I spoke to Gavin Sheets last week for this story: https://www.futuresox.com/2020/09/08/gavin-sheets-making-light-of-a-difficult-situation/

He's the highest ranked prospect that isn't in Schaumburg but he's doing lots of work on his own. He's well aware that power needs to be his game and he's transitioning to play some in the outfield. Sheets was pretty candid in here. 

I don't understand that he wasn't in Schaumburg. He is 24 and really would have needed those  live ABs.

It is good he does some lifting and hitting in the cage but that is not a proper way of developing an advanced college hitter. That is a lost year for him. Was there no room for him in Schaumburg?

 

Its a numbers game.  With as many pitching injuries as there have been, it makes sense to be overweighted in pitchers.  In Sheets case, as a guy who can currently only play 1B, he is one of the least likely guys to be called up, even as close to MLB as he is.  He even has Andrew Vaughn ahead of him.  I get wanting to get him reps, but with only 60 slots to go around, the Sox needing to prioritize pitching, plus wanting to get their top rated prospects into camp, there just aren't enough slots to go around.

Yeah I get that. But still sucks for him. Also not a fan of the sox not staying in contact with him (and probably other non Schaumburg players). Between the lines sheets seems to be pretty pissed, that interview was almost open criticism of the sox even though he mentioned positive changes.

12 minutes ago, Dominikk85 said:

Yeah I get that. But still sucks for him. Also not a fan of the sox not staying in contact with him (and probably other non Schaumburg players). Between the lines sheets seems to be pretty pissed, that interview was almost open criticism of the sox even though he mentioned positive changes.

I think you are reading too deeply into that.  He obviously wants to be in that top tier, but he isn't..  He is obviously frustrated, but at the same time, he should be able to see the depth chart in front of him.  As to the contact part, the Sox obviously are going to be concentrating on the guys in front of them.  Especially when you are talking about a minor league system full of kids, there isn't going to be a lot of time for that when you divide it up for each kid.

Are the Sox allowed to have players physically at the Schaumburg facilities that are not on the Schaumburg roster? For example, could they have had Sheets come work out and practice and scrimmage there without him technically being on the roster? 

I don't think there's a team in baseball that drafts more 1B than the White Sox. 

7 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I don't think there's a team in baseball that drafts more 1B than the White Sox. 

Other than Sheets and Vaughn who are other recent ones?  I can't think of any.

1 hour ago, ptatc said:

Other than Sheets and Vaughn who are other recent ones?  I can't think of any.

There was that Water Polo guy, Sam Abbott. He was a 1Bman.  Zangari. Jameson Fisher. Tyler Osik,  I guess Fisher played some outfield, but the others were just 1Bmen. 

The guy that was drafted the same year as Courtney Hawkins was a first baseman. First rounder I think.

 

Keon Barnum 

 

Burger was probably a worse than 50/50 chance to stick at 3rd when he was drafted

45 minutes ago, MnSoxFan said:

There was that Water Polo guy, Sam Abbott. He was a 1Bman.  Zangari. Jameson Fisher. Tyler Osik,  I guess Fisher played some outfield, but the others were just 1Bmen. 

Fisher was drafted as an OF and didn't pick up 1B until 3 years of time in the minors.  Osik was about a 50/50 split of OF and 1B when he was drafted, and played some OF last year too.

 

1 hour ago, MackowiakYakYak said:

Burger was probably a worse than 50/50 chance to stick at 3rd when he was drafted

I strongly disagree with this statement. Even now Burger is playing 3rd after 2 Achilles tears. He also won a gold glove in college. If he makes it to the bigs he will most likely be playing 3rd. No he was never gonna be a top fielder there but he has always been able to get the job done.

31 minutes ago, yesterday333 said:

I strongly disagree with this statement. Even now Burger is playing 3rd after 2 Achilles tears. He also won a gold glove in college. If he makes it to the bigs he will most likely be playing 3rd. No he was never gonna be a top fielder there but he has always been able to get the job done.

Stiff competition.  The runners up are a financial planner and a web designer. 

15 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Stiff competition.  The runners up are a financial planner and a web designer. 

You realize it was for div 1 baseball right?  That would include somebody like Jonathan India... I am not saying he is some great fielder but people act like he has no business trying to play 3rd when we drafted him and that is just wrong...

I don’t know why the Sox didn’t invite Sheets to Schaumburg to see if he could play right field.

15 hours ago, ptatc said:

Other than Sheets and Vaughn who are other recent ones?  I can't think of any.

I think the issue is not so much straight up 1Bs but guys who project either at 1b or DH.

Sheets and vaughn were 1Bs but collins and burger also were bat first guys who had a decent chance to end up at 1b/DH.

I'm not saying that is bad but the sox system is lacking athletes who can play all around the diamond and provide value on both sides of the ball.

You can always put a Shortstop at third but you can't put a fringy 3B/1b corner type at short and even 3b is not guaranteed.

I do understand the thinking though as the sox hitting development wasnt very advanced so advanced college bats would need less refinement and are less of a risk.

Recently the sox invested into more modern player development but at the time taking guys who don't need much work was not a bad idea.

Edited September 9, 20205 yr by Dominikk85