Chris Young Called Up

[Whitewashed in '05]

I don't know why Brian Anderson gets let off the hook by so many fans.

Has he proven he can hit yet in the big leagues?

I mean I like his defense as much as anybody but you can't tell me he's done

better than Rowand did.

Again, I like his defense and his potential I guess, but Brian Anderson does not

appear to me to have star potential as a hitter.

I know ... Crede took a while too. We shall see but to say we'll have one of the best

cf's for the next six years, I dunno about that.

Even the biggest Brian supporters have to admit he has been a C- at the plate to D

plus to go with his A-plus work in cf.

Anderson has turned it around with that bat, he's been a lot better for the past few months.

 

As far as proven that he can hit mlb pitching is yet to been seen on a consistent level. Hell even if he was batting a steady .300 through the season it still wouldn't be a guarentee until he proves it again. Next season will be a good indicator on what to expect Anderson to do.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I don't know why Brian Anderson gets let off the hook by so many fans.

Has he proven he can hit yet in the big leagues?

I mean I like his defense as much as anybody but you can't tell me he's done

better than Rowand did.

Again, I like his defense and his potential I guess, but Brian Anderson does not

appear to me to have star potential as a hitter.

I know ... Crede took a while too. We shall see but to say we'll have one of the best

cf's for the next six years, I dunno about that.

Even the biggest Brian supporters have to admit he has been a C- at the plate to D

plus to go with his A-plus work in cf.

 

Brian had a HORRIBLE April/May/most of June. His overall numbers aren't gonna look that good no matter what he does. However, he's been considerably better since July 1. I believe he's hitting at or around .300 since then. He's even helped us win a couple of games with his bat. I don't even have to get into what he brings to the table defensively. Brian is a rookie. He's not the first guy to struggle his few first months at the big league level. He's gonna be an outstanding all-around player.

[BearSox]

Ryan Sweeney > Chris Young & Brain Anderson

[Felix]

I don't know why Brian Anderson gets let off the hook by so many fans.

Has he proven he can hit yet in the big leagues?

I mean I like his defense as much as anybody but you can't tell me he's done

better than Rowand did.

Again, I like his defense and his potential I guess, but Brian Anderson does not

appear to me to have star potential as a hitter.

I know ... Crede took a while too. We shall see but to say we'll have one of the best

cf's for the next six years, I dunno about that.

Even the biggest Brian supporters have to admit he has been a C- at the plate to D

plus to go with his A-plus work in cf.

Brian Anderson was a prospect coming into the league for the first time, so of course he's going to struggle. If you've actually watched him throughout the year, you've seen him develop as a hitter, going from striking out 22 times in the month of April to striking out only 21 times since the ASB. You've seen him gain confidence at the plate, and start taking better swings and making better contact. You've seen him hit .313 in July, and .283 since the ASB. He's a much better hitter than his overall stats indicate, he just needed time to develop.

 

If you consider all of this, plus his defense (which has saved the pitching staff countless runs), I don't know how you can think he's being 'let off the hook' by fans. Even if you think his offense has been horrible, miserable, and dreadful throughout the year, it doesn't matter. The White Sox have boasted the best offense in the league for the majority (if not all) of the year, despite having both BA and Juan having pretty bad overall stats at the bottom of the lineup. What matters is Brian's defense saving this team runs and games, and anything that he did with the bat while is considered a plus.

 

(just my opinion)

 

Ryan Sweeney > Chris Young & Brain Anderson

If you are talking upsides, then Chris Young > Ryan Sweeney > Brian Anderson

If you are talking safeness, then yes, Ryan Sweeney is probably is the safest, since he has an incredibly smooth swing.

[Chisoxfn]

Chris Young, the best prospect the Sox have traded away since (fill in the blank), got called up to Arizona Friday.

 

Had a single in three at bats after a solid season in Tucson. He's featured on the Baseball America web page today.

 

every time Javy has one of his meltdowns (I've heard that it happens sometimes), check this kid's line in the box score and remember what might have been.

 

Razor Shines, his manager at Birmingham last season, sez he's better than Anderson, better than Sweeney, better than Owens, better than anybody in the Sox system.

 

at least we'll see him play when he comes to Wrigley every year.

He's the best prospect to come our way in a long time. It stinks we gave him up for Javy, but at this point all we can do is hope Javy turns into something. I've long said if he can't do something for us, we won't go anywhere this year because I don't have much faith in Freddy/Mark being our guys this season, so we need someone to be that 3 if we do in fact make the playoffs.

