maxjusttyped

I don't think it's actually clear Astudillo *stinks* as a hitter. He's someone with plus plus contact that offers nothing outside of that. If Madrigal is a 98 wRC+ guy (that's Astudillo's career average & around his projections) with baserunning and defensive value he's still going to be a very good player. But like you said, Madrigal's speed (certainly) and plate discipline (likely) are ahead of Astudillo, too. When you put the entire package together I can't ever recall a prospect like him.

1. Luis Robert 2. Nick Madrigal 3. Michael Kopech 4. Dylan Cease 5. Andrew Vaughn 6. Zack Collins 7. Dane Dunning 8. Blake Rutherford 9. Luis Basabe 10. Steele Walker

I can't ever recall seeing a prospect who makes contact at the rate Madrigal does. A 1.9% K rate in AA is absurd. I know everyone is aware he's an elite contact hitter, but the degree to which he's an outlier can't be overstated enough. If he's striking out ~3% of the time in the majors, it'd be almost impossible to not be an above-average hitter and that's if his power never develops at all.

The driveline study and results generally we've seen from the White Sox player development staff speaks for itself. Most prospects would be better off going to orgs besides the White Sox. But they did turn Tim Anderson (who was more raw & less heralded than Abrams) into an above average SS.

If it were possible to bet on such things, I think Abrams would be the favorite for the Sox pick, at this point.

That is probably fair, to be honest.

My question isn't whether he deserves it, but if there's anything he could do from a results perspective to be fired or transitioned to a different role in the organization.

My hope is they'll hire someone from the Astros/Dodgers/Rays etc and actually go with a 21st century approach to pitching. Realistically, of course, it's the White Sox. If Coop does go they'll likely just replace him with someone in-house.

Maybe I'm naive, but it'll be interesting to see if Cooper truly has lifetime job security. His results have been so poor over the last ~5 or so years, I could see the Sox transitioning him to a scouting role after this season. But I'm probably wrong and he'll be here until he decides to retire regardless of how bad his results are.

It's impossible to say for sure, but I think he will benefit significantly from the juiced ball. Guys with fringey power seem to benefit from it the most.

Hopefully there's something to this. His batted ball profile hasn't significantly changed (pull % is unchanged, GB's up 7%, FB's up 4%, LD's down significantly) but he's a hitter whose statcast info would be interesting to see.

Maybe he'll be given a statue to commemorate it.

Playing Engel so regularly for this long is such a stealth tanking move. I respect it.

Now that we've established Robert *can* successfully steal bases, is it being overly cautious to say he should stop doing so? Doesn't seem like him developing as a base stealer is worth the risk of potentially getting injured again and missing PA's.

I don't think that's outside of the realm of possibility at all.