Chicago White Sox

So let’s say the Sox go with Romy as the starting 2B as rumored, what would the bench look like right now? Obviously Leury & Seby are locks, but who fills out the other two spots? There isn’t really a true backup infielder unless you utilize Garcia in such a way (which goes against the little value he provides) or go with Sosa in a pure reserve role (which is not ideal IMO). And then who is your 4th OF? Leury will be part of the OF mix for better or worse, but I don’t like him as a true 4th OF type who should get quite a bit of playing time. Romy can theoretically play some OF as well but is also your starting 2B in this hypothetical. Reyes & Hamilton are simply AAA depth and should not be guys making an opening day 26 roster. To me, it’s very apparent we need to upgrade this bench. Right now, I’d assume Sheets is all but guaranteed a spot and that’s just asking for trouble. No idea who would get the other spot, but guys like Erik Gonzalez don’t cut it. If you want to go young at 2B & RF, at least have capable contingency plans in place who can also provide protection in the event of injury at other spots.

Question for the board, but what is it you needed to see from Lenyn Sosa last year to feel comfortable giving him the 2B job? I’ve seen several posters state that he needs more time in the minors, but what more does he need to accomplish there? After a rough start to AAA, he dominated the level and put up numbers consistent with what he did in Birmingham where he was one of the best hitters in the league. Sure, we could ask him to prove it out over a longer sample, but to me it’s quite clear he needs an extended shot in the majors. He 100% could fail and create a black hole at the position, but 22 year old middle infielders putting up numbers like this in the upper minors warrant a serious look. Again, Hahn should go acquire a LH bench piece to hedge this bet, but I really think we should give Lenyn a couple hundred PA’s to show us what he is capable of next year. Level | PA | BB % | K % | ISO | BABIP | OPS | wRC+ AA: 289 | 7.3% | 13.8% | .218 | .340 | .933 | 141 AAA (1/2): 86 | 3.5% | 23.3% | .074 | .323 | .600 | 58 AAA (2/2): 161 | 9.3% | 14.3% | .228 | .336 | .943 | 149 Majors: 36 | 2.8% | 33.3% | .114 | .136 | .367 | -4

Doesn’t the naming money go to the state?

If I were Hahn, I’d go sign Duvall to be our 4th OF and and trade for Tony Kemp to be part of a 2B platoon. I know Tony is coming off a subpar year with the bat with some ugly underlying Statcast figures, but he’d provide solid insurance at 2B and let Romy or Sosa rest against tough RHP at a minimum. And given the versatility of Duvall, Leury, & Romy, it seems like we could roster a bench guy who has limited flexibility (2B / LF only). Obviously this would all be dependent on the price, but I can’t imagine that Kemp would cost all that much to acquire given he’s only got one year of control left and for the reasons mentioned above. I think a C tier prospect would be well worth the hedge Tony would provide at 2B. The bigger question is can we even afford to add the ~$8.5M in salary Duvall & Kemp would likely cost. Regardless, our level of positional depth is not acceptable a the moment and Hahn better find a few pieces to help us in the event of underperformance or injury.

I’m all for adding a quality 2B or a LH bench piece who can split time, but I do think some people are underestimating Lenyn Sosa because a bad initial stint with the Sox. Time & time again he’s proven that he needs an adjustment period before being productive at a given level. Stint | PA | BB % | K % | ISO | BABIP | OPS | wRC+ A+ (1/2): 101 | 2.0% | 33.7% | .112 | .306 | .557 | 47 A+ (2/2): 236 | 4.8% | 17.1% | .169 | .364 | .849 | 126 AA (1/2): 121 | 1.7% | 23.1% | .068 | .273 | .522 | 44 AA (2/2): 289 | 7.3% | 13.8% | .218 | .340 | .933 | 141 AAA (1/2): 86 | 3.5% | 23.3% | .074 | .323 | .600 | 58 AAA (2/2): 161 | 9.3% | 14.3% | .228 | .336 | .943 | 149 Majors: 36 | 2.8% | 33.3% | .114 | .136 | .367 | -4 As you can see above, it’s taken 80 to 120 plate appearances on average for Sosa to adjust to a level and when he does he sees massive improvement in his BB, K, & ISO rates. Yes, Sosa sucked horribly in his 36 PA’s with the Sox last year, but that should not have been overly surprising to any of us based on his track record. And I get it, he wasn’t just bad, he was god awful, but we’re talking about an incredibly SSS in which he pounded the ball into the ground 14 to 15 points above his recent minor league rate (~40%) and was super unlucky in terms of batted ball luck (.161 wOBA vs. .243 xwOBA). Steamer projects him to be a league average hitter next year who also provides solid defense at 2B. And honestly, I think that’s a fairly reasonable outcome if we can give him a month or so to make adjustments without expecting him to be all that productive. Obviously there’s no guarantee with young players, but it’s very possible he can be a 1.5 to 2.0 win player as soon as next year. Again, that doesn’t mean you don’t look at upgrades or complementary pieces, but I would hate to sign a low ceiling, RH hitting veteran like Big Energy and make it harder to get the PA’s he needs. With a very interesting but higher variance prospect in Romy Gonzalez also in the mix, either go big (Brandon Lowe?), go with a LH role player (Leury for Brad Miller?), or stick with what you got.

