Two-Gun Pete

If the bolded is/was true, then why not give him enough reps in AAA, so that when he arrives in Chicago, he's less "raw?" What purpose did it serve to bring up a guy who clearly was not done developing, and clearly had things to learn in MiLB, as evidenced by his numbers [particularly his splits in MiLB]? Insofar as "expectations," excuse me if I hate thinking to myself "Boy, I'd rather see Adam Engel as a RHH than Yoan Moncada." [And yes, I caught myself thinking that the other day as I watched Moncada utterly fail as a RHH.] Excuse us if we as fans can't even expect the Number-Fucking-One Prospect to become better than a 20 WRC+ as a RHH. [Honestly, look @ his splits and vomit sometime, when you have a need to vomit.] If this Org can't take The Number-Fucking-One Prospect, and make him into a well-above-average player, what's the point? In other words, how can we expect them to turn lesser prospects into actual MLB players?

This. Why was he brought up in such a rush last season, again? Does anyone else like seeing this? And this. The bumbling, incompetent front office's running joke of position player development has certainly gotten my attention. Them turning the consensus #1 prospect into a middling .702 OPS hitter inspires exactly ZERO confidence in the bozos in the player development department. What'll happen next, Jimenez is called up & he becomes Viciedo, part 2?

I think we'll see this happen during the back end of our lifetimes. American Football, while a great game, has inherent injury risks that cannot be mitigated without significantly altering the nature of that game. By extension, youth American Football and school-sponsored programs will have to either change the game, or face insane liability insurance costs in the future. Fewer and fewer parents [to include former American football players] want to see their kids have premature neurological issues as a result of playing American football. By extension, I'd imagine that the other team sports [Baseball, Basketball, Soccer] will have more kids participating who once played American Football in the past.

Eh, I could see Hansen being traded at some point, but [assuming health and continued progression] I can also see him "passing up" some of the others in the SP depth chart. [Thinking Fulmer, Stephens, and Giolito if he can't reliably & repeatably master his command/control; Kopech still has a measure of 'reliever risk,' if he can't get his BB/9 down, & develop his offspeed stuff as well.] I can also see Hansen being dealt once he's made it to Chicago, OR, Rodon being dealt before/instead of Hansen. On balance, I'm pleased that this system isn't down to hoping on one or two SP prospects to make it any more. Its nice to have depth and options. ?

He's had 556 PA. He has been given his shot, & he's been proven to be inadequate as a hitter to hold a 25 man roster spot. He's just not good enough at baseball. Insofar as his so-called "defense," his defensive metrics indicate he's merely average. (I suspect that we as SOX fans are so accustomed to poor defense that anyone who is average gets overrated by us and the stupid media.) That aside, there are more deserving options that need playing time to find out what they are: Tilson, Cordell, & Leury all need to be vetted to see if any of them are a part of the future or not. With full apologies to Adam and to the Engel family, he's had his shot, & he simply isn't good enough. He can remain the AAAA OF insurance policy until we need a 40 man spot. Thereafter, he can inherit the Jacob May DFA role.

Honestly, why? After 556 PA, I think we already know what he is. Unfortunately for him, he simply isn't very good at baseball. In any case, Tilson looks to be better at baseball than Engel, & Cordell may need a look if/when he gets healthy and gets his swing back. By the time Tilson & Cordell have had their shot at it, Basabe may be knocking on the door. I see no point to Engel having another chance, other than as injury insurance. Of course, with this org, they'll probably stupidly keep Engel up here, & send Tilson down, even though Tilson looks to be the better player.

Thanks for the update. But DAMN, is that stupid. I've already skipped a bunch of unwatchable games (Rus v Saudi Arabia, Belgium v Tunisia, England v Panama) When it gets to 48 teams, I'll probably skip a dozen or so blowouts. Life is too short to waste on anti-soccer.

