Curbing The Jordan Danks Enthusiasm

Written by: JJ Stankevitz on 13th November 2009

Curbing The Jordan Danks Enthusiasm | read this item

With Jermaine Dye likely gone, Scott Podsednik’ status in a waffling limbo, and Mark Teahen playing third, the White Sox have a vacancy in the outfield as of right now. That vacancy could either be left or right field, depending on if the team decides to shift Carlos Quentin from left to right or keep him in left.

If you click that link, you’ll see this at the end of the article:

Williams likes the versatility of the Sox’s outfield, in which Alex Rios and Jordan Danks can play center and right exceptionally well.

That note has been part of a growing trend that has propelled Danks into supposed consideration for next year’s opening day roster. A few more:

Nov. 9: Specifically, Williams anticipates contributions in the future from outfielder Jordan Danks, catcher Tyler Flowers and pitcher Daniel Hudson.

Danks already has received rave reviews in the Arizona Fall League for his defense and hitting, and he has vaulted himself into consideration to make the opening day roster.

Nov. 4: Another sudden consideration is the emergence of Jordan Danks in the Arizona Fall League. Danks is batting .379 with two home runs, 14 RBIs and three stolen bases in 16 games for the Peoria Javelinas and was selected to play in the AFL’s Rising Stars game Saturday night at Surprise.

Danks, 22, wasn’t projected to reach the majors until 2011, but his progress in the AFL caused team officials to consider him as no worse than a potential mid-season call-up. Scouts who have seen Danks this fall are impressed with his skills but are curious to see how he’ll adjust to inside pitches.

Before I get started, let me just say that I think Gonzales does a fine job covering the White Sox for the Chicago Tribune. I really mean that. I just don’t think he—or the organization—should start to pencil Danks in on the opening day roster next year.

Yes, Danks is hitting extremely well in the Arizona Fall League. His .952 OPS is impressive, but perhaps even more impressive is his 13/15 BB/K ratio. That’s a very encouraging sign for a player who can strike out a little too much and can be pretty aggressive at the plate.

But here’s the hitch: Danks isn’t alone in mashing in the AFL. That .952 OPS is 16th-best in the league, and he’s one of 18 players with an OBP above .400.

Small sample size has a to do with it. Any time you get a group of promising offensive talents with a small sample size of at-bats hitting against often marginal pitching—not to say the AFL has bad pitching across the board, but there is an awful lot of junk in the league—the results are going to be puffed up a bit.

I’m not buying that Jordan Danks has suddenly become an opening day major leaguer because of 70 at-bats. If Danks were hitting this well in the minors, 70 at-bats wouldn’t be enough to promote him to the majors unless somebody got hurt.

Remember, it took Gordon Beckham 175 minor league at-bats before he was called up—and that was with Josh Fields and Wilson Betemit at third.

And that brings me to another point: Beckham’s success in the AFL and subsequent success in the majors last season is in no way tied to Danks. They are completely different players with different skill sets, pedigrees, and ceilings. In no way is there any causation there, so saying “Beckham had success in the AFL and then the majors, so why can’t Danks?” is a poor statement.

This isn’t trying to put down Danks—I think he has a pretty bright future ahead of him in the majors as at least a plus defensive outfielder. What these 70 at-bats are telling me more than anything is that Danks’ offensive slide in the second half of 2009 can at least somewhat be explained by wrist and finger injuries that was diagnosed in late June.

In other words, these at-bats are serving to confirm that Danks is still on the career path he was back in May. His ETA should still be middle-to-late 2010 or 2011. Rushing him would likely lead to opposing pitchers exposing his weaknesses, leading to a lot of strikeouts and a low OBP.

Does Danks deserve a look in spring training next year? Of course he does. Like I said, his AFL numbers shouldn’t be viewed as more of a breakthrough than a continuance of his pre-injury success with the Barons.

But even if he impresses like Beckham did, the White Sox should still send him to the minors for a little more experience while evaluating whether their current outfield option would be better than Danks.

So that means the White Sox need to pick up a corner outfielder at some point this offseson. Randy Winn is bad offensively but can play both left and right field extremely well—and if the Sox could snag him on a cheap one-year deal, it wouldn’t be the worst thing the team could do.

Plus, Winn would be a good way to get some value (by way of defense, not offense) out of the “gap hitters” Kenny Williams appears to be searching for in the offseason. Also, having an affordable corner outfielder like Winn would give the Sox an easy in to play Danks if his development does progress quickly, as a player like Winn would fit nicely as a fourth outfielder as well.

The White Sox’ brass say they like having options with Danks and some other rookies at other positions. However, Danks should only be realistically considered as an option if the Sox have exhausted all other possibilities over the next five months.

Watch Baseball Digest TV’s Interview With Jordan Danks Here

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Topics: Afl, Alex Jordan, Alex Rios, Arizona Fall League, Baseball Digest, carlos quentin, Chicago Tribune, Daniel Hudson, Jermaine Dye, Jordan Danks, Kenny Williams, Mark Teahen, Mid Season, Opening Day, outfield, Outfielder, Peoria Javelinas, Randy Winn, Rbis, Rising Stars, Scott Podsednik, Stars Game, Team Officials, White Sox