Thomas_Ventura_Roberts

The White Sox should start blending in their young pitchers into the starting rotation, but they probably should not do it all at once. I am including Rodon as one who should be blended back in. To blend the young guys into the rotation this season, we will need to start trading some of the veterans in June and July. As for blending in pitchers, maybe Rodon and Danish can be the first pitchers blended in by late June. Then by late July, we might blend in a couple more. Very soon, we also probably will need to make a spot in the bullpen for Birdi and the guys coming back from the disabled list. All in all, it sounds like we may need to trade at least 3 veteran starters and 2 veteran relief pitchers between now and August.

I'm looking forward and hoping for the best for Danish. He is one of my favorite, under the radar pitching prospects on the White Sox. He is only 22 years of age and has usually pitched at a below average age in each level of the farm system.

Given the inconsistent way Quintana has pitched in the early going, it might be the off-season before he is traded. Of course, maybe he will go on a hot streak in June and July.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ May 23, 2017 -> 09:39 PM) Was this voodoo? I have never seen a poster on here actually curse a player and get him injured That was quite a coincidence.

I am getting tired of seeing Dylan Covey's poor pitching every 5 days.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 20, 2017 -> 11:37 AM) Except this already demands our 2017 class be garbage. We have a self imposed penalty box already. Our International Scouting director, Marco Paddy, is a big believer that, while signing your share of big time international prospects needs to be part of the mix, a lot of good players will come out of the lower priced 15 and 16 year old players that you sign. (I copied a quote below from an interview he did related to that topic.) I am guessing that Marco is a big fan of Roberts; but if he lost out on him, he could still get a quantity of quality players in the next two years that he is not going to get while in the penalty box. In short, for Marco, plan B would not offer the short-term excitement of plan A, but it would not be a complete lost cause either given his general philosophy. Fortunately, we ended up with our Plan A blow the budget player in a specific situation where Marco was sold on such a player. From Brian Bilek Future Sox Interview "I don’t want to say quantity only; I would say quantity of quality players. There are some players that are more advanced than others and you can put all your eggs in that basket but at the end of the day, scouting is no perfect science. Whether it’s in the draft or internationally, you really don’t want to put all your efforts into one player unless you have the ability to blow a budget and spend 25 million dollars. We don’t think that’s the best way to go. There are very few players in that upper tier but there are quite a few players in that second tier who can be developed into what you’re looking for. I mean, when you’re talking about 15 and 16 year old kids, it’s so hard to determine exactly how their career is going to evolve. I think it makes perfect sense for us to operate the way we do. You can spend a million dollars on a horse but if he doesn’t win that race you only have the one horse."

I'm sure that Roberts is part A; however, given the money that will be spent and the 2 years of being in the penalty box, that ends up being a heavy price. Plan B would work out fine too.

With the amateur draft on June 12th, June 13th would be a good time to start crafting the next phase of the rebuilding White Sox. Some of our young players in the minors can certainly keep getting experience until then, and we will have more clarity about how the draft went in terms of hitters versus pitchers balance. I'm sure the White Sox are expecting the draft to yield a nice balance between the two, but it could turn out to be a draft where the best available players leaned more to one side than the other. One way or the other, I'd like to see 2-3 veteran players traded by mid-June with the idea of getting some young players a chance to play more regularly on the big league club.

I know this has been remarked before, but I am very pleased with how good Tim Anderson plays defensively. Some of the rangy plays that he makes are quite impressive. It also is gratifying when a player starts out in the minors with some question marks attached to his name defensively; but then, he elevates his game. Some may remember that when Gold Glover Robin Ventura was first drafted, he was considered to be a mediocre defensive third baseman. I like those player stories where a guy really improves his defense in the minors and then in their initial stay in the majors. Avi Garcia seems like he has improved his defense in right field. Hopefully, he will become another player who joins the list of guys who did improve their defense through listening to the coaches and hard work.

Listening to Hawk Harrelson over a number of games, he sounds somewhat melancholy in his speech pattern. Is it just because he is disappointed that the White Sox are in rebuilding mode, or is it a function of his knowing that he is nearing the twilight of his career, or is it something else?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Apr 25, 2017 -> 06:45 AM) Problem i, you can't play Delmonico, Davidson, Abreu, Frazier, and I guess Melky all every day. Melky or Frazier has to go before both Davidson and Delmonico see every day at bats. And that doesn't look like it's happening any time soon. Frazier and Melky will probably get traded in June or July.

Who gets bumped when Petricka and Rodon are brought back onto the 12 man pitching staff? In addition, if the White Sox feel that Beck and Burdi are ready for the bullpen in May, who would be bumped?

Is Delmonico getting a bit overlooked as a potential good player for the White Sox?

