Shortstop Candidates

[Chicago White Sox]

22 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

That's not what the article said. He's playing shortstop. 

Getz also had a brief interview on the demotion and said they liked his defense at SS this spring.

[Fielder Jones]

seems like they will give it to meidroth. theyre playing baldwin in a few different positions trying to find ways he can contribute

[Timmy U]

Meidroth not really a ss and is 2-16 in the Spring. Of course, Baldwin hasn’t been tearing it up either. The guy who has opened eyes is Bergolla, but he is going to AA. The guys who have looked good as infielders offensively are Rojas, Sosa, Drury, Vargas, and Vaughn. Not really any shortstops there. Maybe Rojas?

[ptatc]

6 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

Meidroth not really a ss and is 2-16 in the Spring. Of course, Baldwin hasn’t been tearing it up either. The guy who has opened eyes is Bergolla, but he is going to AA. The guys who have looked good as infielders offensively are Rojas, Sosa, Drury, Vargas, and Vaughn. Not really any shortstops there. Maybe Rojas?

Still think it will be Amaya until Montgomery is ready for defense alone.

[GreenSox]

9 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

The guys who have looked good as infielders offensively are Rojas, Sosa, Drury, Vargas, and Vaughn. Not really any shortstops there. Maybe Rojas?

And Maton.  But he's not really a SS either.

[chitownsportsfan]

[caulfield12]

Benny the Jet Rodriguez...?  Maybe they can get Kim (for SS) and Hope/dePaula from the Dodgers in some alternative universe where all their CFers tank and Luis Robert makes the AL All-Star team.

[WhiteSox2023]

3 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

That's not what the article said. He's playing shortstop. 

The article definitely didn’t say that, if this is the article Tray was referring to:

“'Bummed' Montgomery looking ahead after being optioned to Triple-A”

Quote

General manager Chris Getz admitted Tuesday the team erred on the side of caution with Montgomery’s back issue.

Quote

“That made Spring Training a little less smooth than he would have liked,” Getz said. “However, I know he’s working hard. I was very impressed with his defense. He was great with the routine play.”

Edited Thursday at 04:24 AM by WhiteSox2023

[tray]

Listen,read the entire article and try to read between the line a bit....including when Getz said:

"He was great with the routine play."  Yes but a Major league SS has to make a lot of plays that are not routine....plays in the hole or up the middle, tough throws etc.  You can try to turn this into another tit-for-tat with me, but the fact is that major league scouts (for over a year) have questioned whether Montgomery will stick as a ML SS because of his size and how that impacts the kind of coordination and quickness required at that position.

Colson himself understood what the demotion was about:

"One of the biggest things was just to prove to them [that] I am a shortstop, and that’s what I’ve been doing and that’s what they’re telling me,” Montgomery said. “Just be consistent with my work. Doing the things I need to do every day to be professional and a big league shortstop.”

After all this, he has to prove to them that he is a major league shortstop? That is telling.

Edited Thursday at 05:02 AM by tray

[WhiteSox2023]

Could be.  Also could be his back issues causing him to struggle with hitting and defending.  Either reason is bad because it doesn’t seem like his back issues are going away.

[caulfield12]

"He was great with the routine play."  Yes but a Major league SS has to make a lot of plays that are not routine....plays in the hole or up the middle, tough throws etc.  You can try to turn this into another tit-for-tat with me, but the fact is that major league scouts (for over a year) have questioned whether Montgomery will stick as a ML SS because of his size and how that impacts the kind of coordination and quickness required at that position.

 

it's a little weak to cite "major league scouts" or Keith Law or whatever...industry sources...what were their own INTERNAL assessments?  Those should be/should have been more important, since they're watching him every single day (coaching staff as well, obviously) in BIRM/Charlotte as well as the AFL (where he mostly played 3B, right?).

 

Apparently, a lot of Sox scouts have been cut/down sized over the last couple of years.

