Chicago White Sox

RBI single for Robert in the 2nd.

If the Sox win today they will ?

To be fair, he was absolutely horrific before his broken collarbone, but I agree with the rest of your statement.

Gonzalez probably does.

Adolfo & Basabe would be top 10 prospects in the vast majority of systems. And who in our system do you think is going to pass them?

Rodon, Giolito, & Lopez were concensus top 50 prospects and the former two guys were top 10 at one point. I don’t blame him for Lucas as he had lost a ton of his prospect shine before coming here, but he should be held responsible for Rodon & Lopez.

Shit, is it really that bad? I didn’t realize it was that serious of an injury.

I’m guessing they give his role to Jay when ready.

Loazia & Contreras? Swarzak?

Yeah, it’s really hard to evaluate his drafts. Just a year ago, that 2016 draft was looking fantastic with Collins, Burdi, & Hansen all cracking top 100 lists. There is still hope for all three of those guys, but the potential outcomes are all over the place at this point. However, last season saw the rise of Lambert, Flores, & Hamilton and that’s helped offset some of the uncertainty with the higher regarded guys. That 2016 draft could literally be anything from an epic disaster to an absolute haul. It’s really going to take another couple years to find out. To me the biggest issue is how safe he’s been with his drafts and to your point that’s primarily tied to not drafting HS kids. Last year was an improvement by taking three high schoolers in the first 11 rounds, but at some point we have to be prepared to take one in the 1st or 2nd. This year in particular will be the ultimate test if Adley & Vaughn are off the board. IMO, skipping on Witt and Abrams in such a scenario would be very troubling.

I agree with this. Seems like last year’s draft strategy was more or less how I’d go after round 3 with a nice mix of upside college arms and HS bats. I also think we should be able to add some high variance arms at the deadline by trading guys like Colome & Herrera.

Had Basabe not gotten injured, I think that would have been a possibility. My guess is they give him some time in AA before a promotion to AAA after the all-star beak. As for Robert, I think AA is an important milestone for all prospects and would like to see him get a couple months there even if he dominates. If anything, I wouldn’t be against sending Rutherford down to High A for a short period of time if continues to really struggle. He’s still young enough for such an assignment and we’re not facing an option game like we are with Adolfo.

Yeah, that’s going to be somewhat of a problem IMO. I really don’t like having five guys that should be starting 90%+ of games rotating between four spots. Not the end of the world, but far from ideal.

I was going to say, he has a semi decent chance of becoming a 4th OF at some point in the majors. The problem for him will be opportunity. He’s got to make his claim for a job before Robert, Basabe, & Gonzalez all hit the majors. And even if he jumps past them, there are a variety of AAAA types in front of him at the moment with Cordell, Tilson, & Delmonico plus Palka & Engel still in the OF picture. It’s going to be an uphill battle for him, but he’s definitely got some talent and is younger than the other AAAA types.

I do but was kind of on the fence of whether I consider him an actual prospect or not. He probably warrants a spot all things considered.

I’m really hoping they promote all of Pilkington, Varnell, & McClure pretty early. The Dash’s rotation is for the most part garbage and I think all three guys I mentioned will be ready for the challenge in a few weeks.

So we’re about 10 or so games into the season and figured it would be fun to speculate who might receive early promotions (i.e. before league all-star games). For this exercise, I’m excluding guys that are clearly non-prospects as well as the AAA guys. Here are my top 10 choices based on likelihood: Luis Robert, CF (A+ to AA) - If he keeps this up, he’ll get a promotion by early May Steele Walker, OF (A to A+) - I think he moves up at the same time Robert does Taylor Varnell, LHP (A to A+) - Almost 24 years old and has been dominant Kade McClure, RHP (A to A+) - Should get a bump after a few more good starts Bennett Sousa, LHP (A to A+) - Just turned 24 years old and has been dominant Nick Madrigal, 2B (A+ to AA) - He’ll need to show more but I think that happens Konnor Pilkington, LHP (A to A+) - Has been stellar but less need to push forward Alec Hansen, RHP (A+ to AA) - Will happen eventually but seem to be moving slowly with him Zach Thompson, RHP (AA to AAA) - Only a AAA roster crunch preventing this from happening Benardo Flores, LHP (AA to AAA) - Already has 15 solid AA starts under his belt What do you guys think? Who do you think receives early promotions? Would love to see others’ lists.

100% agree.

I’m fucking pumped! Only 100 minutes to go!

Trust me, I hate being negative but it’s just crazy seeing the entire lineup struggle at once. Hopefully this is just the start of good things to come.

Five straight hits to start off the 1st for the Barons, including a double by Adolfo.

Very nice rebuild win!!

Sox winner!!

I really wish we could somehow get Yoan to sign an extension. He’s only going to continue to get more and more expensive.

I hope they trade all the veterans at the deadline.