BP's White Sox Top 11 Prospects
by larry on Feb 2, 2009 11:37 AM EST
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PrintFive-Star Prospects
1. Gordon Beckham, SS
Four-Star Prospects
2. Aaron Poreda, LHP
3. Brandon Allen, 1B
Three-Star Prospects
4. Dayan Viciedo, 3B
5. Tyler Flowers, C
6. John Shelby, CF
7. Jordan Danks, CF
8. Chris Getz, 2B
Two-Star Prospects
9. Clayton Richard, LHP
10. Brent Morel, 3B
11. Jose Martinez, RFJust Missed: Dexter Carter, RHP; Jeff Marquez, RHP; Juan Silverio, SS
Ranking Challenges: Beckham is a first-rank talent who is head and shoulders above the others, and while Poreda has tons of potential, he also comes with a fair share of uncertainty. Allen received outstanding reviews from scouts, especially those who saw him as he was finishing up last season at Double-A Birmingham, and that gives him the edge over Viciedo, who brings both significant positives and negatives to the table. Flowers rates as an easy fifth-best, and slots six through 11 are more or less a toss-up of a half-dozen players of similar promise.
...
The Sleeper: Brent Lillibridge, also acquired in the Javier Vazquez trade, has seen his prospect star droop considerably over the past two years, but he's still a speedster with some on-base skills who can play nearly anywhere on the diamond.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8459
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i've been saying it for awhile
allen is very under-rated – he had a great ’08, showing some impressive power and a nice improvement in drawing walks……goldstein is ahead of the curve here
dayan, on the other hand, appears to be quickly turning into an over-rated prospect due to the fact he’s a complete wildcard who could take NA baseball by storm……the risk is very real though and can’t be ignored
What do you think about comparing Allen to Chris Davis?
Davis was a year younger and showed a touch more power, but his BB and K rate were worse. Davis had, of course, two break-out years in a row while Allen still needs his second, but they don’t seem THAT far apart
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by OldProspects on Feb 2, 2009 12:04 PM EST up reply actions
apples to oranges
Allen has had 4 mostly lackluster seasons in the minors prior to this breakout season in 2008, and Davis is a rare case in that he got better in every level and has maintained a high AVG. despite the high strikeout rate at higher levels. I think Allen is underrated as he could be a solid regular, but I simply don’t see him having the potential to be a true slugger like Davis. I could see a few .260 20-25 HR seasons in his future though, and he might even steal a base or two.
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by The Congo Hammer on Feb 2, 2009 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
Wasn't AS good...
..in 2007, but he definitely had a nice season still 18 HR 91 RBI .359 wBA. He also had a lower K rate and little higher BA. I agree that it wasn’t great, but that is without a doubt a nice season. He made huge strides with regards to power this year though.
How is he overrated?
We haven’t exactly seen anything yet.
"It just occurred to me that the White Sox could win the division."
by SuddenSam on May 22, 2008 9:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
" That just makes me want to puke all over your head, sir."
I don't know...
It’s not like anyone out there is hyping him up as this can’t miss guy anyway, everyone’s been sceptical about him because of the unknowns, so, like you, I don’t see how he can be considered overrated.
by The Big Hurt on Feb 2, 2009 12:21 PM EST up reply actions
indeed.
three stars seems about right (just like john’s rating seems about right). i imagine goldstein is also deferential to his colleague davenport’s assessment that the cuban league is roughly approximate to a hair below AA level. if a 19 year old or younger put up the numbers viciedo did at AA, he sure as heck wouldn’t be a 3 star prospect. lots of unknowns and i see no one claiming this guy is the second coming or anything.
The White Sox are hyping him as the 3B to start the 2009 season
I’d say that’s fairly overrated, since most people outside the organization think he’s probably going to be starting the year in AA.
by thejd44 on Feb 2, 2009 1:13 PM EST up reply actions
No they're not. They're saying he'll compete for a major league job, which could be lip service as much as anything else.
Barring Viciedo absolutely tearing the cover off the ball in spring training, Josh Fields will open at third for the Sox.
No their not
Who on the White Sox has that? Guillen was quoted as its Fields job to lose.
