Look at Ray Ray Run

Thanks, mobile at the moment.

Yahoo article after he announced.

Yeah, the Ohtani stuff was nonsense for sure. That said, the way Cuba watches over these kids when they play in places like Japan makes it very difficult to evaluate and really difficult to judge the kid based on any sort of production. He actually held his own though which is a testament to him. I believe he did some pitching before the transition to Japan but he was so young it's impossible to evaluate. I think being left handed and throwing 95+ led to the exaggerated point on his pitching prowess.

I admittedly don't know much about him, but I don't think Passan was paid to shill for this guy; he spoke with scouts and some people, and reported (also said in a radio interview) that he was an elite level amateur prospect who could lead the pool next year. I wouldn't put too much stock into his position or time in Japan - I imagine the culture shock is pretty damn immense for a kid of his age... even moreso coming from and going back to Cuba repeatedly.

Huh? Very possible he'll be the #1 ranked IFA next year. Why would you not want him?

"The Chicago White Sox, who have been in on most Cuban prospects over the past decade and are building around fellow Cubans Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert and Jose Abreu, figure to be a favorite landing spot."

This was in the minor leagues of the Nippon League I believe; I remember reading that this year was his first year in Nippon Baseball. He also hasn't really pitched over there which is why the Ohtani comment was crazy; sure, the kid throws hard, but Ohtani was an elite all-around pitcher with a proven track record.

I think he should be allowed to win the job in spring - if he has a big spring, the job should be his.

He was absolutely dominant in AA though, which is probably a tougher league to succeed in at this moment in time. That said, obviously he has no case for being called up immediately.

Astudillo doesn't strike out, sure, but he swings at EVERYTHING and he has horrible plate discipline. Madrigal has great plate discipline and a much better understanding of the strike zone than Astudillo.

These two aren't really that similar. Reed wasn't as fast, he wasn't as good of a baserunner, he wasn't a 65+ grade defender, and he struck out more in an era where striking out happened less. Mardrigal is running historically great strike out numbers, and he plays a position with less emphasis on power. Reed also hit the ball in the air with much more frequency which is bad given his limited iso outputs. Reed was also a lefty who absolutely could not hit lefties.

He's also projected to be a 1.7 WAR player in 117 games. That means he's around a 2.3-2.5 WAR rookie in a full season.

I don't think I'd classify him as someone with high bust potential; just by the definition of a bust. Madrigal has the highest floor of almost every single prospect in baseball - he's an elite defender and base runner who is never over matched at the plate. His ceiling is obviously also limited much more than other elite prospects. I don't think he has much bust potential at all, but the main purpose the Sox do deals like this is for a huge potential reward for the organization - I don't think Madrigal has that type of reward upside. That said, I think he's one of the most sure fire big league players this organization has ever had as a prospect.

He's certainly not the Cuban Ohtani - like that tweet says. It's hard to say; he just made it to the Nippon league this year. He's been pretty solid in the minors for them. He's really young.

The hardest pitch to hit, in my opinion, is still and always will be a well located fastball; this coming from a guy who hit about 050 against off-speed pitches costing myself any chance at progressing further

Agree 100%, but usually what they disagree on is scouts don't care as much about actual production - "don't scout the stat line, scout the tools." Robert has, arguably, the loudest tools in minor league baseball and possibly the loudest tools in the world of Professional baseball.

I wan to point out one part of this scouting evaluation that is just comical and I see it all the time: "There are still concerns about Robert’s ability to hit good breaking pitches" No one hits good breaking pitches consistently. There are guys who hit off-speed well, but they are not teeing off on "good breaking pitches." If Robert had issues hitting a good fastball, that would be a big problem. Struggling with good off-speed just adds Robert to a list of 99.9% of MLB hitters - especially young ones.

Yeah, Eric actually addressed this and said there wouldn't be a big adjustment for Robert - they updated their rankings at the end of the year and he still sat in the 15-20 range with other 55 FV players. Maybe they move him to 60 based on league wide consensus - something EL takes into account - but they are very clearly not as high on Robert. It's just so bizarre given his projections by their systems paired with his tools.

Said this there, but the fascinating thing about FG's scouting stubbornness with Robert is that he's their top projected prospect in regards to WAR. Typically you see skepticism around guys who have more tools than results; leading their projections to be less than their prospect ranking - see Moncada for an example here. Robert is projected to be a 3 WAR rookie at 22 years old though; paired with elite tools. Robert pairs the two things that are usually love by evalutors - elite, All-MLB level tools with elite production and projections.

Well that's his instagram and he absolutely posted the picture. That's a screen shot of it posted by him.

Surprised nats went harris over Hudson given what happened...

Yeah, pretty much 2 years for 24 million for a non-closer. Bit too much. Not expecting much at 37/8.

Trout is 240 now.

This is the answer. Pretty incredible peak for Allen. I always knew he was good, but I had no idea he had a historically great offensive season like that. And now he posts on Soxtalk. Amazing turn of events.

Required 500 PA so I don't think the person you're thinking of counted. Brett was 5th at 198. Harper 6th at 197. 4th is a former White Sox. That is the only clue.