thxfrthmmrs

That's a good point. But the new CBA is trying to guide the teams to allocate a certain amount of money on the draft. The bonus pool as of now ranges from $4.5 mil to $11.5 mil, it will change before the draft, depending on the number of picks a teams has. But teams can still spend less than or over the limit of the range, with a penalty. Teams can still go over slot in latter rounds to sign a player, mostly likely if they are still within the bonus pool. I don't think the Sox would spend $3 mil again in the next draft, I am wondering how much are they willing to spend on the draft to rebuild.

This off season, Kenny Williams has finally decided to go into the rebuilding mode. But you cannot rebuild without a strong farm system. Realistically, the Sox aren't going to compete as long as the contracts of Rio/Dunn/Peavy are still in the books, and we aren't likely to sign any impact free agents for the foreseeable future. The only way to rebuild this team is to trade away pieces like Danks, Floyd, CQ and hope for a haul of prospects in return. At the same time, we also need to replenish our really weak and thin farm system through the draft. And we are known to never spend on the draft. We spent less than $3 million on the draft this year, though given, we didn't have an actual first round pick, but it is still really shameful. The total MLB spending on the draft this year is over $230 million. So will JR and KW finally opt to shell out big bucks during the next draft and sign some HS kids with exciting potential? Will it be over or under $6 million?

If he continues to develop the way he did this year, and judging by a few videos of his swing and the scouting report, he has a pretty good chance of continuing to do so, he could get a cup of tea by the end of 2013, maybe not as a catcher, but as a 1B or DH. So if he reaches the major at 25/26, he would have a 7-8 year window to be productive. He by no means is a top prospect given his age, but what I am saying he has a better chance of becoming a productive player at the majors than most players on this list. Personally, I can see him being a .290 hitter, 20+ HRs, and has decent eye at the plate.

In the case of Kevan Smith. I still see him as a prospect because his baseball age is relatively young. People often confuse actual age vs baseball age and doesn't take into account how long the player has been playing the game for. Since Kevan Smith didn't start playing baseball full time until not too long ago, he still has the chance to learn and improve at age 24, which frankly, is the definition of a prospect. If a player who has been playing pro baseball since they are 17, and is still at Smith's level at 24, then they are non prospect. For the same very reason, I still consider Jared Mitchell a good prospect. Smith is projected as a very good contact hitter with above average power if he pans out, the only question is whether he can stick at the catcher position. You wouldn't rule out Sergio Santos' prospect as a pitcher after he just converted from SS to pitcher and can throw a 99 MPH fastball right? I think Kevan Smith is flying under the radar in this organization, which could be a good thing, and he could turn out to be a better player than most players on this list.

After watching the Clippers Lakers tonight, does anyone feel that Billups would be a better fit at SG for the Bulls than Hamilton if the Bulls had a shot at him? To start off, he is a very efficient player and scorer, no matter what his FG% suggests because he only takes smart shots. He is still an ace three point shooter, Rip is not. I believe he shot 39% from the arc since joining Detroit. Second, he can handle a lot better than Rip, and can create for himself. He can sometimes play the point and let Derrick play off guard and go off. Also, he is big and strong for a PG, at this stage of his career, he is better at checking 2s than 1s. If the Bulls' biggest roadblock is Miami, then Billups can check Wade better than Rip can. Lastly, Billups was the Final MVP and Mr. Big Shot, if it comes down to the last shot, we would have another option other than Derrick to go to. Overall, I just think Billups compliment Derrick very well in this starting lineup. If the Bulls only had a shot at Big Shot.

He's 6'7 and he from DR, Who knows if he's actually 17 or not

First Gordon Beckham, and now J-Hey and Freddie Freeman, if both fails next season, they have Walk to blame.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 3, 2011 -> 07:46 AM) If we have to get salary down to $90 million or below this may be the only option...but a rotation with Stewart and Axelrod as your 4-5 starters is highly unlikely to be competitive next year. Especially when you factor in the fact that Sale can't be expected to go past 150 innings even if he's stellar and Peavy might well hurt himself in Feb. for all we know. I personally do not have much faith in Stewart, but judging from Axelrod's minor league track record and his cup of tea this year, I think he could end up being a nice 4th starter for this team. But since we have Humber in the bullpen as insurance, if either of Axelrod or Stewart falters, I think Humber should be given a chance to prove himself once more. As far as pitching rotation depth is concerned, if we are trading Q, D1, Floyd, and Thorton, I would expect us to net a few close to major league ready starting pitching prospects back. Based on our attendance this year, I think you are right on with our cap situation this year. Getting to around $90 million means Danks and perhaps Floyd won't be back next year. What we have in house right now may be question marks, but in reality, I don't think the drop off is that big from this year.

Our biggest asset right now is our mid rotation to back rotation guys. I think that we can trade both Floyd and Danks and still boast a decent rotation. Starting Pitchers: Buehrle Peavy Sale Stewart Axelrod Bullpen: Santos Reed Crain Humber Santiago Ohman Free agent/prospect Trading Thorton will save us some money and get a decent 'spect in return. I think the AL has figured this guy out. We need to put Humber in the pen over Stewart and Axelrod because Humber can give you 5 decent innings on most days, but his effectiveness is gone by the 6th or 7th. Lineup De Aza Beckham Konerko Tank Dunn Rios AJ Alexei Morel Bench: Lillibridge Escobar Flowers 5th outfielder (D2 will probably be gone along with D1) This lineup looks really weak on paper, especially with Paulie aging, it probably won't get us anywhere. But if Beckham finally figures out under a new hitting coach, De Aza continues to play like he did this year, Dunn and Rios come back to norm, then we might just have a shot at competing. Trade Candidates: Quentin, Thorton, Dank, and Floyd. Hopefully these trades will haul back some decent corner infield prospects, and a couple of good pitching prospect to replenish our system. Now, if we could get Mitchell, Walker, Thompson and K Smith to pan out...

