Sox scouts on the lookout for young OF prospects

[ThunderBolt]

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

Tampa seems to have a lot more opportunities to draft good young players, because they had the #1 pick for a couple years running. I think the real challenge is building a winning farm, when you consistently pick later in the draft.

[GoodAsGould]

Tampa seems to have a lot more opportunities to draft good young players, because they had the #1 pick for a couple years running. I think the real challenge is building a winning farm, when you consistently pick later in the draft.

 

Which you than have to look at the Redsox and Braves. But to be fair, besides the Kenny Williams jr, pick I really thought the Whitesox did an outstanding job in last years draft, so lets just hope that it wasnt a fluke and we have 2 good drafts in a row.

[Balta1701]

Which you than have to look at the Redsox and Braves. But to be fair, besides the Kenny Williams jr, pick I really thought the Whitesox did an outstanding job in last years draft, so lets just hope that it wasnt a fluke and we have 2 good drafts in a row.

Even the Braves though have had some down years over the last couple...and to be frank, when you don't have to worry about having to draft a #1, 2, or 3 starting pitcher for 10 years, that helps also.

[GoodAsGould]

Even the Braves though have had some down years over the last couple...and to be frank, when you don't have to worry about having to draft a #1, 2, or 3 starting pitcher for 10 years, that helps also.

 

Right, but I mean you cant always be on the top all the time. One bad draft class can take a team fom the top to the bottom given some of the past prospects are either going to be up in the bigs or traded.

[WCSox]

If the Sox continue on this path, my guess is that Kenny lands one for Dye at the deadline.

 

[witesoxfan]

If the Sox continue on this path, my guess is that Kenny lands one for Dye at the deadline.

 

I don't think the Sox trade Dye for an outfielder, unless he is a secondary part. If KW trades Dye, it's for a starting pitching prospect.

[Balta1701]

I don't think the Sox trade Dye for an outfielder, unless he is a secondary part. If KW trades Dye, it's for a starting pitching prospect.

Depends on how aggressive Kenny winds up being.

 

If things go really bad, Dye, Thome, Dotel, Contreras are all potential "try to move them to save money" options for this year alone.

[ThunderBolt]

I'd say Dye and Thome are likley goners worst case scenario. Dotel's contract is decent enough to have around, and i can't imagine anyone taking Contreras off our hands.

[Balta1701]

I'd say Dye and Thome are likley goners worst case scenario. Dotel's contract is decent enough to have around, and i can't imagine anyone taking Contreras off our hands.

Dotel's contract ends after this year, that's why he'd be a goner. Jose...well, if we're looking to simply shed salary at that point, if he's managed to push his ERA down to 5 or below then he's worth at least a little, if we perhaps chip in some fraction of the money.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I highly doubt the Sox or anyone else is going to offer arb to Contreras, so expect something close or maybe possibly better than what we received in the Iguchi deal (Dubee) for him if he's even movable at all. Thome is not getting offered arb by anyone either, so expect another Jeff Marquez/Brent Lillibridge type of haul there, i.e. a formerly highly touted prospect who has fallen out of favor, but not a former stud prospect who has fallen out of favor like Floyd was.

 

Dye could however bring something decent if he's tearing it up and we can deal him to a team that has enough money and a big enough need to exercise his 2010 team option. If that's the case, a Dye deal becomes more than a rental because in this climate it's almost guaranteed that JD will exercise his player option wherever he ends up. Still, the names mentioned in this thread for the most part are way, way off base as far as a potential return. If we want someone like CarGon we're going to have to give up a hell of a lot more than a few veterans in their mid-to-late 30's.

 

Dotel should bring the most of this group and it is possible that someone would offer him arbitration looking to retain him as a closer, although that's still unlikely IMO. But that said, there's always a gigantic need for relievers and if we do the scouting, we can very easily end up with another Kyle Davies type deal that the Royals pulled off, or if we're really lucky, we can end up with a deal like Texas got for Gagne, which I believe was a potential LR/innings eater in Kason Gabbard, a good cheap 4th OF in David Murphy, and future stud prospect Engle Beltre.

 

IF there is a firesale this year, the biggest piece might actually end up being Colon. If he is healthy and pitching effectively, at his salary he's sure to command heavy interest, and we'd be in a good position because he'll be arb-eligible and thusly easy to retain on a one year deal or else worth a prospect.

 

Other names of interest could be:

Getz/Nix if the Sox want to bring up Beckham

Bobby Jenks - doubt the Sox would move him

PK - maybe to the Angels finally if Morales is still struggling?

Thornton - makes almost no sense to move given his salary, unless the Sox are totally bowled over

Carrasco - given what little he'd bring there's not much reason to move him and further injure the pen

Betemit

 

*Edit: Basically what I'm saying is that if we did have a firesale and we traded Count, Dye, and Thome, we could easily end up with a combined talent level equal to that of the second Swisher deal. Not very exciting.

Edited May 7, 2009 by Kenny Hates Prospects

[caulfield12]

Yep, you're right, Colon could end up being our most valuable commodity, especially if he can consistently get his velocity back into the 90's, even though he's shown he can still be effective because of his movement and command with essentially an average MLB fastball in the early innings. Of course, the problem is outings like Baltimore where he just didn't have enough on it, and he was missing locations.

 

When you think about it, Contreras and Colon both don't have a full repertoire of pitches like a Vazquez, and that's one of the weaknesses of both at this point in their careers, as they are both primarly "one-pitch" pitchers.

 

Konerko and Dye might end up being attractive...and AJ is more valuable to us (despite his throwing problems) than he would be to another organization, unless they're convinced Flowers can handle the position defensively in 2010. In all likelihood, AJ will start 2010 with the Sox and possible be traded to make way for Flowers in the middle of that season.

 

Of course, if we trade Colon, that means we still have a gaping hole at the back of our rotation. Obviously they will stick with Gavin because of his contract, but they don't have a Plan B for Jose right now, and our best minor league pitchers are still 2+ years away (w/ the notable exception of Poreda).

 

The only other trade pieces we have are Shelby OR Jordan Danks (eventually, one or the other), Poreda (but they don't want to deal a lefty with that kind of stuff and end up like the Mets with the Kazmir move, so they almost have to see if he can be effective as a starter at the big league level) and whoever's left out from the Fields/Ramirez/Getz group, but you would be "selling low" on any of those three and not getting much of a return. If they're playing well, no need to trade them, obviously.

[Balta1701]

The only other trade pieces we have are Shelby OR Jordan Danks (eventually, one or the other), Poreda (but they don't want to deal a lefty with that kind of stuff and end up like the Mets with the Kazmir move, so they almost have to see if he can be effective as a starter at the big league level) and whoever's left out from the Fields/Ramirez/Getz group, but you would be "selling low" on any of those three and not getting much of a return. If they're playing well, no need to trade them, obviously.

Beckham for Halladay.

[caulfield12]

Beckham for Halladay.

 

 

It would probably have to be Beckham AND Poreda to get them to give up Halladay.

 

He's clearly one of the best pitchers in baseball and the "franchise" right now, as Wells and Rios aren't as good as they were thought to be.