Keith Law's top 100

[royoung]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/...gaerts-more-mlb

 

For those that don't have insider status at ESPN, Sox have three players in the top 100. Erik Johnson at #59, Matt Davidson at #88, and Tim Anderson at #98. His write ups are below

 

 

Johnson built on a solid full-season debut in 2012 with an even better 2013 that saw him move from Double-A to Triple-A and reach the majors in September, racking up a full workload of 170 innings with just 51 walks across the three levels.

 

His stuff was better most of the year than what you might have seen from him in September, but when he isn't overthrowing his slider, he gets more depth to the pitch and misses a lot of bats with it. The slider is new to Johnson since his college days at California, replacing the mid-70s curveball that had a sharp break but was less effective against better hitters. He sits best at 92-93 mph, able to throw harder but with less life and command. His main developmental need is to improve his changeup, which looks good out of his hand but has not been effective enough against left-handed hitters since he reached Double-A.

 

He's built like a workhorse who can handle 220-plus innings in his peak years, with the fastball and swing-and-miss pitch to get him there if he can find a solution to get left-handed hitters out more consistently.

 

 

 

Davidson has been on this list for four straight years and appears ready to take over as the White Sox's regular third baseman after they acquired him from Arizona in December.

 

He has a sweet right-handed swing: very simple and repeatable, with moderate loft in his finish. He is more of a 35-doubles candidate than a plus-power guy; he'll likely hit 15-20 homers per season if he doesn't get too pull-conscious, which, given his swing and approach would hurt him too much in the batting average and contact departments. He's an adequate third baseman, having worked substantially on his reads and getting his feet moving more quickly; you'd like to see him be more aggressive on balls in front of him -- especially ones he should play with one hand -- but he'll make the plays he has to make to be a solid defender.

 

He'll play at 23 years old in 2014 and still has a little development ahead of him -- mostly in pitch recognition -- but he should be an above-average regular at third base given a season or two there to continue to progress.

 

 

Praise be the White Sox for finally being aggressive with their top draft picks; while it didn't work out for Courtney Hawkins in 2013, a raw high school kid who should have gone to low Class A rather than high A, pushing the 20-year-old Anderson to low A got him needed at-bats against better pitching.

 

Anderson held his own there, striking out a little more than you'd like but showing off his gap power and speed without ever looking overmatched. He has a very quick but mostly flat swing, more from his hands than his hips or legs, so he can slap the ball all over but isn't well set up to drive it in any direction. He drifts a little on to his front foot, which, combined with the lack of hip rotation, makes it hard to get maximum force into any contact he makes. He's a plus runner, and questions about his defense while in junior college were less evident in pro ball as the White Sox helped clean up his arm stroke, and his footwork has already improved.

 

He's a great athlete overall and does have the strength to surprise us down the road with 15-homer pop, but it's more likely he settles in as a slap-hitter/speed guy who plays above-average defense at short.

[GGajewski18]

Pretty solid write ups. I'd take above average defense from Anderson considering everyone knew his defense was below average when Sox drafted him.

[witesoxfan]

Keith Law thinks the White Sox have 3 top 100 prospects NOT POSSIBLE MUST BE A FAKE KEITH LAW

[NorthSideSox72]

Anderson was known to have the right raw tools to be an above average defender... nice to hear he is already translating those effectively to playable skills on the field. Not the first time we've heard those reports either. Very good sign he's already doing that.

 

[southsider2k5]

3 in the top 100, without Abreu being considered. Two of them White Sox draft picks. I like it.

[royoung]

I am encouraged he is bullish on Davidson, I've heard varying degrees of pessimism since the trade from scouts. In Keith Law speak, "should be an above average regular" is quite the compliment.

Edited January 29, 2014 by southside hitman

[royoung]

3 in the top 100, without Abreu being considered. Two of them White Sox draft picks. I like it.

 

Also consider Semien being around some top 100 lists and Courtney Hawkins certainly having the potential to re-enter the top 100. Not bad.

[GGajewski18]

Also consider Semien being around some top 100 lists and Courtney Hawkins certainly having the potential to re-enter the top 100. Not bad.

 

A possible long shot but another solid year, I think Chris Beck can crack the top 100 too.

[southsider2k5]

Also consider Semien being around some top 100 lists and Courtney Hawkins certainly having the potential to re-enter the top 100. Not bad.

 

Hawkins has potential to be in the top half of that list. I am really curious to see what the White Sox do with him this year.

[flavum]

Hawkins has potential to be in the top half of that list. I am really curious to see what the White Sox do with him this year.

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...ourtney-hawkins

[hammerhead johnson]

Hawkins has potential to be in the top half of that list. I am really curious to see what the White Sox do with him this year.

 

According to Buddy Bell, he's the next Hank Aaron.

 

And it's about time, because Hank has been gone for damn near 40 years.

[royoung]

Hawkins has potential to be in the top half of that list. I am really curious to see what the White Sox do with him this year.

