BlackSox13

QUOTE (ptatc @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 10:11 AM) That's how Billy Wagner learned to pitch lefty. He is a righty but fractured his right arm before a baseball season so he learned to throw lefty and was better at it so he stuck with it. No kidding? I did not know that. While I got ya here. In the thread " its that time of year" in the Sox forums were discussing Aiken and his smaller UCL. Since you know a lot about this kind of stuff what are your thoughts on the kids UCL. The question of drafting him came up if he was available and so did his UCL. Can youmshed some light on this? It would be Much appreciated.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 03:20 AM) You're assuming he's 100% healthy next year. Look at what happened with Hoffman, Fedde, etc., just in the last 6 weeks or so before the draft...I think there was one other guy that was ouchy too, maybe it was Finnegan or Evansville's pitcher. There is no assumption, he is healthy. Its just the smaller UCL is what is in question here. Hoffaman was picked #10 by the Jays after TJ surgery so teams have shown a willingness to take that chance. One could make a case for Aiken based on the fact he's only 18.

No comments? Wtf! Some of those pics make me think Sale is a contortionist. I think his lanky body is why he can do what he does, or part the reason anyway. Very good read, thanks Wite.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 05:06 PM) I thought it was fairly concise. Besides I like to think of the people who read my posts as "victims." Seriously though how awesome would it be to get that caliber of pitching prospect 1 year after Rodon? "The best college lefty since Price" followed by "the best high-school lefty in a decade" or whatever it was they said about Aiken. And we could thank the Houston Astros for both. I think if this happens & we get Aiken + Rodon in consecutive years we should all send personalized Christmas cards to the Astros FO. We can also send some of our old/worn out WS Championship memorabilia as a token of our thanks, you know since they didn't get to enjoy any of that themselves cuz we beat them. Ya know, one thing I have not considered is money. I just realized that I have caught myself saying no to Aiken with that 6.5M price tag in my head that he initially agreed to. The Sox are currently sitting in the 9th slot for the 2015 draft. In 2014 that slot allotment was a tick over 3M. Due to the undersized UCL ligament i dont think Aiken will be worth slot value BUT, if Aiken slipped to the Sox in the 9th spot and was willing to accept say 2.5M or less, I can see taking the chance since it would allow for a chance at an over slot to someone else. In the end it won't matter since its likely that some team ahead of the Sox will take the chance on him. If teams will draft pitchers that just had TJ surgery then Aiken will be drafted as well.

Good grief TUC. It took all that to say you disagree and would take Aiken?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 12:07 PM) If I were thinking about drafting him, I would ask for his medicals ahead of time. If he refused, I wouldn't draft him early. QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 12:32 PM) Nope, because that means the Astros weren't the only time that thought his ligament issue was potentially devastating. An undersized UCL in the pitching elbow has trouble written all over it. I'm with you guys. Caulfield, where ya at? I know you followed this pretty closely, probably more than anyone on this board! I definitely want to hear what you have to say on this cause I know you got knee deep into the Aiken/ Astros stuff.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 11:25 AM) So wait there's actually a real prospect out there who is ambidexerhoweveryouspellit? That's cool. Is he legit or is all Axelroddy? Click the for baseball America I put up. It has a video of the kid pitching with both arms.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 07:33 AM) If he was sitting there around picks 9-10 and still thought of fairly highly you wouldn't be interested? Nope. As I said in the post you quoted, their will be other options.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 08:38 PM) I'm not really even looking at who the top picks are yet, since it will change so much between now and then. I don't believe there is even a consensus #1 at this point either. Agreed. Last year at this time Rodon was the early #1 and considered the only player in the top tier. That did not change until roughly half way through the 2014 amateur season with Aiken and Kolek shooting up the the board in the mock drafts and passing Rodon. Before that nobody thought the Sox had a chance at Rodon slipping to #3. QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 08:51 PM) I want nothing to do with Aiken I have to agree with you and I was hoping the Sox were going to have a shot at drafting him in June. After the reports on the ligament in his elbow, I'll pass as there will be other options. QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 08:56 PM) You speak the truth. Cheers!

