Ryan Sweeney is a monster

[Chisoxfn]

My point is that Anderson is still a rookie.  It took time for Rowand to develop into the player that he is today.  I think a few people are expecting Anderson to be as good as Rowand THIS SEASON.  That's just not realistic.

Well thats not me. I'm fully aware it takes players develop. Hell, I have to be one of the most patient people on this board. But I know if you went around asking scouts who would be the better player 10 years from now, almost every one would say Sweeney.

[SSH2005]

Well thats not me.  I'm fully aware it takes players develop.  Hell, I have to be one of the most patient people on this board.  But I know if you went around asking scouts who would be the better player 10 years from now, almost every one would say Sweeney.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, I didn't mean you. But yeah, I'd have to agree with them just based on the small sample size I have seen of their respective swings and plate presence.

Edited March 10, 2006 by SSH2005

[RockRaines]

Rowand was a 2nd round pick out of a very prestigious baseball school (Fullerton).  Those two aren't all that different.  Rowand produced at almost ever level as well and tools wise they are similar players.  Good arm strength, good range, questionable offensive abilities. 

 

Rowand always hit in the minors just as Anderson has.  The issue to me has long been the swings weren't the greatest and they had holes.  I loved Rowand and will still be rooting for him, but he's gone.  Anderson is a very similar player who could turn into a similar defensive player (with hard work) and possibly a better offensive player. 

 

Rowand did have a much more compact swing, especially when he would have his hot streaks (which he never had last year).  I actually think last year will be one of Rowand's worse offensive seasons of his career as a starter. 

 

Obviously Anderson won't be the reason we win or lose the division. But if he's hitting .188 a month and a half into the season, this team needs to go somewhere else.

I understand where you are coming from in saying A-row was somewhat a pedigree. But seriously he was a projected as only a reserve OF'er in the majors. He only started in CF because we had nobody else. s***, even Crazy Carl had some starts in CF that year. Anderson has been projected as the future starting CF'er his whole career. I would say he is a much more heralded player, with much more talent on both sides of the ball. Granted A-row developed into a great defensive CF'er through hard work and disregard for his body, but he does take many short cuts in his fielding to compensate for his lack of true talent IMO. Also, once the league figured out his weakness on the offensive side of the ball, we saw not only his average drop, but also his power numbers. Anderson IMO, is a much better player based on potential alone. I do not see him hitting under the mendoza line if given proper time this year.

Edited March 10, 2006 by RockRaines

[Balta1701]

Well thats not me.  I'm fully aware it takes players develop.  Hell, I have to be one of the most patient people on this board.  But I know if you went around asking scouts who would be the better player 10 years from now, almost every one would say Sweeney.

Which is why we should try to make sure we don't start Sweeney's arbitration clock too early...so that he's with us 10 years from now.

[SSH2005]

Which is why we should try to make sure we don't start Sweeney's arbitration clock too early...so that he's with us 10 years from now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That shouldn't be in green, IMO. He should be called up when there's a starting spot open for him in the outfield.

[Chisoxfn]

Which is why we should try to make sure we don't start Sweeney's arbitration clock too early...so that he's with us 10 years from now.

Haha

 

I'm not saying to have him break camp with the Sox. I'm just saying give the man some extra playing time and if you have openings, let him get a few innings in CF. Never hurts , cause it could be of aid somewhere down the road.

 

But it would be dumb to have him up as a reserve.

[Balta1701]

The one thing which still blows my mind is that people are to the point of showing more confidence in a rookie who's never played above AA than they are Anderson, who at least has put up good numbers in AAA. How exactly did people get THIS soured on Anderson? We've barely seen him take 50 at bats with the big league team including this Spring.

 

Oh, and 1 more thing...Isn't Sweeney usually coming in at some point after the first few innings of these ST games...where he isn't always facing the opponent's starting, big league pitcher, but instead is often getting their backups/end of the roster/minor league guys?

[Kalapse]

The one thing which still blows my mind is that people are to the point of showing more confidence in a rookie who's never played above AA than they are Anderson, who at least has put up good numbers in AAA.  How exactly did people get THIS soured on Anderson?  We've barely seen him take 50 at bats with the big league team including this Spring.

 

Oh, and 1 more thing...Isn't Sweeney usually coming in at some point after the first few innings of these ST games...where he isn't always facing the opponent's starting, big league pitcher, but instead is often getting their backups/end of the roster/minor league guys?

Hey, Ryan may have hit 3 HRs this spring against sub par minor league pitching but that's still a huge improvement for him after 1 HR all of last year in AA.

