Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 07:53 PM) General twitter rumors suggesting Garza to Rangers for Olt and a pitching prospect is possible Olt has been pretty bad this year, although he was having some vision problems earlier this season. I think he's worth the gamble though, especially given that Garza is a strict rental. If I were Hahn, I'd see what they'd be willing to give up on top of Olt for Peavy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) Lol...another Hawkins strikeout. I still believe there has to be some crazy explanation for this other than he simply sucks. His K rate wasn't that bad last year, it makes no sense to me how it's gotten this bad. Just so f***ing bizarre.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jul 13, 2013 -> 07:03 AM) have the sox said yet where he starts? gotta be birmingham, right? I would send him to Winston-Salem personally. He's only 22 years old...I really see no need to rush him to AA.

Awesome trade...anyone saying otherwise is b****ing just to b****. Jacobs is the ultimate lottery ticket, probably amounts to s***, but has the potential to be an everyday starter. Also saves us $2.75M which we can use to eat some money in a Rios or Peavy trade to expand their markets. What more could you expect to get in return for Matt Thornton?

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 06:20 PM) Decide what WAR you are likely to get from Chris Sale over the next 5-7 seasons. Decide what chance the package in return matches or exceeds that WAR. If you get a 3 WAR/year guy, two 2 WAR/year guys, you've already won in grand fashion. But can you do that? You're not accounting for positional scarcity. There are only 25 roster spots and not many players can get you 6 or 7 WAR in a given year. Having a guy like that, signed to a below market contract no less, makes building a legit World Series contender that much easier.

There's no point in talking about a possible Chris Sale trade because it will never happen, at least not anytime soon. No intelligent GM is going to give up the theoretical value it would take to get him right now. Think the original Dan Haren trade to the Diamondbacks and then add on top of it. That's the type of package it would take Rick Hahn to gamble all the surplus value Sale will likely provide (if healthy) on a group of prospects. Also, let's remember that these GMs risk their careers when they make moves of this magnitude. Imagine if Hahn traded Sale and for a bunch of prospects and they all busted. He'd have a hard time convincing another owner to give him a job. That's why you don't see guys with Sale's talent who are locked up to well-below market, long-term deals get moved too often. The risk of the trade backfiring is simply not worth the potential payoff if all goes right.

I think Chris Bassitt is by far the biggest miss on the top 25 list IMO. I know he's on the older side, but he's a converted college closer and has pitched very well this year, arguably better than Chris Beck. Also, scouting reports say he has a nice fastball, but needed to improve his secondary pitches. Based on his numbers this year, I'm guessing he's made some progress. As for the top 10 specifically, Micah Johnson not being in the top 10 doesn't make sense to me. I think the age factor is way overplayed and while the defensive concerns are legit, he's got all the tools to be a solid defensive 2B. With hard work/repetition and enough coaching, he should get better in that area. Maybe he doesn't stick at 2B, but its way too early to assume that. I would easily rank him above all but the top 5 prospects on your list. Again, just my opinion.

Caulfield, you honestly need to ease onto an easier drug like meth, because Puig is starting to take control of your life. You're literally just using this thread to collect random Puig articles like Pokemon. At some point, if people aren't responding to you, you can't force conversation by simply posting more articles.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 01:27 PM) I might have to pick up the latest bioshock. On sale for $30. There's honestly no point in buying games when they first come out. Wait 3 or 4 months and the game will cost half the price.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-...e-prospects-11/

While I do hate Thornton with all my heart (2011 to 2013 version), I must admit he does have some value because he can still get lefties out at an extremely effective rate. Contenders will have use for a player like that, especially come playoff time when every late inning matchup is important. I doubt you get anything crazy for him, but a high-end lottery ticket or two doesn't seem out of the question.

Semien is now 2/3 with a HR.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 08:27 PM) Beckham is freaking awesome We really need to consider locking him up to a 3 or 4 year deal.

