Jim Fainter Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Dellaero will never hit. I know I mentioned Jeff Abbott earlier, and I don't want to belabor the point, but I will. This kid had .300 written all over him. He hit well at every stop in the minors -- at least one batting title, maybe two. Plus, reasonable power, speed, defense, he could just flat hit. I'm still not sure what went wrong. I know he started out in 1999 as the left fielder and got off to a horrrrrrrrible start, was sent down, got himself straightened out and then hurt his shoulder or collar bone or something. Then he started to hit again at AAA, the season ended, and he was not a part of anyone's plans, other than a fifth outfielder in 2000. He surfaced with the Marlins briefly in 2001 as a fill in, didn't hit much, and was sent down or released. I don't see him anywhere now, not Florida or Boston, who had him for a while. I also think he was pissed off when he was sent down in 1999 after 50-70 at bats, but he should have gotten over that. You would think that he would get a chance somewhere, but I don't even know if he is in organized ball. At one time he was the #1 prospect in the Sox chain, ahead of Maggs even, and he was a couple of years ahead of Carlos Lee. I hate it when I'm wrong about someone. He coulda been a contenda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesox247 Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 To get someone original in here....how about Jeff Liefer? He had a great minor league career and he won the 1B job out of ST in 99 was it? Got injured and was nothing more than a bench player from there on out. Let's hope he can hit well in Montreal Yes, i too was especially disappointed at Liefer. He was supposed to be a great hitter with power, but never proved himself, even as a pinch hitter. He hit .230/7/26 in 204AB last year, and im glad hes gone because he'll never turn into anything much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Fainter Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 I know Liefer was a great college hitter, but did he ever really hit big time in the minors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Hudler Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 Jeff Abbott hit .274 in 80 games with the Sox in 2000 and if I recall, had several key hits to help win games that year. He hit .279 in 89 games in 1998. He hit .283 in 100 games in AAA last year. Obviously he never became a regular but I wouldn't call him a bust. He made it to the Majors and had some servicable time. Jeff Liefer had some good years in the Minors, but I never felt he would be a long term Big Leaguer. He hit 17 and 21 HR in 2 yrs at Birmingham and 32 in his 2nd year of AAA. Drove in close to 100 runs a couple of times. I may be wrong, but I always thought of him as a 4th OF at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxplosion Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 Shucks, I thought I would be the first to bring up Mark Johnson but I guess Im not. Oh well, he stills gets my vote... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandoFan Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 Lorenzo Barcelo and Brooks Kieshniek. Both if not HOF talents then certainly All-Star ones. Injuries f*cked the former and being rushed through to the majors without fixing the hole in the swing did in the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 I would have to add Rocky Biddle to the list. He never pitched well enough long enough healthy enough for anything else than to say have fun in Montreal. I think the highlight of his career were the 3 innings, 6 Ks against the Cubs on the Saturday game in 2001 at Comiskey and then he took himself out top of the 4th because he was hurting. When he was on, I thought that one day he'd throw a no hitter. But he was never "on" enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesox247 Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 I would have to add Rocky Biddle to the list. He never pitched well enough long enough healthy enough for anything else than to say have fun in Montreal. I think the highlight of his career were the 3 innings, 6 Ks against the Cubs on the Saturday game in 2001 at Comiskey and then he took himself out top of the 4th because he was hurting. When he was on, I thought that one day he'd throw a no hitter. But he was never "on" enough. Yes Biddle was a disappointment, and Willie has been a disappointment too..so far, lets hope he changes that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradink Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 There are too many to choose from. Darryl Boston, remember his first game in the majors? 3-4 w/a triple, Ron Karkovice, couldn't hit a lick, Scott Ruffcorn who was dominating at Triple A but was rotten in the majors, Mike Caruso, McKay Christiansen, Jon Rauch, etc. That's not even going that far back in time. Virtually every first round pick of the Sox has been a bust. Remember, we are talking about the White Sox here, not some world class organization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 There are too many to choose from. Darryl Boston, remember his first game in the majors? 3-4 w/a triple, Ron Karkovice, couldn't hit a lick, Scott Ruffcorn who was dominating at Triple A but was rotten in the majors, Mike Caruso, McKay Christiansen, Jon Rauch, etc. That's not even going that far back in time. Virtually every first round pick of the Sox has been a bust. Remember, we are talking about the White Sox here, not some world class organization. Jon Rauch has pitched like 10 games in the majors....he has not been a bust. He was the 2000 minor league player of the year. He has incredible stuff and now has a real pitching coach to help him. He is young and undeveloped. Jon Rauch is not a bust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 There are too many to choose from. Darryl Boston, remember his first game in the majors? 3-4 w/a triple, Ron Karkovice, couldn't hit a lick, Scott Ruffcorn who was dominating at Triple A but was rotten in the majors, Mike Caruso, McKay Christiansen, Jon Rauch, etc. That's not even going that far back in time. Virtually every first round pick of the Sox has been a bust. Remember, we are talking about the White Sox here, not some world class organization. Rauch will not be a bust. Last season was his first year back from surgery and in his last two starts he pitched brilliantly against the Twinkies. This kid is real special and you'll start to see it this season and in the future seasons as he continues to develop. It takes pitchers at least a full season of being healthy until they have pretty much recovered from an arm injury. If its Tommy John it can take even more. Rauch didn't have Tommy John. Last season the reason Rauch struggled is cause he was called straight up to the big show, even though he wasn't near 100%. He wasn't 100% until August or so and thats when he finally was building back his stamina and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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