Boopa1219 Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 So the minor leagues starting, looking at the Sox system. I think these are their biggest needs are players who can hit for power, and guys who are premium athletes. Not saying you should draft for need, always take the BPA but their needs are loud. My favorite guys for the Sox as of today are (in no particular order): Jace LaViolette, Gavin Fein, Eli Willits, Avia Arquette, Billy Carlson, Sean Gamble, Liam Doyle, and Jaden Fauske. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) BA has their first staff draft up. Will post the top 10. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2025-mlb-draft-baseball-america-staff-draft-1-0/ Quote Pick-By-Pick Rationales 1. Nationals — Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona (Calif.) HS Writer: Carlos Rationale: There’s not a clear 1-1 candidate in this class. In lieu of that, I’m going with the player who excites me the most and who I believe has the most overall upside. That’s Seth Hernandez, who has touched 100 mph, has a 70 changeup, two real breaking balls and would be a legitimate prospect as a hitter and shortstop if he gave up pitching. It’s ace upside. I’m taking it. 2. Angels — Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State Writer: Peter Rationale: Picking at No. 2 in this exercise made me realize how much I don’t envy the organizations picking in the top five. However, I’ll gladly select Jamie Arnold who’s off to an outstanding start. Arnold has a plus fastball/slider combination with a budding changeup and looks the part of a future No. 1 or No. 2 starter. 3. Mariners — Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State Writer: Jacob Rationale: Arquette has performed great to start his draft season and has a big league body, power, great bat speed and could stick at short 4. Rockies — Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater (Okla.) HS Writer: JJ Rationale: If I’m the Rockies, this is my dream scenario. You get the son of a Rockies’ star who also could end up being the best player in the draft class. 5. Cardinals — Jace LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M Writer: Ben Rationale: LaViolette has some of the best power in the nation. His contact rate is up too, but his batting average and overall performance slumped early in the season, so that’s triggered some panic with the industry. I’ve heard critiques about his swing being more stiff compared to last year, but that might just be outcome bias for a guy who swung this way last year, too. Once the numbers come back up—and that’s already started—so will the perception of his operation in the box. 6. Pirates — Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara Writer: Carlos Rationale: The Pirates have earned trust with what they’ve done with their pitching development in recent years. Tyler Bremner’s pure stuff and strikethrowing feels like a real steal here to me. He has middle of the rotation upside and could move quickly. Based on my first two picks I guess I’m a sucker for changeups. 7. Marlins — Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest Writer: Peter Rationale: Houston has always been known for his defensive acumen and plus bat-to-ball skills, but he’s completely changed his body since last spring. With his newfound physicality, Houston has added impact and looks more explosive in the box. There’s a lot to like here from a tools standpoint. 8. Blue Jays — Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP/1B, Sunset HS, Portland, Ore. Writer: Jacob Rationale: At 6-foot-8 and armed with a mid-90s fastball that can reach the upper 90s, Schoolcraft has a case for best high school pitcher in the class. I couldn’t pass up on a young, projectable lefty here. 9. Reds — Dean Curley, SS, Tennessee Writer: JJ Rationale: This feels like a logical Reds pick. Curley is the best talent on the board at this point, and he’s a productive college middle infielder, which is a path the Reds have had success with many times over the 21st century. 10. White Sox — Billy Carlson, SS, Corona (Calif.) HS Writer: Ben Rationale: The White Sox are getting a true shortstop with Carlson. He’s a potential plus to plus-plus defender. And while it’s his defense that’s easy for everyone to love, his bat keeps trending up as well. He performed well last summer and has kept it up this spring, showing good bat-to-ball skills throughout. I’m not sure if he will ever grow into huge power because of the way he’s built, but there’s sneaky bat speed for such a wiry player. Expand Edited March 31 by DirtySox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 @Harold's Leg Lift Who dis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) On 4/1/2025 at 5:02 PM, DirtySox said: @Harold's Leg Lift Who dis? Expand Ask @fathom Edited April 1 by Harold's Leg Lift 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 8/20/2024 at 4:24 PM, Harold's Leg Lift said: Bauer is a fascinating follow. The pure arm talent is extraordinary. He's 91-95 w/life from as clean and an easy arm action as it gets. He also has a fantastic pitchers frame. Lean, athletic and ultra-projectable but he was so bad during the spring he was unusable at the end of the season. It's been a little better this summer but still not good. He sprayed the zone again in this outing. He lacks pitchability and his mechanics are a mess that results in 20 command w/wild misses. It will be interesting to see if a team buys the outstanding ball of clay and hopes to develop him into a more consistent strike thrower or if they will let him go to college and hope he figures it out there. Expand That's what I said about him back in August. He's had a velo spike and he's throwing strikes which is pretty extraordinary. He's pitching today in Georgia in front of no less than 100 scouts. Hopefully he continues to throw strikes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 4/1/2025 at 5:40 PM, Harold's Leg Lift said: Ask @fathom Expand Crazy he’s exploded like this. Was hearing he’d be in 4th