I disagree. They did it, so that their graft has the veneer I legitimacy. The FIFA Corruption playbook is/was as follows: Tiny nations, with little-to-no interest in soccer have the same voting rights as Brazil. In the past, that meant criminals in FIFA spreading bribes to nations like Aruba, in exchange for votes. (This is how Qatar and Russia happened, instead of England & the US.) Now, with 48 nations, it gives FIFA the chance to gin up the graft amongst more "qualified" nations for the WC. I hate that the US arent @ the WC. But expansion has nothing to do with them or Italy. It has everything to do with corruption.

Reading the cover, and I gotta admit, I don't see anywhere it states that the child was separated from her parents. Do you see such a caption, yes or no?

Investigation? OK, what "crime" might have been committed by Time? The fvcking drudge report, fox news, and all manner of right-wing turd piles post all sorts of BS, every single day. They lie instinctually, and because you got butt-hurt about trump [RIGHTLY] being called out about hurting kids, you want an "Investigation?" Here's a better question for you, as a so-called "Christian:" Is/was it a good thing for this president to subject children to their separation from their parents, yes or no? Check with the pope, and then get back to us. [..fvcking "investigation"...] What FVKCING CRIME would they "investigate?"

Ya know, I for one have no need to see more minnows get trounced in the early parts of World Cups. Belgium's cruising, but then they SHOULD cruise vs Tunisia. Russia CRUSHED Egypt & Saudi Arabia, but then they SHOULD, at least at home. What's frightening about the FIFA Crime Family is that they want to expand this tournament to 40 teams, which means there will be more turd piles of national teams in the early going in Qatar. Now, that's "fun," and "cute," but what happens when a top player is injured when some mediocre team puts out a hit on him? And how many of us REALLY want to watch Brazil or Belgium or France pummel Qatar or New Zealand or Canada by 10 or more next time around? I know, the WC "expansion" was nothing more than FIFA codifying more corruption and grift. But, I for one have no use for these wastes of time that are bad teams [like Tunisia] vs great ones [Like Belgium].

While Iceland's appearance in Russia is a nice story, I don't think I care to watch their "bus-parking operation" in the 2nd round. I'm glad they lost today to Nigeria. Argentina, while in disarray right now, at least have "a chance" to play some quality ball, given some of the purported quality they have in their roster. As a neutral fan with finite years left on earth, I think I'd rather have a chance to see excellence than to watch Iceland put 11 men behind the ball all game long. YMMV.

Meh, this game aside, DRS has Semien as a +5, while Anderson is a 0, after having been a -8 last season. 13 Errors for Semien, 11 for Anderson so far this season. Neither are really all that special at defense, although Anderson's athleticism flashes a bit more. Either player is "Just A Guy" right now, in all honesty.

I think I disagree with this. Tilson's been better with the bat at every level than Engel; with him just getting back into playing shape, his bat may even improve. Engel and Thompson are both getting into Jacob May Territory. DRS hates both players, with Engel's -5 being marginally better than Tilson's -6. UZR's ARM rates Tilson a -1.1, and Engel a -1.6. In effect, they're roughly equal in the field, although Engel's craptitude at the bat has made the SOX puff up his glove to justify his roster spot in this and last year. For THIS year's team, I think we already know what Engel is/isn't, and I think we've seen how this movie ends. Tilson, Delmonico, Palka, and Leury are all more interesting, for various reasons. I'd simply rather have longer looks at those four than see Thompson and Engel, IMO. Long term, either Tilson or Engel is a 4th/5th OFer and baserunning sub on a good team, IMO. On the next good SOX team, it depends on what they do @ DH between Davidson/Palka/perhaps Delmonico; I think I'd like to see more of Delmonico, as his BaBIP makes him look a bit unlucky so far. Palka's O-swing and K rate make him look like a prime regression candidate.

