*Official* 2011 MLB Draft Thread

[asindc]

Originally Posted by DirtySox

KG's AL Central Draft Review is up. The White Sox portion is free.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=14186

I wonder what Khan has to say about this comment: "Walker is exactly the kind of player the White Sox used to avoid, but with Kenny Williams' edict to focus on upside, he's a great find."

[khan]

Originally Posted by asindc

I wonder what Khan has to say about this comment: "Walker is exactly the kind of player the White Sox used to avoid, but with Kenny Williams' edict to focus on upside, he's a great find."

Well, since you asked, I think it would be a reasonable statement to make, IF the player in question does in fact have a great upside.

That said, one has to wonder exactly how much upside a player can have when he's striking out at a 21% clip vs. JUCO pitchers. [Most of whom will be working at a Hertz rent-a-car or a Burger King in a few weeks.] I'll give you the view from FutureSox:

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/futu...pick.html#more



In general, I agree with the concept of seeking upside as being tantamount to being a growth investor. However, I don't know that the front office have done this with this or other picks. As I've stated previously, there are already plenty of other Kenny Williams doppelgangers in the SOX farm system. [READ: Raw, Toolsy, Athletic strikout kings, like Mitchell, Trace Thompson, KW JR, and others.]


Oddly enough, the players that pique my interest in the SOX farm system aren't the "Toolsy, athletic" types like Danks, Mitchell, Thompson, etc... For me, it's the other guys like Remenowsky or Kuhn or Marrero that interest me. Granted, it is unlikely that ANY of these players will make The Show.

But I find it worth watching that the guy who "knows how to pitch" [Remenowsky] has shown better results than some of the more highly-touted prospects, for example. Or that Kuhn's OBP of .429 this year is higher than Beckham's OBP in Birmingham in 2009. Sure, Remenowsky isn't throwing 100 MPH, and Kuhn doesn't have big-time power. But on the other hand, these types of guys have been perfoming at the level at which they're assigned.

[asindc]

Originally Posted by khan

Well, since you asked, I think it would be a reasonable statement to make, IF the player in question does in fact have a great upside.

That said, one has to wonder exactly how much upside a player can have when he's striking out at a 21% clip vs. JUCO pitchers. [Most of whom will be working at a Hertz rent-a-car or a Burger King in a few weeks.] I'll give you the view from FutureSox:

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/futu...pick.html#more



In general, I agree with the concept of seeking upside as being tantamount to being a growth investor. However, I don't know that the front office have done this with this or other picks. As I've stated previously, there are already plenty of other Kenny Williams doppelgangers in the SOX farm system. [READ: Raw, Toolsy, Athletic strikout kings, like Mitchell, Trace Thompson, KW JR, and others.]


Oddly enough, the players that pique my interest in the SOX farm system aren't the "Toolsy, athletic" types like Danks, Mitchell, Thompson, etc... For me, it's the other guys like Remenowsky or Kuhn or Marrero that interest me. Granted, it is unlikely that ANY of these players will make The Show.

But I find it worth watching that the guy who "knows how to pitch" [Remenowsky] has shown better results than some of the more highly-touted prospects, for example. Or that Kuhn's OBP of .429 this year is higher than Beckham's OBP in Birmingham in 2009. Sure, Remenowsky isn't throwing 100 MPH, and Kuhn doesn't have big-time power. But on the other hand, these types of guys have been perfoming at the level at which they're assigned.

Just ribbing you for the 'KW-clone' comments you made in the past and how that conflicts with "used to avoid" comment from the review. Personally, I'm lukewarm about the pick only because developing players is a weak spot for our organization and a 'high upside' pick only works if you have the structure in place to develop him. Maybe this is another signal of the FO taking a different approach (in the same vain as hiring Buddy Bell, for instance). We'll see. At any rate, Walker does not seem to profile as a prospect who will be rushed into MLB action.

[khan]

Originally Posted by asindc

Just ribbing you for the 'KW-clone' comments you made in the past and how that conflicts with "used to avoid" comment from the review. Personally, I'm lukewarm about the pick only because developing players is a weak spot for our organization and a 'high upside' pick only works if you have the structure in place to develop him. Maybe this is another signal of the FO taking a different approach (in the same vain as hiring Buddy Bell, for instance). We'll see. At any rate, Walker does not seem to profile as a prospect who will be rushed into MLB action.

I can agree with all of this. We'll see if the strategy pays off or not.

That said, even in an admittedly-weak system like the SOX's system, there are always players that are of interest for minor league geeks like myself.

For me, the more intriguing players haven't been the ones touted by the front office or in the articles.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by Tragg

Randar, you used to do some great minor league analysis on the board. I'm assuming our real prospects are in Birmingham or lower. Any outfielders that you see?

Job the last 4 or 5 years hasn't allowed me to get out and see them as much and haven't really had the time to keep up like I used to. C'est la vie.