Jack Parkman

I have Walker ever so slightly ahead of Rutherford. I also agree with you about Gonzalez as an analog for Walker. Rutherford is probably going to repeat AA next year and that is fine. They're super close as prospects, which is why I created the thread. I'm surprised it has been a 70-30 split in favor of Walker.

I think he's mellowed out in his old age. But yeah, this is funny.

I meant the other 27 owners in baseball at the time. He was the ring leader of the 94 strike and to say he wasn't a fan of the 95 CBA is an understatement. He took it out on his fellow owners by spending copious amounts of money at that time.

No, and they're also RH bats for a lineup that desperately needs a LHB.

If Navarro got 4, I think that was his FU to the remainder of the ownership group year in 97 when he signed Belle.

Me too. The one saving grace is that from 2006-09 he was willing to spend to a top 5 payroll in baseball. They were hovering around 4th-5th during that time, but there is a big difference between $130M and $180M.

Cole is getting 200M dude. The big boys are going to be at the table this time around.

He had a philosophy at one point that he wouldn't go over 3 years. The only contracts for pitchers he's gone longer than that are Buehrle in 2008 (4) and Danks in 2012 (5) you could say that Danks was a 4 year deal because the first year bought out his final arbitration year.

I'm really concerned that the Danks fiasco is going to scare JR from ever going 5+ years on a pitcher again. It was the only time he's ever gone 5 years on a pitcher, and Danks didn't even last 2 seasons on that deal before his arm fell off. IIRC, he signed that deal in his walk year to avoid arbitration and by the following June, he was under the knife and subsequently finished. They had to carry Danks for 2.25 seasons where he had no business being anywhere close to an MLB roster, before finally cutting him with 3/4 of a season left on his deal. I understand Danks taking the money but for a year and a half it was clear he was just embarrassing himself taking the mound every 5th day.

I think Adolfo and Basabe had a chance to sneak into the T100 list if not for their injury issues. Adolfo has the most upside out of any OF in the system outside of Robert, but he's made of glass and has played 20 games in 16 months, should he play in the AFL. It's really hard to recover from that kind of layoff really quickly. I think Adolfo is a good bet to run out of options but get a random callup after putting it together at 26-28 and have a short but productive MLB career. I don't know who a good comp for Adolfo is but Jose Bautista keeps coming to mind. He lasted until age 38 as a regular though.

I know that Adolfo had half of a year in 2018, but I had no idea he played more than a few games this season nor did I know he'd be ready to play by the time the AFL rolls around. That helps, but it's still 20 games in 16 months. That's still hard. Not quite Burger territory but a half Burger.

I know but Rutherford has only been 22 for a couple months. He doesn't turn 23 until late May 2020. He still has time.

I have no idea why anyone has Walker at a higher level than Rutherford. He's older, at a lower level and has a lot of the same questions about his offensive profile as Rutherford. Gonzalez is bordering on an organizational player at this point and if Walker doesn't show better in Birmingham than Gonzalez did this year, he'll go that way too. I'm talking myself into Rutherford here even though I voted Walker. It is really close IMO. As for Adolfo, I don't know if they're going to get a couple extra options on him but if not, it's going to be hard for him to ever be successful. He's in Burger territory right now where if they get anything out of him it's a major win. He's missed almost as much time as Burger. Adolfo should be healthy next year but a 20 month layoff is hard to overcome.

His unorthodox approach to owning a baseball team worked once, so I'm willing to not quite put him in bad ownerhip territory. That is reserved for Loria and The Pirates owner.

Ron stuck to his guns forever, I'm not blind and would be willing to eat crow if his adjustments work. It isn't flip flopping to admit that you're wrong. It takes a confident person to do that and learn from it.

I have Walker and Rutherford ahead of Adolfo and Gonzalez. Walker and Rutherford are approximately equal to me. Basabe is the clear # 2 OF in the Sox system. Adolfo would be #3 if he could ever stay on the field. But he can't, so that moves him behind SW/BR. Basabe>Walker/Rutherford>Adolfo>Gonzalez Imho.

I actually agree with the Sox decision to let him finish August in AAA. Let him go through the International League one more time to see if his swing and approach adjustments have staying power. I didn't think of Skole getting the call in that way initially but when I came around on this idea it makes sense.

Nice post. Rutherford could be a late blooming HS guy. Those happen and do exist.

I'm actually with you here. This is much closer than people give it credit for. I don't feel like either is that great of a prospect but both still have a chance. I just don't know who has more.

Really?

Guys, I'm not trying to shit up this thread there is logic behind my thoughts. I didn't know that Jimmy is a FS writer so I give the idea that it is a promotion a lot more credence. I'm still not entirely sure though because Jerry a bit strange when it comes to his FO employees. Everything I've heard is that he treats his people at every level of the organization like family and is an awesome person to work for. I have a feeling that it is really difficult for him to fire anyone because that is the type of person he is. I don't understand his aversion to paying on field talent based on this. It seems he keeps the bottom line and the the workplace culture in two separate boxes in his head. Jerry is a wonderful boss by all accounts and a mediocre owner for the fans. I honestly have mixed feelings about his tenure as owner because of the way he treats his people. We need more owners in every industry like JR.

Yes. The only reason why he still has a job is because of a promise Jerry made to KW's parents to get him to forgo his commitment to Stanford and sign with the Sox out of HS. Kenny is Jerry's "adopted son" He might as well be The Sox version of Michael Reinsdorf. As long as Jerry is alive Kenny has a job with the Sox. Lip can tell you all about it.

He only knows what the organization's public position is. I don't doubt that the information James has is their public position. I do have doubts that it is their internal position.

PR fluff. He got whacked. That is just their public position. Reinsdorf subscribes to the Japanese version of firing. They give him a new office with a better title, along with a pay cut and reduced responsibility.

No he didn't. This is how Reinsdorf fires people. See Kenny Williams.