Y2Jimmy0

I've heard from one of the big prospect writers that Manfred will alter the draft order using some form of 2019 record + 2020 record. I've heard from others though that Manfred is threatening to do a lottery for the top 10 and has warned teams about tanking down the stretch.

No it doesn't actually. Dan McNeil has talked about his love for the adult entertainment industry for 25+ years. He was making an off color observation that didn't land. If he would have said it on yesterday's show instead of tweeting it, he'd still be employed right now.

It absolutely came from Entercom. Mac should have never sent the tweet because it's stupid but he also shouldn't have deleted it. Never let a crisis go to waste. He gave the company an opportunity to dump him and that's on him but this wasn't a fireable offense. It was a poor attempt at a joke that didn't land. I'm really not sure who it's even offensive towards. If you're offended that Maria Taylor was compared to someone who would host a porn awards show, doesn't that mean that you think people who work in the entertainment industry are in fact lesser? Shouldn't those people be offended that people are offended about being compared to them? The same people who were outraged over a dumb tweet would say that those who work in the adult entertainment industry are respected people as well with jobs. So what gives then? If the offense is that he was objectifying a female that was just trying to do her job then that's fine but that isn't how this has been painted.

This is all fair. You forgot about Matt Foster (20th round in 2016) though. I'll never understand the strategy in the 2nd round either. Nick Hostetler would tell you that he's more proud of the changes he made to the department than any of the actual players he's responsible for drafting. I think he brought the department out of the stone ages and he passed it off to Mike Shirley and crew at a great time.

I honestly don't think either of those guys are part of the mix in Chicago.

I think you want Cleveland to win 2/3. The White Sox are up two games in the loss column on both. If the Sox can sweep this weekend, then they'd be 4 up in the loss column on Minnesota and 3 up on Cleveland

I'm sorry but it should be expected that the White Sox spend significantly this off-season. I'm not expecting a $150 million payroll or anything but they have close to $45 million coming off the books. They should replace that at a minimum and they'd still be a medium sized payroll. They need at least 1 starting pitcher, right field and bullpen help. It should be doable even with the "catastrophic losses".

I spoke to Gavin Sheets last week for this story: https://www.futuresox.com/2020/09/08/gavin-sheets-making-light-of-a-difficult-situation/ He's the highest ranked prospect that isn't in Schaumburg but he's doing lots of work on his own. He's well aware that power needs to be his game and he's transitioning to play some in the outfield. Sheets was pretty candid in here.

Dallas Keuchel praised his game calling yesterday.

Last week was Rankings Week at FutureSox and we closed that out with twitter questions from the audience. I tried to answer everything here: https://www.futuresox.com/2020/09/07/2020-midseason-rankings-twitterbag-questions/

That Cleveland series puts Giolito on extra rest and he's not a fan of that. That's one of the factors I was weighing. This could work there

That could work but I'd think they'd want Giolito and Keuchel vs Twins next week if they can

The White Sox biggest priority now should be lining up the rotation so that Giolito and Keuchel and scheduled to go on Tuesday and Wednesday September 29-30

I'm not saying he'll be back. The 45 day DL is meaningless though because it's retroactive.

Bleacher Report isn't correct.

FWIW: Alex Mcrae is with the team on the traveling taxi squad. That's why he's the addition. They weren't going to fly a different guy to KC for 2 games when MCrae was already there.

Stiever is fine. Putting him on the 40-man and burning an option is an issue though. He's not Rule 5 eligible until December of 2021 and he'll be starting in the minors next year. If they brought up Stiever to pitch out of the bullpen, he'd be in AA next year but on the 40-man prematurely. This stuff matters. Mcrae was with the team on the taxi squad which is why he is the choice.

Yeah. Maybe 2022 at the earliest for a guy like Jared Kelley

Crochet could possibly pitch out of bullpen late in 2021 and be in the 2022 rotation. High school guys will take awhile longer

There are absolutely depth problems. We need to hope that guys like Bryce Bush, Benyamin Bailey, James Beard, etc turn into legit prospects. They'll likely be adding Vera and possibly Colas to next year's list and then you have 20 draft picks. They need to keep drafting well and keep their system in the 10-20 range.

He's healthy. He's hitting and running. He looks fine at 3B. He's got a long way to go because of the missed time but I still think he's a top 15 prospect in the system because health was the main issue.

They're working out on their own in home countries. Benyamin Bailey told me meets with White Sox staff on Zoom every week. They have Motus sleeves that you use when working out so team can track their progress. The DR facility is open and some players live there

Here is the full list for our midseason top 30: https://www.futuresox.com/2020/09/03/top-30-white-sox-prospect-rankings-midseason-2020/

I don't expect them to go nuts but they have like $40-$50 million coming off the books. They can't run like a $75 million payroll. if they at least replace what is going out, they could be the AL favorites in 2021.

Yeah so in hindsight, I'm not a fan of how 2016 and 2017 went but there was kind of an org philosophy to insulate the system with safer talent. It's hard to call the 2016 draft bad because you could have 5-6 big leaguers from that class. 2017 was a problem though. It's just too many college players and low upside college players. The worst thing that they did was overslot college players in round two of drafts. It just never made any sense. Instead of giving Gavin Sheets or Steele Walker $2 million, give that to a high school guy. Nick Hostetler would tell you though that he's more proud of the processes he put in place and the changes made to the department than he is any of the players he took. They're in a solid spot going forward in amateur scouting and more importantly in development.