Articles from August 2010

According to Rotoworld, Manny Ramirez is not currently in the Chicago White Sox starting lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Indians.  After many were disappointed that Manny was not available for Monday’s contest, we quickly learned that Ramirez’s flight from Los Angeles was scheduled to arrive in Cleveland this afternoon, and that he would undoubtedly be in Tuesday’s lineup.

For those who wish to remain hopeful about Ramirez making his White Sox debut tonight, remember that there are still several hours until the game’s scheduled start time.

Considering that Ramirez has been a regular on the All-DL Team this season, it wouldn’t surprise me if his inclusion in the starting lineup was a game time decision.  Ozzie will most likely let him stretch and take batting practice before having a street-spanish-riddled coversation with him about whether he is able to play.

Currently, Mark Kotsay has been penciled in as the White Sox DH for tonight’s game against the Tribe.

On Monday night, Mike Moustakas established a new precedent for what we call a “career night.”  After being named the Texas League Player of the Year earlier in the day, Moustakas lead the Royals’ AAA affiliate Omaha Royals to a 23-5 route of the Round Rock Express that featured 25 hits, 11 of which went for extra bases.  Since being selected 2^nd overall in the 2007 draft, Moustakas has mashed his way through the Royals minor league system, and Monday’s performance only further solidified his place at the hot corner in 2011.

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There are very few schools each year that land a kid in the first round.  Maybe a couple will land two.  This year Vanderbilt has a realistic chance to land three kids in the first round, including two righties who potentially could wind up in the top 10 overall.  Those two righties are Sonny Gray and Jack Armstrong.  The hitter is 3B Jason Esposito, who likely will be the second ranked collegiate 3B behind probable first overall selection, Anthony Rendon of Rice.  With guys like this, Vanderbilt has a chance to play deep into the NCAA tourney as well as help make some kids a lot of money.

Let’s start with Esposito.  The guy flies.  He stole over 30 bases last season.  His speed is rare for a corner guy and proves that he has the athleticism to stay at third in the pros.  His slashes in 2010 were .359/.455/.599.  He went deep 12 times and walked very nearly as many times as he struck out.  The guy simply shows the polish and athleticism that scouts covet from the collegiate ranks.  While he might slip to the supplemental round, he probably shouldn’t.  The fact that Esposito has a clear left-side arm and plus speed suggests that there is a realistic chance he plays short in the pros.  If he proves somewhere in the next handful of months that he can adequately do this, he is going to climb.  His hands have room to develop, but third often skews perspectives in that area.  I really like the guy because of his polish at the plate and defensive versatility.  Guys like Esposito tend to stay productive for a really long time.

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The Chicago White Sox are set to retire Frank Thomas’ #35 on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, IL.

March 13, 2000

On August 16^th, Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neil Huntington announced that they had agreed to terms with their 2^nd round draft pick(52^nd overall) of 2010, RHP Stetson Allie.  However, due to the hype surrounding their 1^st round pick Jameson Taillon, Allie has not received the appropriate exposure for a prep whose fastball can reach triple digits.  Ranked by Baseball America as the 8^th best prospect headed into the 2010 First Year Player Draft, Allie possesses the size and strength that makes scouts drool.  At 6’4,” 225 lbs, he already has the build of a power pitcher- now it’s just a matter of whether he will best serve the Pirates organization as a starter or reliever.

As a senior at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, OH, Allie posted video game like numbers, going 9-1 with 1.29 ERA and 134 strikeouts in just 60 innings.  Even more impressive was the fact that he lead his team to a Division I State Championship on June 6^th, and was the game’s winning pitcher with a line of 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB and 13 strikeouts.  On that day Allie put on a show for those in attendance, lighting up the stadium’s radar gun with a fastball that averaged 93-96 mph and touched as high as 101.  For the skeptics out there who might not believe that a prep pitcher hit triple digits, here is a video of Allie’s outing from the championship game:

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