Sox scouts on the lookout for young OF prospects

[SoxAce]

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Thank you Jason. Hell look at Broadway's college stats and even when he was in B-Ham. He was a stud. Kid has movement on his pitches, he just isn't as talented as once thought. But McCollugh... ugh, always HATED that pick. He is waaaaaay worse than Broadway. Hell McCollugh probably won't even make it past AA. (or at least "earn the right" to move past there)

 

I'll never forget we coulda had Kurt Suzuki for the taking instead of Lucy.

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

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Thank you Jason. Hell look at Broadway's college stats and even when he was in B-Ham. He was a stud. Kid has movement on his pitches, he just isn't as talented as once thought. But McCollugh... ugh, always HATED that pick. He is waaaaaay worse than Broadway. Hell McCollugh probably won't even make it past AA. (or at least "earn the right" to move past there)

Kyle is actually pitching well, but his stuff is very "meh".

[Dick Allen]

To be fair a lot of teams passed up on Ellsbury because people feared that his only true tool was his speed.

 

The pick that people should really gripe about is the Donny Lucy and Kyle McCulloch selections. Those were absolutely horrendous picks, along with the Wes Whisler selection.

Yet the Sox love Lillibridge and what's his only tool? The Sox have had a year or two with a lot of selections in the first 50, and really screwed up. I think Pedroia was available when Whisler and Lucy were drafted. Maybe another problem is the total inability to develop players at lower levels. Bucholtz, Kershaw a couple of pitchers still on the board when Broadway was taken. Maybe Boston is just a lot better in the lower levels of developing guys.

Edited May 6, 2009 by Dick Allen

[Chisoxfn]

Yet the Sox love Lillibridge and what's his only tool? The Sox have had a year or two with a lot of selections in the first 50, and really screwed up. I think Pedroia was available when Whisler and Lucy were drafted. Maybe another problem is the total inability to develop players at lower levels. Bucholtz, Kershaw a couple of pitchers still on the board when Broadway was taken. Maybe Boston is just a lot better in the lower levels of developing guys.

Absolutely, the draft with Sweeney/Anderson was one of the biggest ones. Initially people thought the Sox made out like bandits, but Lumsden was dealt for MacDougall and fell on his face, BA turned into a bust (sorry but he is), and Sweeney took longer to develop and the Sox lost patience and sent him elsewhere. Gio was also dealt and well Whisler was an awful pick, although he's having a great year in the minors. So is McCulloch, shockingly enough.

 

Heck, I think a lot of us complained about Kenny Jr. but speed is his biggest tool. I also think we'll see the Sox take a speedster very early in this draft. Lets just hope they get a Ellsbury and not a Lillibridge. And I have no freaking clue why the Sox love Lillibridge.

 

The guy I love in limited AB's is Nix. The guy just looks like a ballplayer.

[fathom]

Yet the Sox love Lillibridge and what's his only tool? The Sox have had a year or two with a lot of selections in the first 50, and really screwed up. I think Pedroia was available when Whisler and Lucy were drafted. Maybe another problem is the total inability to develop players at lower levels. Bucholtz, Kershaw a couple of pitchers still on the board when Broadway was taken. Maybe Boston is just a lot better in the lower levels of developing guys.

 

Yep, the incompetence of the previous minor league regime continues to haunt the Sox, as you can argue they still haven't developed a solid MLB player since Mark Buehrle (from draft to the pros).

[ThunderBolt]

Maybe Boston is just a lot better in the lower levels of developing guys.

Boston, Oakland and LA Dodgers are probably the best scouting/development organizations in the league.

[Dick Allen]

Boston, Oakland and LA Dodgers are probably the best scouting/development organizations in the league.

I wonder if Joe Borchard would have turned out to be a real good player had he been drafted by a different team. Maybe the White Sox drafted talented guys but had no clue what to do with them when they got them.

[CanOfCorn]

You really can't go back to past drafts and compare who is successful or not...and who was on the board when Team A picked Player A. There are too many factors/rounds/levels to go through to do that.

 

I mean, how many players are there, on average, in every organization? Let's say there are 5 teams in the minors? AAA, AA, 2 A's and a rookie. That's what...roughly 120 players in a minor league organization? Multiply that by 32 MLB teams and include colleges, independent leagues and high school. C'mon. This isn't a science. In fact, I would guess those organizations mentioned above that have the best scouting still hits on only 3/10 AT IT'S BEST. Maybe someone who has time would want to research it...or already has. But, what is the percentage of draft picks that make it to the big club. Then, to another team's big club. Or not at all.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

Do the sox emplore the Greg Walker school of pulling the ball in the minor leagues?

[CanOfCorn]

Do the sox emplore the Greg Walker school of pulling the ball in the minor leagues?

 

No...LIFTING and pulling.

 

And booooooo...no more Greg Walker hijacks. At some point, the players have to be accountable...they all but ran Gary Ward out of town (and back to Charlotte, somehow) because of his methods.