 

Heck, I don't have much faith in Contreras.

[Kalapse]

I don't know why Brian Anderson gets let off the hook by so many fans.

Has he proven he can hit yet in the big leagues?

I mean I like his defense as much as anybody but you can't tell me he's done

better than Rowand did.

Again, I like his defense and his potential I guess, but Brian Anderson does not

appear to me to have star potential as a hitter.

I know ... Crede took a while too. We shall see but to say we'll have one of the best

cf's for the next six years, I dunno about that.

Even the biggest Brian supporters have to admit he has been a C- at the plate to D

plus to go with his A-plus work in cf.

Brian Anderson since June 11th (over 2 months)

 

42 GS | 149 AB | 21 R | 19 RBI | 15 2B | 3 HR | .282/.337/.443/.780

 

.282 batting average over 2 month's time? I'll take it.

[Balta1701]

I'm gonna barf the next time somebody claims Kenny traded a top 20 prospect in hopes of getting back a typical #5 starter -- especially one that makes as much paper as Javy does.

You're 100% right.

 

He came in at #23.

[southsider2k5]

I don't know why Brian Anderson gets let off the hook by so many fans.

Has he proven he can hit yet in the big leagues?

I mean I like his defense as much as anybody but you can't tell me he's done

better than Rowand did.

Again, I like his defense and his potential I guess, but Brian Anderson does not

appear to me to have star potential as a hitter.

I know ... Crede took a while too. We shall see but to say we'll have one of the best

cf's for the next six years, I dunno about that.

Even the biggest Brian supporters have to admit he has been a C- at the plate to D

plus to go with his A-plus work in cf.

 

Am I the only one who remembers the Aaron Rowand HATE that went on here for a year and a half/two years because Arow was god awful at the plate when he got here? A few years back the trade Rowand threads were as prevelant as the Vazquez sucks threads are now. Not every kid comes to the big leagues ready to go like Albert Pujols. Even if they have the tools, it may take some time to learn how to use them. So far Brian has shown solid progress which is all you can ask from a rookie in a pennant race. The other thing he has done is HELPED the team on defense, which all by itself is a plus. Brian will come around, and soon enough everyone will forget about the times when everyone was crucifing him. Heck it has already started to some extent.

[Chisoxfn]

Brian is a premiere defensive centerfielder as a rookie. This team is not losing because of its offense and while you can make a case for this team losing becuase it doesn't do the little things (or pitch), you can't possibly convine me that Brian Anderson will cost us the playoffs or world series (it will be the pitching and our lack of execution).

[gojimthome]

Anderson is considered by just about every scout in baseball to be a guy that will hit .280-.290 with 20-30 homers, very few steals, and approx. gold-glove defense every year for many years. I have no problem with keeping the safer pick as far a center field goes. There aren't a whole lot of consistent .280/25hr centerfielders with out there with gold-glove caliber defense.

 

Chris Young could be Mike Cameron. Is he a safe bet to be Mike Cameron? No. Not even Mike Cameron is a safe bet to be Mike Cameron from year to year. Once in a while, Cameron will hit .270 with 25 homers and steal 35 bases. Other years, he'll hit .230. Young's going to be the same way with his approach at the plate. What's Young's realistic ceiling for sustained production? .265/30/30 with very good (but not Anderson) defense, approximately.

 

Screw rolling the dice and maybe getting that. Gimme Anderson. I agree with propellerheads on steals. They're overrated as hell. Most big-time base stealers are big-time causers of outs on the basepaths. He may be amazing for fantasy managers and get drafted each year in the third or fourth round, but he'll be less valuable to a real team.

Edited August 22, 2006 by Contreras' Crew

[BearSox]

He's the best prospect to come our way in a long time. It stinks we gave him up for Javy, but at this point all we can do is hope Javy turns into something. I've long said if he can't do something for us, we won't go anywhere this year because I don't have much faith in Freddy/Mark being our guys this season, so we need someone to be that 3 if we do in fact make the playoffs.

 

Heck, I don't have much faith in Contreras.

Giovany Gonzalez > Chris Young...

 

Chris Young is highly overrated, IMO. He has only had decent numbers in the minors, but his "potential" to be a 40-40 guy makes everyone get a boner for him. I see him being a decent OF AT BEST.

 

Anderson is considered by just about every scout in baseball to be a guy that will hit .280-.290 with 20-30 homers, very few steals, and approx. gold-glove defense every year for many years.

