White Sox... 3rd worst farm system in baseball

[Deadguy]

http://milbprospective.wordpress.com...l-other-stuff/

Courtney is up to 235 lbs! That's incredible size for a CF, but I guess he could be moved to a corner spot if he outgrows the spot.

The best part about Courtney is that he isn't the project that guys like Jared, Trayce, and to some degree Walker are/were. He's played baseball year round for so long that he is fairly polished. High School baseball is huge in Corpus Cristi, as some games get 7,000+

Not that I expect to see Hawkins in the Majors in the next few seasons, but he will and has had a smoother transition to professional baseball than some of our more recent position players that were high draft picks.

[DSpivack]

Originally Posted by Deadguy

http://milbprospective.wordpress.com...l-other-stuff/

Courtney is up to 235 lbs! That's incredible size for a CF, but I guess he could be moved to a corner spot if he outgrows the spot.

The best part about Courtney is that he isn't the project that guys like Jared, Trayce, and to some degree Walker are/were. He's played baseball year round for so long that he is fairly polished. High School baseball is huge in Corpus Cristi, as some games get 7,000+

Not that I expect to see Hawkins in the Majors in the next few seasons, but he will and has had a smoother transition to professional baseball than some of our more recent position players that were high draft picks.

I thought he was a corner OF to begin with.

[Deadguy]

Originally Posted by DSpivack

I thought he was a corner OF to begin with.

?

He played 53 games in CF last year:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=hawkin000cou

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by DSpivack

I thought he was a corner OF to begin with.

His power projects to a corner OF, but his athleticism is suited to CF. Kid is a freak.

[DirtySox]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

His power projects to a corner OF, but his athleticism is suited to CF. Kid is a freak.

From all I've read, his final defensive destination will be in a corner OF spot.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by DirtySox

From all I've read, his final defensive destination will be in a corner OF spot.

You never know, but yeah, people are talking RF because of his gun.

[mahagga73]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Many of those teams you rattled off are new to the Top 10, though, but it still doesn't answer the question of what does having a good farm system have to do with Major League success? I don't get what correlation you're trying to make.

And, of course, just because the Red Sox have a nice stable of prospects doesn't mean they have a bevy of MLB ready guys. There are plenty of reasons why teams choose to be conservative with their minor league players developmentally and contractually. Ask Gordon Beckham how well it works when you get rushed to the Show.

If you are a higher payroll team having a good bevy of prospects can be a huge advantage. Need that player to put you over the top, trade a lower payroll team a couple prospects that wouldn't make your team anyway. If your a lower payroll team you better have a good farm system . No margin for error. In my opinion, the Sox farm system probably has cost them a couple playoff spots over recent history. Top heavy, and no depth on the bench or players ready to come up and make an impact. When the Sox need players other than starters to fill in at a high level or come in and play to rest starters, it doesn't happen. The value of having good players ready to play that don't cost that much is huge. Someone who reads Baseball Prospectus should know all this.

[SoxNation05]

Can anyone who is well read on the Sox system provide any potential break out players this year? Any picks past the first couple rounds that may surprise us?

I like what I have seen from Joey DeMichele. Chris Beck was supposed to have decent potential right?

[DirtySox]

Originally Posted by SoxNation05

Chris Beck was supposed to have decent potential right?

Yep. He was largely considered a top 10 pick at the beginning of the year predraft. Supposedly he bulked up too much and it significantly effected his mechanics and performance.

[SoxNation05]

Originally Posted by DirtySox

Yep. He was largely considered a top 10 pick at the beginning of the year predraft. Supposedly he bulked up too much and it significantly effected his mechanics and performance.

I have read that he is gaining back some of the flexibility that had hindered his sucess last year at Gerogia Southern. I am hoping he can get back to his highly touted level and even improve from there. IMO, Beck and maybe Olacio (significantly smaller chance) are the only pitchers who could eventually grow into a top half of the rotation starter. I hope Beck has a good year and breaks through threshold of Johnsons and Snodgresssssss of the world.

[Domeshot17]

Have a friend who scouts for ESPN and runs the website prospectinsider with Jason Churchill. He told me Beck was interesting, stock had fallen, he sees him as a high floor guy, but doesnt have the stuff to break the top half of the rotation, but would not shock to be a decent 3-5 man.

[doublem23]

Didn't see this posted anywhere, but this list has been out for about a week and HEY, we have a BA Top 100 Prospect again...

#55 Courtney Hawkins

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...3/2614739.html

[mahagga73]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Pretty much. Rowand was drafted in the 1998, since then here's the entire list of position players the Sox have drafted, signed, and have gotten to the Majors. I'm excluding guys who were drafted but didn't sign and were drafted again later by other teams. This is THE ENTIRE LIST for the last 15 years in order of career WAR to this point. Players bolded are the ones who reached the Majors still with the Sox... May want to send women and small children into another room, boy, is this going to be ugly...

1. Chris Young - 2001 - 13.4 WAR
2. Mike Morse - 2000 - 5.1 WAR
3. Ryan Sweeney - 2003 - 5.0 WAR
4. Gordon Beckham - 2008 - 3.5 WAR
5. Chris Stewart - 2001 - 1.7 WAR
6. Jeremy Reed - 2002 - 1.1 WAR
7. Chris Getz - 2005 - 0.8 WAR
8. Brent Morel - 2008 - 0.5 WAR
9. Donny Lucy - 2004 - 0.1 WAR
10. Jordan Danks - 2008 - (0.2) WAR
11. Brian Anderson - 2003 - (0.6) WAR
12. Chris Carter - 2005 - (0.6) WAR
13. Brandon Allen - 2004 - (1.2) WAR
14. Josh Fields - 2004 - (1.4) WAR
15. Andy Gonzalez - 2001 - (1.9) WAR

I kind of thought maybe they gave up on Josh Fields too early. Just my opinion.