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Jan 21, 2017 -> 04:53 AM) There are a few players and pitchers that might surprise us and change the rebuilding equation, at least in terms of the timetable. I have a few favorites of mine that I think might be in that category - players that no one expects much from, and then end up over performing expectations. First one is Omar Narvaez. Omar came up briefly last season and showed that at least he can hit the ball. I think he has some upside and he is just 24 years old. Tyler Saladino in my opinion played a decent second base and made some unbelievable plays going up the middle. He also had some clutch hits and started hitting with some power. I would have him as my starting second basemen, then possibly play Moncada at third and Frazier at first. That would leave Abreu to share 1B/DH (until one is traded). Matt Davidson started hitting very well in ST last year. I wonder if he could possibly play LF. If he could, then switch Melky to RF where his arm would be more valuable than it has been in LF. Then DFA Avi Garcia. Charlie Tilson is another x factor who could end up surprising us as a Center Fielder, especially if he still has the speed he had before the injury. Our pitching staff has too many potential surprises to mention and everyone here knows who they are. Burdi, Kopech, Gio, and others. So it's the old story of "ifs" , that perennial questions that many teams have at the beginning of the season -- if, if, if multiple players perform beyond expectations, you might have a decent team. If that ends up happening you have to think about changing the timetable on the rebuild and maybe forget about tanking the season. Those players certainly can make a difference. I still remember when I was a kid, and the sports guy on 10 o'clock news made a number of pre-season predictions for the White Sox based on ifs. He then humorously ended by saying that 'if if was a ship, we would all go sailing.'

I would not be surprised if Avi Garcia has a breakout season. That will help their competitiveness.

I was glad to see that the White Sox are not planning a typical re-build. To quote Nick Hostetler on their website: "I'm not anticipating this to be a 62- or 63-win team," said White Sox director of amateur scouting Nick Hostetler, referring to the 2017 season. "Right now, the way that the team is constructed, we are going to compete in games, battle." It is not inconceivable that Giolito, Lopez, or Fulmer might join Rodon, Gonzalez, Shields, and Holland in the White Sox rotation early in 2017 with Birdi being added to the bullpen. That would presume that Quintana and Robertson were already moved in trades. In fact, I can imagine the White Sox wanting to make room for all three of them by mid-season. One would need to keep fingers crossed that Shields and Holland had bounce back seasons like Gonzalez did last year. Even presuming that Quintana and Robertson were already traded and the veterans had their bounce back seasons, how would the White Sox swing it if they felt Giolito, Lopez,and Fulmer were all ready to be in the rotation by July?

Mark Polishuk on MLB Rumors says teams are calling and kicking the tires on Frazier and Abreu. Will we end up keeping Quintana but end up trading the veterans Frazier, Abreu, and Robertson?

Doesn't his opting out potentially cost him guaranteed money if he happened to get injured? Of course, he is financially set for life so it probably was a gamble well worth taking.

That would be nice.

Was he previously on our 40 man roster?

No. A team should try to be as competitive as possible when it comes time to play. A one-time sell-off of players during a limited period of time is fine as a heavy duty rebuilding re-boot; but after the players are traded, it is time to think win, win, and win.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 09:15 PM) Look, I get that we need more positional talent in our system. The thing is, I don't get why some people aren't more excited about the stockpiling of fireballers in our farm. Look at the 2015 Mets team that won the pennant. They had a staff full of fireballers/guys with plus stuff. Look at how many pitchers the white sox have with + potential. Fulmer, Hansen, Giolito, Lopez, Kopech, Burdi. Five of which are currently slotted as starters. Burdi could possibly be stretched out to be a starter, but we don't know if the sox will do that. Add Rodon in there too. Doesn't the thought of all these fireballers make you fraeking excited? look at the 2015 Mets. It is unlikely all of them pan out obviously, but we saw how much relievers can be traded for/how valuable they are this season. I have NO issue with the white sox stocking up on pitchers with dominant stuff. Hahn is doing an EXCELLENT job this offseason. I love his approach, and I love the value pitchers have currently/in the near future. Pitching prospects are indeed exciting to have.

A lot of good comments here. It also occurred to me when thinking about how the White Sox have expressed interest in various catching prospects that they might not match up with those teams when it comes to our major league players who are on the trade block; however, a given team with the prospects might be interested in a few of the pitchers that we just acquired. Then, it would make sense to trade someone, such as Quintana or Abreu or Frazier for additional pitching prospects as we may have to move some of our existing or newly acquired pitching prospects to another team that has a catching prospect that we might desire.

I love the first 2 rebuilding trades and the 7 prospects that we got back for Sale and Eaton; however, even in a re-build, how many prospects do we need to change the general course of the club. Along with some of our own under the radar prospects (including Latin American youngsters) as well as some of our better known prospects, do we already have enough of a core group of young players to go forward? In saying slow down on the re-build, I am presuming that we will still get a few more young players when we presumably will trade Robertson, Frazier, and Cabrera. In short, unless someone really is ready to give us an outstanding package of players, should we leave Abreu and Quintana alone?

I just read that Zach Birdi will be called up to the White Sox after making one more appearance.