I think we agree that this is a subjective thing to quantify [rushing vs. not rushing prospects]. I also think we agree that the prospects in question are indeed talented, based on their mode/cost of acquisition, and the viewpoint on these players within the industry prior to their arrival here. So take the opposite viewpoint of mine, and ask yourself if it is the simplest explanation for these talented prospects to fail. Consider the following: Was Moncada's performance in AAA [when broken down into it's components of splits, Home/away, and the Volume of PA] sufficient for him to EARN a promotion, yes or no? Was Carson Fulmer's 16 IP in AAA in 2016 enough of an "internship" for him to be ready to perform in MLB? AND, did he perform well enough to warrant promotion, yes or no? Was Carlos Rodon's 22 IP in AAA between 2014 and 2015 enough of an "internship" for him to be ready to perform in MLB? I'm not asking for the reasons why they were brought up, just a straight-up question of whether or not they learned enough, and performed well enough in their "internships" to be ready or not. I happen to look at the cavalcade of failure to develop prospects for YEARS by this FO as prologue to what has happened to youngsters in this org today. YMMV.

While I agree with you in general about Kaplan, the point about Moncada's Ks, and him moronically being rushed up holds true. Look at Moncada's splits, AWAY from the Charlotte bandbox last season. [OPS: .941 in Charlotte, .696 AWAY]. He OPS'ed .741 vs LHP/as a RHB in Charlotte, while he OPS'ed .856 as a LHB. Moncada 2017 MiLB Splits Is anyone REALLY surprised that Moncada is now worthless as a RHB? 28 WRC+ as a RHB this year. His K rate as a RHB is a vomit-inducing 40%. Moncada 2018 Splits I'm NOT saying that "he's a bust," or "I hate Moncada," or any other lazy takes on this. What I AM saying is that it was stupid, idiotic, moronic, and dumb to rush him up last season, and now we're seeing the results of that dumb decision. BTW, he's burning an option year and his controllable time while he's hitting worse than many fat slobs on these boards as a RHB. Here's hoping that this stupid decision doesn't scupper this rebuild.

Well, let's apply Occam's Razor to all of this: All of these prospects' development was supposed to be finished by this Org, but this Org has been utterly incompetent and stupid in developing prospects. Hence: 1. This org has had the "good enough" approach to rushing prospects up, BEFORE they fully finish their development. Moncada not having learned to hit as a RHB, Fulmer's utter inability to locate his FB, and Rodon's incomplete control over his FB are all reflective of rushing prospects. 2. The cavalcade of walks from Fulmer, and Lopez, and Rodon, and Giolito, and Kopech makes me question exactly what are they teaching the SP prospects, and exactly how does Cooper supposedly "fix pitchers." [Has he "fixed" Fulmer, despite YEARS of exposure to him? Has he "fixed" Giolito?] On balance, this is why I had wanted everyone in the FO fired seconds after the stupid trade for Shields. They screwed up this org, and now we're supposed to trust them to rebuild it? I simply hope that this this Org can learn something, instead of constantly doing the same stupid things over and over again.

Now, that's silly. I'm reading all sorts of ridiculous excuses to rush a guy up, when he has a snowball's chance in hell right now. "Frustration" means exactly jack and shit when you're walking the yard, and forcing more workload on less-talented team mates in the bullpen. If he were to be rushed up now, WE'D all be frustrated, his team mates would be struggling [particularly the flimsy bullpen], and HE'D have the new excuse of having "lost confidence." Here's a novel concept that many are reluctant to embrace: Let him EARN HIS SPOT by right of superior performance, instead of rushing him up Carson Fulmer-style. [And squandering an option year, and wasting his pre-arb controllable years while he figures it out, Carson Fulmer-style.] Setting expectations for young men has never hurt anyone, and I'm still dubious about "frustration" harming his prospective MLB career, or hurting him in any way. Of course he's human, but I'm pretty sure he puts on his "big boy pants," irrespective of his emotions. He's plenty young enough, and I'm willing to wait to try to find out if it were in any way possible to do. If a reduction in walk rate to 4-ish "cost him" a marginal declination in K/9 down to, say ~10ish, it would be worth it, IMHO. At the same time, his LD% suggests he'd be hit around were he to come up as well. I'd prefer that number to be south of 20%, as BABIP on line drives is high. As an aside, there's something about the younger SPs in the org that I've wondered about. Consider the BB/9 for the following: Rodon: 4.02 in 2017 Lopez: 3.96 this year Fulmer: 6.68 in Chicago this year Kopech: 6.06 in Charlotte this year I wonder if this org would be better-served to focus on FB command/control for their higher-level SP prospects BEFORE having them master a change. [I don't know this to be the case or not, but the cavalcade of walks is irritating, and leads me to speculate about this.] Heck, even Lopez and Rodon, who are the best of the bunch, aren't exactly Mark Buehrle in terms of limiting the free pass. Happily, Hansen's BB/9 was < 4.0 in all stops last year, so I'll concede that I may be finding trends where perhaps there aren't any. I just hate walks.

