Chicago White Sox

I have not heard that about Rutherford’s arm. Everything I’ve read has mentioned LF being his likely home due to limited arm strength. Admittedly I haven’t seen his arm myself so I can’t really argue one way or the other, just sharing what I’ve read.

This also seems right to me, although it’s impossible to say with Robert since we (or at least I) have seen so little of him. Does anyone know how Gonzalez’s defense is? I remember hearing an Inciarte comp, but that seems pretty bullish for obvious reasons. But if the glove is that good in CF he could quickly join the top 6 if he proves himself a bit in High A.

Interesting to see Cordell that low. Were you not high on him coming into the season or did his struggles in April bump him down a few spots?

I will say this about Adolfo, the K rate is still concerning but from watching him play multiple times, he does seem to be much more selective at the plate. And the good news is the raw power is really starting to blossom into game power this year, which takes off some pressure off his developing plate discipline. I’m really excited to see what this kid can become over the next few years. The upside is beyond tantalizing.

Given our depth at the position, I thought it would be a fun exercise to rank the top 5 OF prospects in the system. Here are my rankings: 1) Jimenez 2) Robert 3) Basabe 4) Adolfo 5) Rutherford

Look at that K rate. Obviously unsustainable for someone as patient at him, but provides room for optimism that he can ultimately land around 20% or so. And if that happens and he can maintain the power he's shown, the kid will be an absolute stud with the bat. Just got to hope the glove continues to develop.

This may be the worst post in SoxTalk history. Does the new site have a down-vote button?

Fry was absolutely dominant at AAA (SSS I'll admit). Developing a reliable young, lefty for next season is probably worth far more than what we'd probably get at the trade deadline for a veteran like Cedeno or Gomez.

It's not that they're blocking him from Chicago, it's that they're blocking him from Charlotte. Look at Birmingham's bullpen, it's filled with who should be in Charlotte. I just think they'll want to give Hamilton time at Charlotte before they promote him to the majors. Maybe not a ton of time, but at least a month or so. Until the Sox decide they are ready to parse some of their veteran bullpen depth at Charlotte (which will happen at some point), Hamilton is pretty much stuck in Birmingham for the time-being.

Unless they created a new 100 year curse by acquiring a scumbag like Chapman to win it all, and it that case it may not be worth it. ?

I think Robert coming back will create a couple of dominos. Assuming it’s late May, Basabe will be around 160 games in High A. Given how dominant he’s been, I can’t see them giving him more than that many games. And given that Booker is 24 years old & playing well, I think we see both him & Basabe get a bump to AA. This would open spots for Robert and hopefully Gonzalez in W-S. Hopefully we see moves with the pitching staff as well. Unfortunately, the veteran bullpen depth in Charlotte is preventing a guy like Hamilton from getting a bump right now. At some point in the next couple of months they’ll have to make room for him there (I don’t see a direct promotion to the majors). I could see Johnson get a bump to High A sooner. I also expect one of Stephens or Guerrero to get a bump to AAA once Hansen is back.

The scary part is we’re still missing two of our top four prospects and Jimenez hasn’t really even broken out yet. But you’re right, so far so good overall!

A is Davidson, B is Judge although I may have had a few too many drinks and pulled Stanton’s Statcast data by accident.

Damn, we just missed an Engel blast by inches.

It almost seems like you hope he’s injured ?

Adolfo with HR #6.

Name the following two players: A) 14.3% BB rate, 30.4% K rate, .340 ISO, Hard Hit % 53.4%, Barrels/PA 11.0 B) 17.7% BB rate, 29.1% K rate, .246 ISO, Hard Hit % 53.3%, Barrels/PA 9.6

And wouldn’ Everyone but Greg agrees!

Ok, I think Davidson is a legit major league hitter.

You must not have watched him ealier this season when he wasn’t swinging the bat and was basically just looking for a walk. And again, I don’t see how BABIP regression has anything to do with his reduced K rate and improved power output, which has had a more significant impact on his batting line as of late.

100% this. If you’ve watched him he’s been far more aggressive at the plate and you can see that by an improved K rate but slightly refucwd BB rate. The quality of contact has also been much better. It’s great that his BABIP has improved, but come on, I’m not overly impressed by someone predicting a sub .200 BABIP is going to return to the mean. The improvement in his numbers as of late is tied to his change in approach and not some batted ball luck.

Was Lambert scratched? Kubat is pitching for WS tonight. Also, Collins with a single & Jimenez with a double in the 1st.

Anyone seen Lambert pitch this year? The numbers have been incredible and it sounds like he may have seen a velocity increase.

The problem you guys aren’t acknowledging is how much upside risk is there really for us with a 10 year contract at record breaking AAVs. You’re ultimately paying for the surplus value in those early years. That’s when the majority of value occurs. It all depends on when the opt-out takes place in the contract. If I can get four guaranteed years, I’m ok with losing a little upside in years 5-7 if I can avoid the likely downside in years 8-10. If it’s only two guaranteed years it's a completely different story.

If this is somehow a budgeting debate, I’d argue you should budget based on the most likely outcome (i.e. the opt-out is exercised) and have a fall back plan in case it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with having two possible paths depending on what decision is made. Obviously you can’t ignore those post opt-out years, but you don’t typically budget from a worst case perspective. The Cubs most certaintly thought Heyward would be opting out as some of their core guys started getting expensive and I’m sure their plan has now changed. Our goal, just like it was for the Cubs, is to maximize a short window that has a higher degree of certainty (since core guys are cost controlled) and adding a guy like Machado does that regardless of opting out or not.