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It’s still early and I remain somewhat hopeful, but taking Hagen Smith over the cohort of positional players that were available is fucking killing us right now. Konner Griffin is currently #1 at BA, JJ Wetherholt is #5, and Bryce Rainer is #25. Those guys were taken four, two, and six picks behind us respectfully and all got a $1M to $2M less than Smith. And then you have the two 1B sandwiched around our pick in Kurtz and Caglianone. The former is currently putting up 3.2 fWAR as a rookie 1B and the latter has already reach the majors (though struggling) after crushing the minors. Those guys got $1M and $500k less than Smith respectively. And just for transparency, those five guys got the five highest bonuses after Smith and were all considered top 10 prospects in that draft, so this isn’t cherry-picking a bunch of random hits and saying we blew it. And taking Nick McLain over Mike Sirota (BA’s #48 prospect) in the 3rd is also a dagger. BA had Sirota as the 70th overall prospect in the 2024 draft whereas McLain was in the 200’s. Both were available for us at our pick in the 3rd and we took the tweener OF with good bloodlines over the far more physically gifted player coming off a rough season all for about $80k in bonus pool savings. I was mad at the time about this and am even more pissed now that McLain has basically missed the entire season while Sirota has turned into a top 50 prospect.

I love when people say things like this, not realizing that it would require them to do the same thing. Honestly in a year where there were whispers about both Smith and Schultz hitting the majors this year, I don't see how you can qualify their injury laden, low performance seasons as anything but a failure. It doesn't mean their done forever, but it sure as hell isn't a good thing.

And just to provide some context to the Schultz pick (1,26 - 2022), in the 61 year history of the amateur draft, 4 players picked at #26 have eclipsed 10 bWAR in their careers. That's four (4) out of sixty-one (61). The White Sox took a HS pitcher without a lengthy track record, and have turned him into a top 20 prospect who has ascended to AAA in his 3rd season. They've challenged his innings counts, and limited his pitch selection, and he struggled at the level right below the majors. I'm not sure how that's a stain, or a red flag. Or even a "huge failure".

Payroll is certainly a factor but then again Miami is on pace for 19 more wins than the Sox with a lower payroll.

The 3 most recently posted threads on this forum all go back to the same thing - Chris Getz hasn't been very good at his jobs in the Sox organization. Wake me up when we have a new owner who hires people based on merit instead of loyalty. I'll set my alarm clock for 2029.

Can also not understate the disaster that was the Cease trade, unless that trio of prospects magically turns it around.

The complete lack of a contributing LatAm program has been killing us for years and it’s most apparent when you look at lists like this.

No prospect within the top 30 in the MLB and not too many exciting prospects after their first 12. Seems reasonable.

In a season you are probably losing 100 games a decent bullpen arm is the definition of worthless.

Braden is on quite the heater. Multiple hits AND at least 1 XBH in each of his last 4 games, including 3-4 with a walk and 2 doubles tonight. Last 4 games: 9-16, 6 (!!) doubles, 3 BB, 3K. AA OPS up to .851.

You just gave the Sox credit for preventing injuries to Schultz and Smith. My question is, why couldn’t they identify potential injury situations for numerous other pitchers in their organization? Are you saying that all of their pitchers that eventually had to have TJ surgery injured their arms only during the offseason? Here’s a specific example — the Sox were sure that Drew Thorpe would just need a bone spur taken care of and he would be ready for Spring Training. Next, he needs TJ surgery, so what happened there?

He's also just been atrocious against LHP this year. Rocking a .190/.219/.408 slash line in 157 PA's. Doesn't mean he won't get better, but that's not something that screams "7th best player in baseball"

Sox are gonna make more bad decisions than good until the Reinsdorf/Getz era is over. These people aren't qualified to run a franchise, and we all know it

You don't understand what was a failure about overhauling a guy who was dominating resulting in him falling apart and ALL of his stuff regressing? Also, a stain is a single negative thing that happened while a red flag is a signifier of things to be concerned about in the future. Glad I could help answer that for you.

Why didn’t they catch this for the other ridiculous number of their other pitchers that ended up requiring TJ surgery this year? I’m not so sure they caught anything, and if surgery isn’t already inevitable for them. Afterall, their track record looks pretty bad regarding pitcher injuries.