Alright, to get back on track, Semien & Walker with back to back hits to start the game and take an early lead. As I mentioned in another thread, Semien now has an .800 OPS on the season, which puts him 10th in the Sourthern League. He has 27 XBHs (14 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 9 HRs), 16 SBs (at an 80% clip), and a BB to K ratio of 63:58. His .386 OBP is 3rd overall in the league. A 22 year old middle infielder playing very well in AA and he doesn't even crack the top 10 in a poor system? I think we all may be sleeping on Semien quite a bit, myself included.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 02:58 PM) WTF Holy f*** this times infinity! I see a minor league game thread at 3 pages before 7:00pm and think something interesting may have actually happened with one or more of our players, but nope just another thread getting caulfielded with more Puig comments and other random nonsense.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 03:31 PM) Worth noting is that the Boras guy is Ellsbury's agent. Yeah, he could get $18-20 million. And let's not forget every team gets an extra $25 million to work with this offseason. That's going to lead to serious inflation in player salaries.

So the top 10 is the following in some order: Erik Johnson Courtney Hawkins Trayce Thompson Tim Anderson Carlos Sanchez Josh Phegley Keon Barnum Chris Beck Daniel Webb Tyler Danish

Quintana beasting through 4. Right now, he's got a great shot of going 7 to 8 innings tonight.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) I hope the union shoves it up MLB's ass in this whole case. Am I misreading your comment or do you not want these guys suspended?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 06:22 PM) Ravelo with a walk. He's about the most exciting hitter right now in our entire system, in terms of being a "pure" hitter. Power has been coming around the last week, too. Still don't think he'll get to 10 homers, but progress. Curley and Farrell have been playing well this season but neither are true prospects...at least yet. The aspect you keep overlooking with Ravelo is his 17 doubles in 181 ABs. That's the main reason for his .486 SLG, which would qualify for 5th overall in the Carolina Leauge if he had enough ABs. The hope with Ravelo is that some of that gap power will turn into HR power as his body matures over time.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 04:32 PM) I think a text would suffice Stop it w/ Sale re: pitches k thx bye Lol...I agree this conversation wouldn't require a closed door meeting, but my god, Robin needs to stop doing his best Dusty Baker impersonation. At some point Hahn has to tell Robin this.

Or it could be Hahn simply telling Ventura to stop abusing Sale's arm.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 02:08 PM) Even so, Gordon showed at least gap to gap power, even when he was overmatched at times. Sanchez has shown none of that. He still hasn't found a defensive position either. Tim Anderson at least has plus plus speed to make up for his power numbers, Sanchez doesn't have that either. At best, Sanchez could be a .300ish hitter, with zero power, ala Jeff Keppinger. Sanchez is a pretty damn good fielder at 2B though, which makes him a step above a Keppinger type.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 11:55 PM) I would wait until next year. I am sure Sanchez is going to end up figuring out the pitching and hitting for average again. He will work hard in the offseason and be in AAA for a 2nd year which will help a lot. Again, I'm not writing Sanchez off by any means, but prospect rankings should always be somewhat sensitive to current performance. The fact is a prospect whose game is heavily reliant on his hit tool suddenly can't hit. Obviously we know being one of the youngest players in AAA is contributing to that, but how much remains a legit question. I think you have to bump him down a few spots in the rankings until he starts showing actuals signs of improvement.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 11:31 PM) What's your problem? You think Ventura is a good manager? Why can't Baines finish out the year? You act like he's some kind of chump. Harold Baines was a heckuva player, just like Ventura. What's your problem with Baines? Why would I be "embarrassed" at the mention of Baines. He's one of my favorite players of all time and he was a gamer and a smart player, too. WTF? Your reaction is like I recommended re-hiring Bevington or something. If being a heckuva player made a good manager, then Robin would be a good manager by your theory. And I'm not to respond to your Harold Baines nonsense other than if Robin were to get fired midseason, which won't happen, Mark Parent or Joe McEwing would get the job. Baines would not be in consideration.