Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 11:31 AM) I could see them giving Mitchell one final effort to prove he shouldn't be released/traded after the year and call him up to the majors. While I think Mitchell is and will be a bust, I don't think you need release him just yet, especially if you're doing a semi-rebuilding. His tools are still there and he doesn't turn 25 until October I believe. Look at the garbage we have getting everyday at-bats throughout our system. I'll take the 5% chance something suddenly clicks next year and he becomes a useful role player than give those at-bats to another Seth Loman type. Plus he has two option years left, so unless we're hurting for 40 man roster spots, we don't have to rush to a decision on him.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 11:30 AM) If the Sox trade Peavy, then Santiago would get his spot in the rotation and E. Johnson would likely be next in line If the Sox trade De Aza, then Danks probably gets the majority of the playing time the rest of the year in CF to see what he can do If the Sox trade Rios, then maybe they put De Aza in LF and Viciedo in RF? If they trade Crain, then Jones and Lindstrom are the set-up men If they start trading these core players, then you can't really worry about the quality of the replacement for this year. Once you give up on a season and unload these key contributors, winning doesn't become important at all. Obviously, if they go into next year with Danks in CF or something along those lines, then it's clearly a rebuilding year. This is pretty much spot on. To add, I think Simon Castro, Andre Rienzo & Santos Rodriguez have a good chance to get called up for bullpen roles once we trade some pitching. And I personally think they move Lindstrom in addition to Crain & Thornton. What would be interesting to see is how they'd replace Alexei at SS.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 11:20 AM) I'll say again...I'd hate to move Thompson up this year. We need to be patient with this kid, he's developing exactly as he should be, took a month to get the hang of AA and started putting up good numbers, gradually cutting down on the strikeouts, becoming more consistent, but he's young and belongs in AA this year and AAA next year. Calling him up this year is just asking for him to bust. He might figure it out, but you're asking for him to strike out 40 times in a month and wind up changing his approach if you call him up now. Exactly. Thompson & Walker aren't going to replace Rios or De Aza if they get traded. You don't rush top prospects just because you have an opening on the 25 man roster. They'd give Jordan Danks the at-bats and use it as a chance to see what they have in him. And let's hope to god they wouldn't call up Jared Mitchell to fill an opening. When you can't hit AA pitching you'll have no chance with major league pitching.

People worried that we won't get a lot for our guys at the deadline should look at last year's deals. Hunter Pence had a .794 OPS with the Phillies when he was dealt and had one year remaining on his deal. Alex Rios has an .841 OPS and has one year left on his deal plus an option year, both at affordable rates. The Phillies were able to land the Giant's #2 prospect coming into the 2012 season. If Rios is the best bat available at the deadline, he should net something similar IMO. Peavy has been incredible this season up until his last two starts. Given that he's had success in both leagues, his market should be huge if healthy. I dont think he'll net a Zach Greinke package, but look at what the Tigers gave up in the Anibal Sanchez deal. Both of those guys were heading into free agency, while Peavy has another year on his deal plus an option, both at affordable rates. High-end pitching is always expensive at the deadline, but teams should be willing to pay a premium for a guy like Peavy if the alternative is a rental player. It's all going to come down to his health though. Crain should be one of the top relievers on the market if not the #1. He is rental but almost every contender should be looking for relief pitching. He should command a very good prospect if Hahn plays his hand right.

