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What is the ceiling for Manny Banuelos?


vilehoopster
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Banuelos in play at No. 5
Keep an eye on left-hander Manny Banuelos as the leading candidate for the White Sox fifth starter. There was enough interest in the one-time highly-touted prospect to make a trade with the Dodgers for the 27-year-old on Nov. 1, instead of waiting for him to possibly be non-tendered.

"When we were viewing that [prospective non-tender] list with our scouts, [scout] Bill Young was the one who pounded the table and said this kid is back to who he was before. He can help us now," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "We made a small trade for him with the Dodgers and added him to the 40-man [roster] ourselves to sort of beat that market."

Banuelos is out of options. So, the White Sox will have to decide on keeping him by the end of camp. The southpaw, who primarily will be competing with Dylan Covey for a rotation spot as of now, could work out of the bullpen as well.

 

So this was MLB.com a couple days ago. So it seems that Manny B. is, for now, our 5th starter. Do you think he can come back from that injury early in his career and be a real quality starting pitcher after being pretty average in the minors the last couple years? Does that happen? That scout quoted seemed really excited about him. Can anyone think of a pitcher whom a team picked up for pretty much nothing who became a valuable starter or bullpen guy for years for a team?  Or is this a situation where he's just less bad than Dylan Covey (God, I don't want to see Covey starting this year!), 

My guess is that, at best, he'll be H. Santago 2.0. 

 

 

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I'd definitely rather roll the dice on Banuelos than give the spot to Covey again, who I am pretty much certain is a reliever.  I actually think Covey could be pretty good as a reliever, he just struggles so much on multiple times through the lineup. 

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2 minutes ago, yesterday333 said:

Didn't we just trade a couple relievers last year that everybody said wouldn't be worth anything when we acquired them... and the year before. No he doesn't "fix" everybody, but he has a strong track record of success...

Soria last year, Swarzak and Kahnle the year before.

What we would really like to see of course is improvement from Rodon, Giolito, and Lopez. 

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6 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

2018.

I was definitely having a major brain cramp when I asked that question haha I give credit for younger pitchers but veterans are so volatile and random from year to year it's hard to really say who the credit should go to. Unless I missed somewhere that Soria gave credit to Coop for his success.

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2 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Personally I hope the Sox sign someone who may actually know what they are doing on the mound (as Hahn has suggested many times about needing another starter) then trying either of the guys mentioned in this thread.

Personally I hope the White Sox give these guys a shot to see if they can take a step forward, and if not then we've kept a slot open for Cease or any of the other pitchers in Charlotte if they get off to a good start. 

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56 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

This topic completely depends on if their scout is correct about Banuelos stuff being what it was as a top prospect. If so, the upside could be the Sox version of Arrieta. This guy was a top 40 prospect 5 years ago. 

I don’t know if Hahn has that much hope for Banuelos. Putting out the scout’s name was passing the responsibility for the pick. 

Hostetler did the same in the last draft on the Steele Walker pick. He mentioned a certain scout was pounding the table on Walker. 

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Just now, Baker said:

I don’t know if Hahn has that much hope for Banuelos. Putting out the scout’s name was passing the responsibility for the pick. 

Hostetler did the same in the last draft on the Steele Walker pick. He mentioned a certain scout was pounding the table on Walker. 

I will be disappointed if they enter the season with Banuelos or Covey as the fifth starter. That has to be upgraded to something more solid. 

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50 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

He's an org guy...nothing there to fix.

Don't know why we traded for an org guy either or why he's kept on the 40.

If this guy was originally in the Sox system and they gave him away for nothing, you'd have b****ed and moaned.  At least be consistent.  

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1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

This topic completely depends on if their scout is correct about Banuelos stuff being what it was as a top prospect. If so, the upside could be the Sox version of Arrieta. This guy was a top 40 prospect 5 years ago. 

Agreed. Although it may be unlikely, his ceiling is definitely higher than 5th starter. 

But then we could be getting into the definition of ceiling. Is somebody's ceiling the best outcome possible? Or is it just the best realistic outcome possible? 

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BTW, Banuelos topped out as the #13 prospect in baseball in 2011. He was 20 years old at that time, and during that year is when the injuries started. If he's truly close to his 2011 form, I wouldn't discount him being a late bloomer after injuries slowed him. He'll be 28 on OD. It isn't out of the question for pitchers to figure it out in their late 20s after being top prospects and flaming out. It happens more often than people think. 

Edited by Jack Parkman
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4 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

This topic completely depends on if their scout is correct about Banuelos stuff being what it was as a top prospect. If so, the upside could be the Sox version of Arrieta. This guy was a top 40 prospect 5 years ago. 

You are right, but Arrieta figured it out with the help of yoga and, um, "supplements." And he was Bob Gibson for about a year and a half. You don't see moves like that very often. I'd be thrilled if Banuelos could be a serviceable starter.

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3 minutes ago, Roughneck said:

You are right, but Arrieta figured it out with the help of yoga and, um, "supplements." And he was Bob Gibson for about a year and a half. You don't see moves like that very often. I'd be thrilled if Banuelos could be a serviceable starter.

And a distinct ability to accuse everyone else of using roids.

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1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

BTW, Banuelos topped out as the #13 prospect in baseball in 2011. He was 20 years old at that time, and during that year is when the injuries started. If he's truly close to his 2011 form, I wouldn't discount him being a late bloomer after injuries slowed him. He'll be 28 on OD. It isn't out of the question for pitchers to figure it out in their late 20s after being top prospects and flaming out. It happens more often than people think. 

While we slowly die waiting for any news about Machado, this is the post I was hoping to see; this one and the example of Jose Quintana. That's what I was hoping for in posting my question, some optimism and a reason to be intrigued about the upcoming season. Thanks 

Edited by vilehoopster
bad grammar
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