NorthSideSox72

Are these the guys who definitively stated, with no evidence, that Alec Hansen has a torn UCL?

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoy these. I've been talking today with a player who is among the top 20 prospects in the system, who says he will write one soon as well. Plus another player I've been working on, I hope to get both in before pitchers and catchers report.

Our first player-written guest post of the 2018-2019 season is now up at FutureSox. Our first guest is Sam Abbott, first base prospect and 2017 draftee. Learn about just how close he was to going to college to play water polo instead of baseball, and how quickly things turned for him. We've got a couple more articles in our Prospect Perspective series lining up for the next month or two.

I don't think that happens right away, but after a couple months there should be a chance to promote someone else from AA to AAA. I don't think Robert is getting to MLB in 2019, and even Charlotte isn't all that likely in my eyes, the way Getz does things.

It's not about a need in Charlotte. They can find someone for that, as you pointed out. It's about getting the actual prospects playing time. To illustrate, here's what I have as the likely OF depth charts at the various levels for April 2019: AAA: Jimenez, Cordell, Tilson, Basabe (plus probably a bench OF) AA: Rutherford, Gonzalez, Booker, Fisher (and then Adolfo starting 5/1 or so) A+: Robert, Walker, Dedelow, Frost (plus probably Brown on the bench) A: R Gonzalez, Dawkins, Sowers, Destino So... if Basabe goes back to AA, how do you play to play him? Do you plan to have him, Adolfo, Rutherford and Gonzalez all play less often? Doesn't seem workable. Does someone else in AA look better to move up to AAA? Booker would crumble in AAA pretty quickly and even then you'd still have a playing time problem with Birmingham for the real prospects. Basabe makes the most sense as none of Rutherford, Adolfo, or Gonzalez have played above A-ball at all, and Booker and Fisher clearly aren't ready (and the latter isn't even a prospect anymore really).

One of our occasional contributors, Dan Victor, interviewed Luis Curbelo recently and wrote this Focus piece on the shortstop. He's a player who has consistently been in the FS Top 30, but missed time and unspectacular stats have seen him slide of most people's radars. Just don't be surprised if he breaks out in 2019.

Someone needs to stretch for AAA, and Hahn has sort of hinted he might be that guy.

This is pretty much exactly what I have on my big board now (except that Polo isn't in the org anymore, so he's out). Eloy comes up by 5/1, whomever seems most ready from AA goes up to AAA, and Micker joins AA at that time.

In what is probably the final FS podcast of the year, Clint interviews pitchers Tyler Johnson and Kade McClure. All the details, links, etc. right here. Enjoy!

I don't get people trying to connect the signing of Harper and/or Machado with the business decisions around a long-term sports network for multiple teams. That's like Harper or Machado picking a team to sign for 10 years with based on their projections for 2019 win-loss record. This network decision has been planned for months or years and it's about a period of many years, regardless of any one or a few players signing for any one team.

Did you read the article? Also yes.

Most likely yes, but really hard to say with any certainty.

I don't really mind the signing, as Zavala and Collins need more time to cook. But I guess I don't see how McCann will be any material improvement over, say, Kevan Smith. I get trading Narvaez because his value was at a peak and they got another piece that should be useful. But I don't see how McCann at this point in his career makes much sense, except maybe that the Sox think he could be trade bait (or allow Wellington to be trade bait) at the deadline if one or both are doing well and one of the youngsters is ready. Is that gamble worth the extra $2M? I'm just not sure.

Our Y2Jimmy did a detailed write-up of the new Cuban prospect the White Sox are reportedly signing, including video. Give it a look to get to know the newest Sox in the system.

We've got a new podcast episode up and ready, this one featuring outfielders Steele Walker and Luis Gonzalez. Go here for download info, links, subscription, etc. Got another one cooking for next week too, with a few more ranked prospects. All hosted by Clint Cole as usual.

Here's a detailed write up of all the Sox moves in the draft, where they selected 2 players, traded 1 away, and lost 1.

The White Sox picked up two players named Jordan, traded one away, and lost a guy named Cristofer in the Rule 5 Draft. Get details on all the players involved here.

Small edit to the article - the draft is at 9am LOCAL time, not ET. So that is 11am CT, tomorrow. I'll leave this thread pinned through the draft.

Also by the way, here is the FutureSox Rule 5 Preview for a more White Sox-specific angle.

This is a very good description. One small clarification though - it is not the AAA roster, which has a limit of 25, that gets protection. It is the AAA "Reserve List", which is a different list than the roster and has a capacity of 38 players.

GAH Fixed. Thank you.

Our own Y2Jimmy dove deep into his Rule 5 Draft preview to see not only which players the White Sox could lose, but a bunch of potential targets they could acquire. Read up before the draft on Thursday! Who do you like for the Sox to select? Who do you think they might lose?

Fairly certain that bmags started this thread just so he could type "scuttlebutt" three times.

Here's a 6-week edition of the News & Notes, which includes 48 transactions and a whole slews of good news links. Get caught up on the goings-on around the farm! By the way, I know we've been kind of quiet lately at FutureSox, even by the usual offseason standards. Let's just say, there will be a number of pretty huge changes coming soon - three really, to come before Pitchers and Catchers report. We've been busy working behind the scenes on some big stuff. Stay tuned.

Sometimes it's true. See: Knight Trading and their debacle that triggered the Flash Crash.