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Well Orlando and Adam's days just got easier

We are doing prospect rankings this month at FutureSox. Today, Sean Williams leads us off with the top 10 outfield prospects in the system https://www.futuresox.com/2021/02/01/top-white-sox-prospects-outfielders/

He didn’t take the year off... I don’t know why that is so hard for some people to understand.

Yeah exactly

Let's look at the 2021 Sox and compare them to 2020. Starting Pitching 2020 v. 2021 1. Giolito v. Giolito. Slight improvement. Giolito is still developing, and the projections have him improving. 2. Keuchel v. Keuchel. Slight decline. Keuchel isn't going to put up a ERA of 1.99 again. 3. Dunning v. Lynn. Vast improvement. Dunning wasn't really our 3rd starter, but I'm putting him here so I can match Cease with himself. 4. Cease v. Cease. Likely improvement, perhaps significant improvement. This is all about our new pitching coach helping to fix Cease. It's unlikely Cease could be worse. 5. Lopez/Gonzalez v. Rodon/Kopech. Likely vast improvement. Lopez and Gio were really bad. If Rodon doesn't get hurt, he'll be much better and a good bridge to Kopech. The Sox have significantly upgraded their rotation with Lynn, and the expected arrival of Kopech. If Katz can get Cease on track, the Sox will be very strong. Not top of baseball, but more than strong enough with their offense and bullpen. Bullpen 2020 v. 2021 1. Colome v. Hendriks. Improved. Colome was very good at converting saves, but his underlying numbers have been declining, and he might not be good enough for playoff baseball. Hendriks is better. 2. Bummer v. Bummer. Big improvement. He wasn't healthy in 2020. Hopefully he will stay healthy this year. 3. Heuer v. Heuer. Improved. Has to be as he gains more experience. 4. Marshall v. Marshall. Stable. 5. Crochet v. Crochet. Improvement if Crochet is used in the pen instead of stretched out to be a starter in AAA. He will improve with experience. 6. Cordero v. Cordero. Same. 7. Fry v. Fry. Same 8. Cishek v. Fill in the blank. Improvement, as Cishek was bad last year. 9. Detwiler v. Fill in the blank. If Crochet takes Detwiler's innings, this will be an improvement. This is a better bullpen, and could be one of the best, if not the best, in baseball. Hendriks can compete with anyone, Bummer is super solid, and the rest are very good. Crochet is the wild card. If they use him in the pen and he stays healthy, we should blow away teams at the end of games. Starting Lineup 2020 v. 2021 1. Anderson v. Anderson. Same. I actually think Tim can get even better, but I won't project that here. 2. Moncada v. Moncada. Vast improvement. If he returns to 2019 form, this will be huge boost to this lineup. 3. Abreu v. Abreu. Same. Many will predict a decline, and it may happen. But Jose will remain the leader of the team. 4. Jimenez v. Jimenez. Slight improvement. He will continue to get better, and will make up for any decline by Abreu 5. Grandal v. Grandal. Same. He didn't have a great 2020, so it shouldn't be too hard for him to at least match it. 6. Encarnacion v. Vaughn. Improvement. Encarnacion was 70 OPS+ bad. Vaughn, when he comes up, will crush that number. 7. Robert v. Robert. Improvement. He started hot, went ice cold, then started improving at the end. He should be much better in year 2. 8. Mazara v. Eaton. Improvement. People fear Eaton will get hurt, but he only missed a few games his 3 years in Chicago. When he plays, he'll be vastly better than 64 OPS+ Mazara. 9. Madrigal v. Madrigal. Same. He had a fabulous rookie year. This lineup should be much improved with a much stronger year out of Moncada, better DH play with Vaughn, an improved RF, and Luis Robert in year 2. We were second in the AL in runs scored to the Yanks. We could be #1 in the AL this year. Bench 2020 v. 2021 1. James McCann v. Zach Collins. Big drop off. This is the one position on the team where we are taking a step back. It's why many are calling for another backup catcher. I think if you give Collins some ABs, he'll come through on the offensive side. He will likely never be as good defensively or as a game manager as McCann. 2. Garcia/Mendick v. Garcia. If Leury stays healthy, this will be an improvement. 3. Engel v. Engel. Same. A solid platoon player and defensive replacement. 4. Last man v. Last man. ???? We don't know who the Sox will choose as their last bench player. Will it be an infielder or outfielder? Coaching 2020 v. 2021 1. Renteria v. LaRussa. Vast improvement. I know many of you hate TLR. But he's going to be first all-time in wins for a post-integration manager this year. Renteria had the Sox having fun last year, but he had no clue how to manage tight pressure packed games down the stretch and into the postseason. LaRussa does. 2. Cooper v. Katz. Vast improvement. We have to see it, but going off what Katz did for Giolito gives most of us confidence he'll do very well for other pitchers too. Might be the key move of the offseason. 3. Remaining coaches v. remaining coaches. Even. There may even be improvement here, but I'll leave it even for now. Overview Here are the areas of improvement. Starting pitching: Giolito slightly better, Lynn huge plus, Cease likely improved, Rodon/Kopech much better than Lopez/Gonzalez Bullpen: Hendriks better, Bummer healthier, Heuer more experienced, Crochet the wild card. The rest are the same. Lineup: Moncada much better, Vaughn better than Encarnacion, Eaton better than Mazara, Robert better in year 2 Bench: Garcia staying healthy. Coaching: Huge improvement with LaRussa and Katz. The only declines are Keuchel will be unlikely to have a 1.99 ERA, and Collins cannot replace McCann at catcher. Granted, this is a very optimistic overview. Injuries will happen and could upset this evaluation. But it's crazy to look at this team and predict they may not make the postseason, will melt down and be terrible, and all the other doom and gloom predictions Sox fans have been expressing lately. This is a young, hungry and improving team, strengthened by savvy and skilled veterans, managed by a Hall of Famer who has a top notch pitching coach by his side, with no obvious weaknesses. The lineup could be scary 1-9 if Moncada is back, Vaughn acclimates quickly, and Eaton stays healthy. The top 3 starters all were top 7 Cy Young vote getters last year, and there is potential for starters 4 and 5 to become studs. The bullpen may be the best in baseball. I wouldn't call us World Series favorites, or even AL Pennant favorites. But we can match up with anyone in the AL, and if we win the pennant, we will have a shot at winning the World Series. So, there's my rosy analysis. Go ahead and tear it down if you like. But if you are really a Sox fan, why not just enjoy it?? We have an awesome team that should be very fun to watch.