[witesoxfan]

Absolutely, the draft with Sweeney/Anderson was one of the biggest ones. Initially people thought the Sox made out like bandits, but Lumsden was dealt for MacDougall and fell on his face, BA turned into a bust (sorry but he is), and Sweeney took longer to develop and the Sox lost patience and sent him elsewhere. Gio was also dealt and well Whisler was an awful pick, although he's having a great year in the minors. So is McCulloch, shockingly enough.

 

Heck, I think a lot of us complained about Kenny Jr. but speed is his biggest tool. I also think we'll see the Sox take a speedster very early in this draft. Lets just hope they get a Ellsbury and not a Lillibridge. And I have no freaking clue why the Sox love Lillibridge.

 

The guy I love in limited AB's is Nix. The guy just looks like a ballplayer.

 

I give guys 1000 PAs before even thinking of writing them off (unless they are really bad, of course). Anderson is at 712 and he's hit well thus far. I'm giving him more time.

[Dick Allen]

You really can't go back to past drafts and compare who is successful or not...and who was on the board when Team A picked Player A. There are too many factors/rounds/levels to go through to do that.

 

I mean, how many players are there, on average, in every organization? Let's say there are 5 teams in the minors? AAA, AA, 2 A's and a rookie. That's what...roughly 120 players in a minor league organization? Multiply that by 32 MLB teams and include colleges, independent leagues and high school. C'mon. This isn't a science. In fact, I would guess those organizations mentioned above that have the best scouting still hits on only 3/10 AT IT'S BEST. Maybe someone who has time would want to research it...or already has. But, what is the percentage of draft picks that make it to the big club. Then, to another team's big club. Or not at all.

Then why spend any money on draft picks at all? KW Jr. got $150k in the 6th round, a pick most experts politely called a reach. Why give Broadway and McCullough over $1 million? Why refuse to sign deeply discounted type A free agents because you don't want to give up a draft pick? Why risk having Orlando Cabrera accept arbitration and $10 million all for getting an extra pick?

 

Criticism of the White Sox draft over the years is warranted. It has been poor at best. Hopefully they have turned a corner, but there's a reason some teams, no matter where they are drafting always seem to be developing good players, and it isn't luck.

 

 

[Lemon_44]

KW gets enamored with certain players. I'm sure he'll try and make a run at acquiring Fernando Martinez.

[witesoxfan]

To date:

 

Carlos Gonzalez - .326/.422/.593/1.015

Lastings Milledge - .246/.281/.311/.593

 

I'd say that Gonzalez is going nowhere and that people need to reconsider Milledge.

 

If the Sox actually get an outfielder, I imagine he will be one we haven't even considered.

[JPN366]

Boston, Oakland and LA Dodgers are probably the best scouting/development organizations in the league.

 

I would add Milwaukee to that list. They draft all of the hitters.

[Dick Allen]

I would add Milwaukee to that list. They draft all of the hitters.

Tampa and Florida seem to do alright as well. Atlanta was good for years turning over their roster adding a couple of homegrowns.

[SoxFan1]

There are tons of options available. Milledge, Dukes, Blanco, Dickerson, Willits, Ross, Byrnes, etc. It's just a matter of going out and getting players.

[lostfan]

Where is KW Jr. anyway? I can't find him on B-R.

[Dick Allen]

Where is KW Jr. anyway? I can't find him on B-R.

Last I saw he was hitting around .250 with no power and a lot of strikeouts for Kannapolis.

[NorthSideSox72]

Kroeger has his OPS in the low to mid .800's now (after a double and two walks today), approaching the levels he had at Iowa last year (though with more power and less OBP). And his K rate is notably lower than last year. I think he might have some real potential, so if he continues to improve his numbers in Charlotte, and maybe gets a late season call up and looks good, I think he might get some consideration.

 

[caulfield12]

Kroeger seems more like a bench player....rather than another Eric Ludwick.

 

He certainly bears watching, but he's just not a very good defender. LF would seem like the most logical place, with Quentin in RF, but then there's a 50/50 chance that they would move Viciedo there.

 

The one thing he does have going for him is that, along with Betemit and Brandon Allen, he's one of the few options we have from that side of the plate in terms of organizational depth.

[Heads22]

Jas, if I remember correctly, weren't you a Lucy guy early on?

[Reddy]

Kroeger seems more like a bench player....rather than another Eric Ludwick.

 

He certainly bears watching, but he's just not a very good defender. LF would seem like the most logical place, with Quentin in RF, but then there's a 50/50 chance that they would move Viciedo there.

 

The one thing he does have going for him is that, along with Betemit and Brandon Allen, he's one of the few options we have from that side of the plate in terms of organizational depth.

who the f*** is eric ludwick?

[Kalapse]

who the f*** is eric ludwick?

Ryan's brother and a real bad pitcher from the late 90's. Made his major league debut with the Cardinals and I believe was a part of the package that brought Mark McGwire to St. Louis.

[Chisoxfn]

Jas, if I remember correctly, weren't you a Lucy guy early on?

Nope. I said that he had a lot of raw catching tools and had the ability to be successful and didn't hate on his physical abilities. I always pointed out the fact that he was "raw".