The New Prospect Rankings Are Here!
/We take a break from your regularly scheduled free agent outfield rumors, because the new phone books are here! Tim Anderson is somebody!
Read MoreThe importance of Carlos Rodon
/Since the minute Carlos Rodon signed to a $6,582,000 bonus, the largest in the 2014 draft and White Sox draft history, it’s been clear he’s on the fast track to the big leagues. Though that promotion did not come to fruition in 2014, Rodon has already reached Triple-A, and has stuff that in short bursts was entirely overwhelming to hitters there despite lackluster command.
Read MoreDon't Count On Prospects
/There have been stories about how Alexei Ramirez is drawing interest from various clubs in need of a shortstop. This is unsurprising, seeing as he is one of the better shortstops in the majors. However, I have seen people throw in as a corollary that the White Sox might do it because Tim Anderson is on the way. This is a dangerous line of thinking.
Read MoreSpencer Adams Had A Cool Pro Debut
/Understandably, almost all of the attention given to the 2014 White Sox draft class was directed at Carlos Rodon. Heading into Draft Season, Rodon was the highest profile prospect and he represents the White Sox' highest draft pick since they took Harold Baines number one overall in 1977. But the White Sox also made a significant pick in the second round, the 44th player taken in the draft as a whole - Spencer Adams.
Read MoreChris Bassitt To Start Game 2 of Doubleheader Today
/The White Sox will play two against the Detroit Tigers today. If the White Sox were competing for the division, my focus today would be Game 1 - the duel of two aces, Scherzer and Sale. And while great pitching is great pitching, the White Sox are rebuilding, and so I am much more focused on Game 2, which will be the major league debut of starting pitcher Chris Bassitt.
Read MoreCarlos Sanchez's big chance
/To have written about the White Sox in the past five years is to have mulled what's up with Gordon Beckham, what's happened to Gordon Beckham, what went wrong with Gordon Beckham, and whether it has become time to get rid of Gordon Beckham. He just stayed and stayed and kept staying, begging you to weigh in on his status. Nick gave in just earlier this week. His verdict: Good gosh, get rid of Gordon Beckham already.
Read MoreThe Trajectory of Carlos Rodon
/It's been announced that Carlos Rodon has been promoted to the Charlotte Knights of AAA and that he will be the starting pitcher for Tuesday's game. Parallels to Chris Sale will inevitably be drawn. The reasons why are obvious, generally superficial, and often misleading - but in the end it is up to Rodon to determine how accurate they are.
Read MoreThe Carlos Rodon Inevitability
/Eric Surkamp was demoted Sunday night after a month and a half of dreadful performances. His being optioned is ostensibly to clear the way for recovered bullpen regular Matt Lindstrom, but giving the boot to the relief corps' only left-hander always has its own special level of rebuke. Robin Ventura's words were not very complimentary, which is appropriate but somewhat disappointing, because I wanted to see if The King of Magnanimity could come up with a kind word about someone with an ERA that matched the name of a national convenience store chain
Read MoreTyler Danish Is On Fire
/Rick Hahn's 2013 draft is, if nothing else, shaping up to be an interesting one. He lead off with Tim Anderson, who many considered a reach or a risky pick in the first round, but injury aside, Anderson's brief pro career has moved him up in the estimation of many evaluators. Hahn followed up with Tyler Danish in the 2nd round. Although Baseball America had him as the top high school arm from Florida in the draft, they also had him pegged as somewhere "in the first five rounds." But he has done nothing but excel in pro ball, and he's doing his best to erode my healthy skepticism.
Read MoreProspect Watch: Rodon, Anderson & More!
/We're just about two weeks clear of the deadline for team to sign players selected in June's MLB Draft (or not sign, sorry Astros), so the prospect hounds are out updating their lists of top players in each organization.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights surrounding the White Sox, shall we?
Read MoreFirst Half Farm System Successes
/The All Star Break poses a convenient stopping point in the season to evaluate the state of the organization. The White Sox have been a respectable squad this year - certainly compared to last year - but it's pretty clear that the 2015 edition has a better chance at the playoffs than the 2014 one. In the interest of optimism, this post is a chance to look at some of the success stories from the first half in the minor leagues - including the guys who might help that hopeful 2015 playoff push.
