Leaderboard

Sterling write-up on Luis Robert as the #2 overall prospect. Andrew Vaughn is #30, Michael Kopech is #33 and Nick Madrigal is #48. They gave Robert 70 grades for power, speed and defense as a 70 overall.

I am so glad I don't have to worry about going to a random game and having to witness Covey pitch

If Castellanos wants to come here on a one year deal, I do not know how anyone can think that is a bad thing. The White Sox are marginal contenders, you upgrade in any way possible to bridge the gap. Castellonos' bat is an upgrade over Mazara and Mazara isn't a wizard in RF either.

Jerry Reinsdorf is not going to shell out $350 mil for Betts. Why do you guys keep torturing yourselves with this impossible fantasy?

Is it me or does Steve Stone come off as extremely condescending on Twitter?

We already have a poor defender in RF, and a lot of scouts/writers are saying NC got better enough at RF this year to move from "worst in the league" to merely "below-average" which probably puts him in the same range as Mazara. If someone believes that, what I said above still applies. If someone doesn't believe in the defensive improvement, I think the result is they just don't sign NC no matter who we had in RF, because Eloy in LF plus the worst defensive RF in the game is likely untenable. Which is a valid argument, but Mazara is pretty irrelevant to it. Injuries WILL happen, and I really don't want to be in contention in July and then realize we are about to see if Adam can put up 2 good months as an everyday starter while Eloy recovers from an ankle injury. If someone thought at the start of the offseason that NC would be a good fit for our RF, I think they should still support NC on a cheap deal, even with Mazara.

Funny thing is Covey has a ton of value to rebuilding teams. Guy assures you you're going to lose most of his games he starts.

I tend to agree that Castellanos wouldn't be the best use of resources, but also I don't think the logjam is as problematic as you imply here. When everyone is healthy: Adam Engel optioned to Charlotte Starting OF of Eloy, Robert, Castellanos. Mazara takes a 2-3 games a week from Castellanos and Eloy, mostly against RHP. He takes another game a week in RF when you shift Castellanos to DH. EE at DH 4-5 games a week, Castellanos and Grandal/McCann when you rest him (at his age, we probably don't want to push EE for 140+ games anyway) You also can move people around to give Jose one game off a week. That is when everyone is healthy. As soon as one of Robert/Eloy/Castellanos/EE/Jose gets an injury (which seems likely), you shift it all around. The only disadvantage is you are losing Adam as a late-inning defensive replacement. In a really healthy season, maybe his defense is worth more wins. But if any of those 5 guys misses significant time (or if someone like EE hits the age cliff) having both Castellanos and Mazara makes you a MUCH deeper team, and would obviously be worth more wins.

That sounds like a White Sox trade circa trade deadline 2035

It would be funny to see Castellanos go to the Cardinals and torture the cubs.

Yolmer hit better than Hamilton. He's gone give him a break. He was a good soldier his time here. Never understood the burning hatred for Yolmer. Not saying he was an all star or anything but he was far from an asshole or primadonna

Some pretty exciting names attached to the invite list this year. Read about the news, which includes 15 fresh minor league contracts, HERE.

Stone's always been rough around the edges in fan interactions IMO. There are numerous stories throughout the years about him being a prick to people at Soxfest because he won't write his Cy Young inscription on there or flat out refusing to sign certain items (and I think he reacts this way because he truly believes every adult getting memorabilia of his is out to make a buck - which is absolutely not always the case). Guy can totally do what he wants, don't get me wrong, but he does seem to have a very short fuse and get annoyed quite easily. Some of his tweets could totally be taken as rude, but I've seen him have plenty of positive interactions as well. I think he's just a 72 year old with very strong convictions and doesn't want to bother with anyone that attempts to present an argument that conflicts with his beliefs. My dad is 71 and he's totally the same way at this point in his life, hahaha.

Interesting theory, but you have to wonder how much of that is Jack's fault. Jack used to write a column for Yahoo, and several years ago he wrote something regarding Gordon Beckham (I forget what it was about). Anyway, Hawk ripped him on the air over it, saying "I've lost a lot of respect for Jack McDowell." That's the worst thing I've ever heard Hawk say about any Sox player. IIRC, Black Jack did a couple games with Hawk before this incident. McDowell was invited back for the `93 reunion... he threw out the first pitch that day. He's very opinionated and not afraid to speak his mind... just Jack being Jack.

Lol...unfortunately for you most people that own a Tesla would simply buy a Nintendo Switch if they were really that interested in playing Stardew Valley.

While we’re at it, let’s not convict any murderers because some people have gotten away with killing before. This isn’t directed at you, but I will never understand people arguing for known cheaters & scumbags getting into the Hall of Fame just because unconfirmed cheaters and scumbags from previous eras were voted in.

I do like this a lot better than the nightmares it is sandwiched between.

Let's just trade for, then extend Betts. Give him 8/320. That'll get it done.

Sox still need a depth piece in the OF, as Eloy and Robert are huge injury risks. Relying on Engel and Garcia to back them up seems like a big risk to me.

Mazara isn't going to "bomb out". At worst he's who he always has been, which is a slightly above replacement level player that hits RHP very well. Leury will get starts against LHP in RF.

I will agree to disagree. Castellanos is better than Mazara and Mazara would be a better 4th OF than Engle. There is no rule that says we can't have too many bats.

Nah, this is after Trout has announced his coming out of retirement come back party to help Eloy and Yoan have one last chance at winning a WS.

