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 MoreUnderstandably, 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 MoreThe 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 MoreThe 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 MoreToday 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 MoreThe 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 MoreAs 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 MoreThe Catbird Seat is a White Sox blog by White Sox fans that focuses on intelligent and humorous baseball commentary. Brought to you by ESPN's SweetSpot Network.
An ESPN SweetSpot blog | Design by ofvoid
