NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 09:51 AM) Let me get in on that vigil. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 10:07 AM) This is awesome. The other writers having some fun with me. I'll wear it. But it's a sad little candle.

Haven't done one of these in a few weeks while things were slow, but enough news has built up to justify it. Catch up on the past 18 days' worth of news and notes regarding the Sox farm system!

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 13, 2017 -> 04:37 PM) Hostetlers interview with Merkin (or garfein?) after the trade was pretty definitive saying he's staying in relief. I lean towards this being B.S. too, since he's talking about a power change up and emergeing breaking pitch, which is opposite of what I saw and others have reported. I have questions.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 13, 2017 -> 04:37 PM) Hostetlers interview with Merkin (or garfein?) after the trade was pretty definitive saying he's staying in relief. As have other interviews, including our own, with him AND Hostetler. Either this is breaking news from this person, or he's pulling stuff out of his rear end. Can't tell which.

QUOTE (kwill @ Jan 13, 2017 -> 03:45 PM) I thought the note about Burdi is quite interesting. Nick Hostetler said differently when talking to a blogger from Soxtalk. I wondered if Brass has reversed coarse on him. I tried to open the article in two different browsers, and see no list. Just a few grafs of intro for numbers 76-100. What did they say about Burdi?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 10:03 AM) What am I picking? Coats isn't much of a prospect. In the post before you want to say I am the one picking the fight (you are) you admit Coats isn't much of a prospect. Dan Black wasn't much of a prospect. Andy Wilkins wasn't much of a prospect, and Jason Coats isn't much of a prospect. You admit no big loss, yet you are the one who started the argument. You guys never had Coats rated very high on future sox with a crappy system. Coats was ranked as high as 14th, and was ranked over a 2-year period (2015-2016). He just barely made it to rookie eligibility and is gone, otherwise he'd likely have been ranked in a third year this year (though not as high as 14th, with the new talent influx). Dan Black never made a list. If those are the same to you, then sure, you win.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 09:29 AM) You should all be found guilty in the court of tomf***ery for hero worshipping false Idols like Coats. Fools, all of you! I live in Chicago. It's winter. I like Coats. Sue me.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 09:18 AM) If Coats turns into a mlb regular, shame on us. He seems like he could be a decent 4th outfielder, but I do not consider him to be a significant loss. I would have liked to see him back for depth purposes, but in choosing between Willy Garcia or Coats, I'd rather take a chance on the younger Garcia Heck I'm a bigger fan of Coats that most, and even I have said his ceiling is maybe, if everything goes right, a short term starter on a bottom feeding team. More likely he's a 4OF or a platoon/role player, and I do think he already is that and could even be better than average in that role. But as you sort of point out, the Sox essentially traded higher floor (Coats) for higher ceiling (Garcia), which does make sense for a rebuilding team. Since taking Avi out of the picture apparently wasn't an option, this makes some sense. QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 09:19 AM) I don't know. I think this was you. http://www.chicagonow.com/future-sox/2013/...eman-dan-black/ Seems pretty comparable. Older minor leaguers putting up big numbers but not really prospects of any significance. The bottom line is if the goal is sustained winning, losing players like this doesn't set that back. Yup that was my Q&A with Dan. Here's my graf about him from that article: So even in an article meant to hype him up a bit, the best I could give him was saying that if a couple guys get hurt/traded/retire and he carried his offense over a level and quickly, this guy might maybe see the big leagues. So yeah, as I said, he was never considered a prospect at the level Coats was. I know you like to pick nits, but get it right. Black wasn't the prospect Coats was, especially as each reached the upper levels, especially AAA. In the end as you said, Coats' role with the Sox in some 2019-ish future wouldn't be much. Maybe the 4th OF, which has some value but is pretty findable elsewhere. No one is saying otherwise - I'm just saying that he's a better candidate for value now and in a couple years than Avi,