[RockRaines]

Hey, Ryan may have hit 3 HRs this spring against sub par minor league pitching but that's still a huge improvement for him after 1 HR all of last year in AA.

Well, 2 ST's ago he showed the same hitting talent. Then his wrists and his swing became messed up. They said he had been tinkering with his swing, making it more mechanical, which robbed alot of his power potential. Looks to me he has gone back to just swinging naturally. He still needs more AA and AAA time though, I hope everyone knows that.

[YASNY]

Anderson has acknowledged that he currently is expanding the strike zone. That tells me he recognizes his problem and is working through it at this point in time. That's why his swing looks so poor. When you are locked in, you look good. When you're not, you don't. We really need to give this kid a chance to get his feet wet in the majors and see if he can adjust.

[Balta1701]

Anderson has acknowledged that he currently is expanding the strike zone.  That tells me he recognizes his problem and is working through it at this point in time.  That's why his swing looks so poor.  When you are locked in, you look good.  When you're not, you don't.  We really need to give this kid a chance to get his feet wet in the majors and see if he can adjust.

Only problem I see is...the person who has to teach him to stop doing that is Greg Walker...and I lost a ton of confidence in his ability to teach that last year, when we saw batter after batter after batter have exactly that same problem on the big league squad.

[RockRaines]

Only problem I see is...the person who has to teach him to stop doing that is Greg Walker...and I lost a ton of confidence in his ability to teach that last year, when we saw batter after batter after batter have exactly that same problem on the big league squad.

Well, who was responsible for Uribe's improvement and his timing mechanism?

Edited March 10, 2006 by RockRaines

[southsideirish71]

Well, who was responsible for Uribe's improvement and his timing mechanism?

 

Walt Hrniak helped him with the leg kick and timing. He was brought in late last year to work specifically with Uribe and it seemed to work out.

 

]After working with former White Sox hitting coach Walt Hriniak, Juan Uribe is trying to be more patient at the plate.

''If you noticed, he's starting to take more pitches and seeing the ball better,'' hitting coach Greg Walker said. ''That's what we talk about, and that's what Walt is famous for—simplifying it and seeing the ball better.'' Aug. 18 - 11:16 am et

Edited March 10, 2006 by southsideirish71

[YASNY]

Only problem I see is...the person who has to teach him to stop doing that is Greg Walker...and I lost a ton of confidence in his ability to teach that last year, when we saw batter after batter after batter have exactly that same problem on the big league squad.

 

I don't blame that on Walker. I blame on the fact we basically had a RH line-up and the pitchers could get into a zone when they weren't being presented with righties and lefties throughout the line up. You take a good RH pitcher and he'd face Pods, Everett and AJ from the left side. Pods was not a power threat and walking him was very risky, so you go after him. You'd have to be somewhat more careful to Everett, who was weker from the left side by the way, and AJ who had a career low BA wise. The threats were all from the right side. A good righty could work that outside corner to our righties, and then bust a slider off the corner for and out pitch. And do so time after time because he was able to establish a rythem.

 

Even with Frank, Maggs and Lee the Sox had this problem against good righties. The addition of Thome, Mackowiak and Citron (sp?) totally changes that aspect.

[RockRaines]

Walt Hrniak helped him with the leg kick and timing.  He was brought in late last year to work specifically with Uribe and it seemed to work out.

I believe Anderson has the same resources, does he not?

[southsideirish71]

I believe Anderson has the same resources, does he not?

 

They usually dont bring in special hitting coaches unless its for a specific reason. If Anderson frustrates the sox they may lean on someone to give him a different view, but I doubt if they will bring in Hrniak for this.

[RockRaines]

They usually dont bring in special hitting coaches unless its for a specific reason.  If Anderson frustrates the sox they may lean on someone to give him a different view, but I doubt if they will bring in Hrniak for this.

Im really not too worried.

[Balta1701]

Well, who was responsible for Uribe's improvement and his timing mechanism?

In 2004, after seeing what happened suddenly to the bats of Uribe and Rowand, I was ready to proclaim Walker to be a deity.

 

In 2005, I totally lost that perception. Yes, Uribe added a timing mechanism which helped. Yes, Crede showed a few brief flashes. But as far as I'm concerned, I heard last year things like AJ saying how Walker is helping him try to pull the ball more, as AJ's average gradually declined. And I saw guys who had the same weakness. It wasn't that right handed pitchers were able to dominate us because they were right handed, IMO, they were able to beat our bats because our guys all had the exact same hole in the swing...they were trying to pull that outside stuff, not being patient, and either grounding out to the right side or popping out.

