Fields day not too distant

[CSF]

Fields' day not too distant

Sox hope third-base prospect has rapid rise like fellow Oklahoma State product Ventura

 

 

By Bob Foltman

Tribune staff reporter

 

March 10, 2005, 10:52 PM CST

 

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Ken Williams were sitting in a golf cart watching some of their prospects take infield practice.

 

Judging from their reaction, they may have been watching the future left side of the White Sox infield.

 

Guillen said he loved watching shortstop Pedro Lopez and third baseman Josh Fields take ground balls and it's possible, in the not-too-distant future, both of them, along with Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney, could be the building blocks of the Sox's next generation.

 

In the case of Fields, Williams said fans may wonder why the Sox don't bring their first-round pick in last June's draft to Chicago right away.

 

All that is heady stuff for Fields, who still has a "do I belong here?" look.

 

"I'm a younger guy and all the game experience and everything that these guys have, I lack that," Fields said. "I'm just trying to talk to them and hang around them and learn."

 

The Sox are hoping Fields turns out to be like another first-round pick from Oklahoma State—Robin Ventura.

 

The similarities are there. Both are 6 feet 1 inch, with Fields being slightly heavier at 215 pounds to Ventura's 198. Both were high draft choices—Ventura the 10th pick in the 1988 draft, Fields the 18th pick.

 

It took Ventura just two years to become the regular third baseman, playing 150 games in the 1990 season at age 22.

 

After spending his first year of professional baseball at Class-A Winston-Salem, Fields, 22, is expected to begin this season in Double-A Birmingham.

 

In 66 games last season, Fields hit .285 with seven home runs and 39 RBIs. Baseball America rates him as the best power hitter in the organization and the club's fourth-best prospect.

 

"Fields is going to be a great player," Guillen said Thursday before the Sox's 7-2 victory over Texas in Surprise, Ariz. "He's going to have to work a little bit more on his defense. He's still raw. He's a baby on the baseball field. He has a tremendous opportunity to be on the baseball field pretty soon."

 

Fields hit into an inning-ending double play Thursday and is batting .250 (3-for-12) in seven games.

 

Third base long had been a wasteland in the Sox infield before the drafting of Ventura. The Sox even tried Williams, a converted outfielder, at third in 1988 and Carlos Martinez in 1989 before Ventura took the clear opening for a rapid rise.

 

Joe Crede is the incumbent now, but his inconsistency may crack the door for Fields if he has a strong season in Birmingham. Crede being arbitration eligible in 2006 with Sox nemesis Scott Boras as his agent doesn't hurt Fields' chance for a quick promotion either.

 

Fields was a standout quarterback at Oklahoma State, which is fitting for a Sox team that also can hold its own in a flag football tournament.

 

Fields threw for more than 5,500 yards with 52 touchdowns in two seasons as the Cowboys' quarterback. He threw for seven touchdowns against SMU in 2003 and six against Kansas in 2002.

 

But for Fields, the decision to pursue baseball and pass up his senior year of football was an easy one.

 

"My dad was a pitcher in college and a high school baseball coach, so I was always around it and liked it," Fields said. "You get a better feeling being in the clubhouse and out on the field in baseball. In football, everything is tense."

 

Fields used his football scholarship to pay for his schooling and admitted the football staff wasn't thrilled with his desire to play baseball as well. They didn't make things easy on him in his freshman season.

 

"At first I think they thought I would see how hard it was [to play two sports] and drop one of them," Fields said. "I've never quit anything and I think it showed them something when I stuck it out."

 

Fields said his first two years were grueling. He would play a baseball game in the afternoon, then attend football practices and meetings in the evenings—not to mention those pesky college classes as well.

 

"All that was stressful," Fields said.

 

The football coaches let up on Fields a bit after his sophomore season and there was a point where Fields was told by scouts and his coaches that he might be able to make the NFL

 

"That entered my mind, [but] I knew where my first love was and that was the baseball field," Fields said. "No matter how much success you have in one sport, you have to go with what you like doing and this is it."

 

If Fields turns out like the last third baseman they took from Oklahoma State, Sox fans will be very happy he chose his first love.

