OD 26 Man Roster Projection

[Chicago White Sox]

30 minutes ago, BamaDoc said:

I hope your surprising prediction is wrong.  I think moving Hagen Smith or for that matter Schultz to the pen now would be developmental malpractice.  If they are close to their innings limit and aren't up starting, I could see bullpen for last month or 6 weeks to get a intro to MLB but otherwise the team really needs at least one of them to be successful starters.

100% agree.  Him and Schultz need to continued to be developed as starters.

[Bob Sacamano]

40 minutes ago, BamaDoc said:

I hope your surprising prediction is wrong.  I think moving Hagen Smith or for that matter Schultz to the pen now would be developmental malpractice.  If they are close to their innings limit and aren't up starting, I could see bullpen for last month or 6 weeks to get a intro to MLB but otherwise the team really needs at least one of them to be successful starters.

 

10 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

100% agree.  Him and Schultz need to continued to be developed as starters.

Agreed. And I hate that they’re already doing this with Taylor. And I get he can move the rotation eventually, but I’d still rather not waste MLB service time on him being in pen.

[Lip Man 1]

17 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

 

Agreed. And I hate that they’re already doing this with Taylor. And I get he can move the rotation eventually, but I’d still rather not waste MLB service time on him being in pen.

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/grant-taylor-role-2026-white-sox-bullpen

[brijames1957]

I know I'm probably in the minority but I don't like Meidroth as the 2b moving forward. He does nothing exceptionally well and his total lack of any pop in his bat and run production should be enough to move on from him. 

[GGajewski18]

C Teel/Quero
1B Murakami/Mead
2B Meidroth/Acuna
SS Montgomery
3B Vargas/Mead
LF Hays/Benintendi
CF Acuna/Baldwin
RF Pereira/Baldwin/Kelenic
DH Benintendi/Quero

So a bench of Quero, Mead, Baldwin, Kelenic.  I think Korey Lee could win that last spot on the bench too and have 3 catchers so Quero can DH more.  I think Sosa gets traded, if not, he's the last bench guy.

SP Martin
SP Smith
SP Kay
SP Burke
SP Cannon

RP Paez
RP Gilbert (L)
RP Alberto
RP Vasil
RP Newcomb (L)
RP Leasure
RP Taylor
CP Dominguez

[ChiSoxFanMike]

53 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

If the Sox put Hagen Smith in the bullpen to start the season, then I’ve lost all confidence in this org.  Is this something you actually want to see happen?

As for Sosa, despite 22 HRs he was only a league average hitter last year.  He was certainly better in the second half, but was substantially better against LHP (121 wRC+) than RHP (101 wRC+).  Those splits could make him an everyday guy at 2B if the defense was sufficient, but don’t really work for a full-time DH role.  I also don’t agree with you on his defensive performance at 2B.  It looked bad per the eye test and graded out as -10 runs per DRS.  Not sure why you think he’s going to suddenly better out there.

Not that I’m advocating for it, but how would it be any different than calling up Grant Taylor last year and putting him in the bullpen?

[Bob Sacamano]

6 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

Not that I’m advocating for it, but how would it be any different than calling up Grant Taylor last year and putting him in the bullpen?

Burn an extra year of service for starting on the roster day 1 for one. If he never was sent back down, you’d have 6 years instead of 6+

Edited 2 hours ago by Bob Sacamano

[Chicago White Sox]

3 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

Not that I’m advocating for it, but how would it be any different than calling up Grant Taylor last year and putting him in the bullpen?

Well to be clear, I didn’t like the idea of moving Taylor to the bullpen.  That being said, Taylor also completed dominated the minors and was ready to produce in the majors.  The only real reason to hold him down was to build up his innings without burning team control, which I would have done.  Instead, the Sox are targeting to get him 100 innings in the majors this year as a reliever in hopes of him possibly joining the rotation next year with 5 years of control remaining.

Meanwhile, Smith and Schultz both have plenty to work on in action to their need for inning build-up.  As such, they both need to be down in AAA or AA focusing on their development.  A big spring training or a need at the major league level should not change that plan.

[BamaDoc]

So the MLB article talks of getting Taylor to 100ip but Venable hopes to use him to win games.  I would be wary of back to back appearances or anything that could hurt him.  It is interesting but you have three right-handers in Vasil, Taylor, and Hicks who have some starting experience/ability to go more than an inning.  At some point it might make sense to use each every third game for two innings.  50g = 100ip. Getting a couple days rest might protect them a bit.  If we are out of the race or post trade deadline, it might make sense.  If someone traded(Hicks), you could add in one of the TJ guys or a youngster.

Edited 1 hour ago by BamaDoc

[Chicago White Sox]

2 minutes ago, BamaDoc said:

So the MLB article talks of getting Taylor to 100ip but Venables hopes to use him to win games.  I would be wary of back to back appearances or anything that could hurt him.  It is interesting but you have three right-handers in Vasil, Taylor, and Hicks who have some starting experience/ability to go more than an inning.  At some point it might make sense to use each every third game for two innings.  50g = 100ip. Getting a couple days rest might protect them a bit.  If we are out of the race or post trade deadline, it might make sense.  If someone traded(Hicks), you could add in one of the TJ guys or a youngster.

I think that’s going to be the plan for Taylor.

[tray]

IMO, the WSox have to keep Sosa's RH bat in the line-up as much as possible... possibly as a 1B/DH platoon with Murakami or at 2B for a few games.  The more HR power in the line-up, the merrier.