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CHICAGO–Former Long Beach State Dirtbags Jeremy Reed and Edgar Varela took different gates into the White Sox

 

organization, but both made immediate contributions.

 

Reed, a second-round pick in June, came through the front entrance after being a standout outfielder-first baseman both on Team USA and in three seasons at Long Beach. Varela, a 31st-round pick after a hamate injury sidelined him for most of his senior season, entered through the back door.

 

It was no surprise Reed came out swinging, hitting .319-4-31 with 17 stolen bases at low Class A Kannapolis. But at the same time, Varela proved he might be a steal, as the 22-year-old played a solid third base and hit .330-8-40 for Rookie-level Bristol.

 

Varela joined top prospects Anthony Webster and Andy Gonzalez in a lineup that averaged 6.1 runs a game.

 

"He’s a power guy and he can really play third base," said scouting director Doug Laumann, who selected Varela off reports from his play in the Central Illinois Collegiate League in 2001. "He’s got great hands. But he was a guy who was drafted because we needed some balance with our younger players. He’s going to have to continue hitting as he moves up the ladder if he’s going to be a big league player."

 

Reed, 21, comes with a much better pedigree. He was Team USA’s leading hitter in 2001 and MVP of the Alaska League in 2000. He hit .326 in his three seasons at Long Beach and wound up second on the school’s career list with 55 stolen bases.

 

"Jeremy Reed’s a baseball player," Laumann said. "He did not surprise us. We thought he would hit .300 wherever he went, even Double-A. Plus I think he’s going to develop a little more power than he has right now."

 

Reed played both first base and outfield at Long Beach, but the White Sox drafted him strictly as an outfielder. "He’s a good outfielder," Laumann said. "He’ll be able to play center field, in my opinion."

 

 

not bad for some postional players doing well and the future looking good.

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Originally posted by Chisoxfn

Good stuff LDF.  This team is getting very strong in the lower parts of the system when it comes to position players, something the Sox haven't had in a while.

 

Too bad we can't be "very strong... in... the system" when it comes to the MLB franchise :mad:

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Originally posted by Chisoxfn

Good stuff LDF.  This team is getting very strong in the lower parts of the system when it comes to position players, something the Sox haven't had in a while.

 

and what pisses me off is if we could've just sign one of the cat we drafted and the 5 tool cf that went to lsu. we could have been sitting pretty.

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Sometimes guys don't sign. You can look at any organization in baseball and it happens.

 

Other times you draft guys hoping you can convince them to play, but if they would rather go to college you take that chance. I actually think the Sox spend more on their farm system than 99% of all the teams in the majors.

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Two good examples of guys that didn't sign with the Sox after they were drafted by them are Jeff Weaver(NYY) and Bobby Hill(CHC)....and I wish I could remember who it was, but one of our pitchers, maybe it was Dan Wright, was selected by Cleveland but opted for college and then we eventually drafted him. Damnit, I wish I could remember for sure.

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Originally posted by Chisoxfn

Sometimes guys don't sign.  You can look at any organization in baseball and it happens. 

 

Other times you draft guys hoping you can convince them to play, but if they would rather go to college you take that chance.  I actually think the Sox spend more on their farm system than 99% of all the teams in the majors.

 

you might be right, but i wonder if that is true. i will not dispute you on this subject. however, in ref to the last cat, we were close to signing him, but the difference was i think something like 500, 000 dollors. the cf was a 4 rounder who wanted 2 round money. he fell b/c some thought he really wanted to go to lsu.

 

weaver had boras from the beginning and we really had no chance to really sign him.

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Jay Mattox (OF) and Zeringue © both turned down money from the Sox. Mattox wasn't a big loss, but Zeringue was costly. We signed Charles Lisk instead, and I believe Zeringue transfered to Apopka CC (FL) along with a top first rounder from this year's draft.

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