caulfield12

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 01:32 PM) Yeah, no s*** this is going to be pretty brutal. Especially that Tuesday game with Buehlre and his career 0-5, 4.86 ERA, 1.47 WHIP in Oakland. Well, on the bright side, no Willie Harris in CF or D'Angelo Jimenez at 2B. No fog or strange playing conditions, I hope.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 01:30 PM) Sun/Mon/Tues = gulp On paper, we're 2-5 or 1-6. Luckily, games aren't played on paper, lol.

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 01:11 PM) I would love to see the Sox make a run at Suzuki either at the break(although we don't have much to give up and they will ask for a lot, though we have raped Bavasi twice ) or after the season. Sweeney/Anderson/Suzuki would be a nice outfield If we are out of contention, almost everyone on our major league roster will become available at the right price. Of course, I don't think KW will go out and get Ichiro if we're in rebuilding mode, doesn't make sense at all. Especially if he can't be signed to an extension and we are letting Iguchi go as well. If we are in serious contention, we have bullpen arms, Fields, Sweeney and lots of minor league arms as well (but in AA and AAA, not the low minors). However, we raked the M's over the coals with both the Garcia and Thornton deals, not sure if they're ready to be embarassed 3 times in three years.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 01:12 PM) Do you always have this much trouble reading before responding? I included Anderson in the first place. I specifically said players we developed and are still IN OUR SYSTEM. I left Webster off because I see nothing in his career thus far that shows him being a high end prospect and he hasn't been in our system since 2003, which is 4 years ago. And why do you keep bringing up unrelated topics like pitchers and Billy Beane? I'm not saying KW is a bad GM. I'm saying our system doesn't produce a lot of strong HITTERS, which is what the thread title indicates. So in the last FEW years, we have the following HITTERS that we have "raised" in our system who have put up more than one year of gaudy offensive numbers in the minors... --Anderson --Reed --Young That's pretty much it, and Reed and Anderson seem to have only proven they aren't great hitters thus far (though BA really had just one half a lousy offensive season). Go further back and you get a bunch of course, including Crede, Lee, Ordonez, etc. But unless I am missing something, I don't see many great offensive talents coming out of the system in the last 3 to 4 years. If I am missing someone who fits that description, please point them out. And I'm saying it doesn't matter at all what we produce, as long as other organizations value our players and will give us a Carl Everett for a Webster and Frank Francisco (although Francisco might be a stud, if he gets through his injury problems and screws his head on straight). We've always focused more on pitching than hitting with our drafts, because it's much easier to replace hitters than pitchers. Why did we win in 2005? Pitching, pitching, pitching. Borchard is the big bust that was supposed to replace Thomas, and his failure set the organization back, no doubt about it. Many GM's have proven you can put together so-so offenses with great pitching (Marlins, A's, Twins, Braves) and remain competitive. So I'm not worried at all about our position prospects. We didn't produce a catcher, we went out and got AJ and Hall without breaking the bank. KW has proven to be much more capable of identifying undervalued major leaguers (Thornton, Loaiza, Contreras, Uribe, Marte, Everett, AJ, Iguchi, Dye, Hermanson, Politte...hopefully Aardsma and Masset) than he has been at drafting and developing stud prospects. That's one label that seems to stick in his craw, and he addressed it at SoxFest specifically. QUOTE(TheOcho @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 01:15 PM) Wasn't Sizemore traded to the Indians? Colon for Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips (luckily they gave up on him one year too soon and rushed him to the big leagues or we'd be in even more trouble) Not quite AJ for Nathan, Liriano and Bonser, but VERY close.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 01:09 PM) and there's the answer(s) to Sir Pratt's question. It's not usually a regular thing to develop a .900+ OPS players. The Sox developed those two in the late 90s/2000, but they are good players nonetheless. Or you can look at the late 80's/early 90's, when we brought Sosa, Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, Hibbard, Bere, Melido Perez, Alvarez, Radinsky through the system at roughly the same time.

