Chicago White Sox

So what exactly do you theorize the organization is doing wrong? Or do you simply think all the players are injury prone? Sure, if we have this many injuries next year I’ll be right there next to you with the conspiracy theories, but teams in all major sports have stretches of bad luck on the injury front and those are usually not predictive of future problems.

I think you are fooling yourself if you think the White Sox took the most adanced hitter in the draft, sent him to High A in his first professional season, and then plan for him to start a multi-year program to change his swing and add power. The Sox are not going to make major changes to his game. They drafted him to be Nick Madrigal. His power will hopefully improve with a healthy wrist and as he naturally adds muscle over time. I highly, highly doubt they take a conservative approach with him while they wait for that part of his game to develop though. I would say it’s like 90% likely he starts next year in AA and from there moves up quickly assuming the hit tool plays up.

Why is that Lip? I think Uncle Jerry understands adding one of these mega-stars would bring significant value to the organization. Not only in terms of increased ticket sales, but more importantly an increase in TV ratings right before they need to negotiate their new deal. Another 100 loss season filled a bunch of fringe major leaguers will result in poor fan interest and likely cost them a lot of money in the process. Now is not the time he frugal and I truly believe Reinsdorf understands that. Add a legit star and a few vets on short-term deals and this team suddenly becomes that more watchable.

FIFY.

I agree with you on the injuries. He’s got to demostrate he can stay healthy for an extended period of time. That being said, the power has to show up too to some extent IMO.

If you ignore the highly atypical amount of injuries, most of our prospects had very positive 2018 seasons. The biggest disappointments IMO were Hansen, Robert (partially injury related), & Sheets. And with those last two guys it wasn’t all bad by any means. Additionally, we had multiple guys with nice bounce back seasons and we even had a few guys come out of nowhere and become legit prospects like Rivera & Lambert. I get the injuries really suck, but what are we expecting these to the be normal going forward? Outside of a few cases, it just seems like a bad luck year to me.

See, I disagree that 2B is his highest ceiling position defensively. His 70 grade arm is not being put optimal use there. I think he could be an incredibly valuable defensive OF with his speed & arm and I think he’d make much fewer mental mistakes out there. Also, I get we have a lot of CF options in the minors, but most of them are high variance prospects at AA or below. And the three you mentioned all have arms that make them capable of playing a corner OF spot. Having too many starting caliber OFs in a couple years would be a good problem to have.

2 or 3 years? Madrigal is probably the most major league ready guy in the entire 2018 draft, at least on the positional side of things. If he’s not up by some point in the 2020 season then things have gone terribly wrong with him. And honestly, I think he may force his way up this year. Regardless, do you really want Moncada learning a new position while we’re trying to compete? I guess for me personally, I don’t think 2B is his best spot long-term and would love to see what’s he capable of in CF. And a much smaller consideration to me is moving Moncada to CF now opens up a spot for Jose Rondon at 2B. Of all our fringe major league ready prospects, he is far and away the most intriguing guy we got. Would love to see what he’s capable of in 2019.

So let me start this off by saying that I was a huge supporter of drafting Madrigal this past year. Even with Yoan in place at 2B, you always go BPA and just figure out roles later. Well, I think given Madrigal’s potential to move fast and 2019 likely to be another lost season competitively speaking, now is the time to start thinking through this. Here are my thoughts. 1) Madrigal’s best position is 2B. He can be a high end defender there, whereas his arm will always limit him on the left side of the infield. 2) Moncada’s best defensive tools are his speed & arm. While the latter would play up well at 3B, it’s not really ideal from a range standpoint. 3) There are a lot of stud free agents that will be hitting free agency in the coming two off-seasons. Machado & Arenado are both highly attractive options if we plan on making a significant investment in a star free agent. 4) CF is a massive hole right now (sorry Adam Engel) and the prospect who is closest to filling that spot (Basabe) may not even be ready for the job by opening day 2020. Based on those four points above, I truly believe moving Moncada to CF is the best past forward. I feel his tools will play up much better there than 2B or 3B. And if this is what we actually believe, then now is the time to do it. There will be a learning curve and 2019 provides a great opportunity to get him acclimated. What are your thoughts on this? How would you guys handle the situation?

There is nothing to defend though. He’s clearly a dirty baseball player who occasionally doesn’t hustle. What kind of defense are you looking for exactly? That he’s young & immature or something like that?

Just to be objective here, Fangraphs has nine White Sox prospects in their top 100, including four in their top 30. The only other organization with nine is the Braves, with the Padres & Rays having eight & seven respectively. We may not have the same depth as these other systems, but it’s clear as mud we fall into this elite group.