Funny thing in all this rooting for wins or losses is that no matter which way you root for, it has zero impact on if the Sox actually win or lose so I fail to see what the complaining is about if some fans choose to hope for a higher draft pick.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 03:29 PM) Kind of odd that most of the ABs in that video featured a R-L matchup. I wonder if that is his team utilizing splits, or if maybe he starts and finishes a game all from one side? I'm not sure. I didn't notice until you mentioned it. I was kind of preoccupied with the movement of his pitches. I honestly was not expecting that good of movement. Interesting idea is that he could close his own games. I really like that his father forced him to throw left handed. Baseball aside I think its good to teach kids how to use both hands, arms and legs, not just one or the other.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) I was reading fan graph on their mock draft. an interesting prospect pop up. have any ever heard of a baseball pitcher pitching with both arms? Thanks for bringing him up.I had not heard of him and I'm not all that far from Hampshire. Found this at BA on him and a video. http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/cap...cus-ryan-perez/ Kid shows pretty good off speed stuff and movement on the FB. Very interesting!

Yeah, and some want to trade Q? There's a reason Hahn put Q on the no trade list last winter and this season shows why. Great game and season Q! Edit: What is that breaking ball Q throws? Sometimes it looks like a slider, others it looks a little like a curve and others I'm just not sure. Any idea?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 10:43 PM) How about Walker Buehler at #4 dropping to us to form the beanpole brigade with Sale. That's the kid I've been high on since I looked at video of him last week. Pretty impressive, IMO.

I'm not cheering for wins or losses. At this point I'm just trying to enjoy White Sox baseball while it lasts. Its a long off season. No matter what I cheer for it won't affect the outcome one bit so I fail to see the problem with someone who cheers for wins or loses. When the Sox lose I prefer to look at the bright side which is the potential for a higher draft pick in 2015.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 02:59 PM) Lame. I was planning an early Friday night drinking on my couch. Now I'm going to have to go OUT to drink. Could always drink while watching Gerrit Cole strike out some cub prospects in Pitt tonight. Its not Sox baseball but its something. I agree though, this sucks but I understand since the rain will continue into tonight according to weather forecasts. The temp is going to bet rather cold as well. Burr.