 

If you would of told me pre-2013 season that in 2014 the White Sox wold have three top 100 prospects and Hawkins wasn't one of them I would of laughed in your face. It's gut check time for him, I say spend another full season in Winston-Salem.

[southsider2k5]

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...ourtney-hawkins

 

I totally hadn't seen that. Thanks for posting.

[Dick Allen]

Keith, what are your thoughts on Chris Sale?

 

Klaw(1:25 PM)

 

I ranked him 47th. The White Sox took him 13th. You do the math.

 

Why is his opinion any better than any random "scout"? People always rag on ESPN, but if ESPN hires someone, he is considered some sort of genius guru in that field. The evidence shows Keith Law's opinions tend to be just as wrong as most everyone else. Even after the 2011 season, Law couldn't or wouldn't rank Sale in the top 50 players under 25.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Dick Allen

[Y2Jimmy0]

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...ourtney-hawkins

 

 

I think I read that Hawkins and Tim Anderson will both be at High A Winston Salem.

[justBLAZE]

Read somewhere on Twitter that Law still ranks Sox system low.. 27th amognst MLB teams. Would you say that's accurate given 3 TOP 300 prospects?

[almagest]

Read somewhere on Twitter that Law still ranks Sox system low.. 27th amognst MLB teams. Would you say that's accurate given 3 TOP 300 prospects?

It could be. Depth matters a lot, and we're still pretty thin.

 

[Dick Allen]

Read somewhere on Twitter that Law still ranks Sox system low.. 27th amognst MLB teams. Would you say that's accurate given 3 TOP 300 prospects?

30 teams 100 prospects, 3 is still about average, and it's not like he ranks any in the top 50. I doubt Hahn's sleep patterns are affected either positively or negatively when it comes to Law's rankings.

 

If you hit on some longshots, you can miss over and over again on obvious picks and still be considered a genius when it comes to evaluating prospects as long as you aren't actually working for a team.

[southsider2k5]

It could be. Depth matters a lot, and we're still pretty thin.

 

Getting better, but still thin.

[NorthSideSox72]

Getting better, but still thin.

Law also said the system would be ranked higher if he included Abreu, who BA and FS both included (but BP, MLB.com and Law did not in their various rankings).

 

[southsider2k5]

Law also said the system would be ranked higher if he included Abreu, who BA and FS both included (but BP, MLB.com and Law did not in their various rankings).

 

Way higher. He would have to be a top 5 overall guy for sure.

[royoung]

Keith, what are your thoughts on Chris Sale?

 

Klaw(1:25 PM)

 

I ranked him 47th. The White Sox took him 13th. You do the math.

 

Why is his opinion any better than any random "scout"? People always rag on ESPN, but if ESPN hires someone, he is considered some sort of genius guru in that field. The evidence shows Keith Law's opinions tend to be just as wrong as most everyone else. Even after the 2011 season, Law couldn't or wouldn't rank Sale in the top 50 players under 25.

 

 

Klaw (1:17 PM)

 

I don't like high-effort pitchers because they tend to either get hurt or end up in the pen because they can't repeat their deliveries. But I am open-minded - guys with bad deliveries sometimes work out as starters. Look at how I missed on Chris Sale - that's still one of the worst starter's deliveries around, and so what?

 

Looks like he has realized his mistake on Sale. But yeah, I don't put any extra stock in him as a scout, but all his reports and rankings are available to me while 99 percent of scout's stuff isn't.

[southsider2k5]

Klaw (1:17 PM)

 

I don't like high-effort pitchers because they tend to either get hurt or end up in the pen because they can't repeat their deliveries. But I am open-minded - guys with bad deliveries sometimes work out as starters. Look at how I missed on Chris Sale - that's still one of the worst starter's deliveries around, and so what?

 

Looks like he has realized his mistake on Sale. But yeah, I don't put any extra stock in him as a scout, but all his reports and rankings are available to me while 99 percent of scout's stuff isn't.

 

It is also worth pointing out that pretty much everyone is scared of Chris Sale blowing up his arm because of his delivery.

[royoung]

Way higher. He would have to be a top 5 overall guy for sure.

 

Callis said that he would rank Abreu 3rd among 1B prospects. LOL

[Dick Allen]

It is also worth pointing out that pretty much everyone is scared of Chris Sale blowing up his arm because of his delivery.

But oddly that was not the reason Law undervalued him. He thought he couldn't start because hehad an average breaking ball and wouldn't be able to repeat his delivery.

 

As for him not ranking Abreu, that makes sense because he will not be a White Sox minor leaguer. He did however say when Abreu signed that the White Sox signing him made no sense, because in his opinion, by the time the White Sox are good enough to where he will matter, he will be in decline.

 

And it would be one thing if he missed on Sale during the draft. He was still missing after Sale had been in the major leagues a year and a half.

 

If Keith Law were half as good as he and some of his followers think he is, a team would be paying him a real nice wage to actually evaluate for real, where missing terribly can't be simply brushed away.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Dick Allen