Some Bright Spots

[FriendlyNorthsider]

It's getting kind of depressing in here so I wanted to highlight some bright spots in the org.

• Crochet is a building block. 31 Ks in 4 starts isnt a fluke. We all knew this one.
• If Andrew Vaughn was hitting in the way Gavin Sheets is hitting .270/.391/.541 we would be pumped. Gavin is only a year older than Vaughn so just pretend they switched bodies.
• Nastrini looked awesome today, He didnt have the best results in AAA, but 13ks in 7 innings is something
• Colson Montgomery homered in two of his last three games. Colson's pop is on the top of my watch list this year.
• We will see what Cannon does tomorrow but hes had a solid showing in AAA so far (2.79 ERA over 9.2 innings)
• Brooks Baldwin was an 80 Grade name and is a 23 year old in AA with a .985 OPS in 26 ABs and has more BBs than SOs. Hes a 2022 12th rounder who had an .800 OPS across A ball last year
• Wilfred Veras is a 21 year old at AA Birmingham with a .941 OPS in 34 ABs. He hasn't taken a walk yet but is 12 for 20 with 2 homers when he puts the bat on the ball.
• Edgar Quero (also in AA) has 4 homers already this year in 25 ABs. Hes a catcher that was acquired in the Gio/Reylo trade. Hes 21 years old and is a legit top 50-100 prospect that is MASHING. Plus he's Cuban which is fun. 
• Ky Bush was acquired with Quero and had a very solid start to open the year in AA (5IP 1 ER 7K)
• Drew Thorpe who was a huge part of the Cease return has dominated in AA. He's a 23 year old 2022 draftee that has a .82 ERA in 11 innings with 15Ks to 2 walks. Him and Schultz (getting to him later)  are the two most important pitching propsects and they are dealing.
• Jairo Iriarte (22 years old)  was also acquired in the Cease trade and has also been dominant in AA. He hasn't given up an earned run in 8 innings and has struck out 11. 
• Last years first rounder Jacob Gonzalez is about the only guy hitting in Winston Salem (A+) but he's the most important by far. Hes slashed .281/.410.438 in 39 PAs. He also has 6 BBs to 5ks. I imagine he'll work his way up to AA by the end of the year. 
• Noah Schultz is a guy. He's had 17 ks and 2 bbs in 8IP in A ball. The 4.50 ERA is deceptive and I think he'll work his way up faster than Gonzalez. 
• 2023 6th Round Lucas Gordon has dominated in Kannapolis so far this year. In two starts he has 16ks and 3bbs in 11IP. He was dominant last year but the walk rate was way too high. If he continues on this path he'll be a legit prospect. A college pitcher should probably be succeeding in A ball but hes a lefty that generates K's and that always plays. He's not a Fangraphs top 30 guy and his South Side Sox prospect #59 due to bullpen risk/lack of upside but hes doing everything that can be asked of him so far. 

Pitching wise the Sox systems future could be a lot worse than Crochet/Nastrini/Cannon/Shultz/Thorpe/Iriarte/Bush. 

Hitting wise Colson is coming around and Quero is a rising prospect. If Gonzalez keeps hitting he'll be grouped with those two before the end of summer. This is far from an exhaustive list of quality propsects the sox have but some guys have had rough starts or are hurt to start the year, 

[Chicago White Sox]

I think there is reason to be excited by the pitching.  If Crochet can hold up and Nastrini & Cannon can hold their own, you could quickly have 60% of a rotation ready to go.  Throw in Thorpe and one of Eder / Iriarte or a veteran free agent and the rotation could turn around pretty quickly.

The offense is a challenge though and even with Montgomery, Ramos, Quero, and maybe Baldwin hitting the scene by next year, we still have a ton holes to fill.  Jerry will have to spend to improve the lineup quickly, but the good news is we’re talking about the OF corners, 1B, & DH.  The problem it’s a really bad free agent class for positional guys, so the margin for error will be incredibly thin.

[MiddleCoastBias]

Thank you for some perspective. It's "fun" to watch the new levels of futility we're sinking to every day and setting new records of *bad*, but that only goes so far. We need something to look forward to, even if we have to squint to see the positives coming a in a few years.

