Boopa1219

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 10:36 PM) Trading Q only creates another hole in a starting rotation that already has at least one hole. Rodin would replace Q in the rotation.

Know what or whom would bring in a lot of quality position player prospects into the system... Jose Quintana.

And Simon Bolivar

If you follow Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs on twitter, you should play close attention because they have been named dropping top prospects for the 2015 INTL Signing Period. (Fidel Castro and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) I might make a new thread to keep track.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 04:28 PM) these guys who makes these list as an easy and enviable position. we are all baseball fans, we also like talking about prospect and draft. we are ranked amateurs who does this as a labor of love. with that, these guys on this site are extremely good at this. so with this draft coming up next yr. it is hard to grade, harder than any in the past that I can remember. but what the hell do I know. this draft, the elite talen 1-4 are college pitchers. the next couple are a mix with hs positional talent and middle of the rd pitchers. then comes a good mix of college outfield and hs pitchers. I really do wish the sox had 2 picks in the 4-8 picks and then another in the 12-16 pick oh well I guess I can wish all I can. now for the sox brass identifying their needs and what is avail. for my thoughts I will probably make a decision some time in Nov. They weren't even high on the college pitchers that are expected to go early.

Baseball America is really down on the overall crop of college players in this draft class. They say all the elite talent, with an exception of a few are all high schoolers. Strengths of the draft class are: HS Athletes and Hs Pitching (Velocity).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 11:26 AM) I'll go with more general guidelines as opposed to more confined and restrictive moves you've made. YEPS 1) Do attempt to buy low on talented players. These are players who will be discounted somewhat who won't require long-term deals and can provide some insane value both for the Sox and on the trade market. The optimal guy on the free agent market is Colby Rasmus as he fits the Sox needs for another outfielder while offering insane upside to the Sox. He's very much a TTO player, which will turn a lot of guys off, but the upside is high enough to warrant a gamble. 2) Do whatever you can to trade John Danks. He's been discussed quite often, and at the deadline I was on the side of keeping him as it didn't make sense to eat money and get rid of him, but I think this team is a lot closer to competing than even I realized. They're likely going to end up eating most of his contract, but there are ways around that, primarily eating another bad contract that the Sox can find some value in. When looking at possible returns, I look at the Sox needs - outfielder, rotation arm, and bullpen arms - and figure out which is most a trade that can be made. I don't know the exact team, but someone with bad contracts and a need for starting pitching. My gut right now tells me Philadelphia is a possible place to trade with a guy like Domonic Brown coming back, but who knows. 3) In coordination with 2, do bring in a good starting pitcher. Again, this is not shedding all the prospects and bringing in a guy like Cueto or signing James Shields to a mega contract, but acquire a solid 3 WAR starting pitcher, essentially a quality #3. Even if you have to spend a bit of money, this will be worth it as the additions of Rodon and said guy can add a total of perhaps 6 WAR to the rotation. That is a team that is competing. NOPES 1) Do not spend a lot of money on part-time players. This includes relievers. With the amount of decent depth the club as well as the number of options the Sox should be able to acquire for cheap, there is no reason to give a Keppinger or Linebrink type of contract out this offseason. Just continue looking for talented non-tenders and waiver claims and keep moving forward. This does not mean don't show interest - there are guys out there who would be worth multi-year deals at the right price (such as Andrew Miller) - but be cautious. 2) Similar to 1 in the yeps, do not buy players at their highest value. This kind of works against Russell Martin, who I think is a special case, but in general, this will only result in negative cost-value. The Sox, currently, are not at a point where they need a guys such as that. Perhaps following the 2015 or 2016 season they can look towards those moves. 3) Do not "blow the load" this offseason. There is no need to spend a huge sum of money on a free agent, nor is there any reason to trade a huge package of minor leaguers for a major leaguer. Keep the ship steady, make incremental upgrades, and put forth the most talented roster you can without making brash or irrational moves. The Sox are not ready for that yet. What is hard-on obsession that you guys have with Colby Rasmus? I do not want him any wear near a sox uniform.

I like him at first base, I think he could be a better defender there than Abreu who is really solid with the glove.

Why can't we loose.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 10:10 AM) Do you think Rick will switch things up this year and try to trade a package including several young players to try to fill a big league role? Absolutely not, because if he decided to do so then all the work that the team has done on rebuilding the team from within, especially the renewed focus on scouting and player development would be for nothing. The Sox have greatly improved their system, and added some impact players to the farm (They have a great young group of pitchers), it would a shame to see several of these guys gone for some ML on a bloated contract.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 09:06 AM) Any feedback, from those who listened? I think it was much improved from the first two. I think I posted my idea for the podcast, in which you guys spend an entire show talking about individual prospects, and affiliates.

Loved the podcast, but I think as a way to generate content during the off season, you guys should do podcast that focus on individual prospects.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 06:34 AM) anyone and everyone will be right but those prospects may fall to the 2 round. where the sox is picking, 6-11, I will still have to go with Ian Happ. of course everything is dependent on how the sox will identify their needs. the Ace pitchers will not be there. there are some 2nd tier pitchers who may be there 1 college and 1 hs'er. again the question, will the sox pick a hs'er. that leaves positional players and again I am using todays needs. that is why I will pick Happ. he may be the next eaton with a little more power and will play the outfield. I will like to see how things develop over the course of the yr with other prospect making a name for themselves. Just going by what you said, let's talk as if we're drafting by need (I am a huge proponent of best player available), but comparing Happ and Tucker side by side, I would rather have Tucker because the Sox need to start developing impact bats to go along with their core of young pitchers, as opposed to speedsters.