Or will they elect to go with Ponson? Interesting choice for Gardenhire, even though it's early in the season. Would it be fair to let Danks go out there against Santana? Would OG then counter with Contreras (since he pitched only an inning plus) and push back Danks to a road start in Oakland, aka The German "Hellands" at the start of Gladiator.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:53 PM) Note that I said "last few years". We developed Lee, Ordonez, Rowand and others in that group about a decade ago, under some different leadership. Of the names you just mentioned, only Young and Reed were developed in the "last few years", and so far Reed isn't showing much. We're talking about the organization at present, no? I was thinking 3 or 4 year time frame - typical development cycle for high end prospects. Reed, Young, Anderson and Webster still fit that cycle you just delineated. That's the point, Reed was a reach in the second round (a great collegiate player without "projectable" tools or even a position, he also played 1B in college)....he became the minor league player on the year and was overrated by the Mariners. He's always been a fourth outfielder or spare part, I even thought the same of Rowand too. Morse never had a position and couldn't hit for enough power at 3B or LF, not enough range for SS. Olivo, it will take too long to go into why trading him was the right move. He did okay in Florida last year, but he's never going to be an All-Star either. I wonder if A's would rather have Chad Bradford, or a World Series title, because Neal Cotts was one of the many contributors (along with Garcia, through Olivo) to that World Series win. Not only that, but Beane traded Bonderman and Teahen away, let Jermaine Dye go (not to mention Tejada and Giambi) and got stuck watching an overvalued Loiaza pitch poorly after KW picked him up for nothing in the preseason of 2003.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:42 PM) Good points, though I disagree on Uribe (who this year looks a lot better than last at the plate) and Konerko (who really did do a lot of his growing here). Its been said by multiple people here, our system doesn't seem to develop a lot of great hitters. If you look at the guys who put up gaudy averages in our minors over the last few years, there aren't many, few have stayed in our system to the majors (Crede and BA), others came in already trained (Gload), and there aren't many down there now doing it (maybe Sweeney or Rogo, but neither are considered top tier hitting prospects). Question is, is it the coaches that are bad, or does the team not draft/sign the right talent? Or both? I think you're forgetting Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee. Oh, well. Sweeney is still considered a top-tier hitting prospect, along with Fields. Our drafting hasn't been great, but we've used a lot of our best minor league talent to get players for our major league roster, and it's hard to argue with the results, because we won a World Series using that philosophy. Long term, you, of course, need to develop 1-3 caliber starting pitchers in your own system, and that's been the big weakness of the Schueler/KW years, along with catching prospects. We produced Jeremy Reed, Anthony Webster, Anderson, Chris Young and Aaron Rowand....that's five center fielders alone in the past 5-7 years. We're somewhere between the #14-18 minor league organization in baseball right now, and we can really stockpile a ton of young talent if we trade away the core of our team...that's when KW will really earn his money and possibly lose his job 2-3 years from now. QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:47 PM) I think you're forgetting Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee. Oh, well. Sweeney is still considered a top-tier hitting prospect, along with Fields. Our drafting hasn't been great, but we've used a lot of our best minor league talent to get players for our major league roster, and it's hard to argue with the results, because we won a World Series using that philosophy. Long term, you, of course, need to develop 1-3 caliber starting pitchers in your own system, and that's been the big weakness of the Schueler/KW years, along with catching prospects. We produced Jeremy Reed, Anthony Webster, Anderson, Chris Young and Aaron Rowand....that's five center fielders alone in the past 5-7 years. We're somewhere between the #14-18 minor league organization in baseball right now, and we can really stockpile a ton of young talent if we trade away the core of our team...that's when KW will really earn his money and possibly lose his job 2-3 years from now. Also, look at the Twins. Lohse came from the Cubs Liriano, Bonser and Nathan from the Giants Silva from the Phillies Santana was a Rule 5 pick Ponson and Ortiz are stopgaps, until Garza, Perkins, Slowey and Baker are ready You have to give them more credit for Rincon, Crain, Balfour and Neshek in the bullpen None of their pitchers are home-grown, because at least Buehrle came through our system, and Garland was essentially a product of our system/organization as well.