 

Tribune staff reporter Mark Gonzales contributed to this report.

 

 

Copyright © 2005, The Chicago Tribune

[SoxFanForever]

Good article. The management seems really high on Josh. I would love for him to put up a monster year this year.

[mreye]

I can't help but feeling - "Haven't we heard this all before with all the othe "top" prospects?" Sorry. I have a wait and see attitude. We heard the same about Crede.

[jackie hayes]

He struck out a LOT in A ball. He needs a lot more time in the minors to adjust to baseball full time. And the comparison to Robin is silly. No matter how quickly he adjusts, Fields is going to be a much different player.

[southsider2k5]

Joe Crede is the incumbent now, but his inconsistency may crack the door for Fields if he has a strong season in Birmingham. Crede being arbitration eligible in 2006 with Sox nemesis Scott Boras as his agent doesn't hurt Fields' chance for a quick promotion either.

 

If Fields puts up big numbers this year, there is no doubt in my mind that Joe Crede will not be on the Sox in 2006. Whether he has a bad year and they let him walk away, or he has a good year and they trade him, Joe's days on the southside are numbered. Like I said before, the rumblings have started already.

[bjm676]

I can't help but feeling - "Haven't we heard this all before with all the othe "top" prospects?" Sorry. I have a wait and see attitude. We heard the same about Crede.

I feel the same way. Crede was quite the prospect in the minors. Let's just cross our fingers that Fields is as good as advertised or even better.

 

[SoxFan1]

I'm pretty excited about the Sox farmhands. We have the pitching with B-Mac, Arnie, Felix, Neal, Jon, Enemencio, etc and we have the hitting in Anderson, Fields, Sweeney, Burke, etc. I feel that in 5 years, this Sox team could be full of young talent and resemble a team like the Padre's of today or even the A's of last year.

[JUGGERNAUT]

If Fields puts up big numbers this year, there is no doubt in my mind that Joe Crede will not be on the Sox in 2006.  Whether he has a bad year and they let him walk away, or he has a good year and they trade him, Joe's days on the southside are numbered.  Like I said before, the rumblings have started already.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'll go a step further. Crede will not be here after the AS break. He hit 219 on the road & 266 at home. Who think Field's can't beat that? That's a small hurdle for a promising youngster to get over to pass Crede. Joe might surprise us & have a good 1st 1/2 but why should we place any greater importance on that over his first 3 yrs? With Boras as his client there will never be a loyalty discount to retain the underperforming Crede.

[Heads22]

Burke's gonna be 38-ish in 5 years.

[GoodAsGould]

Crede wasnt as good as Fields was going into the draft though was he.... With Fields we know the talent is there...

[Heads22]

Crede was dynomite in the IL. We know there's talent there too.

[GoodAsGould]

what round was Crede taken?

[Purdue129]

what round was Crede taken?

 

 

 

 

edit: google says 5th

Edited March 12, 2005 by Purdue129

[hi8is]

im not saying this will happen, but if crede hits .295 with 30 hr and 85 rbi... i see crede taking a walk to another team to get the bucks...

 

if crede hits .250 with 25 hr and 70 rbi.. i see the sox signing him to a 1 year deal just to give fields another year to develop

 

who knows what will happen, but of course, id rather have crede have a breakout year and then walk... just because it improves our chances for this year... and who knows, we might even sign him... KW didnt say that he wouldnt ever talk to boras, dispite what your friends might tell you.

[CWSGuy406]

I'm pretty excited about the Sox farmhands. We have the pitching with B-Mac, Arnie, Felix, Neal, Jon, Enemencio, etc and we have the hitting in Anderson, Fields, Sweeney, Burke, etc. I feel that in 5 years, this Sox team could be full of young talent and resemble a team like the Padre's of today or even the A's of last year.

 

I don't mean to come off as a jag, but don't get your hopes up.

 

Our system is developing, but it's nowhere near as good as the A's system...

[Gene Honda Civic]

im not saying this will happen, but if crede hits .295 with 30 hr and 85 rbi... i see crede taking a walk to another team to get the bucks...

