steveno89

Brantley I'm sure will be looking for at least a 3-4 year deal, which I am certainly not going to entertain. I just see him declining after age 32, and would be unwilling to go more than two season on him.

I hope we resist the temptation to sign second tier free agents like Brantley, etc.

Will likely depend on how he finishes out the season. A strong finish and we keep him around, a poor finish and he's at risk to be cut loose.

I did a deep dive on Jose Ruiz in my first article for Sox On 35th here for anyone that is interested: https://soxon35th.com/2018/08/16/deeper-dive-on-the-under-the-radar-rhp-jose-ruiz/

He's not a free agent until 2025 essentially now. Way too soon to be talking about him not wanting to sign an extension before having his first professional at bat. Frankly, I hope he walks the walk when he comes up to the majors because he still has everything to prove.

You cannot compare pitching prospects to position player prospects in this regard. We were also trying to compete instead of rebuilding. Keeping Eloy down is the best long term decision for the organization, and it's difficult to argue with that.

I'm not at all concerned about an Eloy extension at this point. He has a ton to prove between now and when he hits free agency, to the point where it is a non issue for me. We have essentially seven seasons of control, which is through Eloy's prime. Lets not freak about an extension right now.

A combination of Castillo/Narvaez seems pretty solid for 2019. Smith is likely odd man out, and Zavala/Collins/Mercedes give us depth in the system.

I don't know how much evidence exists that a strong finish to the season necessarily carries over to the next. Obviously seeing younger players do well is encouraging though. As for signing a premium free agent whale like Machado or Harper, I think we all need to temper expectations. 2019 is likely to be another rebuilding year as we begin to push prospects up the system and transition the first wave to the mlb level. I would expect veteran bridge type deals, with the potential to be opportunistic in free agency if the time comes. After 2019, ideally we are ready to be very aggressive in free agency to contend in 2020 onward.

Agreed. 3 WAR players are very valuable. Even producing 2 WAR players from your farm system is a tremendous value.

I think Cease is a candidate to be pushed up to AAA to start 2019. He dominated in 10 AA starts and has shown enough at that level to advance up the ladder.

1) Positional players are more likely to pan out and remain healthy long term than pitchers 2) Kopech spent all of 2018 in AAA, Eloy has been there for a couple months I would be shocked if Jimenez is called up prior to mid-late April 2019 at this point

Madrigal was never going to be a huge power guy. He brings speed, defense, batting average and glove to the table, while rarely striking out. It is not as if he has zero power either. Fangraphs is still really high on him

Seriously? Judging a recently drafted player who played a grueling college season and post season, and also coming off an injury right now is foolish. I'm confident everyone will be pleased with how Madrigal performs in full season ball in 2019.

https://theathletic.com/476215/2018/08/17/projecting-the-white-soxs-40-man-roster-decisions/ Fegan's article is pretty good on what we are looking at. We also need to try and keep at least 2-3 roster spots open so we can participate in the rule five draft and free agency. I get it's tough to nit pick on a 60 ish win ballclub, but we will have to leave guys we would rather protect exposed at the end of the day.

We probably need a new thread solely dedicated to the White Sox 40 man roster discussions this offseason, as there are numerous players worthy of protection and not enough roster spots.

They were not going to get a solid return for guys like Cedeno and Avilan in this environment. This seems largely about opening up the roster spot for younger players to pitch, and taking 40 man/rule five into consideration.

Tilson sucks, so not really a big loss to be frank. This likely is about 1) Saving money 2) Opening up a 40 man roster spot

Curious move as this seems pretty much like dumping Avilan for nothing but filler.

While Basabe could be a great fourth outfielder, he is still just 22 years old (on August 26th) and is already in AA. There is absolutely the potential to be a quality regular there, along the lines of a poor man's Lorenzo Cain. Gonzalez is a full year older, and really needs to be tested against AA to determine his future trajectory. Upside exists for him to play center field, or be a darn good fourth outfielder.

Nice write up. The bats just seem like a black hole for each of those prospects, outside of Perez possibly. While offense from a catcher is not necessarily essential, batting below the Mendoza line in A ball is frightening as pitchers in the upper minors would likely eat them alive. I'm hopeful for improvement as catching depth is essential.

35,000 would mean the stadium would have to be at 86% of max capacity (listed as 40,615). Maybe on a beautiful Friday or Saturday night with Kopech debuting, but I highly doubt on a potentially rainy Tuesday

I'd be shocked by mid 30's. 30,000 would be a nice crowd.

Prospects are trade currency as well as potential major leaguers. A .250 AVG / .330 OBP / .430 SLG center fielder with above average speed and defense is absolutely good enough to start on a contender. Guessing that would end up being a 2.0 - 3.5 WAR player.

Basabe could turn into a 5 tool player given his skillset: Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 50 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50 I don't think the hit ever gets to 50, but 40/45 might be doable. You are looking at a ceiling of a plus defense, .240 to .260 hitter with the chance for 20 home runs and 20 steals. Certainly a valuable player. Basabe is unlikely to crack the majors until 2020, and should start 2019 in AA, with the potential to be bumped up to AAA halfway or so through the season. Given time he could blossom into a starter.