[Texsox]

Thank you. This was what I was looking for in the light at the end of the tunnel thread. 

[Falstaff]

Excellent!!

Good young controllable pitching is a great sign for the future. 

I was really high on Soroka having a solid comeback, hopefully he can find his groove and limit the walks.

[hogan873]

It's good to see some hope for the future.  Nastrini looked great last night, and it will be interesting to see Cannon pitch this week.  Crochet will obviously be inning-limited this year as will Nastrini and Cannon (probably).  But, those guys are a nice way to start building the rotation of the future.

Quero, Montgomery, and Ramos are the most exciting offensive guys, and they'll be a big part of the future.  Still a TON of holes to fill, though.  I'll say this: Fletcher has shown some life recently.  He should most starts in CF while Robert is out, and the more he plays the better he could be.  He's most likely not the answer in RF, but he could be an answer for a while.

[Superstar Lamar]

You forgot Leasure

[Bob Sacamano]

3 hours ago, MiddleCoastBias said:

Thank you for some perspective. It's "fun" to watch the new levels of futility we're sinking to every day and setting new records of *bad*, but that only goes so far. We need something to look forward to, even if we have to squint to see the positives coming a in a few years.

Well said. The MLB team is like a major car crash that you can't look away from. I only watch/pay attention to see how bad it can get at this point.

We need SOMETHING to look forward to.

[2Deep]

5 hours ago, FriendlyNorthsider said:

It's getting kind of depressing in here so I wanted to highlight some bright spots in the org.

• Crochet is a building block. 31 Ks in 4 starts isnt a fluke. We all knew this one.
• If Andrew Vaughn was hitting in the way Gavin Sheets is hitting .270/.391/.541 we would be pumped. Gavin is only a year older than Vaughn so just pretend they switched bodies.
• Nastrini looked awesome today, He didnt have the best results in AAA, but 13ks in 7 innings is something
• Colson Montgomery homered in two of his last three games. Colson's pop is on the top of my watch list this year.
• We will see what Cannon does tomorrow but hes had a solid showing in AAA so far (2.79 ERA over 9.2 innings)
• Brooks Baldwin was an 80 Grade name and is a 23 year old in AA with a .985 OPS in 26 ABs and has more BBs than SOs. Hes a 2022 12th rounder who had an .800 OPS across A ball last year
• Wilfred Veras is a 21 year old at AA Birmingham with a .941 OPS in 34 ABs. He hasn't taken a walk yet but is 12 for 20 with 2 homers when he puts the bat on the ball.
• Edgar Quero (also in AA) has 4 homers already this year in 25 ABs. Hes a catcher that was acquired in the Gio/Reylo trade. Hes 21 years old and is a legit top 50-100 prospect that is MASHING. Plus he's Cuban which is fun. 
• Ky Bush was acquired with Quero and had a very solid start to open the year in AA (5IP 1 ER 7K)
• Drew Thorpe who was a huge part of the Cease return has dominated in AA. He's a 23 year old 2022 draftee that has a .82 ERA in 11 innings with 15Ks to 2 walks. Him and Schultz (getting to him later)  are the two most important pitching propsects and they are dealing.
• Jairo Iriarte (22 years old)  was also acquired in the Cease trade and has also been dominant in AA. He hasn't given up an earned run in 8 innings and has struck out 11. 
• Last years first rounder Jacob Gonzalez is about the only guy hitting in Winston Salem (A+) but he's the most important by far. Hes slashed .281/.410.438 in 39 PAs. He also has 6 BBs to 5ks. I imagine he'll work his way up to AA by the end of the year. 
• Noah Schultz is a guy. He's had 17 ks and 2 bbs in 8IP in A ball. The 4.50 ERA is deceptive and I think he'll work his way up faster than Gonzalez. 
• 2023 6th Round Lucas Gordon has dominated in Kannapolis so far this year. In two starts he has 16ks and 3bbs in 11IP. He was dominant last year but the walk rate was way too high. If he continues on this path he'll be a legit prospect. A college pitcher should probably be succeeding in A ball but hes a lefty that generates K's and that always plays. He's not a Fangraphs top 30 guy and his South Side Sox prospect #59 due to bullpen risk/lack of upside but hes doing everything that can be asked of him so far. 