 

if crede hits .250 with 25 hr and 70 rbi.. i see the sox signing him to a 1 year deal just to give fields another year to develop

 

who knows what will happen, but of course, id rather have crede have a breakout year and then walk... just because it improves our chances for this year... and who knows, we might even sign him... KW didnt say that he wouldnt ever talk to boras, dispite what your friends might tell you.

that's unpossible.

 

-----

 

Crede's hasn't even hit aribtration yet... Hell I think he's got options left... He'll be in a sox uniform in 2006 in either of those scenarios

[DBAHO]

I don't mean to come off as a jag, but don't get your hopes up.

 

Our system is developing, but it's nowhere near as good as the A's system...

It's probably somewhere in the mid half when it comes to other systems. There isn't really a top 10-20 guy for the Sox there that other better systems will have. But we do have a lot of depth in the lower levels, especially when it comes to pitching.

[DBAHO]

If Crede really sucks it up this season, the Sox can always just non - tender him, like the Giants did with AJ, but KW will want to see what he can possibly get in a trade instead of letting Crede go for nothing.

[YASNY]

I cannot think of any logical reason to non-tender Crede. That won't happen unless Crede disables himself permanently, gets busted for dealing cocaine or kicks the s*** out of Ozzie.

[qwerty]

I don't mean to come off as a jag, but don't get your hopes up.

 

Our system is developing, but it's nowhere near as good as the A's system...

 

I hope they prove hawk wrong so bad.

[Chisoxfn]

Crede wasnt as good as Fields was going into the draft though was he.... With Fields we know the talent is there...

Crede was a two time minor league MVP. The guy did nothing but rake in the minors and garnished comparisons by some (me being one of them) to Scott Rolen for the sake that he's a hell of a defensive infielder with some pop.

 

The guy had one bad year, get over it people. It happens, he's working hard on adjustments, has tons of power potential, and is one of the best defensive 3rd baseman in the majors.

 

Jesus, he's gonna prove everyone wrong thats so blind in there Crede hatred. Talk about what he can't do, but don't tell me Fields can come in and put up Crede like numbers, he couldn't. He was playing in A ball last year and still has some work to do with his swing and a lot of work to do in the field with his footwork.

 

He has the potential to be good and definately has some power potential but the guy is still at best a year away. Even then they could just as easily move him if Crede plays like he's capable of.

 

Trust me, if Crede was on the block almost every GM in baseball would be giving Kenny a call. There is talent to be tapped there and he has had success at the major league level.

 

If he fails this year, thats another story, but he deserves this year.

[Chisoxfn]

that's unpossible.

 

-----

 

Crede's hasn't even hit aribtration yet... Hell I think he's got options left... He'll be in a sox uniform in 2006 in either of those scenarios

Thank you Gene...someone with some sense here. I don't get it, the Sox control his rights for whatever price they want at this point and he's still got a few arbitration years left as well.

 

Just cause Boras is his agent isn't reason to ride his ass out of town. The guy has the ability to make the Sox a top of the line offense and if you ask me he's gonna come out and put up vey good numbers in the back of the lineup and be a big reason the Sox do well this year.

[beck72]

There's a reason Crede was [and has been] given a long leash by the Sox when he's struggled [Esp last year when Uribe could have moved to 3b and have Willie at 2b]---The sox think Crede has the talent and skills to be a solid major league player. If Joe is more consistent this yr w/ the bat, there is no reason to get rid of a guy who is under contract for a few yrs at a reasonable salary.

 

This is the yr the real Joe Crede will step up, whether it's the .230 Joe or the .275 + Joe. I think it'll be the more consistent .275 Joe

[Punch and Judy Garland]

We aren't near the top ten in farm systems yet. We could be. But you have to commit to it and I don't think we will. Committing means signings guys after the first round with first round money or making an impact in Latin America. Most importantly, it means holding your cards. How many chances did the Angels have to trade Kotchman, Mathis, or MCPherson to get a shot in the arm to make a run at the WS? Many chances. But they held their cards. Our GM has more or less said he is not willing to hold prospects in general. This is not to say that we still can't have a very good system. We can. But an elite system comes with heavy committment both financially and strategically. And, oh yeah, a hell of a lot of luck.