Jim Callis on Sox Trading Prospects, Attn: Wealz.

[Randar68]

From his latest "Ask BA" segment at Baseball America.

Has any other team traded more prospects over the last two years than the White Sox? How would you rank their current top five prospects?

Scott Reimers
Springfield, Ill.


Other clubs have been active on the trade market, such as the Red Sox and Royals, and the Marlins moved a lot of talent to add Jeff Conine, Mark Redman and Ugueth Urbina to their championship club last year. But no team can match the sheer volume of legitimate prospects the White Sox have traded since the beginning of 2003.

General manager Kenny Williams has dealt 11 players who appeared in either the 2003 or 2004 edition of the 2004 Prospect Handbook: lefthanders Tim Bittner and Royce Ring; righthanders Edwin Almonte, Franklin Francisco, Jon Rauch and Josh Rupe; infielders Tim Hummel, Aaron Miles and Michael Morse; and outfielders Jeremy Reed and Anthony Webster. Those players helped bring in Roberto Alomar, Carl Everett (twice), Freddy Garcia, Scott Schoeneweis, Scott Sullivan and Jose Uribe. It's hard to argue with the moves, but they haven't delivered the White Sox to the postseason yet.

Right now, I'd rank Chicago's top five prospects in this order: outfielders Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney and Chris Young; third baseman Josh Fields (the Sox' 2004 first-round pick); and righthander Felix Diaz. I didn't include outfielder Joe Borchard because he's up with the big league club and soon will exceed the rookie limit of 130 at-bats. The other notable omission is righthander Kris Honel, who has pitched just six innings this year because of a tender elbow. I'd put him third on the list if I knew he'd return to health and regain his velocity, which dipped into the low 80s. Two other pitchers worth mentioning are sleeper righty Brandon McCarthy and lefty Gio Gonzalez, a supplemental first-round pick in June.

[Wealz]

Originally Posted by Randar68

From his latest "Ask BA" segment at Baseball America.

How many of those prospects were drafted during the Williams regime - and where would the system rate if Williams had hung on to his picks?

[habibharu]

wow i didnt think that young was thought of that highly! top 5?

[maurice]

Originally Posted by habibharu

wow i didnt think that young was thought of that highly! top 5?

IIRC, BA had Young in the Top 10 last year. With all the callups, trades, and injuries this year, there's an excellent chance that BA will place him in their Top 5. It has everything to do with Young's tools, not the overall strength of the system.

[Wealz]

Originally Posted by habibharu

wow i didnt think that young was thought of that highly! top 5?

For an organization that drafted well, he wouldn't be.

[jeremyb1]

Wow. I'd been sleeping on Young some. I'm not sure you have a strong system if he's in your top five but he looks like a strong sleeper of sorts. He may be very projectable Randar but he's also performing quite well at Kannapolis with a .261/.372/.512 and 25/31 in steal attempts. Guys with good power, plate discipline, and speed are good prospects and Young looks to have all three in spades. How's his defense regarded?

The only drawback is that 21 isn't particularly young for low A ball.

[munchman33]

Who is Jose Uribe?

[WSox8404]

Originally Posted by munchman33

Who is Jose Uribe?

Must be Juan's brother.

[fuzzy_patters]

Originally Posted by munchman33

Who is Jose Uribe?

Jose Uribe played shortstop for the Giants in the 1980's, but I have no idea if he is related to Juan.

[Chisoxfn]

Originally Posted by jeremyb1

Wow. I'd been sleeping on Young some. I'm not sure you have a strong system if he's in your top five but he looks like a strong sleeper of sorts. He may be very projectable Randar but he's also performing quite well at Kannapolis with a .261/.372/.512 and 25/31 in steal attempts. Guys with good power, plate discipline, and speed are good prospects and Young looks to have all three in spades. How's his defense regarded?

The only drawback is that 21 isn't particularly young for low A ball.

He has great range in the outfield and gets good jumps on the ball. He has a "Johnny Damon" arm though, aka weak.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by Wealz

For an organization that drafted well, he wouldn't be.

Wealz that's just an uninformed, inflammatory statement. Your extreme bias is beginning to get old. Chris Young has a chance to be a 30/30 guy in A ball! That's extremely rare, especially for someone as young as him.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by jeremyb1

The only drawback is that 21 isn't particularly young for low A ball.

Actually he's still 20, won't be 21 for another 2 months. He's definitely not old for A ball.

[habibharu]

rdivaldi, how does he project compared to a anderson or sweeney? is the upside on him greater than those players or about the same?

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by habibharu

rdivaldi, how does he project compared to a anderson or sweeney? is the upside on him greater than those players or about the same?

That's a tough question. Personally I think he has the highest "athletic" upside of all of them. You just don't see too many 20 year olds in A ball have a shot at going 30/30. I do have concerns about his arm, which seems to be a bit suspect. He has the most power of the 3, and the best speed, and his "eye" seems to have improved dramatically as the season has progressed. He does whiff too much, but he also draws a ton of walks.

In defense of Anderson and Sweeney though, both have been competing at higher levels and Sweeney is also a full year younger. I think someone who has seen more of him would have a better feel of his ceiling. My exposure to his play is limited. I wouldn't dare rate one ahead of the other right now but it's a nice problem to have.

[dasox24]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

Actually he's still 20, won't be 21 for another 2 months. He's definitely not old for A ball.

Yep, and, iirc, he also had an injury at the beginning of his first year with the organization, so that set him back a year.