Nick Hostetler Promoted to Director of Amateur Scouting

[caulfield12]

Seeing as he got to a first place team, that means the entire NL passed, as did almost all of the AL. Something like 25 teams passed on JD.

 

And yet how many times has the same been said about Mike Trout around here?

[Boopa1219]

Why even keep him around? God forbid someone loses their job for the lack of success this franchise has had.

 

Hostetler is pretty young at 37 and having a guy around that has had that position before and that has tons of experience in an advisory capacity is not a bad thing.

[Kyyle23]

Hey look, it is retroactive complaining day! Everyone get out your "look into the past" goggles and find a move that worked out for another team and blast the sox for not making the same move!

 

Yay!

[Lip Man 1]

let me asked this of those who can answer. to me, i always assumed that the sox picked, esp in the 1 round, prospects who were easy to sign and can make the majors quickly, as oppose to players who were more talented. was that how any saw it???

 

I can't say with 100% accuracy but there was strong peripheral evidence the Sox used signability and who the players agent was as part of the decision making process.

 

Mark

[Lip Man 1]

during that whole time, i was recovering from a illness, what was, not the official line, but reason for raines being fired???

 

Supposedly Tim wasn't working hard enough to suit Ozzie.

 

Mark

 

[Chisoxfn]

One thing to point out. Over the past few years the Sox philosphy on drafting did take a fundamental shift. I don't know if that was driven by Hostetler or Hahn or whom, but the reality is, when you look at our early round picks, we have had quite a few successes or at least perceived successes (still way too early technically on Rodon / Fullmer) after an extended run of stinkers in the early rounds. We also have seen the farm system get stronger. What we still haven't been able to figure out is how to develop (or find) the right position players and I don't know that we have necessarily changed that trend (although you have to give Sox credit for Semien (A's) / Saladino / Sanchez / Micah who all look like they should play at least a few years in the majors, if not more) and obviously Anderson is the one top end position prospect trending in the right direction. I might be overstating on Saladino cause he's probably the one I have the least faith in of the bunch but I like his presence enough to stay patient with him, however, he will never play as a starter at 3B (and I highly doubt he'll be able to stick at SS either, I think Saladino's best bet is as a super sub where Sanchez and Micah could potentially both start with the main issue being they both play the same position (although Sanchez might be able to play a good enough SS).

[LDF]

Supposedly Tim wasn't working hard enough to suit Ozzie.

 

Mark

 

wow, that should have been interesting reading.

 

wonder if there is any truth to it.

[Boopa1219]

Hopefully this change will mean that Hostetler will bring some new scouts into the system.

 

But we can see finally see Rick Hahn's FO take form, with Jeremy Haber, Marco Paddy (Yeah, I'm aware that Kenny hired him.) and Hostetler.

[caulfield12]

how is the waiver list order is judge??

 

i always thought it was on the win / lost record like the draft order.

 

Reverse winning percentage...the worst teams always get first shot, like the A's selecting Valencia from TOR.

 

 

[LDF]

One thing to point out. Over the past few years the Sox philosphy on drafting did take a fundamental shift. I don't know if that was driven by Hostetler or Hahn or whom, but the reality is, when you look at our early round picks, we have had quite a few successes or at least perceived successes (still way too early technically on Rodon / Fullmer) after an extended run of stinkers in the early rounds. We also have seen the farm system get stronger. What we still haven't been able to figure out is how to develop (or find) the right position players and I don't know that we have necessarily changed that trend (although you have to give Sox credit for Semien (A's) / Saladino / Sanchez / Micah who all look like they should play at least a few years in the majors, if not more) and obviously Anderson is the one top end position prospect trending in the right direction. I might be overstating on Saladino cause he's probably the one I have the least faith in of the bunch but I like his presence enough to stay patient with him, however, he will never play as a starter at 3B (and I highly doubt he'll be able to stick at SS either, I think Saladino's best bet is as a super sub where Sanchez and Micah could potentially both start with the main issue being they both play the same position (although Sanchez might be able to play a good enough SS).

 

you make a lot of great points here.

 

ref farm, yeah, i love that the sox went out and hire outside the org and hired someone good. proof is in the system,

 

ref fa's, the sox went out and was competitive in the last yrs group... i good sign for continue growth and health of the sox system.

 

ref the draft, well 14 was great, at least for me on the majority. the 15, well time will tell on the rest of the picks, outside the 1 rounder.