 

It seemed to me like every single one of the guys who struggled last year had this exact same problem...they were flying open on pitches and trying to pull the ball when it was thrown outside, instead of staying back and trying to drive the ball wherever they could. When guys started doing that (Konerko after June 1, the Rally Crede, Uribe during his good 2 weeks) they just hit like crazy. But they spent so long doing things in a way which is so obviously failing that I just don't have confidence in Walker right now.

[elrockinMT]

Pablo Ozuna hit like .700 in spring last year.

 

I understand Ryan has alot more hype around him than Pablo does, but the fact is, anything can happen in Spring Training. I am excited to see what Ryan Sweeney can do in the future, but as of March 9, 2006, he still has a very long way to go. Lets relax on the Ryan Sweeney bandwagon.

 

 

My guess is that in 2007 we won't have Dye anymore and people like Sweeney and Owens will be competing for that RF spot. Pods, Anderson and one of the rookies will form the OF.

[Kalapse]

My guess is that in 2007 we won't have Dye anymore and people like Sweeney and Owens will be competing for that RF spot. Pods, Anderson and one of the rookies will form the OF.

Dye has a $6M option for '07 which is ridiculously affordable, it will almost certainly be picked up. IMO, there's a much better chance that Pods is gone after this season and we see Owens and Sweeney battle it out in Spring Training next year for the open spot.

[southsideirish71]

Dye has a $6M option for '07 which is ridiculously affordable, it will almost certainly be picked up. IMO, there's a much better chance that Pods is gone after this season and we see Owens and Sweeney battle it out in Spring Training next year for the open spot.

 

The only way I see Pods gone after this year is if he A.) Gets injuried again slowing him down, making him one dimensional or B.) Has such a great year that his value is so good that you have teams clamoring for him. isnt Pods still under team control for a few years. His only negative is he is a speed guy who is only getting older. Speed goes well before power. Owens should be picking Pods brain right now trying to learn as much about basestealing as he can.

[Kalapse]

The only way I see Pods gone after this year is if he A.) Gets injuried again slowing him down, making him one dimensional or B.) Has such a great year that his value is so good that you have teams clamoring for him.  isnt Pods still under team control for a few years.  His only negative is he is a speed guy who is only getting older.  Speed goes well before power.  Owens should be picking Pods brain right now trying to learn as much about basestealing as he can.

That's why I didn't say that he would be gone, only that it's more likely that he'll be playing somewhere else in '07 than Dye. I think the Sox would definately entertain the idea of moving him if he had a great year in '06 and Owens has another great year in the minors. There's a lot of teams out there looking for a leadoff man and Pods has gained some popularity around the league after last year. I'm sure if we have any needs going into the '07 season Pods could be a guy who could help fill them through a trade.

[YASNY]

That's why I didn't say that he would be gone, only that it's more likely that he'll be playing somewhere else in '07 than Dye. I think the Sox would definately entertain the idea of moving him if he had a great year in '06 and Owens has another great year in the minors. There's a lot of teams out there looking for a leadoff man and Pods has gained some popularity around the league after last year. I'm sure if we have any needs going into the '07 season Pods could be a guy who could help fill them through a trade.

 

I agree with you. If the Sox feel Owens can fill Pods shoes and Pods has a decent to good season, I think Pods is gone. It all comes back to that old line by Branch Rickey. It's better to trade a guy a year too soon than a year too late.

[Chisoxfn]

I agree with you.  If the Sox feel Owens can fill Pods shoes and Pods has a decent to good season, I think Pods is gone.  It all comes back to that old line by Branch Rickey.  It's better to trade a guy a year too soon than a year too late.

Thats assuming Anderson plays well. If Anderson struggles I think you will see the Sox give Owens substantial playing time in CF (in Charlotte). If Anderson plays well and shows improvement throughout the year than I think the Sox would consider Owens replacing Pods.

 

However if Pods has a good year, Owens kicks butt and makes a lot of progress in CF (defensively) and Anderson struggles to find his way, than I think Owens replaces Pods and works with him for a year or so and than the Sox will have Pods for one more year.

 

Thats about as long as I could see Pods around.

[YASNY]

Thats assuming Anderson plays well.  If Anderson struggles I think you will see the Sox give Owens substantial playing time in CF (in Charlotte).  If Anderson plays well and shows improvement throughout the year than I think the Sox would consider Owens replacing Pods.

 

However if Pods has a good year, Owens kicks butt and makes a lot of progress in CF (defensively) and Anderson struggles to find his way, than I think Owens replaces Anderons and works with Pods for a year or so.  Who knows where Anderson goes if this happens. 

 

Thats about as long as I could see Pods around.

 

I can see the logic here. Good post.