Too much emphasis on winning

[eastchicagosoxfan]

Do (did) the Sox place too much emphasis on winning, and not enough on player development over the past two decades? It seems like the Sox had good minor league teams, but didn't produce the players for the majors.

[FedEx227]

Well you can certainly do both at the same time. I don't think we're in a market where we can really "re-build" for a few years. I think they are independent of each other, the Sox have just not had great player development or drafted in the past 6-7 years, that's just a plain fact. Obviously it hasn't stopped us from winning, but I would like to see us still care about our minor leagues while continuing to win (see Red Sox).

[eastchicagosoxfan]

I seem to recall the Sox having very good minor league teams, yet those teams produce very few major league ball players. It could very well be my perception.

[Lip Man 1]

Daver has talked about this in the past and if I remember correctly, he's stated that among the Sox issues are the fact that they will move a kid through multiple levels in the same year as long as he's hitting. The downside is that you don't really "learn" the complete picture.

He feels that fielding, base running, the fundamentals and maybe pitching are being overlooked all because a guy "can hit."

The Sox have also gone through a slew of minor league managers over the past decade (they recently fired three and re-assigned Bobby Thigpen back to being a pitching coach) which doesn't help continuity or a "White Sox way" of playing the game at all levels, from rookie ball to the major leagues.

Lip

[Medford Bobby]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

Daver has talked about this in the past and if I remember correctly, he's stated that among the Sox issues are the fact that they will move a kid through multiple levels in the same year as long as he's hitting. The downside is that you don't really "learn" the complete picture.

He feels that fielding, base running, the fundamentals and maybe pitching are being overlooked all because a guy "can hit."

The Sox have also gone through a slew of minor league managers over the past decade (they recently fired three and re-assigned Bobby Thigpen back to being a pitching coach) which doesn't help continuity or a "White Sox way" of playing the game at all levels, from rookie ball to the major leagues.


Lip

And sometimes talent they thought they could sign and don't like Bobby Seay would have still turned out to be a bust..........

[oeo]

Originally Posted by eastchicagosoxfan

Do (did) the Sox place too much emphasis on winning, and not enough on player development over the past two decades? It seems like the Sox had good minor league teams, but didn't produce the players for the majors.

I don't know why you would mention the last two decades because the 90s produced quite a few very good major league players (including perennial All Stars).

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by oeo

I don't know why you would mention the last two decades because the 90s produced quite a few very good major league players (including perennial All Stars).

Maybe my mind is a bit hazy but what perrenial All Stars came up through our system in the 1990s? Frank was up here by 1990, Ventura in '88, Black Jack in '87. The only guys I can think of who have come up through our system that have even made the All Star team since 1991 are: Durham, Baldwin (not sure if he made an All Star team or not), Maggs, Buerhle, Garland, Crede and Rowand. Out of that group I think only Magglio and Buerhle have made the team more than once, though I don't think I'd call either a perennial All Star.

[oeo]

Originally Posted by WhiteSox5187

Maybe my mind is a bit hazy but what perrenial All Stars came up through our system in the 1990s? Frank was up here by 1990, Ventura in '88, Black Jack in '87. The only guys I can think of who have come up through our system that have even made the All Star team since 1991 are: Durham, Baldwin (not sure if he made an All Star team or not), Maggs, Buerhle, Garland, Crede and Rowand. Out of that group I think only Magglio and Buerhle have made the team more than once, though I don't think I'd call either a perennial All Star.

What's your definition of perennial then? I'm mostly referring to Buehrle (3x), Maggs (6x), and Carlos Lee (3x).

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by oeo

What's your definition of perennial then? I'm mostly referring to Buehrle (3x), Maggs (6x), and Carlos Lee (3x).

Buerhle's made it three times? Oh, I forgot about '06. And I forgot about Lee entirely. To me though "perennial All Star" means "one of the best guys at their position" and while I think a case could be made for Maggs and Lee (now that he is in the NL) I don't think I'd include Buerhle on that list.