 

the system, overall is looking up. of course not all is peachy but that is not for this post.

 

the journey to being a perennial playoff team and power house. that is what i am extremely looking forward to.

[LDF]

Reverse winning percentage...the worst teams always get first shot, like the A's selecting Valencia from TOR.

 

many thanks.

[Buehrle>Wood]

many thanks.

It's by league first though. So if JD Martinez was let go by Astros, AL team, he would have been claimed by Tigers with a middle order claim since they get to go before any NL team.

[southsider2k5]

And yet how many times has the same been said about Mike Trout around here?

 

Also silly for the same reason.

[southsider2k5]

It's by league first though. So if JD Martinez was let go by Astros, AL team, he would have been claimed by Tigers with a middle order claim since they get to go before any NL team.

 

Wasn't Houston still in the NL then?

[LittleHurt05]

Wasn't Houston still in the NL then?

 

Nope, it all went down late March 2014.

[knightni]

Speaking of Ozzie.

 

I'm surprised that Reinsdorf hasn't tried to get him into Latin America operations.

 

 

He'd be a great ambassador to potential Latin free agents.

[Balta1701]

One thing to point out. Over the past few years the Sox philosphy on drafting did take a fundamental shift. I don't know if that was driven by Hostetler or Hahn or whom, but the reality is, when you look at our early round picks, we have had quite a few successes or at least perceived successes (still way too early technically on Rodon / Fullmer) after an extended run of stinkers in the early rounds. We also have seen the farm system get stronger. What we still haven't been able to figure out is how to develop (or find) the right position players and I don't know that we have necessarily changed that trend (although you have to give Sox credit for Semien (A's) / Saladino / Sanchez / Micah who all look like they should play at least a few years in the majors, if not more) and obviously Anderson is the one top end position prospect trending in the right direction. I might be overstating on Saladino cause he's probably the one I have the least faith in of the bunch but I like his presence enough to stay patient with him, however, he will never play as a starter at 3B (and I highly doubt he'll be able to stick at SS either, I think Saladino's best bet is as a super sub where Sanchez and Micah could potentially both start with the main issue being they both play the same position (although Sanchez might be able to play a good enough SS).

While I believe there has been improvement with regard to selecting pitchers, if I wanted to play Devil's Advocate...I could just say that the White Sox followed up a period where the team averaged winning 53% of their games with a period where the team has won 46.7% of their games over a 5 season period and as a consequence of nothing other than that their draft performance should have improved.

 

While that may not be all of it....that has to be noted. They're regularly losing right now. That keeps them drafting higher and it keeps them from losing their 1st round pick when they sign FA.

[Chisoxfn]

While I believe there has been improvement with regard to selecting pitchers, if I wanted to play Devil's Advocate...I could just say that the White Sox followed up a period where the team averaged winning 53% of their games with a period where the team has won 46.7% of their games over a 5 season period and as a consequence of nothing other than that their draft performance should have improved.

 

While that may not be all of it....that has to be noted. They're regularly losing right now. That keeps them drafting higher and it keeps them from losing their 1st round pick when they sign FA.

Losing picks for signing people is pretty much a moot point with the Sox. Other then this past off-season, had we lost picks for anyone in recent years? While picking higher helps, I would argue in the draft, it is a crapshoot anyway so you don't get near as significant of an advantage picking top 10 as you do in say the NFL / NBA.

 

The interesting play in all of this is going to be how our international guys pan out. Those signings take years to gauge and we really are still new players their (due to combination of the Wilder fiasco and Sox being cheap prior to the updated international signing rules which attempted to level the playing field a bit) so we are probably still 3-5 years from seeing potential true pick ups in the overall quality of the farm system (where the supply of talent isn't just coming from the draft). Outside of El Caballo and Maggs, Its been forever since we've developed any sort of impactful foreign talent (Viciedo is an exception as he wasn't drafted as a guy you were going to sit in the farm for years to develop...plus he didn't exactly turn into a productive player).

 

If this organization is going to take the next level in terms of enhancing the farm system, it will not only take strong domestic drafting, but it will take consistently strong international classes as well. And then of course their is the development side of the house as well.

