NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2017 -> 04:15 PM) And to be brutally honest, I don't think the White Sox are too worried about Schnurbusch versus Fisher. They want to make sure Fisher is in the right place, and if it means pushing an org guy further than he should be, so be it. That's another thing. They also sent, for example, Aron McRee from Great Falls to Winston-Salem. McRee isn't much of a prospect if he is at all, but they didn't want to rush up Dunning or other key hurlers in Kannapolis. They needed an arm there, so they probably looked at the non-prime arms who would normally have been in Kanny, and picked the one who seemed most mature to handle the jump.

On Schnurbusch, they made that leap with him because he was already a strong outfielder, and Fisher needed time to adjust to a new position. Also Schnurbusch seemed ready. Keep this in mind. Not including the current game (because I am using BR), he has a .750 OPS in last 10 games in April. He's improving. And remember too that for any player making the double jump, you need to let them be there a good 6 weeks or 2 months to really see how they handle it. Look at Hayes going from A- to AA - he was awful until mid-May, then actually did well the rest of the year and took off the year after. Give it time. Also, Fisher is by no means lighting the world on fire a level down. He's got a .690 OPS overall, drawing walks well but hitting .253 and striking out a fair amount himself. And his last 10 games? .179/.273/.256. No need to flip those guys, at least not yet. Get back to it around Memorial Day. QUOTE (joejoedairy @ May 3, 2017 -> 11:39 AM) I'm sorry if I missed this somewhere, but does anyone know why the Brewers released Delmonico in Feb of 2015? He was only 22 and he's clearly got talent. So, what happened was, Delmonico disappeared that offseason. Milwaukee released him because they could not reach him. He later told FutureSox in an interview that he didn't want to return calls, and wanted to be released, which happened. Then he signed with Sox. You can read about it in our interview with him here - one of the more interesting interviews we've published.

QUOTE (ecupittfan @ May 2, 2017 -> 09:32 PM) I was able to see Tanner Banks pitch last week. He was very impressive, had great velocity going into the 7th inning. He should be called up to Birmingham soon the way he is dominating. Nice lefty who could looks to have done well throughout the minors. Always had great control and a good WHIP. His K's/9 inning are up well over his career averages. Great velocity? Our understanding is he's typically 88-90 with the four-seamer, and lower with the 2-seamer. How fast was he throwing?

Our prospect focus piece this week covers a lesser-known, but recently asked about, LHP who has opened 2017 with some impressive numbers. He's 25 years old, but is there something there? Get to know Tanner Banks

This is in some ways the opposite of the monthly top prospects. A bunch of these guys had overall poor Aprils, but have heated up in the last week or two. See who had the hot hands in the minors in the past week.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 2, 2017 -> 08:33 AM) it is real life, check your twitter Yeah, I got the joke, thanks.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 2, 2017 -> 08:26 AM) That's pretty fantastic. Sounds like a Douglas Adams novel.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 2, 2017 -> 12:46 AM) I can see your points, but my main point is 100 days in, the venom that's out there, I'd pass. This is about trust for you, isn't it? Your trust in Trump, in the system, in the people make you not worry about this. What history teaches us is that none of us should ever fully trust a governmental leader. Always question them, even if they are on your "team" or whatever. And questioning them can't happen if you don't have information. Since you aren't in the White House, who can give you that information? A free press.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ May 2, 2017 -> 07:59 AM) Delmonico has not accrued any service time yet. He could be called up now and we would still have him for 6 full years plus the remainder of this year. Moncada can be called up May 14th (if my math is correct) and still get the "7th" year out of him. Giolito would be the 22nd and Lopez the 27th. Though neither appear to be ready. I would like to see Moncada stay down for a while longer than May 15th. His defense is still iffy, and those strikeouts are a concern. There is no need to rush him up. Lopez is pretty close to ready. But I am pretty sure Fulmer will be first up as a starter to replace a current one. Covey may move to the pen. The Sox knew he'd be learning as he went this year - he's never been above AA and missed most of last season as well. So I think they run him out there for a while longer.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2017 -> 08:38 PM) I would have much rather see him dominate offensively and struggle defensively this year. Season is still early, but his hit tool seems extremely mediocre I'm actually pretty happy with Collins' development so far. The defense was far and away the biggest concern, and he's been making strides there. He's already got so much talent offensively, that it's OK for that to get short shrift for a year. If he is going to stick at catcher, he was going to need 2-3 years in the minors at least. We knew that from the beginning. It's been a month, and even in that month he's still getting on base and showing some power while making big gains defensively. I call it a success so far.

