4 minutes ago, flavum said:

I really doubt Madrigal will be up this year. They just believe he will be the future 2B, so it’s a full year of Moncada playing third where wins aren’t the priority. Hopefully it pans out for everyone. I would expect Madrigal playing a full season at Birmingham with Vizquel, then maybe AFL, then start 2020 in Charlotte and get called up quickly.

Beckham had just 38 games in AA and 7 in Charlotte his second season.

14 games at Kanny his draft year, that seems insane in retrospect.    Not even one-half season of minor league ball.

Then another 206 gp in the minors since busting.

 

IMO, it would of made sense for Moncada to play 3B, last year. Watch Madrigal break camp with them, or come up All-Star Break. There is a reason all of a sudden, Moncada is playing 3B.

Moncada won the gold glove twice at 3B in the Cuban league.

With this current roster it's hard to see them winning over 70 games even if some of the kids come through. far to many question marks and "if' this happens..."

Just now, justBLAZE said:

Moncada won the gold glove twice at 3B in the Cuban league.

What does that say about the Red Sox (played primarily at 2B in the minors) and the WhiteSox?

19 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

With this current roster it's hard to see them winning over 70 games even if some of the kids come through. far to many question marks and "if' this happens..."

I can readily see a path to 70 wins, that one isn't that hard. They were a 62 win team last year and they deserved to be. Start at that point. Compared to last year they've improved the bullpen a little bit - compare Soria for 1/2 a year to Colome and Herrera for a full year and that bullpen has likely improved. They also have Rodon for possibly a full season. They either treaded water or downgraded their lineup and rotation with the Nova, Narvaez, Palka, Jay, Alonso etc. moves. Abreu could be better, could be worse, who knows. Overall out of that, they've taken a 62 win team and probably upgraded it by a couple wins...

Then add in a couple more wins from Eloy.

Now, without any improvement from the young guys, they're an upper 60s win team on paper. 

For them to get to 70, only a couple guys have to improve or just get lucky, and not by a lot. That's not a lot of "ifs", IMO. 

75 plus takes a lot of IFs. Possible, but that needs a lot to go right. Similarly, below 65 is still possible for this team if a handful of things go wrong. 

10 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

 

These 5 teams will be better than you think

1. White Sox

You look at the White Sox this spring and see the Cubs, Astros, Royals and Braves from recent seasons. Like those teams, Chicago has so many elite prospects that winning feels inevitable, and in the American League Central, that can happen fast. So even if the White Sox don't sign Bryce Harper after missing out on Manny Machado, they're on the verge of a turnaround. Outfielder Eloy Jimenez is the best of the young prospects on the cusp of the Major Leagues, but outfielder Luis Robert, right-hander Dylan Cease, infielder Nick Madrigal and others have a chance to help the club win in 2019. Also, Yoan Moncada could be in line for a breakout season. If Harper does sign, so much the better. He would draw off enough attention that the youngsters would be able to develop in a somewhat normal environment. Speaking of environment, White Sox manager Rick Renteria might be the most underrated manager in the game.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-teams-that-could-surprise-in-2019

 

REALLY MOVING UP THAT TIMELINE ON MADRIGAL AND ESPECIALLY ROBERT...sounds familiar though, we've seen this type of thinking over and over again with the White Sox, right?

Any increase over last season's 62 would be progress, in theory, however, we will ultimately judge this season based on the progress of the younger prospects, many mentioned here.

Speaking of Harper (or other elite free agents), teams like the White Sox do need to balance the short-term (say 5 years) vs. the long-term (10 years) of a long-term deal that could cripple a franchise if the deal doesn't produce the expected results.  A team like the Yankees or Dodgers can easily absorb a very bad contract, but if I'm a fan of the Padres, I don't want to be told that in 5 years, he's the reason that they can't keep adding. Once you make a move like that, you're going to have a player in free agency.

