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QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 02:40 PM) Rodon is gonna sign at slot or above. No way he is signing for 750k under slot. I'm sure it will be at near maximum over slot value.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 01:57 PM) He is a high school kid who has had Tommy John surgery already. There is huge upside there but you don't forfeit a first round pick that could end up being a really high pick (we still don't know how this season is going to go) to sign him. I read this. What is the draft like next year. Is it deeper this year? I'm not saying they should just that it is a thought. You'll have a possibly elite talent already in the system for a year compared to a lesser talent pool, if the draft is weaker. Just something to consider if this draft was as good and deep as the "experts" said.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 01:50 PM) No way do you forfeit your 2015 first round pick to sign this kid. Especially since there is a chance that pick winds up in the top 10 again. I don't know even about him to know if he is worth it or not. If he is currently ranked the #32 best pick, he is a first round talent.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 01:43 PM) Not a chance. Even when the slot money was suggestions, this team always followed it. True.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 11:34 AM) Maybe it just seems this way, but the trend seems to be more and more that the perpetrators of these crimes are taking their own lives as opposed to trying to get away with it, and that is very dangerous. If you are planning to kill people yet retain your freedom, there is more or less a limit on how many people you can kill. If you want and/or expect to die along with your victims, there is much less of a restriction on the damage you can inflict. This is the real worry. You really can't stop someone if they are planning on sacrificing their own life. Soon they will start using suicide bombs to create as much damage as possible.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 01:36 PM) BR puts odds of signing De Oca at 50% http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2081202...14th-round-pick I wonder if the Sox would be willing to forfeit a draft pick next year if they think he is that good? If they think he is a first round talent, it may be worth it to sign Rodon, Adam and him.

Going to Colorado to work the World Lacrosse Championships this summer. We're going to take an extra week to vacation. We go out almost every winter for skiing but haven't spent much time there in the summer. Any specific ideas for fun. We have booked zip line tours, white water rafting, atv tours and a wolf park walk on a full moon.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 7, 2014 -> 06:14 PM) What, if anything, concerns you about Rodon's training, physique, or mechanics? Too me, his follow through stops too abruptly which would seem to put more stress on the arm. I know you've read this from me before but I'm not a fan of what he does with his trunk during the follow through. His arm motion is fine but he doesn't flex his trunk so he finishes standing almost straight up, very similar to Peavy. This to me puts additional stress on the shoulder than what's needed. Will this lead to an injury?, who knows. However it is something to watch.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 7, 2014 -> 09:42 PM) In the quarterfinal of the 1998 Summer Koshien, Matsuzaka threw 250 pitches in 17 innings in a win over PL Gakuen.[3] (The previous day he had thrown a 148-pitch complete game shutout.) The next day, despite trailing 6–0 in the top of the eighth inning, the team miraculously won the game after scoring 7 runs in the final two innings (four in the eighth and three in the ninth). He started the game in left field, but came in as a reliever in the ninth inning to record the win in 15 pitches. In the final, he threw a no-hitter,[4] the second ever in a final. This performance garnered him the attention of many scouts. wikipedia On the other hand, quite a few articles have been coming out recently saying the rate for Japanese TJ surgeries is 1/4th or 1/3rd what it is in the US, so they must have a better handle on how to develop pitchers. Of course, over there, there's much more emphasis on movement and it's very rare that any pitchers throw 95-100 in that league...whereas every MLB bullpen these days has at least 3-4 guys throwing in that range. They also, like college pitcher, typically have more days between starts.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 7, 2014 -> 09:01 PM) I think it was Steve Stone that said pitching is such an unnatural body motion, the only way to prep the body for it is to pitch more and more. Your body needs to get used to throwing so hard, taking several days off makes it a sudden shock to the system. Not so much pitch more but throw more. I'm in the camp of the harder you throw more often the more likely you will have an injury. The over exertion aspect. If you throw more at a low level of intensity the stronger everything, including ligaments, become.