Almost has to be Garcia. Need a CF, and he's been playing some games there for this reason. The only true CF in Charlotte is Adam Engel, who opened the season ice cold and doesn't seem ready (though he has heated up in the last week or so). I don't think they'll do that to Engel. There is a small chance it could be Jason Bourgeois, who has also played some CF, but he's not on the 40-man so I really doubt it.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 1, 2017 -> 05:03 PM) I don't know how skipping a dinner makes him a coward. Or cutting short that John Dickerson interview makes him a coward. Explain please? Nobody who takes this position has said anything but a quick one liner that Trump is a coward or sucks or whatever. I repeat (nobody has addressed my point), why in the world would he go to a dinner with people who he abhors and who abhor him? Right now at this juncture, the relationship is press despises Trump and Trump despises press. So why would you go break bread with your enemy? Maybe next year if the relationship improves, but rather than say he's a coward, I'll say he's smart. The President's speech at that dinner, if the Obama era is any indication, is a hilarious speech in which the audience roars it's approval. Trumps speech might have been booed. Certainly none of the media were going to laugh at his jokes. At this juncture, it had a chance to be very damaging to Trump. So if you are Trump, a rich, egotistical man, you DON'T put yourself at that dinner. It has nothing to do with being a coward. Who breaks bread with people they hate? Like Trump said, it had all the makings of a boring dinner without him and by all accounts it was. I saw CNN was quoting the comedian who spoke. WHo cares what the comic thinks of Trump? How the hell is he a coward by not going to a dinner in which he had no business attending? You might call him a snob in not wanting to share a room with the lowly (to him) reporters, but a coward? I don't think he feared anything. He didn't want to be there. Big deal. Very little is more important in a democracy than a free press with reasonable access to it's leaders. No matter how good or bad they are at their jobs, they play a crucial role. Trump doesn't want that - and that is dictatorship 101. You have fallen hook, line and sinker for Trump's game. He's made the press into an enemy, as if they were some terrorist-infested nation. It's an absurd notion, but apparently people like you have no notion of what he's doing and fell right for it. Forget his policy points. Look at what it means that he's turned the press into an enemy. Not on the occasional issue, or one particular outlet, but the whole swath nearly all the time. Just take 1 minute and think about the road that goes down.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 7, 2017 -> 09:30 AM) Any of the financial people want to explain how this works and why they'd do it? http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-is-...t-an-ipo-2017-4 Am I correct that it basically allows investors to offload their stock on a public market but it is not issuing new stock? It's share dilution, a bit like a warrant but with immediate strike. Since it doesn't raise new money, the only way for the value to float would be as part of the overall market cap. This dilutes the value of all shares. Which makes me surprised they are doing this, as it would reduce value for existing shareholders (unless they plan to do a one-time value split on existing shareholders with it).

The President, any President, is the target of massive criticism and pressure. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter... Modern Presidents have all faced it, even when it was hard. And I don't just mean WHCD - I mean full press briefings, questions from outlets they don't like, etc. Except Trump. He's a coward. This isn't complicated. He wilts under pressure.

I should note, it appears the White Sox are now doing their own version of this award. We've been doing them for at least a decade. There has certainly been more attention paid to the farm this year! Nearly every beat writers is making the minor league tour this season. Our takes were a little different than the Sox, as you'll see in the article.

Sorry for the barrage today, but these monthly awards are always popular and we wanted to get it out there quick. Here are the White Sox prospects of the month for April! A pair of Kannapolis players take home the hardware to open 2017, with a number of honorable mentions detailed as well. There's a mix of higher end prospects, and fringy guys. Would you have picked anyone different?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 30, 2017 -> 01:52 PM) Hey Matt or Brian or whoever, is there a reason on why teams are able to run all over Hansen? Is he that slow to the plate or is there something else going on there? I don't know yet, to be honest, but Rob and I will be hitting Kanny for a bunch of games coming up soon. We will get a look and maybe see if we can spot something. We'll also talk with Zaleski (pitching coach) on that topic while we are down there.

Here's your weekly News and Notes column regarding the prospects and minor leagues. Get caught up on transactions, affiliate performances, and some key article links.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 28, 2017 -> 01:48 PM) Has anyone seen Collins? Is he being TOO picky? My personal opinion is that this is a problem of lack of protection. That Dash lineup has very few legitimate bats, and even the ones that are actual prospects either haven't been hitting until recently (Basabe), are scuffling to open the year (Cruz, Schnurbusch) or are injured (Call). Pitchers in the CAR are pitching around him. So he walks a ton, but gets desperate to hit something. I have only watched him in one game so far this year - just to be honest. This is purely based on what I am seeing reported.

Take a lookie here to see how the top 15 prospects (plus one from the 16-30 group) performed in the past week of action down on the farm. Rainouts made sample sizes even smaller than usual for some.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 28, 2017 -> 09:10 AM) I miss my old life This is way more work than i thought I might bomb North Korea. all in one interview The Onion might have published something like this before Trump was elected, showing us what it might be like. To be honest, as much as I despise the Orange Menace, I would have laughed it off as over the top even for him, and enjoyed the joke. Now it's real.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Apr 27, 2017 -> 12:37 PM) CF job at the MLB level is pretty wide-open right now. Someone has to take advantage. Well, Engel has always been streaky. I wouldn't call him up anytime soon. For me, he needs to be in Charlotte for the year or at least most of it. If he's producing for a few solid months, then sure. Glad he's bouncing back, but putting him in MLB right now would be a mistake. Of course, it was also a mistake to open with May. Rather have kept Bourjos, or tried Willy in center even. Or found a scrap heap special somewhere. May was not ready.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 27, 2017 -> 12:23 PM) Gonna be a lot of angry people if they stick him in the bullpen anytime soon. I know they've made mention of it before but he's done nothing but produce in the rotation as a professional so far. Sox coaches, two of them, have told me they see him as a reliever in the majors. But both were more than a year ago. Maybe they've changed their minds. We'll know for sure when Stephens comes back.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 27, 2017 -> 12:27 PM) Adam Engel had a horrible start to the year. Opening 2-for-35 (both singles), 5 BB and 13 K in his first 40 PA. Then he was given 5 days off, played a couple games in LF, and now is back in CF. Since moving back to CF, three games, he's 4-for-10, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, plus a SF and a SH in 10 PA. Ridiculously small sample, but it seems like maybe the kick in the ass or extra coaching or whatever he got may have helped a bit. Check that - with the home run - 5-for-11, HR, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K in 11 PA.

Adam Engel had a horrible start to the year. Opening 2-for-35 (both singles), 5 BB and 13 K in his first 40 PA. Then he was given 5 days off, played a couple games in LF, and now is back in CF. Since moving back to CF, three games, he's 4-for-10, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, plus a SF and a SH in 10 PA. Ridiculously small sample, but it seems like maybe the kick in the ass or extra coaching or whatever he got may have helped a bit.