Opening Day 26-Man Roster

[ChiSoxFanMike]

7 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

It's very white sox to have Colson make the team and sit 75% of the games.

True. It’s in their best interests to get the extra year on all the top guys, but at least there’s an argument that Teel has looked good this spring. Colson has barely even played. Just let Baldwin or whoever play SS until he’s actually ready.

[WestEddy]

8 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

I don’t agree with Colson being on the opening day roster. He hasn’t played much this spring and they should taken it slow with his back issues. No sense in wasting a year of control on him. If they are going to do that for anyone, it should be Teel.

I coming to the realization that C. Monty's not the guy. But he may be *a* guy. Maybe he's a 3B who can hit you 25 HRs a year. Of a LF. He's no longer such a commodity that he needs to be handled with kid gloves. If he can hold his own, not embarrass himself at SS, you have a cheap position player. If he takes off, you might get the extra draft pick for top 3 ROY. If not, he gets exposed in the bigs, you drop him down and work on whatever is the new weakness. 

If Getz is establishing a pipeline of talent through the draft and international signings, there will be other shortstops coming through. They already have Gonzo and Bergolla who, if they can hit .260 w/10 HR and acquit themselves defensively, can move Monty off short as soon as next year. 

I don't think this rebuild will result in this Godly "These are the core 5 players we will build around!!!" It's just going to be a more steady stream of prospects coming through who can step in and hold down a position. Monty becomes a starter. Then Teel/Quero filter up. The better hitter moves from behind the plate. Zavala/Wolkow/Saucke/B. Monty - one or more of them start looking like a guy. 

[WestEddy]

12 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

True. It’s in their best interests to get the extra year on all the top guys, but at least there’s an argument that Teel has looked good this spring. Colson has barely even played. Just let Baldwin or whoever play SS until he’s actually ready.

Sure, getting the extra year is a thing. You can get the extra year by leaving him down a month at the beginning of the season, or letting him get exposed, then sending him down for a month. Still the same month of service time saved. 

And with the slippage of Monty's star, maybe he tops out as a 3.5 bWAR dude. That's Benintendi. I would hope that in 7 years, we've produced another 3-WAR 3B or LF. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

18 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

True. It’s in their best interests to get the extra year on all the top guys, but at least there’s an argument that Teel has looked good this spring. Colson has barely even played. Just let Baldwin or whoever play SS until he’s actually ready.

The Sox are going to be owned by Ishbia soon enough, there's zero reason not to roster your best 26. 

Problem for Colson is that very likely isn't him.

[caulfield12]

17 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Sure, getting the extra year is a thing. You can get the extra year by leaving him down a month at the beginning of the season, or letting him get exposed, then sending him down for a month. Still the same month of service time saved. 

And with the slippage of Monty's star, maybe he tops out as a 3.5 bWAR dude. That's Benintendi. I would hope that in 7 years, we've produced another 3-WAR 3B or LF. 

In what world starting with 202- is Benintendi a 3.5 bWAR guy?  he was below a 2 bWAR on average for the four seasons before the Sox overpaid him.

[WestEddy]

5 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

In what world starting with 202- is Benintendi a 3.5 bWAR guy?  he was below a 2 bWAR on average for the four seasons before the Sox overpaid him.

Read the sentence. Tops. Out. As. A. 3.5 bWAR. Dude. Benintendi put up 4.8 bWAR in 2018. Then he put up 3.2 between 2 teams in 2022. That is a type of player. If C. Monty averages well over 2.0 bWAR over his first 6 seasons, that's a good player to have. 

So, Earth. On the world called Earth did Benintendi top out as a 3.5 bWAR dude. 

[caulfield12]

10 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Read the sentence. Tops. Out. As. A. 3.5 bWAR. Dude. Benintendi put up 4.8 bWAR in 2018. Then he put up 3.2 between 2 teams in 2022. That is a type of player. If C. Monty averages well over 2.0 bWAR over his first 6 seasons, that's a good player to have. 

So, Earth. On the world called Earth did Benintendi top out as a 3.5 bWAR dude. 

But you were referring to Montgomery…not Benintendi.  Who obviously topped out at nearly 5.

He hasn’t been near 0.0 despite 20ish homers in 2024 or much better in 2023.

[WestEddy]

Elijah Evans profiles some options for the opening day bullpen for Just Baseball:

It's an Open Competition for Innings in the White Sox Bullpen | Just Baseball

[southsider2k5]

51 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

It's very white sox to have Colson make the team and sit 75% of the games.

And so predictable, so I don't have to hear how this is hindsight once it happened.

[southsider2k5]

36 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The Sox are going to be owned by Ishbia soon enough, there's zero reason not to roster your best 26. 

Problem for Colson is that very likely isn't him.

This roster is 4 or 5 years from being potentially good again.  About the time we MIGHT be decent, would be dead in the middle of when the front wave would be hitting free agency.  I see no decent reason NOT to save that year with there being zero hope of anything good coming out of this team this year.  Their most realistic goals are things like not setting the single season loss record again, and not losing 110 games.

[WestEddy]

5 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

But you were referring to Montgomery…not Benintendi.  Who obviously topped out at nearly 5.

He hasn’t been near 0.0 despite 20ish homers in 2024 or much better in 2023.

Yes, I am referring to Montgomery as a major league player, going forward, and what kind of player he can be, comparing him to Benintendi's first 6+ years of control. I used Benintendi, as we all know him.

Fangraphs' last rating of Montgomery pegged him as a 55FV prospect, meaning a player who give you 2.5-3.3 fWAR a year. 

If we got Benintendi's first 6+ years of production out of Montgomery, that would be a win. 

