NorthSideSox72

Batting average has only minimal meaning in terms of the value a hitter adds to a team. But it DOES have some value in terms of evaluating their hit tool and how they will handle advanced pitching going forward. On the other hand, I think measures like wRC that are trying to imply overall value are not useful evaluative numbers because evaluating prospects isn't about current value at a given minor league level.

I disagree. A 30% K-rate and hitting .234 for a supposedly "polished" college hitter in his 3rd pro season, to me definitely indicates some issues. So does his swing, IMO. You can disagree, but let's not hyperbolize by saying "isn't even close to accurate". There is a good argument to make that he did well given his walk rate and power, but that doesn't mean he didn't also show some pretty serious issues. By the way, things only got worse from May on, so it's not like he was making upward improvement. He hit about .200 with a 32% K-rate in his last 2 months of play. That does not scream "ready for promotion".

lol stop man, you were talking about drafting players to rush them up for contenders and that is clearly not the case here nor was it the case with any of the players you cited (other than Burdi which I agreed about). Collins was seen as around that slot in the draft, where the Sox took him, and it was known there were deep questions about his defense and therefore he might not move as fast if a team was going to try to keep him there. And we are debating here whether or not to promote a guy after a full year after AA, or maybe a couple months later. I'm all for pointing out it is a mistake, but this is not some "so White Sox" thing to do to draft Collins. Your perception is like 5 years old on this topic. Don't try to turn a single, IMO poor, developmental diecision into something unrelated about draft philosophy.

Ohhh, OK. Then yeah I was wrong. Clearly.

Honestly not sure what you mean? I like Collins as a prospect - I just think the best thing for his development is to return to AA to start 2019. This isn't a Collins versus Zavala thing, at least not for me. Is that what you were getting at?

I really think putting Collins in Charlotte is a mistake. Splitting playing time between Collins and Zavala slows both their development for one thing. Also Collins had major issues with AA pitching as it is - why throw him into a league with more mature pitchers? And nearly everyone feels Collins is not nearly ready to be a catcher full time, and they want to rush him up? Makes no sense to me. Feels like someone trying to protect their reputation by advancing a high pick even if they aren't ready.

Big time. My wife woke me up at one point because she thought the roof was going to cave in.

Well there's two groups of players. One are the already-played-MLB ones - Delgado, Rondon, Marshall - but I assume that's not who you mean. Among those still technically prospects, I'd say RHP Felix Paulino (read more about him here) is the pitcher to watch, though I also have a soft spot for LHP Kevin Escorcia because he has the most wicked curveball in the system (he doesn't have much else). On the hitting side, if Alfaro could every hit just a little bit, he gets interesting with his work behind the plate.

There were 12 White Sox players, generally minor leaguers, who played in the various Winter Leagues (five of them in fact). Here's a look at how each of them performed in warmer climes while we've been freezing our asses off. This is the second article from one of FS' new writers, Mike Rankin (he is Rankin on SoxTalk).

This came from a discussion amongst the writers, but thought I'd share here. This is a list of the prospects that were on the Top 30 OR the Just Missed list (more or less the top 45 names in the system), including only those the Sox drafted, by draft round: TOP 30 PLUS JUST MISSED: 1st: 3 1-supp: 1 2nd: 4 3rd: 2 4th: 2 5th: 5 6th: 2 7th: 1 11th: 1 12th: 1 15th: 1 22nd: 2 28th: 1 33rd: 1

Y2Jimmy takes a look at the White Sox front office's apparent draft philosophy and the impact of going college-heavy in recent years.

Your read that right. GM Rick Hahn, PBP Announcer Jason Benetti, SS Laz Rivera and OF Blake Rutherford are all on the latest FutureSox podcast. The Hahn and Benetti segments are a little shorter than the other two. All the details, links, etc., right here.

His 2016-2017 performance showed a ceiling so high he made some top 100 lists. He had a horrible 2018, but you absolutely keep betting on a guy like him. I feel like the 12 we have him may be a little too low. You just don't give up on that level of talent that quickly.

If you read the snippet in the Top 30 article, you will see why.

For all updates and discussion about the fest. FYI, FutureSox is part of the media pool again this year, and will live-tweet from @FutureSox as well as putting interviews up on the YouTube channel.

And in the interest of openness, here is my personal Top 30: 1 Eloy Jimenez 2 Michael Kopech 3 Luis Robert 4 Nick Madrigal 5 Dylan Cease 6 Dane Dunning 7 Micker Adolfo 8 Zack Collins 9 Luis Alex Basabe 10 Alec Hansen 11 Luis Gonzalez 12 Blake Rutherford 13 Seby Zavala 14 Jake Burger 15 Zack Burdi 16 Jordan Stephens 17 Steele Walker 18 Gavin Sheets 19 Ian Hamilton 20 Tyler Johnson 21 Laz Rivera 22 Bernardo Flores 23 Jimmy Lambert 24 Luis Curbelo 25 Jonathan Stiever 26 Bryce Bush 27 Konnor Pilkington 28 Spencer Adams 29 Lenyn Sosa 30 Zach Thompson

The FutureSox Top 30 Prospects list isn't from one person, it comes from votes and arguments from the FS writing staff. And some people had some players ranked quite differently than others. Here is a roundtable where some of the writers pick one player they were higher than the crowd on, and one they were lower on, and explain their thoughts. Also, this thread can work as a good opportunity to list their own T30's...

Damn I hate winter. More and more every year. Chicago is so great in the summer and so horrible in the winter. I gotta get outta here at some point before I die.

Thanks both of you! Really glad to hear that.

There it is! Literally he is chewing on his glove, one of the little leather ties that stick out. I've actually done the same thing.

I honestly don't see a typo here. What am I missing?

Twitter chat starting right now, if you're interested (@FutureSox).

There wasn't a lot of upward movement among the top 10 or 15, but that is common. Cease and Adolfo did make leaps, FWIW. Injuries were a killer. So many of these names had injury issues in 2018. I think the Mid-season list in July or August will show a lot of turnover as a bunch of these guys will graduate, there will be a new draft and new J2 period, any July trades, 2018 draftees getting to full season ball, and guys like Burger, Dunning, Lambert, Adolfo, Burdi, Hansen and more come back from those injuries.

Here it is. The full Top 30, Preseason 2019. So let's hear it! Who would you have ranked differently and why?