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 7, 2014 -> 05:17 PM) http://www.npbtracker.com/2014/01/masahiro...3-pitch-counts/ We all know what happened with Dice-K. Those are some SCARY pitch totals for Tanaka last year. http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/arti...na&c_id=ana Pitching coach Mike Butcher has an interesting theory about those pitchers (majority) with TJ issues. And just as importantly, Butcher says too many professional pitchers are throwing from the opposite side of the rubber (meaning, a right-hander throwing from the first-base side and a left-hander throwing from the third-base side). Butcher has found that more than 30 of the pitchers who have undergone Tommy John surgery this year fit that description. "Some guys do it because they feel like they'll be in the strike zone more, they'll have better command that way -- there's all sorts of different philosophies about it," Butcher said. "But for me, if you're on the opposite side of your throwing arm on the rubber, you are constantly pronating your arm at a higher rate than if you are on the other side. There's no leverage behind the baseball. "There's guys who have been very successful doing it, who have maintained their health. But I think for the most part, the guys that are on their throwing-arm side of the rubber are less prone to injury because there's less stress on the arm." “With the physical strength players have today and the amount of torque they’re putting on their elbow the amount of strength required to maintain, to hold up under the day-to-day rigors of throwing 90-mph-plus fastballs is a lot,” Mozeliak said. “It may be too much. It’s a fragile ligament. I don’t think anybody knows how to strengthen the ligament before you begin the process. You strengthen muscles before you do anything, but not the ligament.” You can strengthen ligaments. You do this by putting stress on it in a direction consistent with the fiber of collagen. ACL protocol are designed to slowly add stress to the ligament so it responds by aligning and adding collagen due to the stress. This can be done manually for the UCL or light throwing. Everything else in the article is dead on. You need to have the overall conditioning and balance so there isn't too much force focused on any one area, whether it be the hip, knee or elbow.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 6, 2014 -> 11:29 PM) His mechanics are horrible right now. Getting under the ball. Is that what it is? If so, it would explain the decreased velocity, decreased break on off speed pitches and keeping the ball up in the zone. Hopefully, he can get it straightened out. I usually start with decreasing the stride length.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jun 7, 2014 -> 03:48 AM) Tom Holliday wants to take care of all of his pitchers, but he understood this spring that he had a responsibility worth millions of dollars. Carlos Rodon, his junior left-handed pitcher at North Carolina State, was widely expected to be one of the very top picks in the June draft. Even now, with Thursday's draft fast approaching, Rodon remains under consideration by the Houston Astros, who own the top pick overall. Holliday, NC State's associate head coach and pitching coach, has a unique perspective. He has 35 years of college coaching experience. His brother Dave is a major league scout with the Atlanta Braves, and his son Matt is an All-Star outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals. He wanted to give Rodon the best possible chance to become an All-Star himself. That meant helping him develop as a pitcher. It also meant keeping him healthy. Holliday came under some criticism this spring for allowing Rodon to throw more than 120 pitches in several starts. Rodon threw 134 pitches in one game against Duke, more pitches than any major league pitcher has thrown in a game so far this season. Holliday resents the criticism, and also that none of those who expressed it bothered to call him and ask about Rodon's usage. He points out that while professional pitchers normally pitch on four or five days' rest, Rodon almost always had a full week between starts. Bleacher Report did call Holliday, who outlined Rodon's schedule, which was set up to limit his other throwing and prepare him for heavier work in his once-a-week starts. Weekly Workout Schedule Friday: Game day. Rodon normally pitches the first game of each of NC State's weekend series. He made 14 starts this season, going 6-7 with a 2.01 ERA, with 31 walks and 117 strikeouts in 98.2 innings. Saturday: No throwing at all. Early morning cardio work, with a rubdown. Sunday: No throwing at all. Another early morning (8 a.m.) cardio session, and a late-afternoon two- or three-mile jog. Monday: Stretch, run and play catch on flat ground, from 30, 60 and 90 feet. "No spinners, no changeups, just catch—C-A-T-C-H—for 15 minutes, while I ask him how he feels," Holliday said. Tuesday: Stretch, catch and long toss, 25 throws from about 150 feet. Wednesday: A 25-pitch bullpen, throwing five of each of his pitches from the windup, then two from the stretch. "And then he's done," Holliday said. Thursday: Complete day off. Friday: Game day. Not a fan of three full days off from throwing during the week. The amount of cardio is great.