Pitching wise the Sox systems future could be a lot worse than Crochet/Nastrini/Cannon/Shultz/Thorpe/Iriarte/Bush. 

Hitting wise Colson is coming around and Quero is a rising prospect. If Gonzalez keeps hitting he'll be grouped with those two before the end of summer. This is far from an exhaustive list of quality propsects the sox have but some guys have had rough starts or are hurt to start the year, 

I appreciate the positive outlook BUT this is a dumpster fire.  Not much, if any positives here if you have expectations of watching a winning team anytime soon.

Getz thought he was really smart by signing low bargain players and having them create a culture and catch lightning in a bottle.  His culture sucks because winning creates cultures!!  They are a loser organization with a loser owner, a loser GM, and a loser manager, with losing players.

 

They have lied too and cheated their fan base.  There is not much hope going forward as most of their prospects are fringe prospects outside of Schultz, Montgomery, and maybe Ramos.  They will not spend any money on real free agents and will continue to sign garbage guys like Benintendi and Maldonado.

THIS SUCKS and hurts my soul as a White sox fan!!!

F you Jerry!!!! 

[Superstar Lamar]

and Kopech

[Paulie4Pres]

Is there somewhere you can watch the AA and AAA games? Honestly, this board would probably be a lot more fun if we just completely ignored the MLB team, and focused all of our attention and discussion on the minor leagues instead. f*** the White Sox. Let's start having game threads for the Knights and the Barons.

[Bob Sacamano]

2 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Is there somewhere you can watch the AA and AAA games? Honestly, this board would probably be a lot more fun if we just completely ignored the MLB team, and focused all of our attention and discussion on the minor leagues instead. f*** the White Sox. Let's start having game threads for the Knights and the Barons.

I noticed I was able to on my MLB TV account last week. I haven't tried since and am not sure if it was just free for a short time or not because I know I definitely don't pay for MiLB TV.

[nitetrain8601]

I would be excited, but while the Sox may, if all pans out, have young, controllable young pitching, that's not saying much. That's how JR likes his teams built. Young and cheap. The entire roster will be young and cheap. The main thing missing is good. We all know he won't supplement the roster. Vaughn looks like a 4A player, at best. Benentendi, numbers wise, might be the worst signing in MLB in the past 14 years. 

[Milkman delivers]

Appreciate the optimism. Not much of that to go around recently.

Also glad to hear that Noah Schultz is indeed a guy, as I’d long suspected.

[DirtySox]

42 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Is there somewhere you can watch the AA and AAA games? Honestly, this board would probably be a lot more fun if we just completely ignored the MLB team, and focused all of our attention and discussion on the minor leagues instead. f*** the White Sox. Let's start having game threads for the Knights and the Barons.

Yes. You can watch minor league games on the At Bat app if you have MLB.TV.

There's a group of us that routinely watch games and post about prospects in the FutureSox forum. It's a welcome respite from the main forum where everyone is just screaming into the void about how everything is awful and terrible. (It is.)

[Bob Sacamano]

1 minute ago, DirtySox said:

Yes. You can watch minor league games on the At Bat app if you have MLB.TV.

There's a group of us that routinely watch games and post about prospects in the FutureSox forum. It's a welcome respite from the main forum where everyone is just screaming into the void about how everything is awful and terrible. (It is.)

I thought you had to pay extra for that?

[DirtySox]

Just now, Bob Sacamano said:

I thought you had to pay extra for that?

I don't believe I'm paying extra.

Quote

MLB.TV and At Bat subscribers can watch their favorite team's Minor League affiliates in the app at no additional cost, while all MiLB games will be available on MiLB.TV, on the web and in the MiLB app.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

11 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

I don't believe I'm paying extra.

 

That's awesome. I was honestly surprised when I saw it pop up last week.