What's the difference between a stain and a red flag? And a huge failure? Are those three different things? And if it doesn't make sense to you, shouldn't you reserve judgement until you can understand what's going on? Are you actually implying that they made him hurt his plant knee? It looks to me like they challenged Schultz to lean on only part of his arsenal to clean up his mechanics, and pulled Hagen Smith aside to clean up his. They caught two injuries before they developed into something worse, and they'll both be back on the mound this fall. I'm not sure I see the "stain". Or the "red flag". Or even the "huge failure". Yes, it would be nice for these two pitchers to have pitched their way into the major league rotation, and be in the ROY conversation. They're not. They've had about 5 pitchers perform their way into the greater rotation picture (Murphy, Oppor, LaCombe, McDougal, Lucas Gordon), while others just progressed. Seriously, I'm sure that if I was to explain fully how I see any positivity in this system, you would argue with all of it, so pretend I said something, and have at it.

It’s a fair assessment of the stadium. The main issue is there is nothing to do immediately around it. So, the experience is limited to game. The stadium is nothing special or breathtaking, but there’s also nothing wrong with it when compared to most other stadiums.

Schultz having a rework is the biggest stain and red flag for this current regime. It made no sense. It has been a huge failure, and they've been candid about it being their decision and direction that's led him here. He went from a possible #1 overall prospect to a huge question mark. The lack of pitching development this year has been devastating. Smith also didn't throw strikes in college so assuming command will come with reps is far from a guarantee. Lastly, they're on pace to lose 101 games and they have a farm system in the back half of the league. How is there any positivity there?

Honestly, makes Sosa's ability to struggle then succeed at every level more impressive to me. I forget who said it's on the board, but I think this team bought into themselves after Sale (over a decade ago), Crochet and an unproven Schultz that they could ball out with power lefties that have funky deliveries. Hubris still runs deep.

Ok this thread has been going for some time now, and I have read most of it. My brief and simple feeling is that the soccer stadium is the first step in developing The 78 into a sports complex. The baseball stadium will be the crown jewel.

Barons won 9-0. McCullough (4IP), Palisch (3IP, 9u/9d), Dalquist (1IP) and Kelley (1IP) combined for the shutout. 3 hit games for Bergolla and Braden, Veras 2-5 with a 2B and 3B. Road broadcast had a kid fan in the booth for a couple innings who chipped in some analysis:

Not to Getz. Dude loves trading for 30+ year old relievers.

Wilson was DFA’ed once already. Iriarte and Zavala are more than likely career minor leaguers. We are stuck with hoping Thorpe can be a starter in the rotation at some point with his 90 MPH fastball. The Cease trade was an unmitigated disaster and hasn’t done for this team what Getz thought it was going to do. If Getz had to put his hand on a bible and actually had the gall to say otherwise, lightning would probably strike him on the spot.

Exactly. I was going to post this earlier… why did the Sox even draft him in the first place if they thought his mechanics could potentially lead to an injury? Okay, perhaps they thought they could fix his poor mechanics? But if that is the case, why did they just figure it out now instead of working on it right after he was drafted? Apparently, the Sox wizards of evaluation only pick and choose when to see things. Smells like 🐂 💩 to me.

You'll gobble up whatever is put out by the team, it's wild. So the Sox were letting him pitch with bad mechanics his entire career before this year but then decided this year that was over? Optimal mechanics aren't even a thing in the first place. Also not sure what mechanics have to do with pitch mixes. No one is talking about triple a banners, but you judge prospects based on progress and regression.

The Sox not putting in work with their kids in the off season would explain a lot

They're employees, not chattel.

So it was probably more floor over ceiling type of work.

I agree. Thanks for all of the content. Always look forward to it.

SD must be elated to have used up their cache of prospects to acquire the bunch of guys they wanted to make their playoff run. The Sox just graduated (7) Teel, Quero, Meidroth, Monty, Burke, Shane Smith and Grant Taylor. They just had (8) sidelined for a year - Drew Thorpe, Mason Adams, Juan Carela, Ky Bush, Nick McLain, Blake Larson, Aldrin Batista and Casey Saucke. (7) all had serious rework seasons - Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tyler Schweitzer, Bryan Ramos, Colson Montgomery, Wolkow and Sam Zavala. That's 21 real hits to their minor league system, and they're still hovering at the back of the middle third. I'll take that.