If you can’t acknowledge the Sox have made major strides in LatAm, then you’re not paying attention. Ignoring the older Cuban signees (Colas, Cespedes, Yogurt), the Sox have seven prospects of note who should be in High A or higher next year: Bryan Ramos: 20 year old 3B signed out of Cuba who put up a 122 wRC+ as one of the younger players in High A Jose Rodriguez: 21 year old IF signed out of DR who posted a 148 wRC+ with 10 HRs and 28 SBs over his last ~250 PA’s in AA Lenyn Sosa: 22 year old IF signed out of Venezuela who put up a 141 wRC+ in AA and then a 149 wRC+ over his last 160 PA’s in AAA Luis Mieses: 22 year old OF signed out of DR who had a league leading 34 doubles in the South Atlantic League and a .824 OPS against RHP Wilfred Veras: 20 year old LF/1B signed out of DR who hit 17 HRs in the Carolina League (4th overall) and then three more for Project Birmingham Norge Vera: 22 year old RHP signed out of Cuba with plus plus fastball who posted a +13 K/9 rate and finished season with Project Birmingham Christian Mena: 20 year old RHP signed out of DR who was one of only five teenagers to throw 100 innings and had the 2nd highest K rate at 29% I can’t recall a single time in my 39 years on this planet that the Sox had this many interesting young LatAm prospects who made it above Kannapolis. And this doesn’t account for the next wave of talent that should be in Low A or Complex ball next year or a guy like Chapelli who could theoretically go straight to Winston-Salem next year.

He’s supposed to be a quality defender, but moreso to good hands, footwork, etc. vs. pure range. As such, he’s better suited for 2B vs. SS. My beef with Yolbert is simply the amount of money they spent on a guy who more or less has a reserve infielder ceiling.

Just an FYI, but Ramos is Cuban and Mena is not. Regardless, Paddy has done a fantastic job operating within the confines he’s been dealt with (Yogurt being the one obvious exception).

It’s really wild when you look back on it, although I do think there was a bias against the Sox system at the time with the mainstream publications.

It’s 100% a part of the equation.

FIFY

This team needs to keep adding. A 4th OF is a must. I’d love to see us acquire a LH hitting infielder, even if they aren’t a lock-down starter at 2B. The bench right now is a bit of a mess, especially if you’re going with Romy or Sosa as the primary 2B. Leury clogging up with roster doesn’t help matters either. And I hope we see a couple SPs brought in on minor league deals. Obviously they won’t be studs, but we desperately need to beef up Charlotte’s rotation with guys that can at least be replacement level if called upon.

Cueto is not going to sign with us to be a swingman when he can get a SP role for solid money elsewhere.

I just think these projections are kind of meaningless. They don’t account for the impact of moving away from our previous lifeless manager with a guy who will have players prepared and focused, they don’t account for the impact of replacing a hitting coach whose motto was “f*** the HR” with three modern instructors who will help our players tap into their raw power, and they don’t account for our new training staff finally having an off-season to work with our guys and find ways to keep them healthier over the course of a season. So you can continue to pound table and scream that we’re way behind the Guardians as we head into next year, but I’ll continue to point out that all these protection systems miss context and do not realize how incompetent certain elements of this org were the last two seasons. Whatever these models are spitting out, I’d add at least a good five wins on top of that.

I guess the season is over then ?‍♂️

Has this not been formally announced yet?

I don’t think some people realize how big of a deal it is getting rid of Menechino and replacing him with three hitting coaches who want to establish a modern approach. We saw the impact in small samples last year after players were sent down to AAA and got to work with Chris Johnson. For example, Gavin Sheets’ wRC+ against RHP went from 83 prior to his demotion to 122 once he had a chance to work with Chris. His improvement was supported by a much more pull heavy approach and harder contact, which resulted in a much improved HR/FB rate and 50% gain in ISO. Just from the eye test you could see he looked more dangerous at the plate. I don’t expect this new trio to be miracle workers, but when the predecessor was completely incompetent and actively making our hitters worse, it’s not hard to expect massive gains from our core hitters next year.

He gone

FG had him as the #98 overall prospect two years ago. They are definitely the outlier on Santos.

Clevinger 100%.

Better last year does not mean better next year.

Sosa reminds a bit of Semien in that regard. Marcus obviously had much better patience, but he put up some massive numbers in AA and never cracked a top 100 list to my knowledge.

Wow…Cespedes had a 45% chase rate ?

I’m good with guys like Hamilton, Reyes, & Payton as extra depth in AAA. But they can’t be first guy up when a starter misses extended time. Go sign Duvall for like $5M and give us a quality 4th OF.

If the Sox don’t add a solid 4th OF then they aren’t serious about competing next year. Can’t rely on Gavin Sheets or Billy Fucking Hamilton to fill in when one of our starters goes down. And that’s assuming Colas comes up and is able to be semi-productive from the get go.