caulfield12

https://www.southsidesox.com/minors/2013/2/11/3975216/the-tawdry-tangled-history-of-the-white-sox-latin-american-operations In some ways, it’s really quite simple. We never really had competitive advantage in the DR, Puerto Rico or Venezuela. Same with the Pacific Rim where the Mariners, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, etc., tend to dominate. Of course the why behind it is another story. That basically left Panama (C-Lee), Colombia (Quintana), Brazil (Jerry Krause, Andre Rienzo, Silverio, Anderson Gomes) and, as things, evolved, Cuba. Given the limited budget and distaste for competing over 14 and 15 year olds, not sure what they actually could have done differently. I mean, it seems we have/had a Vladimir Guerrero relation (wrong one), Reyes (wrong one, Franklin instead of Franmil), Carlos Martinez’s son, Tatis brothers (Elijah might never get to A ball)…but 50% of the organizational philosophy has been targeting the former MLB bloodlines and selling that to JR as the best possible return on investment.

“The previous year the Dominican Republic supplied the same number, 86, while Venezuela had 58. At one point, 23 Major League Baseball teams had training facilities in Venezuela; today the number is down to just four—the Philadelphia Phillies, the Detroit Tigers, the Seattle Mariners and the Tampa Bay Rays.” It should be noted that the White Sox didn’t ever have an academy down there despite the team history with Ozzie, Freddy Garcia, Magglio, Aparicio, Carrasquel, etc. The Astros, fwiw, historically had one of the best operations down there in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1070082 Harvesting Baseball Talent Easier in Dominican Republic Than Venezuela

https://ouresquina.com/2021/marco-paddy-stocked-deep-white-sox-roster/ asinwreck Reply to Richard 1 year ago “I’m not Jim, but the Sox are unique, for better or worse. Reinsdorf’s allergies to handing big money to teenagers means the team’s big splashes are for older talent. That means focusing on Cubans. I don’t know if the Sox beat out the Cardinals for Robert if Abreu and Moncada aren’t already on the team. Paddy establishing an advantage in signing Cuban players is the single biggest accomplishment of Sox scouting and development this century. As Jim’s wonderful resource in this post reveals, Paddy has occasionally been able to sign a teenager from the Dominican Republic to a high-six or (Guerrero, Adolfo) low-seven-figure bonus. It’s a guess, but I suspect forwarding the “good bloodlines” argument (his uncle’s a Hall of Famer! His dad’s a longtime infielder!) allows Jerry to make some exceptions. Still, the international scouts are constrained by the same policies that recently lead to drafting every University of Louisville player who is ambulatory (and further constrained by the baffling decision to trade slot money). One of my dashed hopes after 2005 was that the Sox would establish the kind of Venezuelan talent pipeline that the Astros had in the 1990s. Ozzie was the first Venezuelan-born manager to win a World Series, and it doesn’t take much imagination to see a way that the team could have established a sales pitch on that (and competitive bonus offers) that might have us talking about the team’s ability to sign and develop players in the 21st century that builds on the successes of the 20th century. Instead, we had the David Wilder scandal destroy the international scouting program for years.” https://soxmachine.com/futuresox/a-record-of-white-sox-international-signings-during-the-marco-paddy-era/

https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/196857/ Moncada’s 2016 season at Portland/AA, age 21, 11 homers in 177 at-bats, 277/379/531, .910 OPS, lots of strikeouts

Speaking of Sosa, The Panther was Sammy's original nickname in the late 80's before it got passed down to Luis Robert. Last Venezuelan infielder for the Sox was Yolmer/Carlos Sanchez. Eduardo Escobar as well.

If you call the Guardians and Twins a breather...at 1-7 combined against.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/oneil-cruz-is-the-first-6-foot-7-shortstop-youve-ever-seen-he-might-not-be-the-last-213409398.html Mike Morse shout outs, Seager/Correa/Tatis/Ripken/ARod and Reds' similar prospect Elly de la Cruz.

https://theathletic.com/3375167/2022/06/21/white-sox-injuries/ Menechino on why Robert became a singles hitter… “The 10 days off really killed him,” Menechino told The Athletic. “He kind of lost his contact points. He kind of lost his confidence in stuff. Having 10 days off and coming back, now he’s starting to get back in the swing of things. It’ll come, it’ll come. Keep getting your hits and your confidence comes up and all of a sudden you’re not swinging as hard, you’re not trying to do too much. Home runs are thrown, right?”

He’s trying to say it’s Hahn’s fault and not TLR. 50% accurate. Both are equally culpable. Or you can split it 33.33% with strength & conditioning/training staff if you prefer.