Interesting points made in the article, well written I think. Dunn is gone and that's that. I feel as though I've b****ed enough in the past so it would be pointless now. I wish him well and hope he gets a chance at a playoff run with the A's.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 06:01 PM) Is there a full moon or something? Yeah, but that was two days ago. Don't take the bait, just slowly turn and walk away. I won't tell anyone you were here if you don't tell anyone that I was here.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 03:40 PM) Do you really think Renteria wouldn't want Bryant up getting comfortable at the major league level and determining where here his ultimate position should be defensively? Of course, every pitching coach, hitting coach and manager's going to want the best players up with the major league team....but business is always going to come ahead of all other priorities. Renteria, Bryant and the cubs have what to do with this? You do know about the cubs catch all thread don't you? Good f***ing grief! Anyway. Cooper has no say in this unless he is asked by his bosses Hahn, KW and JR. I'm sure there's perfectly good reasons why the Sox elected not to call up Rodon. Between college and the minors, Rodon has pitched about 124 innings this year as a 21 year old. No sense in pushing a kid that had high pitch counts in college, over used his slider in college and was drafted by a team that is going nowhere in 2014. Also want to point out that the college baseball season started back in mid February so its already been a long year for Carlos. This does not include the time Carlos spent doing baseball related workouts preparing for the college season. Patience Sox fans.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 01:17 AM) The Sox, in their unenviable minor league depth position, would be MUCH better off spending money than giving up premium minor league talent. If they were ALSO going to spend on a DH/LF (probably two hitters, ideally...one Wilkins/Dunn type and one more who's an above-average corner fielder) and spend at least $10-15 million on the bullpen, then I could get behind "going for it at least 50%" for 2015. Otherwise, you have to hold all those trading chips one more year. Because just adding McHugh still leaves you two hitters and a bullpen short of contention. Of course, I would love to have Shields...but at what cost? Masterson, if Cooper has identified a flaw/fix. Latos....maybe? Depends on what we have to give up. Leake and B-Mac would be less interesting, at least to me. Better off spending money on FA? No way. The Sox cannot fill all the holes by relying on FA. Trades will be necessary. Masterson is now an aging reclamation project that is currently making 10M and a big risk as to if he can ever rebound. That's one expensive project! Latos,lol, well he's going to cost more in prospects than McHugh! Yet with McHugh you say its better to hold prospects for one more year? Huh? Shields is going to be 33 and rather costly both in salary and years while he likely begins to decline. No thanks. BMAC will cost as well and is already 31. Again, no thanks. Leake is making just shy of 6M this year, getting a nice bump in salary this winter while he goes into his 2nd arbitration year and will be a free agent after 2016. Oh, and he's going to cost more in prospects than McHugh as well. Adding McHugh allows the Sox to fill a hole in the rotation thus saving the money that would be spent on a FA starter to be spent elsewhere like a higher priced position player via trade. It would give the Sox a better chance to be a contender in 2015. Honestly, I do not see where you're coming from.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 12:35 AM) McHugh reminds me of Phil Humber, who actually went to the Astros (along with Lucas Harrell) after leaving the Sox. Please, Humber never put up the numbers McHugh has this year. Take a look for yourself. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mchugco01.shtml I guess more expensive pitchers like BMac, Leake, Latos, Masterson, Shields etc. are better options? Yes, McHugh would cost a few prospects but the money not spent on an expensive starter could in turn be spent on the many holes the Sox have to fill and thats my point. Oh, and to those talking about McHugh being 27 and dfa. Hector Noesi says hello and I would also like to remind you of that the Sox are Hector's third team this season and most Sox fans are rather pleased with his progress. So please don't give me the age and dfa bulls***.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 11:58 PM) no freaking way b/c well he is own my top 10 list. Top ten or not, IMO, I see McHugh as a better option than BMac, Masterson, Bailey, Leake etc which are names that have been thrown around. That's where I'm coming from. I will say that after thinking about it this evening, I would not include Anderson but I have no problem with names like Montas, Danish and especially Hawkins being discussed. Who knows, maybe Bassitt would interest the Astros.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 10:18 PM) I haven't seen him or anything but IIRC on the radio they made it sound like McHugh is an overachiever type with pretty marginal stuff. Like their Carlos Torres or something. We'd need ceiling out of Montas/Danish etc. and if we're doing that then we need to think about Homer Bailey and those types. If you get a chance, check out some highlights from McHugh's starts. Dude has a wicked hook, a pretty nice slider and throws his fastball 90--92 with some sink. His numbers on the season are impressive. Another thing is that McHugh is cost effective and won't be a FA til 2020. Honestly, I take him over Bailey without thinking twice.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 09:15 PM) Hi, Jeff Luhnow here. You want McHugh? Your starting pitching depth sucks, you realize that? Well, at any rate, I would like Tim Anderson or a package of two of these guys (Hawkins/Montas/Danish). No, I DON'T want Davidson, Johnson or Semien, either. You can keep your so-called prospects/suspects. Rick Hahn. Gulp. Phone clicks. Fade to silence. Hey, if Luhnow would take two of Danish, Montas, Hawkins then I would pick those two kids up and drive them down to Houston myself and pick McHugh up and drive him back to Chicago. Honestly, I think it would take more than two of those three kids. I would consider Anderson depending on what else Luhnow wanted.

Since you guys are talking Astros, forget Castro and go after Collin McHugh. I'll take McHugh over signing BMAC or Masterson anytime. Not sure what it would take to get McHugh but I'm all over that s***! Sale, McHugh, Q, Noesi, Rodon with Carroll and Danks ( unless traded) as long men/ back ups in the pen.