"It just occurred to me that the White Sox could win the division."
by SuddenSam on May 22, 2008 9:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
" That just makes me want to puke all over your head, sir."
geez
they’re not….. White Sox said that…….Guillen quoted as saying…….
"It just occurred to me that the White Sox could win the division."
by SuddenSam on May 22, 2008 9:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
" That just makes me want to puke all over your head, sir."
oops.
Guillen said the starting third base job is Fields’ to lose.
http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/01/soxfest-first-day-wrapup.html
This may just be a motivational tool
According to Goldstein’s write-up, Viciedo has been known for being a bit out of shape. The team may be using the appeal of a quick big league job to try to help the guy shed some pounds and get into playing shape. Because at his last known playing shape, he couldn’t play 3B in AA, let alone in the majors.
1-10-DEN 18 (9:52) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler pass short right intended for 19-E.Royal INTERCEPTED by 93-L.Castillo (95-S.Phillips) at DEN 18. 93-L.Castillo to DEN 14 for 4 yards (62-C.Wiegmann). 6-J.Cutler pouts ob to DEN 25 for 11 yards.
How is he overrated??
I would argue the fact that most pundits are putting him in top 100 prospect lists makes him overrated. The fact that we haven’t seen anything yet is the exact reason why he is overrated.
right. and he's ranked top 15 by most.
but he’s not that known. no pro experience. but he’s been scouted. and he’s played in a college league where people have a decent idea what numbers mean.
similarly, viciedo has been scouted. maybe not as heavily as alvarez but it’s not like most major league clubs don’t have scouts who go to cuba. and he’s played in a league where we’re getting a decent idea about what stats mean, thanks to clay davenport.
so you adjust for the unknown. doesn’t seem that hard to me. i don’t see anyone rating this guy as the second coming or something. if you want to say that you’re not going to rank anyone who i don’t have x amount of information on so that you’re comfortable, fine. but getting into overrated/underrated seems pretty silly.
Beckham
How much value will he lose when Ozzie moves him to a different position?
None, because...
They’ll soon realise that Alexei is not a capable middle infielder, move him to centre field and then Beckham can stay at SS.
by The Big Hurt on Feb 2, 2009 12:18 PM EST up reply actions
+1
If a player can’t handle second defensively, how does one logically conclude that said player should move to shortstop instead? The only was is if your name is Ozzie Guillen.
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by The Congo Hammer on Feb 2, 2009 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
We will see
Guillen is actually a decent judge of infield defense imo and has seen Alexei play SS quite a bit.
"It just occurred to me that the White Sox could win the division."
by SuddenSam on May 22, 2008 9:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
" That just makes me want to puke all over your head, sir."
it's perilous to use one year of defensive data to evaluate a player's defense.
considering the lack of another ready SS in the white sox organization, seems rather logical to test ramirez at what is supposedly his natural position. as for what will happen in the future with ramirez, i’d imagine he will either play the position well or not – and be positioned accordingly.
the white sox don't get made fun of enough.
that kenny williams, what the hell does he know anyway?
Sober, I was appalled at the women. Drunk I was told I danced with them all.
Tango's position adjustments give a pretty easy answer.
Sober, I was appalled at the women. Drunk I was told I danced with them all.
Ramirez at 2b
As someone who saw him play 2b LIVE about 60 times last year, it was easy to see that Alexei’s problem was that he was a bit raw and didn’t have much experience at 2b. The dude has crazy athleticism and there were several White Sox beat writers who mistakenly thought Ramirez was a good defender based on some of the outstanding plays that he made. He won’t be a GG fielder at SS but he will make plenty of plays and end up on a few Sportscenter Top Play segments.
Ozzie Guillen knows a bit about shortstops and
he has always been hard on their defense. He liked Uribe but was always after his defense – and Uribe was pretty good. So, I have to take notice when Ozzie says that Ramirez will be his shortstop for years.
He was hard on Uribe's defense when Uribe was a damn good defender
I think you just undermined your point.
by thejd44 on Feb 2, 2009 1:16 PM EST up reply actions
Not really. He pushed him.
"It just occurred to me that the White Sox could win the division."
by SuddenSam on May 22, 2008 9:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
" That just makes me want to puke all over your head, sir."
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