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:33 PM) What of that had anything to do with my post? What manager on earth would continue to stick with Erstad/Pods in the lineup, albeit at the top-despite viable replacements? Ozzie What manager would alienate his younger players in order to serve veterans that don't deserve playing time? Ozzie Who will hopefully be gone in one year or less? Ozzie And to answer your original question-I think Masset probably has the best chance of being a good 5 man. I kinda wish he would've earned the spot out of ST that way Danks could have some time in AAA I love it when Sox fans run off the only manager to bring them a World Series title less than two seasons later. We gave Manuel the 01-03 seasons when he was obviously incompetent, and I think Bevington had a similar amount of time. Obviously, you love Brian Anderson. That's your prerogative. If he had played like he was expected to, there would be NO Erstad this year. Second, which of the following players would u have signed? Matthews Jr, Roberts or Pierre? And you don't mind spending that much money for those guys? Glad you don't have my checkbook. Who's the better option to replace Pods? A platoon of Mackowiak and Ozuna? Sure. What younger players have been alienated? Sean Tracey? Brandon McCarthy? Tracey was never going to see the White Sox roster again...we'll just have to wait and see with young Brandon, but I'm not optimistic he ever becomes an "ace" type of pitcher. Erstad could get on base five times in one game and you'd still rather have Anderson out there. Well, if the White Sox finish with 75 losses, Anderson WILL be out there everyday in 2008, so you might want to be a little patient for your Owens/Fields/Anderson/Sweeney outfield. Stilll waiting for the name of one manager who would have won it all with the White Sox last year? Probably Cito Gaston, right?

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:22 PM) Ill take an outfield of Anderson/Ichiro/Byrnes Let the downpour of comments begin on the parade for Mr. Byrnes. I'm hard-pressed to see him as a starter in the American League, he looks much better than he is over in the NL. Just thought about it, and Brynes and Erstad are the same age.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:03 PM) If you actually read anything at BP, you would know that they too don't buy into the PECOTA projections for the White Sox. But with the division the Sox are in, and the horrid quality of our manager, I'd bet my house on 75 wins or less. What managers would win the division (since Cleveland, Minnesota and Detroit all will end up with better team ERA's IMO) with the pitching staff the White Sox CURRENTLY have? Everyone says they could have won the WS as the Sox manager in 2005, but how many of you would have held that team together when everything almost collapsed? It's easy when every reliever knows his role, and gets out and throws strikes. It's not so easy when your choices are Nelson, Tracey, Montero, Riske (amazingly average despite his overall stats), Cotts and Politte. You either destroy your closer (which is what happened the second half) or you leave your starters in too long...no good options when your starters are giving up 3-6 runs per game and your 4-6 relievers are garbage. Heck, I think we already have more blown 7th and 8th inning leads than the Twins had all of last year. Is that Ozzie's fault, or Thornton's? Is he supposed to use Sisco or Logan in those situations now, instead of Thornton? Tell me what you would do to fix all of the bullpen problems since April. 06. Is that because Gardenhire can ESP/Jedi Mind Trick the Twins into being the best bullpen, year after year, no matter who is on the roster....from Romero, Hawkins and Guardado to the current version? Maybe we should just trade OG and KW for Ryan and Gardenhire. Although we'd probably end up like the Braves and A's and Twins and never make a single dent in the playoffs.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:02 PM) We already have Torii Hunter on this team... his name is Brian Anderson. If Brian Anderson can finally play to his potential, he will probably put up similar numbers to Hunter. I'd rather take my chance with that, then sign Hunter. Castillo is interesting at 2B. Both him and Iguchi are about the same age, but Castillo is a year younger. Castillo would probably be a better option at 2B, if we were to sign either of them. Castillo is a GG 2B, has very good speed, and would be a good option for leadoff. But it would all depend on the price. Keep in mind, Castillo would be moving from turf to natural grass. At this point in his career, it would negate some of his advantages. He's not ever going to steal 30 bases again. I think Iguchi is just a very good fit with this White Sox team (except when he tries to bunt).