SD must be elated to be 30th. In all seriousness, it's always about the ability to refill/recharge these lists. Last time the Sox were 1st, they followed up with Vaughn Madrigal and Burger. There was no so-called second wave. But yes, they key point is how OTHER organizations view or perceive your prospects when it comes to making trades.

I'm not really concerned about the White Sox nailing rankings on listicles. The handling of Colson shows the White Sox aren't, really, either. Should we care about Hagen Smith's "prospect luster"? I'd rather he develop as a strong pitching prospect. The rankings will take care of themselves.

I still think "pushing" Montgomery to the majors after his small detour to Arizona has been wonderful. I do think taking a few chances on players who hopefully have a future in Chicago is better off than just recycling players 30+ who are just filling a spot.

Look, things got out of hand. People get a whiff of competence and LOSE THEIR MINDS

But equally after a pretty good offensive effort in games this season the bullpen has also lost games. Since the all star break the offense has been generally ok, and probably better than the pitching.

Thanks for the kind words, us sickos gotta stick together through the tough times lol

My twins fan buddies are in shambles today with the Pohalds announcing they are not selling. Sweet sweet twin tears.

Seems pretty ridiculous to have six top 100 prospects and not be in the top half of farm systems. I’d wager than BA and Fangraphs will have us higher.

Agreed. The guys here like Burke, Smith, Martin will throw more innings than they ever have in a season.

Uh yeah I didn't call him stupid as a person, though he may be. I said he was dumb at baseball, which he is. He may be playing from behind with worse instincts, but when instincts are really bad, the team needs to beat common rules into you that become automatic. Like "put your foot on the edge of first base when catching the ball". There's definitely a range of quality with baseball instincts among common ball players, but nearly all of them remember that rule.

Here’s the full top 30 list: https://www.futuresox.net/2025/08/13/futuresox-2025-mid-season-white-sox-c/

I’m starting to believe that he knows what he’s doing, his biggest problem is he’s working for a cheap jerk. If he continues to improve, it will be interesting if Ishbia keeps him around.

Most of the reviews lately have it rated a bit higher, I saw one earlier in the year that had the Rate in the middle of the pack. There is no way it’s worse than the Trop, Anaheim Stadium, Rogers Center, Bank One and a few others. One other thing, some of the Retro stadiums are just plain phony with goofy unnatural quirks. Some of the parks of yesteryear built in the early 1900s had quirks that were real and were there because of the acreage they were built on, most of those old parks were built on city blocks that weren’t close to being square, they were more rectangle or worse thus the Green Monster in Fenway, high right field fences in Ebbets Field and Connie Mack Stadium, weird layout of Crosley Field which gave it the Moon Deck bleachers in right field, old Braves Field which had the Jury Box bleacher in right field, the Polo Grounds which was a much better Football stadium than Baseball, Griffith Stadium which had a jigsaw piece in center field because of two home owners who refused to sell their houses, the right field overhang in Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium with the short homer porch in right field and Forbes Field which was a mishmash and actually pretty ugly. I’m pretty sure old Comiskey was the only park that was built on land that was large enough that there were no quirks and with a fair symmetrical design, no cheap homers at the Palace, if you hit one over the fence, you earned it regardless of where you hit it.

He somehow had a 3/1 K/BB ratio and a 2.12 ERA in Charlotte. Not sure, maybe the Sox ID'd something in him. He was awful as a reliever in MLB. Only 25 so some development left you'd think.

Well if Colson is really a 125 wRC+ guy that plays a fine SS that's a 5 WAR player and he'll be in there next year. We'll see. Him coming out of the gate like he has, and it's not just a fluke, his statcast is lit up with deep red, has been a huge boost to the rebuild. If you suddenly have a 3-5 WAR SS that sure as hell jumpstarts things.

Those grades are pretty wild. I think the cubs, tigers, Red Sox, brewers, angels and Braves all did worse than the Sox all things considered.

Ooo the Sox get an Aussie! Somewhere @DBAHO would be proud.

Don’t think there’s such a thing as the right thread here, to be fair.