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 6, 2014 -> 10:42 PM) Any theories on what could be causing the velocity decease if not injury? Mechanics out of whack? It's usually injuries but if they haven't shut him down by now, I would doubt it. The only thing I can think of is an injury similar to Danks where the shoulder is loose. Maybe they are seeing if he can pitch with it.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 6, 2014 -> 10:03 PM) His velo is down 3-5 mph. This is the same level that he destroyed last year. That's what I mean. Learning from adversity can be a good thing. You tend to learn more when you struggle. He may learn that he will never see the MLB again as well.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 6, 2014 -> 09:23 PM) Could be something which doesn't show up on ordinary tests, structural shoulder fault maybe? Meanwhile Ravelo 3-3 Not really. If he is being honest with the staff, they would be able to find something. Maybe it's just a learning year for him.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 10:45 PM) He writes a column called "Raising Aces" on BP that I've always found fascinating. Check that out and tell me if it's BS or not I did. i see he is aprt of the National Pitching association (NPA) which is the Tom house, Nolan Ryan, Larry Rothschild group. These are the guys that taught Mark Prior how to pitch and proclaimed his mechanics perfect. If you've heard of the towel drill and the football throwing drill, this is them. While i like their analysis method, I'm not a huge fan of their idea of the perfect mechanics and some of the drill to teach them.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 10:37 PM) Thorburn (BP) is the guy to go to for mechanics, IMO. He did biomechanical analysis professionally for years. I think it was for some video scouting company or something. Even then it's what you look for. I've got hundreds of hours of analysis for research but who is to say what puts an unacceptable stress in a certain area. I take my view from the Andrews/Wilk group which is vastly different from the Morgan or House/Ryan/Rothschild groups. I haven't seen anything published by Thorburn, the name doesn't ring a bell. I'll look.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 10:32 PM) Hulet is probably the pop scout I'd trust the LEAST. He's the FanGraphs guy, and he's an admitted "statistically-oriented" scout. That just hasn't ever made much sense to me. Everyone has their own opinion of mechanics. Everyone keys on different things so who knows what he is looking at.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 10:06 PM) Marc Hulet ‏@marchulet 12m Not loving the delivery from #whitesox pick Spencer Adams based on http://mlb.com video #MLBDraft I would disagree. He doesn't have a great follow through but it's not as upright as Rodon. Throw a little across the body as well. Good arm slot. Overall, pretty sound.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 9m Scouting director Doug Laumann said Carlos Rodon "pretty much was consensus guy we had targeted since his sophomore season." Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 9m Laumann" "He was consensus best guy on the board" JJ Cooper ‏@jjcoop36 1h Teams were worried about Rodon's back which has given him problems, but at his best, he's the best player in this draft. Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 5m Laumann on Rodon signability: "personaly I don't (have concerns). Rick and Scott Boras have fairly good relationship.'' Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 4m Doug Laumann said he would be surprised if the CWS don't get Rodon in the fold From that awful follow through

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 04:27 PM) Maybe this...? Houston takes Aiken, Miami takes Rodon and the Sox say screw Nola/ Kolek and draft Jackson. The Sox will not take a position player.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 03:19 PM) Yes, those surefire previous mlb drafts that happened in the past. No, but there is usually a "best" pitcher in the draft. This year There have been at least 3 listed that could go 1.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) He wouldn't. I thought you were responding to my earlier point where I said he would have no leverage NEXT year because he was a senior. Got it. Sorry, I missed that part.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 01:06 PM) It's possible, but it's extremely risky given the rigidity of the draft rules now. When Crow did it, it was essentially still an open market. For Rodon to ultimate push his sign date back two years is to hope to avoid injury and maintain velocity just to enter the draft at age 24, having lost all semblance of leverage, all for the ultimate upside of less than $2m of slot bonus from 3 to 1. Realistically, even in the very remote scenario where everything in the world goes right for him and he gets popped #1 at 24 in 2016, the team that picks him is going to get him for underslot anyway, because wtf else is he going to do at that point? Meanwhile, he would probably be accruing service time in the Majors by then if he'd just taken his $5m in 2014. I was just trying to come up with options for leverage. I agree it's risky but Boras does alot of out of the box thinking. Why would he have to wait 2 years and not just enter the draft next year.