Read MoreThe Yankees are doing something fascinating
/The White Sox made a strong showing on July 2, the opening of the international signing period. They announced four signings off the bat, including two prospects in the MLB Top 30. Considering some of their past and still pretty recent performances, this deserves an approving pat on the head.
But it pales in comparison to the Yankees, who by gathered reports (h/t River Ave. Blues) have already signed 12 high-profile prospects for a combined $14.5 million. Their haul includes Dermis Garcia--the No. 1 ranked international prospect according to MLB.com--and Nelson Gomez and Juan De Leon, the No. 2 prospects on MLB.com and Baseball America's lists, respectively. Both Garcia and Gomez have signed deals that are themselves in excess of the Yankes $2,193,100 bonus pool limit. They are in a position to receive the maximum penalty.
Read MoreThe White Sox Prepare for Another Involved July 2
/Today is the most exciting day in baseball ten years from now! It's the first day of the year for MLB teams to sign 16-year-old international amateurs to join their organization. By the time these players hit their prime, the country will be fractured in class warfare and indulgent sports leagues will be viewed as prime examples of poisonous excess in society.
Or not! Point is, they're a long way off. The preferred strategy is to stockpile these raw talents and hope some stick as major leaguers. Previously the White Sox were impossibly stingy and simply disconnected from this market, but as evidenced by last year's signing of power-hitting prospect Micker Adolfo, they mean to be noticed now.
Read MoreMinor League Deep Cuts
/The White Sox have just snapped a losing streak, although they still sit in the AL Central basement, and they are waiting to see what happens in the negotiations with Carlos Rodon. Some of the prospects that you've heard quite a bit about - Courtney Hawkins, Tim Anderson, Micah Johnson, Carlos Sanchez, etc. - have progressed in promising fashion. Others that you have heard a lot about have taken very troubling steps in their development - Trayce Thompson, Erik Johnson, Keenyn Walker, Jared Mitchell, and Matt Davidson to name a few. But I thought I would take a moment to poke around in the minors and find the sleepers or surprise performers that might inspire some extra hope on the South Side.
Read MoreThe White Sox new organizational weak point
/The White Sox entered this season with more outfielders than they could really hope to spread work to. With Avisail Garcia and Adam Eaton installed as franchise fixtures, and Dayan Viciedo in an unwieldy arrangement where two imperfect starters would serve as overqualified platoon. The plan hardly left time for Quad-A side projects like Leury Garcia, or, gulp, Jordan Danks.
Read MoreOn Micah Johnson's Promotion To Triple-A
/With Micah Johnson getting promoted the Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday, it gives us a chance to take another look at one of the more interesting prospects in the White Sox's farm system right now.
Read MoreThe Draft Picture Solidifies A Bit
/It's been odd watching the White Sox have plenty of runs and scramble around for pitching this year. It brings me back to the 90s and early 2000s, but it is an inversion of the model that we have become used to seeing in the Obama Administration. With the presence of Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton -- and hopefully eventually Avisail Garcia and Matt Davidson -- it appears that the organizational need pendulum has swung away from offense and back toward pitching. And although this may change, it appears that a clear Top Three has emerged for the upcoming MLB draft and the White Sox are fortunate enough to have one of those three selections.
Read MoreMinor League Update: Good News & Bad News
/It's been a few weeks, so I thought it would be good to check in on some of the notable minor league performances in the White Sox system thus far in 2014 -- notable for good, or for ill.
Good News:
By far the biggest disappointment of 2013 at the minor league level was Courtney Hawkins being completely overwhelmed by High A. Well, he's getting a second crack at it and he's doing a good job of just making us shrug our shoulders at 2013 and move forward.
Read MoreMinor League Snapshot
/As we settle in to the 2014 season at the major league level, the minor leagues have kicked off as well. At the drafting of this article, the minor league season had statistics on the books for about five games. Not only do all of the same caveats about small sample sizes being meaningless that pertain to the majors apply to the minor leagues, we have even more confounding variables.
Read MoreAvisail Garcia: Super Enigma
/
Once you get over the delight that there's something worth watching and following in the White Sox outfield, the notion of the franchise resting on the shoulders of Garcia are somewhat terrifying. He's got a lot more natural ability, but Dayan Viciedo might have arrived with more polish.
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