Thanks to the World Baseball Classic, White Sox pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday.
That's earlier than usual, but it shouldn't have crept up on anybody too quietly. We already passed by two late-offseason mile markers -- the first was SoxFest, and the second was the end of prospect-ranking season.
Keith Law and MLB.com posted their lists late last week, so all of the proper evaluating outlets are accounted for. Unlike last season, when a couple of trades introduced some interesting names halfway into the winter to render some of the lists outdated, no revisions are necessary.
Let's take a look at the big board:
Hawkins
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Hawkins
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Hawkins
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Hawkins
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Hawkins
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Hawkins
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Hawkins
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Sanchez
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Sanchez
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Thompson
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Thompson
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Sanchez
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Thompson
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Sanchez
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Thompson
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Thompson
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Sanchez
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Sanchez
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Rienzo
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Johnson
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Johnson
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Snodgress
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Johnson
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Johnson
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Johnson
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Thompson
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Sanchez
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Thompson
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Rienzo
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Snodgress
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Walker
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Snodgress
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Johnson
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Mitchell
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Walker
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Johnson
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Walker
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Snodgress
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Rienzo
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Snodgress
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Snodgress
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Snodgress
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Walker
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DeMichele
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Rienzo
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Walker
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Walker
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Barnum
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Rienzo
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Castro
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Rienzo
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Barnum
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Beck
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DeMichele
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Walker
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Beck
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Mitchell
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Barnum
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Mitchell
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Jaye
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Mitchell
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Rienzo
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Barnum
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Olacio
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Beck
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Beck
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Barnum
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Beck
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Molina
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DeMichele
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Over at CSNChicago.com, J.J. arranged the chart by listing the prospects down the left, followed by their corresponding numerical rankings by evaluator (except Larry's for some reason). That's another good way to look at it.
Sizing up the most interesting developments in the form of superlatives:
MOST AGREEMENT: Courtney Hawkins
Sometimes it's great to have a unanimous top prospect, because the talent is simply beyond reproach. Other times, it just means only one player stands out. The Sox are still closer to the latter than the former with Hawkins, but Addison Reed was the no-doubt No. 1 prospect last year, and that was far more troubling.
LEAST AGREEMENT: Jared Mitchell
Mitchell ranked as high as No. 5 (MLB.com), but three evaluators left him off their lists completely. Since he's at a crossroads, this is what you'd expect it to look like for him, with half the crowd packing up and moving along, and the remaining lending their ears to Buddy Bell for one more season.
BIGGEST LEAP: Carlos Sanchez
Sanchez won the majority of No. 2 spots on this year's lists, a tremendous feat considering he didn't make any such Top 10 lists last season. He wasn't completely unheard of -- Phil Rogers ranked him No. 21 on Baseball America's full list, and that was a fair neighborhood for a teenager with a limited ceiling playing his first full season in A-ball. He then went on to have a phenomenal, frictionless season, making about two or three years' worth of progress over the course of one.
BIGGEST SETBACK: Nestor Molina
Molina was the No. 2 prospect on everybody's boards last year. This year, he only cracked MLB.com's Top 10. Even John Sickels, Molina's biggest booster, could only bring himself to put him 11th.
At least Molina can say he made an appearance above -- Jake Petricka and Tyler Saladino dropped off the table completely. Their stocks weren't comparable, though, as Petricka's rankings varied from fourth to eighth, and Saladino didn't make Law's Top 10 list last year.
BIGGEST ANOMALY: Myles Jaye
Baseball Prospectus loves Myles Jaye. Even with Jason Parks taking over the rankings after Kevin Goldstein was hired by the Astros, Jaye took the ninth spot on their list for a second straight season. You can't glean anything from his drat position (17th round) or numbers:
Year | Age | Lev | G | GS | IP | H | HR | BB | SO | HBP | WP | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 19 | Rk | 3.00 | 13 | 9 | 54.0 | 48 | 7 | 18 | 49 | 0 | 3 | 1.222 |
2012 | 20 | A | 6.04 | 17 | 17 | 79.0 | 102 | 6 | 39 | 65 | 6 | 13 | 1.785 |
2 Seasons | 4.80 | 30 | 26 | 133.0 | 150 | 13 | 57 | 114 | 6 | 16 | 1.556 |
Regardless of the full-season struggles, BPro still sees the same things to like:
Jaye took his lumps in his initial full-season experience, but at this stage of the developmental game, logging innings and finding his pitching rhythm is more important than the production. You have to like what he has to work with, from the body/frame, to the low-90s fastball, to the average or better potential of the secondary arsenal. Jaye isn’t going to be an overnight sensation, but a little extra patience could pay off if the 21-year-old can develop into a major-league caliber arm.
It's possible this is a Goldstein legacy, or maybe Parks is using a similar network of scouts, but if Rick Hahn deals Houston and Jeff Luhnow asks for Jaye as a throw-in, he might want to test their desire. As of right now, they're the only ones to regard Jaye's game so highly. I guess you could say they have ...