Eminor3rd

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 03:38 PM) Because if you already are playing 1b in college, you likely already don't have the type of tools to be a star in the MLB. Right. You have to feel like the bat is REALLY special to believe it's going to work. Not just "well this is the best bat that happens to be on the board as of today."

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 02:23 PM) "A dime, a dozen" is just a figure of speech, of course. What I was attempting to say is that it doesn't require a lot of talent, or money, to acquire them. If you need a serviceable player, he is usually available. It's the big run producers that demand significant talent, in return, if a team attempts to trade for them, or acquire them through free agency. The point though is that they have a chance to be something much better than their mean projection. Anyone whose MEAN projection is "big league run producer" is going to go #1 overall.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Jun 8, 2017 -> 06:35 PM) There are currently only 13 1b in the league with an OPS over .800. Only 11 last year at the end of the season. I think many on this board are too worried about position value over getting the best bat available. It's not that -- it's how rarely college 1b prospects actually work out. The vast majority of big league first baseman were drafted at other positions and just grew out of them.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 02:18 PM) Yah, nothing more exciting than a guy OPSing .692 in his 2nd trip through AA as 27 year old!! Alan Hanson is a guy everyone on here wanted a few years back in a trade. Trying to think of who it was we were looking to move at the time at Pittsburgh was rumored as interested. Peavy maybe? Probably Peavy, yeah.

Man, this dude used to be such an exciting prospect.

Love this series. Thank you.

Yeah I'm pumped that our homestand ends Sunday, I'll actually have the evening off to follow the draft.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 7, 2017 -> 12:56 PM) Don't you realize you draftniks are falling for the biggest cliche in sports: Only caring about the future. Wanting the quarterback who never plays to take over. The unknown is always more mysterious and better than the known. You want the best possible draftee. You are all assuming your front office will take the right guy, sign the right guy, develop the right guy. Give me a winning team now. Give me all wins NOW. I'll take as many wins as we can get because a.) I don't care about the draft one iota. Whatever player we get, fine, I'll read the hype on him one day and hope to see him in the big leagues. In the meantime, give me wins now and give me free agents. The money the team spends? They should spend a TON considering what they are charging fans for food, drink and tickets and parking. I am much less front office friendly than most of you who trust our team to pick the right guy. There's always an excuse. Gee if the team on the field would have lost 2 more games we wouldn't have taken Rodon we'd have had Benetendi!!! Why didn't the team just lose 10 more that year?" Man I'm glad I'll never think that way. I want wins each night they take the field. Even this pathetic team. Give me a win tonight. We all want to win now, greg, but what you are advocating for flat-out DOESN'T WORK in today's game. The examples are everywhere. The league has worked WAY too hard on creating parity by disincentivizing the act of throwing money at players. There's simply too much value to be had in controllable, pre-free agent stars. It's called the meta-game, greg. The dinosaurs are dead. You gotta evolve or become extinct. All that said, I don't root for losses either. If we're conducting the rebuild correctly (and I believe that we basically are), any value we lose in a poorer draft position will be made up by the better-than-expected performances that led to the additional wins. At the end of the day though, the draft IS crucial to us getting back to the post-season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 7, 2017 -> 12:56 PM) A lot of people would rather tank than pick 29th. Literally nobody here would rather tank than end up with the second best record in baseball.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2017-top-al...act-performers/

This draft class seems weak overall, and the second tier or talent seems to comprise pretty much picks 6-20. This is a year where I can't say I have a strong opinion -- it's just going to come down to who the Sox think is the best. Everyone that has any chance to fall to us has as many warts as virtues.

He's 2-4 years away.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 2, 2017 -> 10:05 AM) Tim Dierkes‏ @mlbtrwhitesox 12h12 hours ago Slow Start From Quintana May Not Hurt Trade Value Much http://dlvr.it/PJ5Q5Y #whitesox #mlb Perhaps this is why: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jose-quinta...un-suppression/

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 1, 2017 -> 02:48 PM) Did you watch the game? They didn't exactly crush him. I don't know if they want him or not, but the dinks they hit off him wouldn't exactly scare them off. Yeah that was an extremely frustrating sequence of hits to watch.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 31, 2017 -> 01:28 PM) I don't know if this is true. How many low power guys become high power guys? How many slow guys become fast guys? Weak arm guys become strong arm? Seems reductive, but I'd bet hit tool actually develops better than those. Fielding I'd say is probably the most likely to improve, as we hear players are just not getting the reps in prep. What's more likely, is can you afford to be really bad in an any one area and still be anything more than a role player/spot starter? Of those that are still really good, I'd bet they are great at speed and fielding. Or, they have a great hit tool/power, but you have to put them at DH. I think a question is whether a guy with 50s across the board and 55 speed is more likely to blossom into a star than a guy with a 40 hit tool hitting enough to make his other skills worth it and be a star. Maybe if we draft Logan Warmouth we are definitely getting a Major League infielder. Or maybe we'd just be getting a Brett Lawrie slashline and are constantly hoping for a star in their place. I wouldn't describe those you listed as "fixable flaws." However, I agree that maybe the better way to frame it is "if you have one awful tool, which is the one that hurts the most?" And I'd say it's hit tool.

You keep playing him, IMO. At the deadline, you simply move him for the best offer you receive, even if it's disappointing. There is plenty of time after the deadline for Davidson to get everyday ABs.

Of all the "fixable" flaws for prospects to have entering their pro careers, it sure seems like "making contact" comes with the highest bust rate. I don't know if that's actually true overall, but it definitely seems to be in our organization.

It's impossible to have a legitimate opinion on whether or not to trade Quintana without knowing the offers on the table -- both during this past offseason and during the coming trade deadline season. That said, we DO need more prospects. We have a lot of good ones now, but not nearly enough to account for attrition. As much I love Quintana, we're not to the point where we can start looking at current stars and realistically expecting them to be stars for our next contender. We very much still need to be in asset collection mode if we're going to do this the right way.

Stay the course

I think Sale will most likely slay us, as he appears to be in the midst of a peak season -- but I'm hoping he gets himself worked up and overthrows and starts walking guys. Of the two, I trust Quintana to stay calm under pressure more, though whether or not the difference will be enough to overcome Sale's raw power remains to be seen. This will be fun one, in that it's a win to root for in a year when most wins don't matter. And our homestand ends on Monday, so I'm actually going to be able to watch the whole game live. I'm excited.

For me, it's the same as always. I want them to win every game I'm watching. It's just easier to shrug off the losses and harder to get excited for the win streaks. Pay more attention to the minor leagues. You can watch all the games now via milb.tv if you want. I'm biased because I work in the minors -- but the games at the full season level are just as exciting. The crowd is smaller but typically more engaged. The world doesn't care about their championships, but the players absolutely do.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 27, 2017 -> 12:09 PM) Wile e coyote, heroes, you are so clever. Keep on professing, professor Straight battle rap going on here.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 23, 2017 -> 04:47 PM) His Luis Robert scouting report has jack-all to do with the White Sox, same with Chris Sale, he's a hard-headed, highly opinionated ex-scout with a large platform.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 25, 2017 -> 12:57 PM) I really really really want to want Kendall, but in the future sox forum we found an article on strikeout rates in college and success correlationa nd he was in the tier beyond mark reynolds. I just don't know if he can do it. I'm with you.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 24, 2017 -> 09:40 AM) I'm glad you say it's an issue as you are a great writer. I just am amazed and shocked when people discuss pitchers for the Hall and bring up wins still. I think it's just that there's never a clean cut-off of power in these things. The current crop of voters is pretty divided on a lot of things, which leads to no one getting in.