Skip to main content

Local Product Rice Released by White Sox, Conlin's Take

Rice with Lakewood in 2011
On Thursday, Sewell, NJ's Bill Rice was released by the Chicago White Sox.  Rice, a Washington Township High School product who played at Gloucester County College prior to transferring to the University of South Carolina-Aiken, was signed previously by the Phillies out of a tryout camp at Lakewood's FirstEnergy Park in 2010. The Phils decided to part ways with Rice during spring training last year.  The 5-foot-11 185-pounder quickly signed with the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League and was later inked by the White Sox and assigned to their Class A Kannapolis club.  This year, Rice made the leap to Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and hadn't produced to the best of his abilities.  Through 12 contests, Rice posted a .171 average along with three doubles, one triple and four steals. 

According to the 24-year-old Rice his weekend plans were ruined by the release, as his Winston-Salem Dash were set to begin a series against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals affiliate) in Delaware.  Friends and family galore were set to pack Frawley Stadium and cheer on Rice all weekend long, but now he's again looking for a team that wants him.

According to Rice, who was quite disappointed by not having the opportunity to play in front of his loved ones, the hiatus between teams shouldn't be long.

"I got a few calls into a couple guys I know, so, hopefully, it'll just be a short hiatus again," Rice who is in the area working out with former Phillies minor league organization mate Chris Duffy, stated.

Duffy has been playing recently with the Camden Riversharks, after being released by the Phillies during spring training this year.  That could possibly be telling of a potential landing spot for Rice, but as Camden's season has just begun and they have a full roster, timing could be an issue.  Regardless, Rice, a focused and positive individual, is ready for whatever comes next and doesn't intend to stop playing and expects to return to affiliated baseball.

"I'm going to play with whoever tells me they want me, until an affiliate calls again," said Rice, who admits that Camden is an ideal destination right now.  "We'll see what happens."


On the matter of Rice's release and the manner in which the White Sox handled him and other outfield prospects at their Class A Advanced level, long time Philadelphia sports columnist Bill Conlin, who follows Rice's career closely, had the following to say...

Keenyn Walker (1st round pick, 2011), Trayce Thompson (2nd round pick, 2009), Courtney Hawkins (1st round pick, 2012) and Joey DeMichele (3rd round pick, 2012) are all hitting under .200. Hawkins is overmatched in High A. He was moved so fast last year nobody had time to get a book on him. They sat him down for two games this week to clear his head, etc., etc. Was back Wednesday and shared a Hat Trick with Rice, but wrapped his chapeau around a monster home run. Thursday night he only struck out two times.    

While minor league strikeout stats are sketchy, the all-time single season record is 220 by Wes Kent, at High A San Jose in 1984. With 39 strike outs in 59 at bats, Kourtney is on pace for 321, based on a 140 game season. That would break all strikeout records known to man, beast, fish or fowl. With a termination average of .171, Rice fell in the middle of the above high draft picks. Rice got a $75 discount plane ticket from the Phillies and nothing from the White Sox. However, the Sox had to pay the Atlantic League purchase price of $5000 to sign him. Bummer.
If you are into Supply Side economics, Rice's 67 strikeouts in 144 career games have an intrinsic debit of 47 cents divided into $75 for a total valuation of $35.25.  Kourtney's 95 strikeouts in 76 games have an intrinsic value of $1.25 divided into his bonus of $2.475 million for a total Sox debit of $1.98 million. So Billy Rice came $1,979,964.75 cheaper than Courtney Hawkins. Rice takes a .269 batting average with him into unemployment for his 75 game extended cup of coffee at Class A Kannapolis and High A Winston-Salem. What the hell did they expect for $35.25, Mike Trout?

But the penny-pinching White Sox might be looking for a better return than Hawkins' adjusted $1,979,964.75 cost basis. At 19, time is on his side, of course. Ironically, thanks to his good numbers during whistle stops at Bristol, Kannapolis and Winston-Salem last season, Hawkins' career average is now .270, just a point better than released Rice's White Six average of .269. (I don't have any reference materials in front of me, but I wonder if any minor leaguer who hit for the cycle -Rice hit for the cycle last July for Kannapolis against Greensboro- was released less than 100 games later. Just sayin')

Of course, Rice gets that point back -and then some- when it comes to sheer speed. Hawkins runs well for a big man. Rice runs fast for ANY man. He has been clocked to first on a bouncer to short as low as 3.70 seconds. Hawkins, who takes a huge swing and runs from the right-handers side hits 4.2 at best. Rice has been clocked as low as 11.0 running out a triple with a slide and averages 11.4 easing up. Rice has 31 stolen bases in 144 minor league games and was leading the Dash with a 4-for-4 when he was told, after just 12 games and 41 at bats, that his game sucks and to get lost.

At least the Phillies had some people who felt Rice was unfairly released last spring and helped him catch on with both the Riversharks and the White Sox. These Chicago clowns assigned him to the major league spring training roster for a week and then signed off on him being kicked in the nuts and dumped onto I-85..

Comments

Anonymous said…
Superb materials here on blogger.com, man. I actually like what
you have accumulated right here, certainly like what you're thinking and the way through which you say it. You are making it amusing and you still take care to ensure that it stays smart. I cannot wait to learn much more from you. This is really a remarkable web site.

my web site - wintergreen

Popular posts from this blog

Slick fielding Sam is the Champion of the (PhoulBallz) world!

Phillies Ball(z)girl Sam Arnone was kind enough to answer some questions for the PhoulBallz site and all of you. Sam will be entering her 3rd season as a Phillies ballgirl and is a junior at Drexel University. Sam hails from the great town of Mt. Ephram, NJ. 1- Since the Phillies are the World Champions of baseball teams, are the Phillies ballgirls the world champions of ballgirl teams? - Of Course!!! There are not that many teams that have Ballgirls, so the competition is a little scarce. I would definitely put my team up against any other Ballgirl team with full confidence! 2- What is your routine to prepare for a day of on-field duties? - Before a game, I am always a little nervous. Once I am ready to leave my house and head to the ballpark I triple check my bag to make sure I have my glove and then I check again. I always have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat because it keeps me full and gives me energy for the entire game. I guess I might have to find a new favorite sa

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi

2021 Phillies Top Prospects Countdown: #22 SS Casey Martin

Please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work, get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.   A third round draft pick last year, Arkansas junior Casey Martin was quickly signed by the Phillies and consideration as one of the organization's top infield prospects quickly began.  The team's confidence in his ceiling is likely evident in the signing bonus he got, which was reportedly $1.3 million, which was considerably more than slot money dictated by his 87th overall draft position ($685K). The right-handed batting Martin tallied a .311/.393/.545 slash line with 30 homers, 24 steals and 112 RBI in 143 games through his college career at Arkansas.  Reports had him falling in the draft as a result of an injury to the hamate bone in his left hand prior to his 2020 season.  Prior to the procedure, Baseball America projected Martin as a top ten draft pick.