Balta1701

Because I already have it selected on B-R, he had 8 home runs through his first 50 games. 7 on June 1, but that was after only playing 45 games/30 fewer plate appearances than he's had so far this year.

He had 15 hitless games out of his first 50 last season.

114 last year and 112 right now. I picked that number because 1 page ago people were saying how much more valuable Abrams would be putting up a 110 wRC+ than if Vaughn did that at 1b - not a prediction on Abreu, that's just what he's been for 2 seasons, and an extra bat like that in our order would be a huge help right now.

1 of those guys is not under contract in 2020, 2 of those guys are unlikely to be big leaguers, 2 of those guys are position switches that open up another hole on the roster. That's one disappointing set of replies. Anyway, said my bit. Even if Abrams is really good, we don't have enough in this org to create a big league roster strong enough to hang with the powerhouses right now, and one more piece that is ready now at a position of need would be a big help.

I'm gonna take a different tack with this one - this is the time the White Sox should draft for need. By almost all accounts, Abrams and Vaughn grade similarly, with Abrams playing a more useful position but Vaughn being several years ahead of him. Right now, once a couple guys graduate, the White Sox's system looks barren, and they have a whole lot of holes on the big league roster. RF, 2b, 1b, DH, 1-2 starting pitching slots, entire bullpen, bench. They've already proven they will not spend with the big teams to fill any of these roles and aside from the 2 guys they will not trade they have little of value on the trade market, which means that we're going to be looking at mid-level FA guys next year to fill most of these roles. Given that 1b/DH is a current need, even if Abreu is brought back, and how this franchise has conducted itself, there should be a priority on finding another piece who can contribute ASAP. This can and should be done at the expense of guys who might be really good in 3-4 years. If you grade these guys similarly, a guy who could replace Anderson in 3-4 years is far less valuable to this franchise than a guy who plays 1b and puts up an Abreu-like 110 wRC+ in 2020 and 2021.

Obviously catchers seem to struggle extra when they first come up as there's so much to take in and to do, but worth noting that at most levels in the minors, at comparable ages, Zavala outhit Castillo. AAA is the only level where Castillo outhit what Zavala has done, and it does seem like he repeated that level (maybe with some injuries in there).

DH: Adam LaRoche LF: Melky Cabrera IF: Gordon Beckham IF: Emilio Bonifacio Catcher: Geovanny Soto RP: David Robertson RP: Jesse Crain RP: Zach Duke RP: Matt Albers P: Jacob Turner CF: Austin Jackson SP: Mat Latos Catcher: Alex Avila Catcher: Dioner Navarro RP: Matt Albers SS: Jimmy Rollins

I'm totally in agreement on this and have been saying it since the offseason - the #1 thing we need from Madrigal is to see improvement in the power numbers and unless we see that he's really not worth this much attention.

For a guy who is putting up a .700 OPS in A-ball, yeah a .680 OPS in the big leagues in a couple years is plausible, but even with the better baserunning you've now set the ceiling of this player as a 2.5-ish fWAR guy, and if he gets hurt or sloppy some year and isn't the best defender in the league or best baserunner in the league, then you suddenly are very disappointed. When we had 2017 Yolmer, he was a nice little player, but we weren't exactly penciling him in as a major piece long-term. That's a utility guy or a guy stuck at the back of your order that you replace if you have the chance, just like Yolmer. And to extend the comparison - if anything goes wrong, like this year - well then you're screaming to get that guy out of the lineup ASAP. This is not selling me on the player very well, this is telling me that we need to look elsewhere for 2b help and if this guy does come around there's no harm in making him a utility guy since even if everything went great he's not that good of a player.

Fangraphs rated Kinsler as the #2 fielding 2b in baseball in 2018, so you really are looking at a defensive ceiling there. Similar numbers - Yolmer in 2017 (although playing more than 1 position).

The last 3 teams to win the world series have been loaded with stars. I believe each of them had an MVP winner that season and there's a couple Cy Young contenders in their each time.