round range a year ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) Quote Jack Bauer, LHP, Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill. Movement: +87 Current: 68 Last: 155 Bauer threw his fastball in the 91-95 mph range throughout the 2024 showcase circuit, but he’s had abbreviated outings this spring where he’s pitched in the upper 90s and touched 99 with some whispers of triple digits. We’re now viewing him more in the high-octane, strikes questions phylum of high school lefty that includes Alex Clemmey and Maddux Bruns. Expand https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/biggest-risers-fallers-in-our-top-300-mlb-draft-rankings-update/ Edited April 1 by DirtySox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 4/1/2025 at 6:05 PM, fathom said: Crazy he’s exploded like this. Was hearing he’d be in 4th round range a year ago. Expand I'm way more surprised by the strike throwing than the velo spike. He was a disaster last year. A lot of teams weren't at his first game. They're running in there now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish71 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 4/1/2025 at 7:30 PM, Harold's Leg Lift said: I'm way more surprised by the strike throwing than the velo spike. He was a disaster last year. A lot of teams weren't at his first game. They're running in there now. Expand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Bauer walked 3 in a couple innings. Not ideal but not awful. The stuff was obviously outrageous. His history is going to hurt him with a lot of teams but I think someone is gonna pay him. The ceiling is just too high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 TV broadcast just showed "useless" Jim Thome and Gene Watson at the Tennesse vs Texas A&M game. LaViolette has not looked good against Liam Doyle. His swing looks stiff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Jimmy0 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 I’m sure Shirley knows all about Laviolette from Michael Earley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 On 4/5/2025 at 1:50 AM, Y2Jimmy0 said: I’m sure Shirley knows all about Laviolette from Michael Earley Expand Sure but it's always good to get a HOF's opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 @Chicago White Sox How do you feel about a left handed Meidroth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 (edited) Pulled from Law's article on seeing Doyle and LaViolette. Quote Is Doyle still No. 1? I didn’t have a lot of conviction in putting him there on the last ranking, for starters. I’ve had plenty of these discussions with scouts the last few weeks, and when I ask who’s clearly better, there isn’t an obvious answer, let alone any sort of consensus. It might be Ethan Holliday, Jackson’s younger brother, whose season is now well underway and who’s apparently hit and fielded extremely well; he’s got a huge matchup coming up against Eli Willits that will be attended by approximately everybody in the industry. It could be Jamie Arnold, the Florida State lefty who’s also performed extremely well and has a plus fastball, with some concerns about the arm action. Expand Quote LaViolette — ranked seventh in my first list — is still hitting under .300 and swinging and missing too much in the zone, coming off a sophomore year where he struck out over 80 times. LaViolette homered once this weekend, taking a pitch down and lining it out to the right field corner, but the rest of the weekend was a combination of weak contact and whiffs. He swung at 20 pitches in the three games and whiffed on 10 of them; I assume everyone can figure out that percentage at home. He had two infield singles on the weekend plus that home run, which came on a 95-mph fastball from right-hander Marcus Phillips right over the inside edge of the plate. LaViolette unloaded on the pitch, showing plus bat speed and power. He just didn’t pick up sliders at all, from any pitchers; he put one in play in the whole series for an infield single that didn’t pass the pitcher’s mound. LaViolette has no load at all, so he must be incredibly strong to generate the power that he does, although I don’t think giving him some small hand move to start the swing will solve his pitch-recognition issues. He can play center field, probably a 55 out there, certainly not in the league of Vance Honeycutt, the North Carolina center fielder who went in the back of the first round to Baltimore last season and had a similar offensive profile of easy plus power and too many strikeouts. LaViolette may be a little bit of a victim of expectations here, as preseason hype that had him as a top-5 talent may have skewed everyone’s perceptions of him so that he looks disappointing when he’s a first-rounder but not at the very top of the round. He’s a back of the first round type of player, at best. Expand Edited April 7 by DirtySox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 I also think Doyle has a reliever profile. People were freaking out over Cags 8% k rate last year. LaViolette is currently running a 22% K rate. I don't think he should be an option at 1-10. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 On 4/8/2025 at 9:05 PM, DirtySox said: Expand Sox select Jack Bauer with the 10th pick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 On 4/8/2025 at 10:04 PM, fathom said: Sox select Jack Bauer with the 10th pick Expand I'm kinda just hoping Houston or Arquette somehow last until 10? I dunno. Not sure how I feel about Curley. Would love @Harold's Leg Lift to weigh in on the college middle infield group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Sacamano Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 No chance of Holliday going at number 10 right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 On 4/8/2025 at 11:12 PM, Bob Sacamano said: No chance of Holliday going at number 10 right? Expand Nah he’s performing too well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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