I would take Kyle Tycker if the draft were today, he has the frame and a swing that rivals Ted Williams and he is a true 5 star talent, but his comps are crazy Strawberry, Griffey jr, Strawberry. I also like Greg Picket, and Garrett Wolforth who was mentioned as being a possible top 2016 pick. If the sox draft him, I would keep him in extended spring training all year and just have him polish his game and work on his frame just like the Astros did with Correa because he will only be 17 on draft day, his tools behind the plate are rated at 7/8 and that's too good to pass up. He could be a elite prospect.

I have a few: Based on what you've seen from the Sox on the Latin America department, how beneficial has Marco Paddy been to the ordanization's long term health and future? What do you think of Micker Zapata, after his first professional season? (I think he will be a superstar for the Sox down the line) Are you pleased with Courtney Hawkins and his performance this year, and what do you see for him going forward? What do you think of the Sox's crop of young pitching in the minors (Rodon, Adams, Danish, Montas, and Martinez), and what kind of pitchers do they profile as being?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) This is why I haven't been a "tanking" proponent at all this year. If were legitimately in conversation for top 3, it would be different, but the difference between 6 and 9 or whatever is not even close to as valuable as the breakouts of our current players that might lead to more winning. It is as valuable as you get to have a larger bonus pool, and more money to spend on INTL amateur free agents which is extremely valuable. And like Theo Epstein always says, if I am not making the playoffs les loose as many games as possible and get the highest drwft pick possible.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 09:42 AM) So you'd rather have a gaggle of Eduardo Escobars or Cleuluis Rondons playing 1B throughout the minor league system? That seems to essentially be what you're arguing for. Teams do try and find as many versatile and athletic players as possible at prime positions - Dan Black played some catcher, and both Ravelo and Wilkins have played 3B. They have proven to be inadequate at those positions. Someone still has to play 1B, and they liked those guys' bats enough, so they moved them over to 1B. If they didn't like their defense or their bat, they'd be released, not just stowed away at 1B. Every single organization does this. The White Sox 1B depth is fine. They have depth but not best collection of prospects or a single 'legit' prospect the position. And no, Andy Wilkins does not count.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Sep 8, 2014 -> 11:03 PM) Really thinking our offseason is going to be a trade, a LF in FA (Melky), and a bullpen piece or two Melky BARF

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 07:31 PM) Except we would lose him in 2017 and have to find another big bat just when we are in the middle of our prime contention window. So unless it's three years...but then fifty or sixty million over three years seems completely ill-advised. They wont start contending till 2016, 2015 I expect them to go .500

Not a stock up/stock down, but these are the top prospects in my opinion. Rodon, Anderson, Hawkins, Montas, Danish, Adams, Martinez, Michalczewski, Adolfo, Rondon.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 04:19 PM) To me, his stock is pretty damn up. That doesn't mean all is well - it is a relative thing, compared to say, March. His HR total was identicontribute last year, though in more plate appearances. He did that while dropping his K rate substantially to a reasonable level, and dramatically increasing his hitting and walk rate. That's a big turnaround, and I just can't see how his stock is anything but up. What you seem to be getting at is, is it up ENOUGH? Which is a different question. Also, you do realize that 30 HR in A+ is a huge number for any player, let alone a 20 year old at that level. You know how many players hit 30 home runs in the CAR this year? Zero. The most was Joey Gallo, who hit 21 (then hit 21 more in the Texas League because he is not human). Guess who was second in the entire league? Hawkins.. Bravo, Bravo. A player that I am really excited for is Micker Adolfo, who really impressed me with his stint with the AZL squad. I know that during the last 10 games of the season that he was struggling at the plate, but I would contribute that towards him hitting a wall physically rather than his abilities at the plate. Take away the last ten games of the year and he batted .232, with 13 walks to go against 64 strikeouts. You have to keep in mind that he comes from a showcase background and that his body is not used to this kind of grind yet. I know he batted .218 on the year, but he will not turn 18 for another two weeks. Give this kid more time to develop and the Sox will have a monster prospect on thier hands.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 12:57 AM) I am very surprise that Ryan Mountcastle is not listed in the first round. but with mountcastle, tucker and hooper, all 3 are very good hs'ers. question is will the sox use a 1 rounder on a hs'er. moountcastle sound like a name from a 14 century knights movie. They have before, most recently in 2012. If you want you could consider 2013 and Tim Anderson too since he was a 19 year old JuCo player.

The guy who bats second gets the most plate appearances.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 01:05 AM) When? Where? Sounds like you decided you hope he bats second, and tried to shoehorn in the 'Garcia is patient' part. If it is patience and ability to steal some bases, Sanchez and Semien fit the bill better than Garcia. You do not need to draw walks to be a patient hitter, you can work counts to raise the pitchers's pitch total. During his rookie year last year he did just that and he did it again before he was injured. Again did you read the article, you want a guy who can drive in runs batting second, Garcia dose that better than Semien and Sanchez. Hell, you can bat VMart second, but I would rather have Garcia there because he can be a respectable threat on the base paths behind Eaton. I added the part about him stealing bases because it was something that I failed to address and I wanted to add it in case anyone had any concerns about the team with that line up being a station to station team, which is something that the team has been moving away from.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 12:48 AM) I meant the content too. Garcia isn't a patient hitter. Garcia, while he dose not walk at a high rate and he has been very aggressive at the plate since coming back from injury, he has shown the ability to go deep into counts and work the pitcher. Another reason why he should bat second, is that he does some some speed and he can steal 15 bags a year.