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 11:55 AM) I'm not sure when I first noticed this and started to be bothered by it, but it really started to grate on me these last few days. I was at the game yesterday and I was talking to the person I was with and I said, "Damn, it has been a long time since we drafted someone like that -- or any impact player, at all," and I think it was in response to Sizemore homering. I said, "Since Frank Thomas. Actually, it might've been Chris Young, come to think of it," and he said, "Oh I hope not!" But I was thinking about it and here's our lineup. Podsednik -- Not ours. Besides that, his hitting isn't something to be particularly proud of. I do wish he'd swing the bat more because he makes fair contact when he is swinging. If he looked to foul off close pitches and drive some more often he'd do so much better for himself, I think. All the same, we can't take much credit for his development. Erstad -- Not ours. He came here knowing how to play. Thome -- Not ours. Konerko -- Not ours. I know we think of him as ours but he doesn't come from our system and I'm not sure we can take too much credit for successfully developing him. Dye -- Not ours. Crede -- Ours, but a. I think his year last year is something he'll be hard-pressed to match and b. he's not that great even with his year last year. I know we all appreciate Crede, but as fathom points out (or Kalapse), he'd be the fourth best third baseman in the NL East, and it took him, what, four years to get to this level? Iguchi -- Not ours. Uribe -- We can't take credit for his development. He has become more pull-happy than before, I think. Pierzynski -- He isn't ours, either, but I think there's a real case to be made for us having changed him for the worse with our softball approach to hitting when he used to be a pesky linedrive hitter. It goes to our pitching, too, but to a much lesser extent. When your organization's best success at developing a player is Joe Crede, there's something seriously wrong unless you have the Yankees money, which we don't. The Yankees actually have done a great job developing and identifying players they wish to retain and trading the others for missing pieces. Heck, they got some real good arms for Sheffield even, especially Sanchez. When you think of Cano, Soriano, Jeter, Posada, Bernie Williams, Cabrera, Philip Hughes, Pettitte, M. Rivera, Ted Lilly (I think he started with Montreal, but really took off in NYC), I'm sure that I am forgetting a few others. The White Sox have done a GREAT job of identifying pieces from the minor league system that got them major league ready talent back in trade, such as Morse/Reed/Olivo for Freddy Garcia. Guerrier for Marte. Uribe for Miles. They didn't give up too much to get Colon in 2003. Borchard for Thornton. Garland for Karchner. Stockpiling money and signing the right FA's to take the place of Valentin, Ordonez and Lee. You also can't say that KW has traded away someone you are really dying to get back, with the recent exceptions of Brandon McCarthy and Chris Young. I guess Tyler Lumsden too, but I don't see too many TL "watches" out there from posters here. You also have Rowand and, of course, Buehrle. When you look at Stumm, Dellaero, Honel, Malone, Rauch, Kip Wells, Royce Ring, Danny Wright, Joe Borchard, Brian West, Barcelo, Parque, Sirotka, Snyder...the disaster zone that has been our first round choices and "top prospects" the last 10-15 years, you would say it's a miracle the White Sox have been the #4 or #3 team in MLB total wins since 1990, right? Which leads to the problem of being from very good to average/mediocre, which never gets you a high draft pick. Even then, the Twins picked Garza late in the first round and many expect him to be a top starter....we picked Broadway ahead of him. It's all about scouting. Fortunately, the White Sox could run a team and budget out there about $25-50 million ahead of the Twins or Indians or we'd have been in real trouble in 2005.