Alright, I thought we could get some actual discussion going here by looking at the big deadlines deals from last year: Giants acquire RF Hunter Pence from the Phillies for C Tommy Joseph (BA #2), RF Nate Schierholtz, & RHP Seth Rosen. Dodgers acquire CF Shane Victorino from the Phillies for RHP Josh Lindblom (BA #8) & RHP Ethan Martin. Angels acquire SP Zach Greinke from Brewers for SS Jean Segura (BA #2), RHP Johnny Hellweg (BA #4), & RHP Ariel Pena (BA #9). Rangers acquire SP Ryan Dempster from the Cubs for IF Carlos Villanueva (BA #9) & RHP Kyle Hendricks. Tigers acquire SP Anibal Sanchez, IF Omar Infante & 39th pick in 2013 MLB draft for RHP Jacob Turner (BA #1), C Rob Brantly (BA #7), LHP Brian Flynn, & 73rd pick in 2013 MLB draft. Braves acquire SP Paul Maholm & LF Reed Johnson from for RHP Arodys Vizcaino (BA # 2) & RHP Jaye Chapman. Pirates acquire SP Wandy Rodriguez from the Astros for CF Robbie Grossman (BA #8), LHP Colton Cain, & LHP Rudy Owens. Blue Jays acquire SP J.A. Happ, RHP Brandon Lyon, & RHP David Carpenter from the Astros for RHP Francisco Cordero, OF Ben Francisco, RHP Asher Wojciechowski (BA #10), C Carlos Perez, LHP David Rollins, RHP Joseph Musgrove, & RHP Kevin Comer. Reds acquire CL Jonathon Broxton from Royals for RHP J.C. Sulbaran (BA #9) & LHP Donnie Joseph. Cardinals acquire RHP Edward Mujica from Marlins for 3B Zachary Cox (BA #4). Dodgers acquire RHP Brandon League from Mariners for RHP Logan Bawcom & CF Leon Landry. Dodgers acquire SS Hanley Ramirez & LHP Randy Choate from Marlins for RHP Nathan Eovaldi (BA #3) & RHP Scott McGough.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 10:26 PM) Walker has a slight chance, but yeah, Mitchell probably should just be traded in a bust prospect for bust prospect deal. Thompson's showing some great progress this year with his BB/K ratio. Walker is starting to come around. He probably should have begun the year in A+, so a slow start should have been somewhat expected. He's only 22 years old, so he's still got some time to improve. Mitchell however is a straight up bust. I doubt you'd get much of anything for him, so I'd probably just hold on to him and hope for a miracle rather than take some other team's garbage.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 01:23 AM) I don't and won't watch GoT, but I just watched that Red Wedding scene that nerds are freaking out about. I don't know who any of those people are, but that was pretty incredible if they were all main characters. Why the f*** would you not want to watch Game of Thrones? The show and books are incredible! Don't you watch that garbage show Davinci's Demons? But you refuse to watch a great HBO show? I just don't get hating on Game of Thrones for no particular reason. It's not like we're talking about some overhyped show like Downton Abbey.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 01:04 PM) Not to be flippant, but the Sox just don't understand the draft process. I would have said yes a couple years ago, but last year seemed like a big improvement. Took a ton of high upside guys and even went overslot on some non top 10 picks. That's why I believe May is likely an underslot guy.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 12:54 PM) I suppose it is meant to balance out the low risk picks in the first two rounds. We might also just see something different than other evaluators. Definitely seems like money is playing a role here, but like everyone else, not sure what we're saving up for. I'm cool if they're saving for a big overslot guy, but otherwise you shouldn't waste early picks on guys with limited upside. Your 3rd round pick should be your 3rd best chance to get an impact player.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 12:49 PM) Jacob May does not have strikeout issues. He struck out 23 times in 230 PA. Sounds like a breath of fresh air to me. He's a polished, low upside bat - not a surprising choice given the risk on our other two picks. Gotta wonder if we're trying to save money for something, but for what? Why go for a polished, low upside bat in the 3rd round?

Obviously I'm not a talent evaluator nor have I scouted any of these players, but I do get a little worried with a pick like May that the Sox are overvaluing him because of his speed. KW has always had a thing for leadoff hitters and given his involvement in the draft this year I could see this being a pick he heavily influenced. Speed is obviously a great tool to have, but not when it comes at the expense of all power and I'm still not sure KW realizes this.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 12:39 PM) I would think May is another underslot guy? That's kind of what I was thinking.

Baseball America had Jacob May ranked 200th overall.

Phillies take Cord Sandberg who was rated 40th overall by BA.

Two picks to go. Hopefully they keep going with high upside prospects.

How much time between picks? Still a minute?

Sounds like Anderson was the BPA when the Sox selected him and that they would have taken him over J.P. Crawford. Glad to see they weren't just targeting a SS with their pick and that they actually wanted Anderson all along.

http://m.mlb.com/cws/news/article/2013060649835322/

Keenyn Walker playing very well over his last 10 games, hopefully a sign of things to come. .306/.419/.472/.891 with 5 BB & 8 K

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 10:43 PM) My sentiments exactly. Perhaps the Sox are now truly picking who they think is the BPA as opposed to what's relatively safe and will move through the system fast. Certainly seems that way with Hawkins, Anderson, and now Danish. Walker and Mitchell to an extent as well. One also wonders if this is alluding to the dismantling of the major league roster, as these certainly aren't reinforcements that are going to contribute soon. Last year was definitely a big change in direction. They took 7 high school players in their first 18 picks. Obviously Hawkins & Barnum were their first two picks, but they also took Basto in the 5th, Barraza in the 7th, and went overslot with Ayala in the 17th. It's going to be fun seeing guys at Bristol who are finally age appropriate for their league and actually have some talent. They may not be able to contribute in the pros for a good five years, but I'll take their potential any day of the week over some college seniors with little chance of being more than organizational filler.

It's refreshing to see us consider high school pitchers early in the draft, even if they are fairly risky. David Holmberg (2009), Nevin Griffith (2007), & Gio Gonzalez (2004) are the only HS pitchers we've selected in the first two rounds in the past 10 years.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 10:26 PM) I thought you had a certain pool of say $5M to sign your first 10 picks or something. I thought I recalled some teams drafted guys w/ hard college committments so they could spend the money on tougher picks. Has that changed? I'm pretty sure each of your top 10 picks is slotted a certain bonus and if you fail to sign them, that money is removed from your total bonus pool. Obviously you'll get a pick back the following year and additional bonus as a result. Now, some teams are going underslot on their 1st round picks in order to take a big name with 2nd round and compensation picks.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 10:24 PM) Danish is 47 out of 50 on Sickels pitcher list. 96 on BA's top 100.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 10:22 PM) OMG what horrible mechanics by the guy the Sox just drafted. I kind of hope he fulfills his college commitment and gives the Sox overslot $$ If you don't sign the player, you lose the money.

I wouldn't mind a high school positional prospect. Two highest rated I believe on BA's top 100 list: 38 Oscar Mercado, ss, Gaither HS, Tampa 40 Cord Sandberg, of, Manatee HS, Bradenton, FL