[zisk]

Hope Teel makes team and plays at least half the time. Hope Quero tears up charlotte and is up in June.

Those 2 will really start the crawl back to respectability.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

I coming to the realization that C. Monty's not the guy. But he may be *a* guy. Maybe he's a 3B who can hit you 25 HRs a year. Of a LF. He's no longer such a commodity that he needs to be handled with kid gloves. If he can hold his own, not embarrass himself at SS, you have a cheap position player. If he takes off, you might get the extra draft pick for top 3 ROY. If not, he gets exposed in the bigs, you drop him down and work on whatever is the new weakness. 

If Getz is establishing a pipeline of talent through the draft and international signings, there will be other shortstops coming through. They already have Gonzo and Bergolla who, if they can hit .260 w/10 HR and acquit themselves defensively, can move Monty off short as soon as next year. 

I don't think this rebuild will result in this Godly "These are the core 5 players we will build around!!!" It's just going to be a more steady stream of prospects coming through who can step in and hold down a position. Monty becomes a starter. Then Teel/Quero filter up. The better hitter moves from behind the plate. Zavala/Wolkow/Saucke/B. Monty - one or more of them start looking like a guy. 

This is a very pessimistic outlook on Colson in my opinion. He was bad last season, no doubt about it. But that was the first time he had ever struggled in his entire minor league career, and virtually every pitcher he faced was significantly older than him.

The reoccurring back issues do concern me a bit, as is his ability to play SS everyday. But if he’s healthy, I think Colson will be a very good player even if he moves to 3B at some point. 

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

This is a very pessimistic outlook on Colson in my opinion. He was bad last season, no doubt about it. But that was the first time he had ever struggled in his entire minor league career, and virtually every pitcher he faced was significantly older than him.

The reoccurring back issues do concern me a bit, as is his ability to play SS everyday. But if he’s healthy, I think Colson will be a very good player even if he moves to 3B at some point. 

We are still looking at two pretty big red flags in the back injuries and the velocity hitting ability.  That is without moving off of SS because he is built like a TE.

[ptatc]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The Sox are going to be owned by Ishbia soon enough, there's zero reason not to roster your best 26. 

Problem for Colson is that very likely isn't him.

By the time he owns the team, Montgomery will he in arbitration either way.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

Sure, getting the extra year is a thing. You can get the extra year by leaving him down a month at the beginning of the season, or letting him get exposed, then sending him down for a month. Still the same month of service time saved. 

And with the slippage of Monty's star, maybe he tops out as a 3.5 bWAR dude. That's Benintendi. I would hope that in 7 years, we've produced another 3-WAR 3B or LF. 

I just don’t think there is a need to rush Colson to be on the Opening Day roster. It would be different if the team was competing for something and/or he was lighting up spring training. Neither of those things are true. They might as well take their time with him.

[ptatc]

41 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

This roster is 4 or 5 years from being potentially good again.  About the time we MIGHT be decent, would be dead in the middle of when the front wave would be hitting free agency.  I see no decent reason NOT to save that year with there being zero hope of anything good coming out of this team this year.  Their most realistic goals are things like not setting the single season loss record again, and not losing 110 games.

That is a very pessimistic timeline. I say 3 years to good.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

We are still looking at two pretty big red flags in the back injuries and the velocity hitting ability.  That is without moving off of SS because he is built like a TE.

I wonder if the velocity hitting ability is related to the back injuries. 

[southsider2k5]

7 minutes ago, ptatc said:

That is a very pessimistic timeline. I say 3 years to good.

With the lack of front line position players, and the doors mostly closed to get anymore, I think I am being pretty optimistic.

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

I wonder if the velocity hitting ability is related to the back injuries. 

I definitely wonder the same thing, but no one has asked it, so we get to keep wondering until it is asked and answered.

[Chicago White Sox]

This team can easily be good by 2027 if they hit on the SP prospects and Ishbia comes in and spend some real money.   A rotation of Schultz, Smith, & Taylor has the chance to be elite and there should be plenty of other arms to fill out a quality pitching staff.  But a lot is riding on those big three arms at the moment.

[WestEddy]

10 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

This is a very pessimistic outlook on Colson in my opinion. He was bad last season, no doubt about it. But that was the first time he had ever struggled in his entire minor league career, and virtually every pitcher he faced was significantly older than him.

The reoccurring back issues do concern me a bit, as is his ability to play SS everyday. But if he’s healthy, I think Colson will be a very good player even if he moves to 3B at some point. 

Do you feel Monty's a 4-6 WAR shortstop going forward? Keith Law has written about how when talking to scouts about him, a collective opinion was that he didn't even look like a top 100 prospect. I get it, the back injury could have seriously hampered him in all aspects of his game. I'm even willing to say that as his growth stabilizes and they pay more attention to stretching and training, he could be *a* guy. 

I don't think he's Bobby Witt Jr. He's not going to be a perennial MVP dude. But he doesn't have to be. If he's a solid guy who hits and doesn't embarrass himself in the field, that's a clear win from the 22nd pick in his draft year. The power could play in a corner, and that's a nice guy to have for 6+ years. 

I just don't think he's "the franchise" anymore. That's over. 

[ChiSoxFanMike]

They just announced Colson has been optioned to AAA. So much for that. Haha.

[ptatc]

12 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

With the lack of front line position players, and the doors mostly closed to get anymore, I think I am being pretty optimistic.

I disagree. I think they will  be added in the at minimum shortened season for 2027. Plus what they get for Robert.

[Chicago White Sox]

5 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

They just announced Colson has been optioned to AAA. So much for that. Haha.

Oh wow, Merkin with a big miss in his roster projection.  But honestly, it’s the smart call.  Zero reason to rush him.