I am going to go KLaw on this one. When was the last time the Sox took a HS player in the first round? 2000? I think it will be a safe bet college arm, Brian Johnson.

Holy s***, Blake Jake Drake number 12 is a man amongst boys out there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2011 -> 10:22 AM) the Sox as an organization push many prospects through. This isn't unusual. See also Jared Mitchell. Really? Are we comparing the Williams brothers to Mitchell now? Mitchell has legit first round talent, missed a year due to injury. They are pushing him to try to get the ROI of a high pick. Do you really think the Williams brothers merit a push solely due to their talent? Jr would be lucky to even be a 10-15 round pick back in the draft, and TW is a UFA.

I find it funny how you people are defending Tyler Williams right now. But I think there will be plenty of people b**** about him when he is under performing in Low A next season. The thing with the Williams brothers is they will be given more opportunity to move up and play everyday than other prospects, and they might even be significantly worse than the said prospects. Jr should still be in low A right now, if he still deserves to be in the system.

When your big league team lost yet another frustrating game, and your entire farm system had losing days, you can't really be optimistic about the future.

Well at least he can still tweet about it on his phone, so his hand is fine?

We need to Bale indeed! And I would trade Alex Rios for any female! Btw, this thread has officially been hijacked. /thread.

In other words, we flipped the Great 24 year old Daniel Hudson for 33 year old Jason Frasor? Terrribbbbleee! I don't understand the logic of trading a starter away if we are going to compete now. If trade goes through, we will be down to 5 starters plus Sale. And I am not sure if anyone will put faith in Peavy to stay healthy for the rest of the year, not to mention his strings of bad starts after the complete game. Unless there is a trade for another starter (Beachy?) on the horizon, if Peavy goes down, we would have to replace him with someone from Triple A. But wouldn't it be a less risky move if we replace a reliever from Triple A? P.S. Brian Bruney has been a very good RHP out of the pen lately.

Is Rangel Ravelo any good? Kind of ring the bell as Jon Gilmore. Young 3B, good contact hitter with minimal power.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Jun 30, 2011 -> 12:37 AM) The guy who hits first is only guaranteed to leadoff once a game. In the AL it's best to have a good obp in front of yhope boppers. We need to score runs. The slappy NL crap is why we have a hell of a time scoring runs. Konerko needs protection more than guillen needs a Jerry Owens clone up top. So who do you want in the lead of spot if we replace Pierre with Viceido? Yes, we would prefer a guy with good OBP in the lead spot, but who do we have? Konerko, Quentin, AJ or Viceido? Do you want any of those guys leading off? Those are really stationed slow footed guys who are not going to help you on the base paths. Didn't we just moved away from the live and die by the home run model and tried to incorporate more speed into the lineup a few years ago? I don't see a team that currently sports a good offense in the majors without a legit lead off hitter in the lineup. We have guys who have a little bit more speed, in Rios, Beckham, Lilibridge, Morel, and Alexei. Those guys outside of Alexei are not hitting well enough to merit the top spot. So I am just saying why replace Viceido with Pierre and having to reshuffle your whole batting order, when you can just swap Pierre with Milledge. At this point, Milledge still have good potential and could fill the lead off hitter admirably. If we bring up Viceido, we have to replace Dunn with him in the lineup.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 30, 2011 -> 12:07 AM) Lastings Milledge has the capability of turning into an average to slightly above average bat. Dayan Viciedo has the chance to be the f***ing 5 hitter on this team. I know who I am playing in LF. If/when they get eliminated, you can dick around with it, but Viciedo is the only option at this point in time. We are getting terrible production from our lead off spot. Viceido is not gonna solve that problem unless we put him in Dunn's spot. If we replace Pierre with Viceido, who is gonna lead off for us? Alexei? Lillibridge? Rios? We can just easily swap Pierre with Milledge and try to address the lead off spot issue. I like Viceido, but we can't put him in LF unless we can find a passable lead off option from another position. Also, I am not completely sure on this, but Milledge's defense in any of the outfield spots has got to be better than what Viceido has to offer.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 11:37 AM) Walker is hitting .250/.357/.375 in the Alaskan Summer League with 10 SO's and 3 BB's through 24 at bats. Even thought it's the summer league, but it's Alaskan, he just hasn't heat up yet

We weren't a good first half team this season. But if guys like Dunn, Rios, Pierre and Beckham can get back up during the second half, we would easily top our first half winning % in the second half.

Lastings Milledge continues to hit. Average climbing up to .280 while sporting a great K/BB ratio, and good numbers on the base paths. I would like to see them bring him up and give him a few days at LF and lead off to see what he can do. He has had great potential a few years back, and I think he can still turn into an everyday player in the majors.

Quitely, Lastings Milledge is hitting .421 with a 1.12 OPS in the last ten games.

Mirotic is more comparable to Stojakovic and Gallinari than Kukoc. However, I do think he will be a slightly better defender, athlete, and passer than both. I think in a couple years once he rounds out as a player, he will be an excellent trading asset if the Bulls decide not to keep him.