Years of rebuilding has a lot of us in this mindset. Contending teams don't bank on potential. Castellanos > Mazara right now. I have never been against Mazara but given the choice, I choose Castellanos.

There were 4. The first 2 batters of the game, then one in the 7th and one in the 8th. I remember getting a text from my friend when this happened that just said "Who the hell is Phillip Humber?" I didn't see the game so at first I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Also interesting that they never showed a good side shot of that last out.

I'd be very surprised if any minor league outfielder is worthy of starting in RF at the ML next season. A few have a shot, but injuries and poor play makes RF a hole for us.

Dude spring training is going to be absolutely lit this year. Look at all the young exciting players you're going to be able to see up close and personal: Eloy, Yoan, Madrigal, Vaughn, Robert, Kopech, Cease, Rutherford, Basabe and so on. Also see they invited Delmonica and Medeiros. Be interesting to see if either of those guys has shown any improvement. Be nice to keep building depth.

I think Sox feel good about rolling the dice on Mazara for 2020 in RF. A change of scenery might really benefit him, and he can bat in the 7/8/9 hole with less pressure. Castellanos just does not seem like a fit, especially after inking Encarnacion to DH. If the Sox add they should look to a guy like Gennett/Dozier/Iglesias.

I reallllllly like the idea of Mazara in RF as our 8 hitter right now... HOWEVER, if Castellanos wanted to try a 1 year-15 million "prove it" deal, then I would be fine punting on the Mazara experiment.

Hector Santiago has joined Nova.

I think Joc is the guy we will pursue. We would just need someone on the bench who can hit lefties.

I'd be on board for a one year deal for Castellanos, but I do not see it happening after the Mazara trade.

lol...this would make me VERY happy.

Exactly. Plenty of other guys around the league with as much upside (not much at all) if not more.

I'm all in on Crochet or Howard. I'm leaning towards college pitching and then HS players in rounds to follow.

He's a terrible offensive player.. He will get the vet minimum somewhere and that's probably what he deserves.

Do you really think that he would get any playing time in LF, with Eloy there? Why would he get any of the DH at bats, with E. E. there? They're all right handed hitters. I don't see the logic in that. Given his poor defense, the only place I see that he would fit, would be as a platoon partner with Mazara, taking the AB's versus LH pitching and I don't know why he would sign a one year contract, accepting such a limited role. Moreover, even if he would accept such a limited role, it would be hard to justify spending that much money to acquire him, under those circumstances.

I agree. Moreover, he isn't going to sign a one year deal, to be platooned. He wouldn't have much of an opportunity to improve his stock, batting exclusively against left handed pitching.

He actually hit pretty well in 2018, while playing third base. Last year, he moved back to his natural position, where the same offensive numbers, combined with his Gold Glove defense, at the keystone position would have been fine. However, for some reason his XBH production just vanished, which is odd considering the juiced ball. I suspect that some team will take a chance on him, in hopes that he can rediscover his ability to at least be a gap hitter. In any case, his contract will likely not earn him what he was due to receive in arbitration.

Was there. Unbelievably still can’t believe I somehow wound up at that game, being that I’m from Southern California.... what are the odds?

I thought he was actually a good RF until he messed up his knee? Idk, I wasn't born yet/a toddler when he was playing RF.

Cleared waivers. Outrighted to Charlotte.

The raw numbers don't show it (since it was such a small sample size) but he looked pretty good in MLB last year prior to the TJS. I still think he has a future with us

The Sox are in a great spot right now. They don't absolutely need Castellanos. The market isn't what he thought it would be. And he doesn't want to wait for spring training to sign. Now -- major discount. Very good chance to a 1 year deal. No draft pick attached. And if the Sox don't get him I'm ok with that too-- they have NM. I'm not loosing any sleep over this. Again, very good position our Whitesox are in.

Both Palka and Delmonico back with the organization. Cool.

Mejia was a fairly well regarded prospect at one point...maybe the Sox can resurrect his career.

The thing about Schilling is this. Racism is not a political opinion. Sending out memes and tropes that disenfranchises and advocate violence against the media, muslims, and the LGBTQ community is not a political opinion. Doing that sort of behavior is morally wrong and against what freedom in America stands for. Yes, Schilling has the right to express his opinion, but racism and attacking various minorities is wrong, morally wrong. And there is a morals clause to getting into the Hall of Fame. Schilling should never get in.

I'm really glad we've established that Andrew Vaughn and Cody Bellinger are not the same person. Remember when that guy used the equals sign in his post? Hahaha! That was so wrong! Cody Bellinger is an established player and Andrew Vaughn is a prospect! So much for the equals sign!!! Looks like they don't "equal" each other at all, hmm?! They are also different people inside totally different bodies. They live in different houses. They even live in different states! Imagine using an equals sign! I get what you're saying, michelangelosmonkey. Psyched to dream about Vaughn in the lineup for the foreseeable future, and appreciate the difference between quoting a one-sentence blurb from a fluff baseball prospect list and publishing in a peer-reviewed journal.

Personally, I would love it if he caught on with Detroit, KC, Cleveland or even Minnesota again. lol

Burger was considered one of the best hitters of the draft, he hit .328/.443/ 648 with 22 homers his last year. The injuries were totally not foreseeable, and he was expected to be a quick moving high floor guy. The knock against him was that many didn't see him staying at third long with his body type. Regarding lux he wouldn't be what he is with the sox. The dodgers have a top player development and totally revamped his swing to improve his power. Not saying the sox would have ruined him but he probably would be more a decent hitter with like 10 HR power than a guy who projects for 20+ bombs.