caulfield12

Huge difference in Baty's future costs vs. Vaughn though. Baty is 2B 3B, which is our deepest position organizationally. If he could actually play SS, sure, go for it. Or he would be shifted to first...but Baty has not been a huge power and run producer up until this week.

Smith has less value than we think, because he only pitched 94 innings and will eventually be looking at similar restrictions as Crochet faced the final two months in 2024...at least if he maintains his current IP/start pace into the summer months. Mostly joking but at least 25-33% serious/resigned to moves like this to sell off players for cash.

Pretty clear there's about 11 smaller or mid market teams and around 10 that would be 100% opposed to any type of spending cap. Maybe 9 in the middle. Large: Dodgers Yankees Phillies Mets Giants Cubs LA Angels Boston Texas Toronto Med: Padres Braves (under Liberty) Houston AZ StL Wash Seattle Colorado White Sox (Ishbia) Small: Milwaukee Baltimore Detroit Cincy Cleveland KC Minnesota Pittsburgh Miami Sacramento TB/Orlando

Looks like it will be the Rockies... Somehow they average over 25,000 fans per game despite being on a 28-134 pace. Padres Brewers Mariners and Rays the other four teams without a WS title as of yet. Mariners are pretty close with Colorado in the battle for most inept but still relatively well-supported teams.

Keith Law @Thomas R. He's cleaned up his swing. That was the whole thing last year ... his swing was a mess and it was different every few weeks. I think he's back to the guy he appeared to be in 2023.

That's still much better than taking on Devers' contract for a 1B/DH and being locked out of the FA market for the next half decade or so...

This season...for the whole team, unless Eisert had one. He already had some for the Red Sox last season as a 32 year old rookie, though.

Yoan Moncada AB AVG HR RBI SB OPS 40 .250 2 9 0 .913

First save and pretty sure first two run victory of the season...what did Earl Weaver say about three run homers again?

Sosa...sigh.

Burke nearing 60 pitches. 5 walks. Not finishing off his fb. High and away pretty consistently.

Dumb challenge.

Sosa chasing a 3-0 ball outside of the zone lol. Hopeless. Elko GDP. Oh well.

Burke at 97 Needed that punch out. Curveball most effective pitch so far.

Marlins 2/30 with RISP this series

TLR the only guy to get paid other than Ozzie after 2005...

There's really zero reason to push him that hard since White Sox are playing for 2026 draft positioning and Rockies are locked out of Top Ten next year. They wouldn't even get a bonus pick for RoY since a non Top 100 prospect right?

So Lankford and C.Smith for current big league outfielders...but the White Sox haven't done it with any college position players other than Madrigal/Vaughn in ages. Dollander won't last long at this point. Wyatt Lankford made it to A ball in his draft year. I was asking for players that missed SS/A ball or skipped but still made it up in 1 1/2 seasons. Cam Smith also to High A South Bend his draft season... Dylan Crews made it to AA his draft year but was severely disappointing at least in 2024 and is far from dominating this year. All three of those guys played for 2-3 months after being drafted, though. Pitching it's certainly a lot more typical if you come out of the draft with big arms like Skenes, Crochet or Sale.

https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/ White Sox 28th here...Oakland just $100,000 less but have spent big already on Severino Rooker Butler and you can bet Jacob Wilson, Mason Miller or Kurtz would be next.

White Sox are still considered a large market team...so not getting all those benefits like Pittsburgh Oakland/Sacramento/LV and the Marlins/TB. They also have Skenes, ONeil Cruz, Reynolds and K.Hayes with big financial commitments...or soon to be extended in all likelihood. Sterling Marte and G.Polanco in past years, etc. Skenes ofc likely to force a trade at some point like Glasnow Musgrove Taillon etc.

That's where we fast track our most recent collegiate outfield first rounder (see 2025 pick when it comes in) into the 2027 OD outfield picture in CF with Braden in RF...maybe Benintendi is still in LF since JR will refuse to eat his salary until that final year.

Okay...so any mid to late teens first round draft pick who made it to the majors in just 1 1/2 seasons, bypassing MiLB ball their draft year for whatever reason? Neto I guess...one of the Angels first rounders, Neto with 1 1/2 years in the minors but played SS ball in his draft year out of Campbell, which isn't high P4/5. Then you have Schanuel at 1B out of Florida International...also played in his draft year. Still aren't many outfielders to pull off this trick.

Story of two franchises...Witt Jr. and Caglianone vs. Vaughn and Smith. Two playoff appearances for CWS since 2008 vs. two WS and beating the O's last year and likely headed to postseason 4 in 2025 with all that pitching and a franchise cornerstone not even leaving yet.

Other than Vaughn/Madrigal...when's the last college (position) player who didn't play professionally at all during his draft year and then made it to Chicago in just 1 1/2 years? Aaron Rowand took the equivalent of three seasons...considering 1998 at bats in Hickory and 2001 in Charlotte. Brian Anderson 2003/04/05. At least 2 1/2 seasons and a first round pick out of AZ from roughly the same point in the draft as Montgomery. Just can't simply project 100% linear development for 1 1/2 years based on the first six weeks of 2025.

Then they're going to have to luck out with Oppor McDougal or Taylor, because the entire success of the pen flows downward or backwards from having 3 lockdown guys to split the 8th and 9th...one a LHP.