14 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

 

These 5 teams will be better than you think

1. White Sox

You look at the White Sox this spring and see the Cubs, Astros, Royals and Braves from recent seasons. Like those teams, Chicago has so many elite prospects that winning feels inevitable, and in the American League Central, that can happen fast. So even if the White Sox don't sign Bryce Harper after missing out on Manny Machado, they're on the verge of a turnaround. Outfielder Eloy Jimenez is the best of the young prospects on the cusp of the Major Leagues, but outfielder Luis Robert, right-hander Dylan Cease, infielder Nick Madrigal and others have a chance to help the club win in 2019. Also, Yoan Moncada could be in line for a breakout season. If Harper does sign, so much the better. He would draw off enough attention that the youngsters would be able to develop in a somewhat normal environment. Speaking of environment, White Sox manager Rick Renteria might be the most underrated manager in the game.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-teams-that-could-surprise-in-2019

 

REALLY MOVING UP THAT TIMELINE ON MADRIGAL AND ESPECIALLY ROBERT...sounds familiar though, we've seen this type of thinking over and over again with the White Sox, right?

This is hard core drinking the koolaid^ 

If Robert or Madrigal see the majors in 2019 I would have serious questions for this organization short of them having a MAJOR breakout season. Second half 2020 is far mroe realistic. 

This is the issue that not enough people care about: 

Regardless of the timeline, Let's say Moncada breaks out this year and Lopez becomes Carlos Carrasco. They're both free agents after the 2023 season as the CBA stands right now. The reason why the Cubs were able to sustain an iota of success is that Rizzo, Arrieta, and Lester were already in place the MOMENT that Bryant came up. Not only that, but Bryant needed zero development time and was MVP in his 2nd season. When you have any sort of extended development at the MLB level, your window shrinks immensely. Should the Sox window actually not open until 2021, there is a distinct possibility that it slams shut in 2024. At this point you're looking at a Royals-style do or die 3 year window, and that is even if it works at all. Once they have their core, they should maximize that window. Trade guys that are on the cusp of the majors for players that can help from 2021-23, because that is pretty much all they're going to have. This organization has proven that they don't pay market value for anyone, so if the players the Sox have don't sign away years of FA like Sale and Quintana did, they're going to be in deep shit sooner rather than later. It is entirely possible that there are a bunch of best case scenarios with certain players and they never eclipse 90 wins or sniff the playoffs. It is 100% possible they only have a year or two window, if one opens at all. Lopez and Moncada have to start doing things this year, otherwise they should be moved for whatever they can get in order to kick the can down the road a bit. 

Edited February 25, 20197 yr by Jack Parkman

16 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

This is the issue that not enough people care about: 

Regardless of the timeline, Let's say Moncada breaks out this year and Lopez becomes Carlos Carrasco. They're both free agents after the 2023 season as the CBA stands right now. The reason why the Cubs were able to sustain an iota of success is that Rizzo, Arrieta, and Lester were already in place the MOMENT that Bryant came up. Not only that, but Bryant needed zero development time and was MVP in his 2nd season. When you have any sort of extended development at the MLB level, your window shrinks immensely. Should the Sox window actually not open until 2021, there is a distinct possibility that it slams shut in 2024. At this point you're looking at a Royals-style do or die 3 year window, and that is even if it works at all. Once they have their core, they should maximize that window. Trade guys that are on the cusp of the majors for players that can help from 2021-23, because that is pretty much all they're going to have. This organization has proven that they don't pay market value for anyone, so if the players the Sox have don't sign away years of FA like Sale and Quintana did, they're going to be in deep shit sooner rather than later. It is entirely possible that there are a bunch of best case scenarios with certain players and they never eclipse 90 wins or sniff the playoffs. It is 100% possible they only have a year or two window, if one opens at all. Lopez and Moncada have to start doing things this year, otherwise they should be moved for whatever they can get in order to kick the can down the road a bit. 

That would be true in probably any other division but the AL Central.

Of course, a lot depends on the Detroit/KC rebuilds and whatever the Twins are doing (retooling on the fly around a young core).

After thinking about I suppose it is true that since Cleveland and Kansas City will again be worse while the Twins and Detroit wont be appreciably better the Sox will likely be better than you'd think since so many of their games are against shitty competition.