 

One thing I want to see is for the White Sox to recognize what the Cubs and Dodgers are doing (not in terms of having all the cash / resources to spend money) but from the perspective of how they are focused and diligent when it comes to finding the best talent and developing it. Clearly both teams have an advantage in the sense that they are willing to break the international free agent rules and that helps significantly. Plus they have additional revenues to fortify the major league team (vs. having to use prospects) but having a strong farm system is critical to contend, especially if you are going to do it without spending $150M+ on payroll. The Sox aren't in a position where they can consistently win by being aggressive and buying in free agency. They need to try and do things more like the Cardinals, use that farm system, trade when necessary, but get a lot of mileage out of home grown talent. Then use FA to be smart and then every once in a great while, make the aggressive play in FA to try and help put you over the top (but don't ever use FA as a quick fix).

[Balta1701]

Losing picks for signing people is pretty much a moot point with the Sox. Other then this past off-season, had we lost picks for anyone in recent years? While picking higher helps, I would argue in the draft, it is a crapshoot anyway so you don't get near as significant of an advantage picking top 10 as you do in say the NFL / NBA.

They sacrificed their 2011 first round pick for Adam Dunn as well.

[Chisoxfn]

They sacrificed their 2011 first round pick for Adam Dunn as well.

I was thinking they must have, but decided I didn't want to look up. As If I didn't already dislike the Dunn signing enough, haha. If memory serves me right, that was the year we would have taken Walker then with our first pick.

[knightni]

I was thinking they must have, but decided I didn't want to look up. As If I didn't already dislike the Dunn signing enough, haha. If memory serves me right, that was the year we would have taken Walker then with our first pick.

The Nats got Alex Meyer for the pick.

[LDF]

Losing picks for signing people is pretty much a moot point with the Sox. Other then this past off-season, had we lost picks for anyone in recent years? While picking higher helps, I would argue in the draft, it is a crapshoot anyway so you don't get near as significant of an advantage picking top 10 as you do in say the NFL / NBA.

 

The interesting play in all of this is going to be how our international guys pan out. Those signings take years to gauge and we really are still new players their (due to combination of the Wilder fiasco and Sox being cheap prior to the updated international signing rules which attempted to level the playing field a bit) so we are probably still 3-5 years from seeing potential true pick ups in the overall quality of the farm system (where the supply of talent isn't just coming from the draft). Outside of El Caballo and Maggs, Its been forever since we've developed any sort of impactful foreign talent (Viciedo is an exception as he wasn't drafted as a guy you were going to sit in the farm for years to develop...plus he didn't exactly turn into a productive player).

 

If this organization is going to take the next level in terms of enhancing the farm system, it will not only take strong domestic drafting, but it will take consistently strong international classes as well. And then of course their is the development side of the house as well.

 

One thing I want to see is for the White Sox to recognize what the Cubs and Dodgers are doing (not in terms of having all the cash / resources to spend money) but from the perspective of how they are focused and diligent when it comes to finding the best talent and developing it. Clearly both teams have an advantage in the sense that they are willing to break the international free agent rules and that helps significantly. Plus they have additional revenues to fortify the major league team (vs. having to use prospects) but having a strong farm system is critical to contend, especially if you are going to do it without spending $150M+ on payroll. The Sox aren't in a position where they can consistently win by being aggressive and buying in free agency. They need to try and do things more like the Cardinals, use that farm system, trade when necessary, but get a lot of mileage out of home grown talent. Then use FA to be smart and then every once in a great while, make the aggressive play in FA to try and help put you over the top (but don't ever use FA as a quick fix).

 

excellent point, but the org needs to get there. they need to fix the holes, the holes that were cause by lousy management and drafting....

 

how to fix it, esp with the window of the talent the team has... >>>> FA's rt.

 

[Chisoxfn]

They sacrificed their 2011 first round pick for Adam Dunn as well.

That said, outside of Dunn and going back through basically all of the 2000's, I presume that was the only time, correct? So long term, you really can't talk about our draft being bad because we lost first round picks due to signing free agents.

[LDF]

They sacrificed their 2011 first round pick for Adam Dunn as well.

 

they took a gamble like they took a gamble on Adam LaRoche. how many times are they going to gamble on players on the wrong side of their career???

[Balta1701]

That said, outside of Dunn and going back through basically all of the 2000's, I presume that was the only time, correct? So long term, you really can't talk about our draft being bad because we lost first round picks due to signing free agents.

Going back farther we had no 2nd rounders in 2008 or 2005.

 

Just noting that it does play a role.