Left fielders Eric Byrnes (32) Adam Dunn (28) - $13MM club option for '08 Geoff Jenkins (33) - $9MM club option for '08 Luis Gonzalez (40) Barry Bonds (43) Brad Wilkerson (31) Center fielders Ichiro Suzuki (34) Andruw Jones (31) Torii Hunter (32) Eric Byrnes (32) Corey Patterson (28) Milton Bradley (30) Aaron Rowand (30) Mike Cameron (35) Kenny Lofton (41) Right fielders Jermaine Dye (34) Bobby Abreu (34) - $16MM club option for '08 Ichiro Suzuki (34) Milton Bradley (30) Geoff Jenkins (33) - $9MM club option for '08 Trot Nixon (34) Jose Guillen (32) - $9MM club option for '08 Shawn Green (35) - $10MM club option for '08 Eric Hinske (30) Realistically, there aren't many names that excite you, after you get past a declining Ichiro that you'd question $45 million for 3 years, just like you'd question it for Jermaine Dye as well. There aren't many leadoff hitters (or OF's capable of leading off)...you have Ichiro, MAYBE Milton Bradley (do well really want HIM on our team?), definitely no thanks with Lofton. In terms of talent, Andruw Jones, Hunter and Corey Patterson are all interesting players, but Hunter's best years are behind him, and Jones isn't nearly the same level of outfielder he was five years ago. Not to mention the fact that Jones would need to adjust to a new league, and the NL is more of a FB league (his best pitch to hit) than a slow-pitch softball league. Dunn fits in with the slugging ways of the White Sox, but is he really the type of player KW would go out and spend $10-15 million per season on? He's pretty one-dimensional. So that leaves Ichiro (expensive and aging), Milton Bradley and Corey Patterson who best fit the profile of traditional KW and White Sox "talent searches" in the OF. Might as well throw Jose Guillen in there as well as a "cheapie" replacement for Dye in RF. Somehow, I wouldn't be shocked to see the White Sox continue to "copy" the Twins and take Castillo and Hunter, but I think both of these players are out of their primes, and it would be dangerous to take a chance because of the high-rent neighborhood contract Hunter will occupy, unless he's injured again and doesn't have a very good season.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 11:42 AM) I really see us acquiring a leadoff hitter at 2B/SS in the next couple of years, most likely at 2B. Jimmy Rollins via trade. Omar Vizquel or Luis Castillo, that's it in terms for FA's, or Eckstein (from middle infielders)

QUOTE(BearSox @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 11:11 AM) If we could get Baldelli, for the right price, I'd be all over that. BUT, it would also depend on his health, and if he is finally healed. Also, I doubt the Devil Rays would accept a fair offer, their GM is a mad man, and always asks for way too much for his players... See Danys Baez and Aubrey Huff. But I did see Erick Aybar mentioned here, and I have been a big supporter for trading for him. He has great speed, great range, and has a canon arm. Plus, he can hit and is a switch hitter. And right now there is a bit of a logjam for them... They have Kendrick at 2B, that's set. And it looks like they are planning on Brandon Wood to be their 3B. Now that leaves Cabrera and Aybar. Their decision will be, do we trade Aybar and keep Cabrera and sign him to an extension, or do we trade Cabrera after this year, and plug in Aybar? They signed Hillenbrand, blocking Kendry Morales. They also have to figure out what to do with Kotchmann and McPherson, as they could have gotten a legit middle-of-the-order hitter last year or the year before, had they been willing to deal two of those three prospects. Now all three of those guys have fallen to a abyss above Brian Anderson and under Lastings Milledge in the prospect pecking order. If Wood's at 3B, they don't have a place for Figgins either. QUOTE(WinningUgly85 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 11:19 AM) Well if we lose Dye we should be already investing in replacements. I just don't know. It was hard for me not to compare the White Sox OF with Crisp, Ramirez and Drew yesterday. Odds are, Fields stays at 3B, so we need to get younger and more athletic at that position. I'm not sure Erstad even lasts beyond this year (does he have a limited no-trade clause?) if the White Sox aren't in contention. OTOH, Ozzie Guillen really seems enamored with him, he's kind of taking Rowand's place as the "resident grinder." With Owens, Sweeney, Anderson, Baldelli and Ozuna, you have some talent, but where does the power come from? It's too bad we can't "morph" them into players that are complete packages and just not spare pieces. Baldelli would seem to be the best player of those I just listed, although Sweeney MIGHT get there someday...and Anderson has many similarities to Baldelli, except for the stolen bases (if he cuts down his strikeouts).