LOL I'm glad I didn't have a drink in my mouth because I'd have just spat it out. See this is why I put that offer out. A guy with an OPS hanging around .700 in high-A ball is not nearly ready and I really want to stop hearing about him as coming up any time soon. Let him take his lumps, he needs to change an awful lot of things in his game before he's ready. I don't want to come down harshly on how truly bad he's been because he has a long time to continue working and he's supposed to be a smart player, but suggesting rushing him like that leaves me no choice but to highlight how disappointing he's been.

I got people in the minor league forum to officially agree to a trade such that I will stop panicking over Madrigal's disappointing performance if people will stop suggesting that we need to have him up as a contributor any time soon.

In a couple weeks we'll probably have an interesting thread or two about trading him also. I'm not convinced enough to extend him yet, but one option I don't see anyone having mentioned yet - the Qualifying offer. Yeah we have him for 1.6 more years, but if he is anywhere near this quality of catcher for the next 2 years, risking $18 million on him for 2021 wouldn't be a bad gamble, and if he were to walk as a free agent that would be an extra draft pick for us.

There's some value on the other side though...we see teams like the Braves call up an Acuna or the Nationals call up a Soto or the Dodgers call up a Bellinger and these guys are somewhere between very good and great in their first season. Not every prospect can do that I understand, but what exactly are the White Sox doing so different that none of their guys get off to good starts?

If I last another 30 years I will be telling folks legends about the white Sox manager who allowed a preteen to have a locker with the team for the full year and then was so checked out that one of his own players described that kid as the teams true leader. Somehow I will have to weave the jersey cutting up into this story. It’s truly an epic tale of a manager who gave up and could not have cared less. Youngsters won’t believe it.

Trades for minor leaguers we're doing all right for them. "Win now" trades where he gives up prospects for big leaguers...well let's just say there's a few issues with those.

https://sports.theonion.com/chicago-authorities-free-over-2-000-southpaws-from-ille-1835005156

If I could pretend 2012 Robin did not exist, then he would clearly dominate this. But 2012 makes this a difficult case.

They got out of the multi-year penalties so no, they shouldn't care about the luxury tax for this year.

Dafuq? No he isn't. He's played 10 games since his slump ended and I'm looking at his stats during those 10 games right now. They are .293/.370/.390. I have no idea where you got your numbers.

I will promise to not worry about him for the entire time that people will promise to stop saying that he should be rushed to the big leagues or be our starting 2b sometime in 2020. I think this is a fair trade.

That doesn't mean they're any good! Some of those guys have ERAs over 7, WHIPs over 1.5, in the minors right now. Go to previous White Sox top 30 lists and you'll find similar numbers of relievers, many of whom never even made the big leagues. From 2015 - Spencer Adams, Tyler Danish, Chris Beck, Jace Fry, Nolan Sanburn, Andre Wheeler, Michael Ynoa, Jordan Guerrero, Andrew Mitchell, almost all of them viewed as relievers, Fry is the only one who even had decent outings out of them.

I'd be interested to see which stat going into fWAR is allowing that one number to be substantially better than all of their peripherals...but here's replies in no particular order. 1. "Slightly below league average" is 20th out of baseball. That is not "Decent". Teams that are 20th in baseball are already looking at that as a major need if they want to compete. For example, the Cubs are right there with us and they are looking at aggressively moving to upgrade their bullpen because that's bad. 2. Many of their other stats are notably worse than 20th. Their bullpen performance appears likely to look worse soon. 3. About the only difference between them and a bullpen that is far worse than 20th is Alex Colome, who remains a potential trade candidate. 4. The bullpen reinforcements aside from Burdi are either >1 year away or would have to be rushed substantially 5. The bullpen reinforcements overall look questionable at best. This is not a path to improvement. This is a path to having to buy 3 or 4 guys on the FA and Trade market in the offseason to get up to average.