[Nardiwashere]

I am hopeful about the pitching.  Crochet, Fedde, Thorpe, Nastrini, Cannon, Bush, etc. could form a fun young rotation next year.  

The offense feels so far away. 

We have a guy:

CF - Robert 
LF - Unfortunately probably stuck with Benitendi

Possibly have a guy/Going to give a shot to a prospect

RF - Hopefully Fletcher is the guy

SS - Montgomery 

3B - Ramos 

C- I think we are ok with the two prospects and a random vet signing

Need a guy

1B 

DH

2B

When you organize it like that, it doesn't feel as dire.  Theoretically, 1B, DH, 2B should be easier to find.  The problem is besides Robert, all the other names aren't players I want batting in the top half of a lineup.  Ideally, Fletcher would take Benitendi's spot in the lineup and you fill the other corner OF with a dude who can hit.  But that's not realistic.

[PaleAleSox]

3 minutes ago, Nardiwashere said:

I am hopeful about the pitching.  Crochet, Fedde, Thorpe, Nastrini, Cannon, Bush, etc. could form a fun young rotation next year.  

The offense feels so far away. 

We have a guy:

CF - Robert 
LF - Unfortunately probably stuck with Benitendi

Possibly have a guy/Going to give a shot to a prospect

RF - Hopefully Fletcher is the guy

SS - Montgomery 

3B - Ramos 

C- I think we are ok with the two prospects and a random vet signing

Need a guy

1B 

DH

2B

When you organize it like that, it doesn't feel as dire.  Theoretically, 1B, DH, 2B should be easier to find.  The problem is besides Robert, all the other names aren't players I want batting in the top half of a lineup.  Ideally, Fletcher would take Benitendi's spot in the lineup and you fill the other corner OF with a dude who can hit.  But that's not realistic.

You have Zavala who is hopefully a guy in the OF. 

[JoshPR]

Nice writeup let's hope so but we all know Jerry won't spend the cash to put them over the top 

[Chisoxfn]

This was a really good post and overall I agree with everything said. Really - when it comes to the long-term, about the only real bad thing that has happened thus far was the Robert injury.  Eloy and Moncada's injuries were not something you wish for and the hope with those two was just being healthy so you could get value in a trade - as you know they aren't long-term core members of this franchise going forward.  

But outside of that - I much prefer a scenario where people that will be here in the long-run (largely players in the minors) or players who have legitimate chances of being flipped at deadline (i.e Kopech / Wilson / Fedde ) and whatever you would call Crochet (he could be a long-run piece - he could also be a piece that is flipped for massive value if he somehow does this for this year and than builds on it for 1st half of next year are actually doing good.

I would take that over guys that would have never got much value producing and getting the major league club a few more wins - the Maldano, Lopez, Dejong's, etc.  

[vilehoopster]

Back on the original topic of bright spots and this was mentioned here somewhere: but the Mena for Fletcher trade is starting to look pretty good. If Fletcher can just keep doing what he's be doing: lefty bat, hitting .250 (or hopefully better), and throwing guys out at 3rd (I've seen two already, are there more?), the White Sox will be in better shape in RF than I can remember, in at least 7 or 8 years. 

[fathom]

18 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

Back on the original topic of bright spots and this was mentioned here somewhere: but the Mena for Fletcher trade is starting to look pretty good. If Fletcher can just keep doing what he's be doing: lefty bat, hitting .250 (or hopefully better), and throwing guys out at 3rd (I've seen two already, are there more?), the White Sox will be in better shape in RF than I can remember, in at least 7 or 8 years. 

The whole getting power from a corner outfielder would be nice

[Highland]

The White Sox do have some talent in places, and the situation isn't as bad as it looks, bad as it is. The question remains as to whether this front office can put a team together to win on a consistent basis. Not all prospects are going to work out, and so money has to be spent in the free agent market. But, in the past, that money hasn't been spent or it has been spent foolishly. 

This team has done very little since winning the division in 2008. I'd like to be optimistic, but past performance doesn't allow for that. It is time to see real results, and it is hard to know when that will happen.