Character is important, but talent generally trumps everything. Dick Allen has said it before, but the kid is not a wife beater or sexual assaulter, he’s just a somewhat dirty baseball player. We can’t afford to be overly picky when it comes to signing a star or we’ll simply reduce our odds of landing one. I can see an argument for prioritizing Harper over Machado, but to pass on Manny altogether because of these “issues” would be very short-sighted IMO.

Well first off I said “with a few other smart additions”. Machado alone won’t cut it. But we have plenty of money to spend to fill gaps and put ourselves in a position to succeed if our young players start to break out. Second, our division absolutely sucks and is without question the weakest in baseball. The Tigers & Royals should represent easy wins and the Indians will to continue to decline as they age / lose key players. I’d be much less optimistic if we were in any other division. I agree fully need the majority (not all) of the Moncada, Anderson, Rodon, Lopez, & Giolito group need to take a step forward this year and that Jimenez needs to show signs of being the stud we think he can become. If those things don’t happen, being competitive in 2020 isn’t what I’ll be concerned about, but it’s the overall rebuild.

We can’t wait forever for the guys in AA to hit the scene. Moncada, Anderson, Lopez, Rodon, & Gioltio are all burning service time. Adding Machado speeds things up, but in a good way. I think with a few other smart additions we can be competitors by 2020 without jeopardizing our long term plan.

There should be three goals this offseason IMO: Pursue the whale free agents (Machado & Harper) and try to land one Add veterans on short-term deals (2 years or less) to fill major holes Continue to add talent to the system by flipping non-essential pieces I feel very strongly that we need to start adding some veterans and begin developing a winning culture to aid the development of our young players. I’m probably in the minority here, but I believe that constant losing can cause guys to press and not make the adjustments needed for long-term success. Additionally, I think it’s important to make young guys earn their spots and not just hand full-time roles to them. As such, I’m all for adding some veterans if the terms make sense. Right now, I think we need to add two starters, one RH reliever, a 3B, and probably an OF. I’m simply not feeling the internal options we have at those spots and would prefer to give those jobs to capable veterans that will take some pressure off the kids and serve as bridges to the next wave of prospects. Again, the key is these have to be short-term deals. If so, I’m all for spending some money now.

No offense, but you should be a skeptic of pretty much every other system if you’re hating on all our prospects other than Eloy, Kopech, & Cease. Like your expectations are complete out of line.

I think you’re wrong with that last paragraph. Reinsdorf is loyal, but he’s not going to sit back while all the young talent flops. This is really Hahn’s last opportunity to put it all together. The first wave of prospects didn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence, but I’m not writing them off just yet. My only real concern at the moment is that Hahn has made no changes to the coaching staff that failed to get these young guys to take significant leaps forward. Once he does that, he moves the arrow of accountability one step closer to himself. Hopefully the young guys all make big strides in year two, but if not I’ll be pissed if Hahn tries to blame the coaching staff at that point. If he feels like these kids underperformed, then coaching changes should be warranted now. Given his poor track record, there should be a sense of urgency to right the ship. I’m all for loyalty, but at the end of the day accountability always has to be part of the equation.

Do you actually believe we don’t have a top 10 farm system?

That’s another fair point, but he should be held accountable primarily for the development of the young talent. If Moncada, Lopez, & Giolito all struggle again, then I think his fate should be sealed. And I hope people realize I’m not defending Hahn, I’m just accepting the reality that our options are he’s better than history suggests or he sucks and the rebuild is likely in trouble. For now I’m going to hope it’s the former and support him doing what he sees best for the organization.

That’s all fair, but you saying you don’t want Rick Hahn spending money is saying you don’t want the White Sox spending money. At some point, you’ve got to give Hahn to prove himself one last time. There really isn’t an alternative.

Yes it is. We need to give him a chance to get his hand healthy this offseason. If he doesn’t show power next season then concern will be warranted.

You just said you’re not sure we have a top 10 farm system anymore which is beyond laughable. We will certainty be a top 5 ranked farm system by all major publications this offseason. I like you Jack, but you seriously need to take a breather from White Sox baseball.

To me, his ability to pitch will make or break his chances of sticking with us. Right now, he’s a weak side platoon corner infielder / DH. While he was exceptional against lefties last year (wRC+ of 144) & could create a pretty nice DH combo with Palka, guys with his skillset are generally tough to carry on a short bench. That being said, if he could pitch a couple times a week (even in mop-up spots), he just might provide enough utility to be worth rostering.

I mean, it was heavily rumored we were explored trading for him last offseason prior to a 100 loss season, so I think it’s all but a certainty we pursue him now.

Sure, but what starters do you fee comfortable throwing big money at? They’re very likely to get Corbin, after that it’s a wild card. Better off signing Machado and trading some positional talent for a controllable arm.