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 09:05 AM) It's another Garcia. The Sox had to do this to get an all Garcia outfield. It's worth the risk. A Garcia-Garcia-Garcia outfield, and potentally a Gio soto - Geo Soto battery.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 08:35 AM) You think they would have learned when they unceremoniously dumped Andy Wilkins and let Dan Black go to Korea. But no. Now we get to see Jason Coats beat the White Sox for the next 10 years. Well Dan Black was never anywhere near the prospect Coats was, and Wilkins was a pure 1B which gave him a super-steep path, so your joke doesn't really hit home. But certainly Coats leaving isn't the end of the world, I agree there. I still believe Coats provides more value than Avi Garcia, but obviously the Sox feel otherwise. Tampa likes to go with role players and Coats fits that mold well, rotating through OF slots down there.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 02:35 PM) I was going to post the this earlier but got distracted: I think the same can be said about H Bush and W Bush . I may disagree with them on certain policies, but at least they werent total ass clowns. I know earlier in the year I took some heat when I said that W maybe wasnt so bad, but I think more people are now starting to see the difference between: a) a guy who you disagree with but is doing what he believes is right for the country and b) a guy who would do anything for a slight advantage for himself, even if it meant completely destroying the country. I mean, I'd take W over Trump for sure. But I have a hard time being OK with that whole illegal disaster of a war that killed hundreds of thousands and cost a trillion dollars for no good result thing. Though I do think, as you said, he was doing what he thought was right. He was just a poor executive. His Dad, I think, was a pretty good President.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 11:25 AM) What kills me are the people who think he's smart and a nice guy. Someone you'd want to grab a beer with. Like, Obama I would love to shoot the s*** with. I disagree with him on the vast majority of his policy positions, but as a person he seems like a very likeable dude. He's not someone i'm embarrassed to have as our representative. He doesn't say dumb things every time he opens his mouth. Trump is the complete opposite. The next 4 or god forbid 8 years are going to be an absolute s*** show. And what's funny is the economy will probably do well just because of the nature of the cycle so he will get praised for it. I agree with this so much, I could have written it myself.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 10, 2017 -> 05:21 PM) Don't worry, we'll forge tit next week when something even more absurd happens. I know the bolded is a typo, but I feel like "forge tit" should be a thing that means something. I think we need to work together to define this new phrase. It has potential.

Garcia has a higher ceiling than Coats - more impressive in raw power by a lot, some other athletic tools. But Coats has a higher floor - I think Coats is a typical 4OF right now (and yes he can play some CF, though I wouldn't start him there). For me, the ideal would have been to not carry Avisail and his price tag and overhead baggage, and instead keep Coats, Willy G and Liriano around to compete for RF and 40-man slots.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 04:12 PM) Speaking of Hawkins, at what point do you consider putting him on the mound? Funny you should ask, because I suggested that back in November. I think maybe you start this offseason, but if not, give him until the ASG in AA this year then try it. If he's even willing to give it a try.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 08:16 AM) His Hawkins take seems to fit right in with Courtney's performance the last few seasons. The Collins take is with a grain of salt IMO. He's seen him twice. Kopech? Who knows? He's seen him pitch more than almost everyone here, but his criticisms, and they really weren't dire, for both seem to be correctable. The one thing that does concern me a bit with Collins is many guys drafted as catchers but are expected to shift to other positions because of defensive concerns bats seem to not live up to the hype. One exception is Paulie. I think there is hope for him as a catcher. Orton seems to be a pretty good instructor. Yeah, I don't necessarily agree with all his points. And yes, Kopech's issues are seemingly fixable. Chris isn't saying they can't be, just that he needs substantial work to get there. And as you said, he's seen him in person five times, which is five more than I have.

This is the first in what will be 3 or 4 guest posts from Chris Kusiolek. Chris is a budding scout, who is about to head to the DR to work with a development pipeline down there. He's been scouting as an amateur the last few years, before getting this new professional gig. Fortunately, he got notes on a couple dozen White Sox prospects he saw in AFL and Instructs that he was willing to share. This article covers the first six reports. Future articles will cover more. Keep in mind that these are scouting NOTES - this doesn't read like a typical article. They are just his views on these players from his time scouting them. I'm going to guess that some of his takes here will cause some controversy, especially around Kopech, but also maybe on Collins and Hawkins. His views may not match popular theory on those players.