Yeah, I bet you loved his line from last night. 8bb in 3IP? But no, you go on believing that "frustration" is somehow terminal to his MLB dreams. Perhaps he can go see Dr. Jobe for a frustratectomy, before his "frustration" becomes life-threatening.

Well, couple things about that: 1. Kopech's all of 22 years old, so it's not like he's up against the clock. 2. His BB/9 is Fulmer-esque, but his strand rate, and LD% also scream out that he's nowhere near ready. In other words, he's getting hit when he isn't walking the yard. Take a look @ his fangraphs. The kid simply isn't ready, full stop. Bringing him up until he works through some of his difficulties would be stupid, IMO.

Am I reading this correct with respect to Trayce Thompson? His WRC+ is 3? Trayce Thompson Fangraphs

Yeah, I've pretty much have had my fill of SPs walking the yard, just as I've had my fill of watching youngsters squander their controllable years while they flail away. Like it or not, this is a mid-market team that can ill-afford to develop players only to have them sign elsewhere when they hit FA, OR to have youngsters struggle here when they could have worked out their issues in Charlotte or Birmingham. I have zero need or want to see Kopech up here until he gets his BB/9 down, and he can reliably get into the 6th & 7th innings with regularity. YMMV.

Yeah, I don't get this viewpoint at all. In terms of the draft, I always like the BPA, pretty much every time high in the draft. Didn't the Three Stooges (Laumann, KW, & Bell) stupidly draft "high upside guys" for a decade? And how many of those draftees become positive providers of WAR? In terms of college guys vs prep, one wonders: who in this org has shown the ability to coach/teach our youngsters? After all, Collins "fixed himself" by disregarding the so-called coaching he received in hitter mini camp, for example. Could a less-experienced and less-educated prep draftee "fix himself" by ignoring the questionable instruction he would get? Im not so sure. And when was the last time this org scouted, AND drafted, AND signed, AND developed their own prep draftee into a positive provider of WAR? I honestly don't remember, at least among high draftees. I'm simply not convinced that this org can develop prep players at all. Give me more refined college players high in the draft, until further notice. Give me the BPA every single time high in the draft, as hostetler has done. It simply works better than wishing on "high upside."

I know Buddy Bell has [thankfully] taken his high school diploma to Cincinnati with him. But isn't Laumann still shoveling food in his mouth and serving as "senior advisor to scouting" or some-such? That aside, no, I'd rather that they continue to take OBP types, rather than going back to the old, dumb ways of drafting Courtney Hawkins-types and other steaming piles of garbage in the draft. Take Madrigal, or Bohm, or India, and be done with it.

I think this could be a real opportunity for some of the catchers in the org, & for the org overall: Smith gets an extended look here in Chicago; either he makes a case to stay, or he's found out in extended pt. Next, move whichever of Zavala/Collins has the better mental makeup up to Charlotte. It would be a premature promotion, sure. But, it would separate the two, & give each of them more reps behind the plate. This could speed their development as catchers. (Or, they're found out as not being catchers faster...)