 

um... He has the potential to steal about 20 bases a season. He is actually a pretty good base stealer, but he was never on base before to show it off.

[Chisoxfn]

Giovany Gonzalez > Chris Young...

 

Chris Young is highly overrated, IMO. He has only had decent numbers in the minors, but his "potential" to be a 40-40 guy makes everyone get a boner for him. I see him being a decent OF AT BEST.

Couldn't disagree more, but than again I was the original guy on the Chris Young bandwagon a few years ago with FutureSox

[Balta1701]

Giovany Gonzalez > Chris Young...

 

Chris Young is highly overrated, IMO. He has only had decent numbers in the minors, but his "potential" to be a 40-40 guy makes everyone get a boner for him. I see him being a decent OF AT BEST.

um... He has the potential to steal about 20 bases a season. He is actually a pretty good base stealer, but he was never on base before to show it off.

Man, right now, I don't think the stats back that up too well...Gio being more valuable than Chris. Gio's looking at a 4.17 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in AA for the Phillies this year. Giving up a lot of walks, and 21 home runs (not sure about that park, but his record is also 7-10 with that ERA, so it's not like he's destroying opponents). He's at least stayed healthy thus far, but he doesn't look like a top-of-the-line starter just yet.

[BearSox]

If you are talking upsides, then Chris Young > Ryan Sweeney > Brian Anderson

If you are talking safeness, then yes, Ryan Sweeney is probably is the safest, since he has an incredibly smooth swing.

I think Ryan Sweeney has an upside to be a perennial All-Star. He won't K 100x a season (which I love), and has the potential to hit 300+, hit 30 homers (maybe more. His power is finally comming around), and drive in 90+. Plus, he has a canon arm and plays pretty darn good D himself.

[Chisoxfn]

I think Ryan Sweeney has an upside to be a perennial All-Star. He won't K 100x a season (which I love), and has the potential to hit 300+, hit 30 homers (maybe more. His power is finally comming around), and drive in 90+. Plus, he has a canon arm and plays pretty darn good D himself.

30 plus hr's is a stretch. I could see him (if all went well) getting up to 25 but its far more realistic to predict 10-20 HR's, a high average, and above average defense.

[BearSox]

Man, right now, I don't think the stats back that up too well...Gio being more valuable than Chris. Gio's looking at a 4.17 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in AA for the Phillies this year. Giving up a lot of walks, and 21 home runs (not sure about that park, but his record is also 7-10 with that ERA, so it's not like he's destroying opponents). He's at least stayed healthy thus far, but he doesn't look like a top-of-the-line starter just yet.

I think Gio is just having a bad year. He had a great year last year. And Chris Young is a career .270 hitter in the minors.

 

30 plus hr's is a stretch. I could see him (if all went well) getting up to 25 but its far more realistic to predict 10-20 HR's, a high average, and above average defense.

His power will come. People see his minor league numbers and say, oh he can't hit for power. But he is one of those guys that will hit homers when he comes up. I think if you combine his homers from ST and this year he has 17 or 18. Plus, he had only a couple homers for the first couple of months in Charlotte.

 

I will admit it now, I have a boner for Ryan Sweeney's swing, it is just that pretty.

 

Couldn't disagree more, but than again I was the original guy on the Chris Young bandwagon a few years ago with FutureSox

I think someone else said it best. Chris Young is Mike Cameron. Mike Cameron is an average player.

[gojimthome]

um... He has the potential to steal about 20 bases a season. He is actually a pretty good base stealer, but he was never on base before to show it off.

 

That is incorrect. He has never displayed that speed in the minors. He is a good base RUNNER, not base STEALER. No scouting report I've ever read drank enough BA kool-aid to call him a 25/20 Grady-Sizemore type.

[SABR Sox]

Ryan Sweeney > Chris Young & Brain Anderson

 

Probably better than Brian Anderson in the longrun, but there is absolutley NO circumstantial evidence showing he will be any better than Young.

 

Young has the same "Ability" everyone drools over, maybe even more overall talent, and his numbers are better too.

 

Sure Sweeney is younger, but don't jump to the gun real quick. Young is better than both of those guys.

[SoxHawk1980]

To all of those who are so in love with Ryan Sweeney as a "great prospect" and who think he is major league ready, what is it about his performance this year that impresses you?