Giolito would now be ranked 69th out of 71 qualified starters in ERA if he had enough IP. He currently needs 3 2/3rd’s more IP. Only three qualified in the majors with ERA’s over 5. Jose Berrios at 5.11, G.Marquez 6.16 and P.Corbin 6.60. xFIP at 3.73 actually .02 lower than last year’s 3.75. 5.2 fWAR to 4.5 (prorated) to 4.0 to 0.0 over the span of of three seasons. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/lucas-giolito/15474/stats?position=P

Mendick has to first be shouting at Burger that he has the angle on it and to peel off…

2/5 in his debut with the Sacramento River Cats Played 1B.

Cranking in Double-A June 7, 2022 Sosa has a .342/.392/.566 line with 11 homers, 39 RBI and a 14:32 BB:K through 49 games for Double-A Birmingham. ANALYSIS He came into the season known as a free swinger with modest pop, but Sosa's muscled up, hitting as many homers already this year as he did in 115 games last season. He's also brought his walk rate up a bit (6.2 percent) while striking out at his lowest rate (14.1 percent) since rookie ball, so all signs are pointing up for Sosa in his second Double-A go-'round. Sosa had been pigeonholed as a future utility guy, but if he keeps hitting this consistently (his longest hitless streak this season is two games), the White Sox will likely give him a chance to strut his stuff by next season -- and maybe sooner. With Tim Anderson in the fold and Sosa not known for his defense at shortstop, the 22-year-old will probably play second base when he gets to the big leagues. https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=15052 10 for his last 35 (.286) with a double and two homers during his current 8 game hitting streak In this writeup he was never in the Top 200 MiLB prospects (ranged 225-400 in 2018), then debuted at #76 in late May this year…

Unfortunately nobody will get to really appreciate it if they miss the playoffs yet again…

https://soxmachine.com/futuresox/lenyn-sosa-reportedly-skipping-charlotte-to-join-white-sox/

Far from the craziest highlight of that one…instant classic.

Best prospects/best raw stuff. But not the precise command/control you see in the big leagues. And not the control of more than just one or two basic pitches more typical at lower levels where pure stuff just dominates. The refinement almost always happens between AA and the majors, with multiple trips up and down. All that said, the missing development time in 2020-21 has been tough for a lot of players to work through…look at Andrew Vaughn, possessing perhaps the best prospect pedigree of any Sox hitter since Thomas and Ventura. Kelenic, Torkelson, Rutschman, Abrams, etc. It has been 2-3 years since rookies just came up and dominated from Day 1. Not to mention how much tougher bullpens have gotten, especially over the last 3-5 years.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonyblengino/2019/04/29/jose-ramirez-and-the-slump-that-wouldnt-end/?sh=2b4c14e64770 And his 2019 slump even made it into Forbes, lol. That guy is just so physically tough, he was born to play baseball even though he certainly doesn’t look like it physically.

What is your prediction on Sosa? It’s certainly a higher upside play than Yolbert Sanchez…but players numerous have had issues the last two seasons going from AAA to the bigs, let alone Birmingham to Chicago. That injury in theory doesn’t happen with the veteran Pollock more likely to take charge of the situation…versus someone new to the team and just trying to do whatever they possibly can to stick around and make an impression. …

The Guardians are in the process of poking a massive hole in the Twins’ bubble if this second miracle Naylor-esque comeback tonight holds up. Seems pretty likely Pagan will collapse as he has with the Rays and Padres. Twins had been 34-1 when leading after 8, Guardians just 2-25 when trailing after 8.

But 2-3 months of minor league play doesn’t change a player’s basic profile, either. Obviously, scouts cast Alexei Ramirez as a utility player and they were completely wrong. Sosa is not a left-handed hitter to balance out the lineup and he’s not a speed-based, dynamic game changing presence. Sometimes we do players a disservice when we expect too much…simply for NOT being Harrison or Leury or Mendick. It’s the classic back-up QB syndrome. I do hope he goes on an absolute tear offensively, but forty years watching the White Sox tells me the odds of this happening are not exactly the highest, either. Anything over a 675-700 ops would be a pleasant surprise.

He should be back tomorrow. The biggest issues are Engel and Giolito’s collapse at the moment.

“A right-handed hitter, Sosa owns some of the best hand-eye coordination and bat-to-ball skills in the system but needs to make better swing decisions to reach his offensive potential. He rarely walks and gets himself out too often by making weak contact. He has enough bat speed and projectable strength to deliver 15 or more homers per season if he can adopt a more selective approach. Sosa has good actions, reliable hands and solid arm strength at shortstop, but his below-average speed leads to subpar range. He fits better at second or third base, though those positions will demand more offense. He may be more of a bat-first utilityman than a true everyday player.” https://www.mlb.com/prospects/whitesox/lenyn-sosa-672820 Need to tap the brakes a bit…it’s exciting to see change, but a Top 10-15 MiLB guy like Andrew Vaughn didn’t even get everyday playing time.

That's the main positive. Easily fits the roster for Sheets' spot without costing a bundle in prospects.

Let's hope this Sosa has a better Sox career than the first...