QUOTE(shawnhillegas @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 08:12 AM) This is ridiculous. If Baldelli was on the market, he could command a lot more than Anderson. And right now, Baldelli's hamstring is falling off, so they do have a place for him, as the DH. Jonny Gomes isnt going to be around for long. Why in the hell would they want Anderson and someone like Wes Whisler? Read my sig. Why is Baldelli worth that much, if he can't play CF and steal 25-30 bases? I think some people love him just because he's Italian and his name reminds them of DiMaggio. As a DH, he would be in the bottom third of AL DH's. Sure, an upgrade from Travis Lee, but no Travis Hafner. They would want Anderson for the same reason half the Sox fans want Anderson to start in CF, with Erstad in LF. Do you really think KW would give up Gio AND Broadway for Baldelli? (I'm not even sure he would trade those two for Crawford). Where would he play in the White Sox OF? Is he really that much better than Erstad or Anderson, except for stretches of one or two seasons? You put Baldelli in there as the starter and bench Pods (with Erstad in LF), you're not getting any improvement at the leadoff position. He would definitely be a better defender, but he would have to prove he's healthy first. His lifetime OBP is .329. Pods is at .342. I think there's plenty of argument to be made that Anderson will hit 15-18 homers per season with around 75 RBI's. The only area where he's lacking is he probably will never be a 20-30 steals type of player. And I think most Sox fans would be happy with a .260 average, not Baldelli's "normal" .280-.300 range.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 11:02 AM) Brandon Wood has been moved to 3rd base. So has A-Rod, but where do think he would be playing if he joined the Sox? It's simply because Cabrera is signed for 07 and 08 and they definitely want to keep Wood.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 10:51 AM) You are an idiot. That is the worst reason I have ever heard for, I don't know, anything. BP likes Charlie because he has dominated absolutely every level and has been an absolute freak at not allowing the longball. How many times have you read BP caulfield? I know that they're idiots for not seeing that freak, anomaly, once in a lifetime pitching WS season we had in 2005. But other than that, what evidence do you have for such ridiculously misleading, outlandish, and foolish statements? At WSI, BP is regularly quoted/posted/ripped apart. I've read TOO many articles there, to tell you the truth. There's still a war going on between the SABR (Beane, James, Ricciardi, DiPodesta, Epstein) world and the "real world" of scouting. Seriously, how many times can they rip Scott Podsednik? Enough already. And the main reasons for the White Sox winning 72 games this year? Dye isn't going to repeat his 06 season, Thome, Konerko and Iguchi are getting older. Brilliant. (Bill) PECOTA predicts that, but it's been how many years since the White Sox lost 90 games? Would any of their own writers go to Vegas and bet their houses on that 72 game line, taking the under? Who overachieved in 2005? Definitely not Garcia, he wasn't the ace we were promised. Just a solid 3. The only pitcher who dramatically improved was Contreras. Maybe he'll never be the same pitcher as that 4 month run he had from 05 through the postseason and into 06. But El Duque was below average, Garland pitched well, but he repeated that with 18 more wins last season, so we can't really say he reached his full potential at age 26 or 27....McCarthy just had a few starts. Buehrle was classic Buehrle....holding the opposition when he needed to, giving just enough with the offense winning games 3-2 or 4-3 or 5-4 behind him. But he still wasn't as good as he was at times earlier in his career.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Apr 5, 2007 -> 12:46 PM) Yeah, but this far down they are far from big time prospects. Valido or possibly Hernandez could be back as Top 10 prospects with All-Star caliber seasons. I think Shelby will be underrated until he makes it to the big leagues and starts producing.

QUOTE(soxfan3530 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 09:30 AM) I think of those three Masset has the best chance to start. No way for Thornton. I like Gio and Haeger and think they will be good pitchers for us in the future. If Baseball Prospectus actually likes ANYTHING connected with the White Sox, it makes me leery. Which is probably why I'm down on Haeger, because almost nothing they say is correct. In reality, you just assume the direct opposite of whatever they say. Masset has the better control (from his minor league numbers), Sisco a better WHIP by about .20, at any rate it seems like control is probably the most important thing to the White Sox at the big league level, so that definitely favors Masset, although some believe Sisco has slightly better pure stuff.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/T/Matt-Thornton.shtml Matt Thornton, 80 minor league starts, 1 in the majors. Will turn 31 in September. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Andy-Sisco.shtml Andy Sisco, 65 minor league starts, just turned 24. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/M/Nick-Masset.shtml Nick Masset, 104 minor league starts, about to turn 25. My opinion, it's a little bit late for Thornton, and I think he's been relieving too long, and relying on just a couple of pitches, to make an effective transition. Sisco, being a lefthander, and having the organizational depth with Thornton and Logan, would seem the most attractive bet (and he's the youngest), but there can be lots of arguments made for Masset as well. If Danks/Floyd/Gio don't evolve into 1-3 caliber starters, the odds are KW will try to convert at least 2 of these 3 guys (if not all three) into starters for next year, as there are no quick fixes in the rotation. Sure, Haeger, Broadway, Phillips or McCullogh could come in as a five or possibly four, but that's about it. I think there are too many health concerns with MacDougal for him to ever go back to starting. Finally, there's Adam Russell. What are the odds that any of these pitchers could ever be a legit 1-2 starter to fit into the rotation with Jose, Garland and Vazquez? Floyd (15%) Gio (30%) Danks (50%) Sisco (40%) Masset (40%) Russell (25%) I guess the way I look at it, I don't expect more than two of those guys to make it, but that would be fine, because we all feel pretty confident Haeger and maybe Broadway can slot in as the #5. Just guessing...feel free to debate/discuss.

