Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:42 PM) I think they are good scouting minor league talent but have been amazingly bad trading/signing big league players. The draft scouting is also very questionable I agree with this. I think we’ll know more about Hostetler in a couple years. Still early to judge him, but a couple of his picks look questionable at the moment.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:41 PM) Or feel free to panic, you're just gonna drive yourself insane. Also, an insanely long review and we win a bad call. Maybe Narvaez can make them pay for that.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:35 PM) I know I need to be patient, but it seems that those who become good to stars come up and light the world on fire and don't look back. No struggles at all. It also seems like anyone, once they struggle, never seem to recover. I don’t think that’s the case at all. I’d say most young guys take some time to figure s*** out at the major league level. The Aaron Judges of the world are the exception. Moncada was always going to require a development curve because of his swing & miss issues. Giolito was always going to be a work in progress because of his mechanical issues. Doesn’t make watching this s*** any less painful and it’s easy to panic, but it’s only been 11 games. Things may not ultimately work for these guys but give it more time.

Benetti is really annoying when things are going south. Reminds me of my retired dad who would call me up and wish me a “Happy Monday” each week. At least with Hawk he conveyed the same emotion you were feeling.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:28 PM) At this point, it seems like the Sox still can't identify talent. Those who didn't trust this front office to pull it off seem correct. I Had been a huge fan of both Moncada and Giolito, but it seems as if the Nationals and Sawx are laughing to the bank. They both look like AAAA fodder currently. Lol Jack, we need to get you on some uppers. You are way too pessimistic bro. Obviously they both look like s*** right now, but it’s not even halfway through April. Let’s give them some time before we declare trade winners.

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:18 PM) So his bat sucks, his arm sucks, but he’s fast and makes highlight reel catches every once in a while. Dewayne Wise did that just one time and I’ll remember his name forever as a result, but he wasn’t exactly a long term piece. I’d give Leury the job until someone from AAA shows they deserve a shot. Engel is never going to be a major league regular no matter how our org wishes it.

Cordell now 0/3 with three strikeouts. He’s really blowing a golden opportunity with Engel’s struggles. And talk about rough nights for Stephens & Vieira.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:14 PM) I watched his spring start vs the Cubs and this looks like a completely different guy. I don't know what happened but he seems to have lost everything when he flew north. This guy looks worse than Shields if that is possible. He was back to mid 90s with the heater, was showing the wipeout curve and hitting his spots. I honestly don't know what happened to him. I agree, looks like a completely different pitcher.

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:05 PM) I usually use the enemy’s at bats as my time to take s***s, cook dinner, rough house with the kids, and so on. I hear Engel is a great defender. So, does his arm always suck that bad or was that pop up an exception? Also, why are we being stingy over one run in the 3rd inning. Get the out, please (and of course, it comes back to bite us). His arm is pretty bad TBH. He’s had a few embarrassing throws this season.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:52 PM) Yoan is fouling off too many fastballs over the plate instead of squaring up. Maybe he needs a pair of those Tyler Flowers magic glasses.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:51 PM) He never said anyhing about his physical gifts or his talent. The argument is that s*** doesn’t matter if he keeps striking out Moncada has plus-plus bat speed, plus raw power, plus-plus speed, walks at a double-digit rate, and has a strong ass arm. Those tools/skills will allow Moncada to be a damn good player despite a high K rate. That’s our side of the argument. That and the fact that he’s 22 years old and will f***ing get better.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:36 PM) Who is talking like he isn’t physically gifted? I don’t think anyone cares if he was physically gifted or not. We just want him to strikeout less and get on base more. Um, the guy whose post I just replied too? Maybe you haven’t followed his posts in these game threads, but he talks like Moncada is a talentless hack. The strikeouts are an issue that need to be addressed, but Moncada can still be a damn good player with a higher average K rate and Stryker doesn’t understand or believe that.

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:27 PM) Dude, you can’t be pessimistic about the young guys. This organization has failed to spot actual talent for over a decade, and yeah, their current prospect crush has a terrible strikeout habit, but you gotta have faith. Our front office has earned the right to not be questioned by the likes of you, thanks very much. By all means call out his strikeout rate, but you sound like an idiot when you talk like Moncada isn’t one of the most physically gifted players in baseball and wasn’t a consensus #1 overall prospect like a year or so ago. If he fails it won’t be because the organization failed to identify talent or developed a “prospect crush”, it will be because they still haven’t figured out to develop players with swing & miss issues.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:20 PM) Moncada and Abi obviously do not like batting 1 and 2 in the lineup. Seems Hahn/Ricky are trying to hide some of our weaker hitters. Just let Yolmer or Leury lead off even if they are not ideal candidates either. Or Saladino. Let him play for 2 weeks and see if he gets good. Seems dumb to let Moncada and Avi suck when they are good hitters. Who are you benching to get Saladino at-bats??

