Comments on: The Sox are bad, but there are still reasons to watch http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/07/17/the-sox-are-bad-but-theres-still-reasons-to-watch/ Just another Baseball Prospectus Local Sites site Wed, 05 Dec 2018 22:40:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: Russ http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/07/17/the-sox-are-bad-but-theres-still-reasons-to-watch/#comment-5128 Tue, 18 Jul 2017 14:34:01 +0000 http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=6461#comment-5128 I should have stated “strike zone judgment relative to the players initially asked for.”

]]> By: Nick Schaefer http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/07/17/the-sox-are-bad-but-theres-still-reasons-to-watch/#comment-5119 Tue, 18 Jul 2017 03:20:29 +0000 http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=6461#comment-5119 I haven’t seen anything indicating Jimenez and Moncada don’t have good strike zone judgment.

]]> By: Russ http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/07/17/the-sox-are-bad-but-theres-still-reasons-to-watch/#comment-5117 Mon, 17 Jul 2017 16:03:25 +0000 http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=6461#comment-5117 Regarding point 2, it’s amazing to me that the White Sox – especially Kenny Williams – seemed to take the exact wrong lesson from Frank Thomas. It was his strike zone judgement that made him great, not his athletic ability. Yet Kenny’s picks in the top 3 rounds all seemed like he was enamored with raw athletics rather than baseball skills and instincts. Hostetler has changed this – they will still draft athletes (like a water polo player) but not in the first few rounds.

You get 3 top 100 picks (first 3 rounds) every year. That means over two years you have good shots at getting one player that will stick as a major league regular. You have to hit on about 20% of your top 100 picks or your the failure will bubble up to the major league club. Kenny Williams hit on less than 10% of his top 100 picks – and then started forfeiting picks to sign questionable free agents.

By 2020 we’ll know what Hostetler’s hit rate is on top 100 picks. But you’ll notice that position players with good strike zone judgment were not available in trades even for Sale and Quintana. So the focus on drafting players with that skill is especially important.

]]> By: jdserafini http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/07/17/the-sox-are-bad-but-theres-still-reasons-to-watch/#comment-5112 Mon, 17 Jul 2017 12:19:48 +0000 http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=6461#comment-5112 1 and 2 are big ones for me. 3 would be my concern as the organization hasn’t really excelled at this in the past. They get to do it now with most of what is other people’s talent. Moncada and Jimenez will be the keys. Sox do pretty well with pitching and the development therein. Can they develop some bats for a change?

Either way, I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time. Hope to see Frazier and Robertson moved soon.

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