QUOTE(southsida86 @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:28 AM) Masset has great movement on his 4 seamer. it tails in on rightys and away on leftys. His non fastball stuff looks to be superb. His sinker and curve were awesome, changeup looked good, but his slider looked only ok. If his fastball is at 93-96 right now, then I expect some serious heat mid-season. I think he'll be a starter next year though, because Buehrle is going to walk, and I think Kenny is going to trade Jon during the offseason. I think the only way he becomes a starter is if Floyd and Gonzalez really struggle and it appears neither of them can be 1-3 caliber starters. Then you have to look at the arsenals of Thornton, Sisco and Masset and determine which of them is best suited for starting. Clearly, Masset has the most experience and would seem to have the advantage, at this point. OTOH, if Sisco or Thornton could make it as a starter, you would effectively be replacing Buehrle with another lefty starter (the most valuable commodity in MLB) and you could bring up Logan (a move everyone wanted anyway) and you would still have two quality lefties on the big league team. There's some thought that Adam Russell isn't far from being able to replace Aardsma/Masset/MacDougal, so that bears watching as well. Finally, Gio Gonzalez could be put into that Buehrle 2000 role, grooming him as a starter, like the Sox at one point hoped to do with Neal Cotts and Brandon McCarthy.

QUOTE(beautox @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 12:27 AM) The Rays actually have a good amount of good SP both and the milb and mlb level Kazmir + Shields(solid 3/4) with more room to improve Jacob McGee, Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis and then you figure they'll prolly grab LHP David Price as the first pick, thats a pretty stacked Rotation. It appears they've got their closer of the future in Juan Salas and if Orvella can put it together again like '05, he'll be a decent set up man. I'm going to be very interested in how they approach the draft this year itd be nice to see them take good College BP arms, because that appears to be their future weakness. If i was in the Rays FO, as soon as Cantu puts together anything solid at AAA ship him off for anything, and with regards to Baldelli id be looking for 3/4 SP and two good up and coming BP arm. Their future looks bright OF - Crawford, Dukes, Young MI - Reid Brignac, Upton CI - Evan Longoria, Akinori Iwamura C - Dioner Navarro Looks like they finally found a position for Upton at 2B. I wonder if KW would take a run at Cantu to replace Iguchi? Tadahito will be 33, but Cantu's not the type of middle infielder you want with a young pitching staff. That organization has had bad luck with Gomes and Cantu looking like future stars one year and then practically falling off the map the next. But both of those guys are going to be heavily scouted for possible acquisitions.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Apr 5, 2007 -> 10:50 PM) Dukes is playing because Baldelli has a strained hamstring that they're trying to protect. If anything, they'll try to spin Dukes' hot start into something just to be rid of the headaches while getting something of value in return. Baldelli is injury-prone. QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 5, 2007 -> 10:44 PM) You're seriously overrating some Sox players and underrating some insanely talented Tampa players. And when did they name that psychopath Dukes their starting CF? He's probably the 1 baseball player most likely to go all OJ on someone's ass in the coming years. Just because they supposedly (I'm not buying it) have no place for Rocco doesn't mean they're going to just sell him off for garbage like Anderson and Rogowski (and yes that is garbage considering what they could get from basically any other team). Gio Gonzalez and Broadway for Crawford? Didn't they turn down a Santana/Figgins deal just last season? I know Santana was involved in the deal with another player but they wanted Woods included in the deal instead. Brandon Wood is the best SS prospect in the game today, in the minds of many scouts. They'll trade Erick Aybar, but I don't think they will part so easily with Wood.