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:16 PM) avi garcia is an earth worms worst enemy. Avi’s groundball rate has been out of control this year. Doesn’t seem like he’ll ever tap into that raw power. At least we didn’t extend him to big money after his BABIP fueled season last year.

Cordell leads off the game for Charlotte with a strikeout. He?€™s now sporting a 42% K rate on the season. I have no idea how he went from barely striking out in spring training to this monstrosity but wow.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?c...mp;ymd=20180412 Flores on the mound for WS. Battenfield on the mound for Kannapolis.

For better or worse, I think we end up with Donaldson.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 04:16 PM) Don't see what Volstad accomplishes over Gomez, but whatever. I’m guessing they don’t want to stick with an eight man bullpen for very long and there’s little risk of losing Volstad when they decide to outright him back to Charlotte.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:36 AM) I'm in a fantasy league right now with deep rosters. We have one NA spot. I have both Kopech and Eloy so I keep one on my bench. You guys think Kopech will be up in the next month, making it worth it for me to just stash him on the bench? I think he’s up by early June.

QUOTE (Blackout Friday @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:01 AM) He isn’t some up-and-coming, developing guy. He’s filler. Every team needs guys like him, but any time he spends with Cooper is time taken away from guys who may be part of the team’s future. That's my point. I want Cooper spending time with guys like Rondon & Vieira and not organizational filler like Volstad.

QUOTE (glangon @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:51 AM) I don't think he is major league material either. We are in a rebuild mode though, bringing him up could flick a switch for him. Who knows? The great spring could turn him into a few good innings as a reliever. He can't be worse than some of the donkeys we've had in the pen so far this year. I guess I view any time spent with Cooper to be valuable, so I’d much rather roll the dice on guys with big stuff but poor command or developing secondary offerings that have a chance of filling a long-term role in the bullpen.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:39 AM) No way. First we don't and won't have anyone close to a #1 like Sale( unless we trade for him) in 2018 or 19. Maybe in 2020. Boston is loaded w young players who already have or are getting MLB experience. Their outfield, 3rd-SS and C are all young. Hopefully they continue to struggle developing young starting pitchers. Their bullpen is really good. Cora is obviously questionable but so is Renteria. Maybe we catch them in 2021 and in the year 2025 if man is still alive............... Who is the #1 in 2020? I’d argue Kopech has a non-zero chance of being a #1 starter in 2019 if he gets a good four months of seasoning this year. Rodon could be a solid #2 next year if healthy (big if I know). Giolito & Lopez should hopefully be damn good #3 & #4 starters. Even if there is no true ace next year while Kopech developing, the rotation should be pretty good. I’m more concerned about the positional side at the moment. Moncada will have to take that next step and Jimenez will have be pretty awesome from the get-go for us to more than a 2nd wild card contender next year.

QUOTE (glangon @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 07:00 AM) Volstad is a potential bring him up, see if he can stick around, then flip him at the deadline. It will cost nothing to bring him up. I reckon it will be a right handed reliever which would be him or Vieira. The only other thought may be someone like Gonzalez or Austin to cover the injury to Castillo, if it is more serious than they first thought. Not to be a dick, but Volstad is terrible and does not warrant a call up. I know he had a nice spring, but his role is to be the rubber arm in AAA and help protect us from having to use kids in unfavorable spots. I really don’t think he’s major league reliever material and I certainly don’t think you’ll get anything for him even if things go right because his upside is so low.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 04:30 AM) Yea I thought that was a dumb statement as well. Obviously Hill, Wilson and hell, even Hunt are all under 6 foot giants. Kelce is the exact same height as guess who? Shaheen. I doubt Nagy has a preference there. Bears have a nice mixture of tall possession targets and small speedsters. Still need one more guy (wasn't a big Meredith fan anyways) to keep Bellamy away from being an option. I'll judge that part with Pace after the draft is over. It’s fine if you don’t think size will limit Cohen & Gabriel’s utility, but let’s not compare 5-10 & 5-11 guys to 5-6 & 5-7 guys. Both the guys I mentioned are tiny, although Wilson is pretty small as well. And I never said anything about Shaheen’s height, just said his playing time will be restricted. Burton is going to be the primary U tight end in Nagy’s system, which means Shaheen is competing for playing time in more of a blocking role with Sims for the Y spot. We may have a lot of interesting weapons, but many of them of are unproven or gimmicky. Having a taller possession WR to add to the mix for a total of $3M would have been nice. Right now, we’re one injury away from Bellamy playing an important role in this offense. That’s pretty scary when one of your top three guys is Kevin White.