Certainly there are different levels of bad. What the North Carolina legislature has been trying to do is a level unseen from either party in any state in recent memory, actually decapitating specified executive powers. But gerrymandering is done often, and to detriment, by both parties, in many states. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 08:12 PM) Pretending that Republicans are the only ones who abuse power isn't exactly a great look either. For starters it is really straight forward to make the same argument about all of Obama's post election executive orders in an attempt to sabotage Trump before he even takes office. Then there is the state of Illinois and its gerrymandering as a perfect example of what happens when Democrats hold the levers of power. I mean have you seen the Illinois 4th district? On the bolded - is that the one that is shaped like a giant fist and middle finger raised, with the finger going up through the south side of the city to the south loop? QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 10:50 PM) Who knows what the future will hold, but at least Trump stood against the ethic's committee thing. Well let's be clear, he didn't take a stand against it, he said the timing was bad. If you want to give credit on stopping that, amazingly, it belongs to the constituents who stood up and made so much noise about it.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 02:22 PM) History repeats itself. Civilizations forget the first hand impacts of war and therefor repeat the past. I am so damn afraid of going to war, more selfishly, bringing it to our land or getting to a point where we had to instill a form of draft. The scariest part is, war in the modern era can literally wipe the population off the face of the earth with the threat of nukes. That's happened plenty in the past, even on this continent. It just has the potential to happen in hours now, instead of months or years.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 3, 2017 -> 06:30 PM) His list has been published FYI. Some of his words and phrasing on certain players look... very familiar.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 3, 2017 -> 02:02 PM) Sickels has been sick apparently. He doesn't see players in person and scouts heavily on the basis on stats. Correct. John was a huge name at one time. He had some pretty significant health issues over a period of a year or two, and hasn't seen anyone in person in years. We (FS) have actually helped him out here and there with info for his lists, and if you see his write-ups, they borrow heavily from our profiles and videos.

Oh look, the worst umpire in baseball and the worst announcer in baseball are suddenly buddies. Yay.

QUOTE (RockfordJim @ Dec 29, 2016 -> 04:01 PM) No offense, and I'm sure he's a fine young man, but why would we even waste oxygen discussing somebody who is hopefully a Ross Gload? I mean, if I had a son who was a major leaguer like that, I'd be really proud, but frankly I doubt if I'd spend any time touting him on a message board rather than talking about the players who will actually count. um... someone asked me. Literally, called me out by name, because he knew my view of him was a little different than that of others (ask me about Spencer Adams and I'll go the opposite direction and be a negative contrarian). So I spent 20 seconds typing a response. On a discussion forum. About a player who is likely to be part of the 2017 team. If you only want to discuss the Moncadas of the world, that's fine. They deserve more attention, and they get it. But role players and bench guys are also part of the picture, because no one has a 25-man team of Moncadas. About 40 players, give or take, will "count" in any given year for any given club.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 29, 2016 -> 03:04 PM) Matt. You hailed? I've been higher on Coats than most, guilty. I think he can make a fine MLB 4th OF. Maybe even a little more, getting platoon or short-term starting time on a non-first-tier or rebuilding team if the opportunity arose. That's my read anyway. He's an odd case in that he doesn't have a single plus tool, except maybe his arm. But he's also no lower than 45 on any tool. Instead of the typical, White Sox "toolsy outfielder" types with 1-3 big tools and 1-2 huge holes in their game, Coats is the opposite. I think it plays, but we'll see. He's got similarities to a RHH Ross Gload type - can hit for average, some power but not at a plus level, doesn't walk much (or enough) but makes regular hard contact with an aggressive approach, line drive swing, has a little speed but nothing special. Gload had a stronger hit tool to be sure, but Coats plays at least average to above average corner OF D, as opposed to Gload being a 1B who can play OF in a pinch. A Gload-like career is Coats' ceiling, but as an OF instead of 1B/DH/PH/occasional OF.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 29, 2016 -> 01:38 PM) His career MiLB number is .689 so that isn't a crazy number. In 2016 the AL's average C put up an OPS of .681, the NL .722 for a league average of .701. In 2015 the AL average was .676, the NL .686 for an MLB average of .681. In other words if Narvaez can put up a .650 to .675 OPS, he would be slightly under league average, or probably in line with a typical back up catcher around MLB. And I'm guessing, pure guess here, that a .260/.330/.330 line is a likely output for Narvaez, under the assumption he's in a platoon and facing RHP almost all the time. In 2013-2015, he was much better as an LHB against RHP, than either way against LHP, hitting .275 to .319 against RHP in that timeframe. 2016 was an aberration, his splits were reversed but that was maybe a small sample size issue. A .260/.330/.330 line is probably above average for a backup or platoon C in MLB.