 

.349 OBP

.449 SLG

.798 OPS

 

That isn't at all impressive. If you think he's a great prospect, then how do you explain his underachievement this season? And if he isn't excelling at AAA, what makes you think he's ready to excel in the majors? I would prefer that he shows that he can do very well in AAA before making him a regular in the majors. Long story short, he needs to spend some significant time in AAA next season before getting serious consideration for the major league team.

[CWSGuy406]

I think Ryan Sweeney has an upside to be a perennial All-Star. He won't K 100x a season (which I love), and has the potential to hit 300+, hit 30 homers (maybe more. His power is finally comming around), and drive in 90+. Plus, he has a canon arm and plays pretty darn good D himself.

 

Ryan Sweeney's SLG% at home: .514.

 

Ryan Sweeney's SLG% away: .396.

 

Sweeney's a guy who has been helped A LOT by playing in that park.

[gojimthome]

I think Ryan Sweeney has an upside to be a perennial All-Star. He won't K 100x a season (which I love), and has the potential to hit 300+, hit 30 homers (maybe more. His power is finally comming around), and drive in 90+. Plus, he has a canon arm and plays pretty darn good D himself.

 

You just said that Sweeney is going to be Vlad Guerrero.

 

That will not happen.

[WHarris1]

Chris Young is Mike Cameron.

You can say that for sure....how?

[3E8]

To all of those who are so in love with Ryan Sweeney as a "great prospect" and who think he is major league ready, what is it about his performance this year that impresses you?

 

.349 OBP

.449 SLG

.798 OPS

 

That isn't at all impressive. If you think he's a great prospect, then how do you explain his underachievement this season? And if he isn't excelling at AAA, what makes you think he's ready to excel in the majors? I would prefer that he shows that he can do very well in AAA before making him a regular in the majors. Long story short, he needs to spend some significant time in AAA next season before getting serious consideration for the major league team.

He's not major league ready but he can still be considered a great prospect. You have to take age into consideration. Sweeney's been rushed through the system. He has a career minor league batting average just under .300 and is on the verge of completing a full season in Charlotte by age 21. That counts for something. The fact that he finally seems to be developing a bit more power is another positive because power is traditionally the last stage of improvement in a young hitter. I suppose you can take just his stats and say these seem unimpressive for a hitter in a band-box who we need to come up right now and help the club, but when you combine them with Sweeney's age and professional progression then you've got the system's top 1 or 2 prospect.

[SoxHawk1980]

He's not major league ready but he can still be considered a great prospect. You have to take age into consideration. Sweeney's been rushed through the system. He has a career minor league batting average just under .300 and is on the verge of completing a full season in Charlotte by age 21. That counts for something. The fact that he finally seems to be developing a bit more power is another positive because power is traditionally the last stage of improvement in a young hitter. I suppose you can take just his stats and say these seem unimpressive for a hitter in a band-box who we need to come up right now and help the club, but when you combine them with Sweeney's age and professional progression then you've got the system's top 1 or 2 prospect.

Actually, even with his age, that performance in a hitter-friendly stadium does not add up to a 1 or 2 prospect in my book. He may still be a great prospect, but he isn't anywhere near ready for the majors. Bring him up to the majors this season and he'll make Anderson look good. Frankly I think Sweeney's ETA in the majors is 2008 at earliest. And that is only if he finally figures out how to hit well in AAA.

[kwolf68]

I've seen Sweeney and I doubt he will ever sniff 30 homers in a year, however, he has the makeup to be a terrific, terrific major league talent. He has a great GREAT arm, clearly good enough to play RF or CF...having him in LF would make him even more dangerous. His defense is about major league ready now. He isn't as smooth as a defensive OF as Brian, but he's next in line.

 

I see Sweeney as a hitter who will NEVER be below .270, .280...He has .300+ written all over him. He has one of the smoothest easiest swings I've seen. His technique, his balance, and his movement (not wasted) are almost computerized they are so good.

 

Let me tell you, this kid IS THE GOODS. I tried hard to watch him in games I've seen to figure out why he isn't hitting homers. The kid is a big kid and has good bat speed, but the balls just don't leave the yard for him, but he does pepper the alleys and lines. Maybe the top hand on his bat is too dominant on the swing and he is creating too much top spin and not getting enough lift, I don't know...but THIS KID CAN HIT A BASEBALL...

 

He will hit .300> for 10 years in the majors, compete for the league lead in doubles, triples, TBs, OPS, and will likely develop into a 15-25 homer guy. He looks like the future #3 hitter for the Sox.