valid one, but more in terms of risk than about current major league needs.

 

[LDF]

Y2Jimmy0 is correct. No one drafts in the first round for a current MLB team need versus strength. You take the best talent available, period.

 

The HS vs college question is a valid one, but more in terms of risk than about current major league needs.

 

and both have very valid points. i am just saying under the old philosophy of drafting in

the first round, the sox avoided the hs'ers and went out of there way to avoid Scott B

clients.

 

there were 2 pitchers who the sox drafted in the 90's that many thought was a reach.

the excuse was they were projected to go thru the system fast and be in the majors

quickly.

 

Y2Jimmy is correct in the normal sense but not the way the sox have done it in the past.

 

maybe with Hahn at the Helm, things will be different.

[Bob Sacamano]

for many yrs the sox picked a college player instead of a hs'er esp when the

hs'er was the best on the board.

 

so again it will be how the sox address their priority.

 

Mitchell over Trout...I think I just threw up again.

[LDF]

Mitchell over Trout...I think I just threw up again.

 

yes Trout and how bout Giancarlo Stanton , he was a 2nd round.

 

this goes to prove how inaccurate the scouting rpt are. there is

no sure thing.

Edited January 22, 2015 by LDF