Fwiw Corey Seager's pretty much the exact same size...look at his defensive numbers the last 3-4 years, they're much better than when he was a younger player.

Edited Thursday at 05:53 AM by caulfield12

[WhiteSox2023]

Honestly, I just hope he can get over the back issues for good, even if when healthy he’s best suited for 3B instead of SS.  With the back issues, we don’t get a decent SS OR 3B.

Edited Thursday at 06:20 AM by WhiteSox2023

[nrockway]

it's still obviously Colson whether or not he can play shortstop or if he's ready. I know he's ready, I don't think he's a shortstop though. If he doesn't start there opening day, there's something wrong with the organization, that Getz is being influenced by SoxTalk.

[Bob Sacamano]

15 minutes ago, nrockway said:

it's still obviously Colson whether or not he can play shortstop or if he's ready. I know he's ready, I don't think he's a shortstop though. If he doesn't start there opening day, there's something wrong with the organization, that Getz is being influenced by SoxTalk.

Based on?

[nrockway]

12 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Based on?

vibes, Bob. vibes exclusively.

 

also the fact that he was rule 5 eligible. it's obviously not based on AAA performance, but who gives a s%*#. A lot of people, seemingly, but they're the same guys who thought Garrett was bad at baseball, so...

[Bob Sacamano]

2 hours ago, nrockway said:

vibes, Bob. vibes exclusively.

 

also the fact that he was rule 5 eligible. it's obviously not based on AAA performance, but who gives a s%*#. A lot of people, seemingly, but they're the same guys who thought Garrett was bad at baseball, so...

Unfortunately, vibes don't help you hit fastballs, something he struggled with last year.

Also, don't think anyone thought Garrett was "bad at baseball." Unlikely to pitch a full year? Different story.

Edited Thursday at 04:00 PM by Bob Sacamano

[Fielder Jones]

12 hours ago, Timmy U said:

Meidroth not really a ss and is 2-16 in the Spring. Of course, Baldwin hasn’t been tearing it up either. The guy who has opened eyes is Bergolla, but he is going to AA. The guys who have looked good as infielders offensively are Rojas, Sosa, Drury, Vargas, and Vaughn. Not really any shortstops there. Maybe Rojas?

i think though with Meidroth they like his quality of atbats. i think they want to motivate Colson with getting back to the reduced Ks and show him what they value

[oldsox]

Right now, Sosa is probably the best all-around SS on the team. Rojas is #2. Sosa is probably the best at second base, too. So, they will probably bench Sosa to start season.

[tray]

Chase Meidroth (sorry) can be the lead-off man if he shows good plate discipline, extends at-bats, and draws walks. Colson Montgomery is a different creature, a lot of swing and miss...and he may have fvked himself by not winning the SS job outright in ST letting this kid take it.

Edited 1 hour ago by tray

[ChiSox59]

I'd personally just stick Sosa there most days until Colson proves he is ready. 

meidroth isn't really a SS and hasn't been great in ST. Would have happily given him the job, but I'd send him to Charlotte for a few weeks based on the 40 man and his ST performance. 

Vargas, Sosa, Rojas/Drury, AV from left to right to start.  Mix in Baldwin. I don't have much interest in rostering Amaya. Pretty thin on true SS that way, but Sosa, Baldwin and Rojas can all stand there. 

Edited 1 hour ago by ChiSox59

[caulfield12]

58 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I'd personally just stick Sosa there most days until Colson proves he is ready. 

meidroth isn't really a SS and hasn't been great in ST. Would have happily given him the job, but I'd send him to Charlotte for a few weeks based on the 40 man and his ST performance. 

Vargas, Sosa, Rojas/Drury, AV from left to right to start.  Mix in Baldwin. I don't have much interest in rostering Amaya. Pretty thin on true SS that way, but Sosa, Baldwin and Rojas can all stand there. 

Yes, this is all very logical...