Vaughn is a better hitter than Robert imo

I'm in with "I have absolutely no idea what is reasonable for this guy as I haven't seen anything of him playing baseball in 12 months".

Oh I didn’t realize the only way to progress is to put up minor league stats... ?

The problem during the last five years is the “veteran middle”...pretty high quality but FAs in their 30’s. Part of it’s obviously due to shortened playing careers with less steroids in the game, theoretically. Players are largely done at 33-34. Obviously there have been a few notable exceptions in all sports, but not many.

Man how the mighty have fallen. Lotta competition for B-Pro these days and PECOTA is just one projection system in a sea of them. Used to be a real event back in the early aughts.

Would have preferred prioritizing starting pitching over closer, ideally with a high-upside guy like Kluber. Would also have preferred a Pedersen/Engel platoon over Eaton purely because of injury concern (if he's healthy all year I think he'll be a good get). I'm fine with the Lynn move, especially if we extend him. But big picture: this is a really good team that can make a deep playoff run. Haven't felt that in 15 years.

Jackie Bradley Jr., instead of Eaton No Hendriks, money goes into a starter, let’s say Odorizzi, instead Veteran back-up catcher

real world realistic expectations for a guy who has never played above A ball is to spend the year in the minors realistic for this site is that he is a middle of the order hitter on playoff team

Dude, if Revenue is going up at 5% a year, and all salaries are going up on average by 2% per year, everything you just said could be true, and it would still be patently unfair to the employees. (This statement, interestingly, applies to much of the economy).

I'm really sick of hearing the "we are a world series contender" like all contenders have lights out pitching from 1-5. THAT'S NOT TRUE! Look at what Tampa was putting on the mound all year? They were using openers for 40% of their rotation some of the year. The Dodgers didn't exactly light it up from pitchers 4-5. Look at the Yankees... Cole... then who? Twins... Maeda, Berrios... then who? Let's be realistic. Yes, it would have been BETTER to sign Bauer and have Cease as our guaranteed #5. However, there aren't many teams that can say they have a staff like that outside of 90's Braves with Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Avery. Get a grip on reality.

Without a MiLB season last year to see growth, Cespedes makes this group look A LOT better. Odds are even if Colas was here today, he'd slot in at #2. I think of the guys who were already here, Krogman and Bailey are the guys to watch for breakout seasons.

If this is your goal then you need to add a salary cap and a salary floor, not more teams to the playoffs. Players need to get over the salary cap nonsense and add a revenue share % for salaries like all other sports. Owners are just fucking them now and it's not going to get better.

MLB revenue is up from 7.86 billion im 2014 to 10.37 billion 2019. This means that player salaries are down from 43.8% of the pie to 38.5% of the pie based on the numbers you're providing so @Jack Parkman is 100% correct. MLB players are likely getting the smallest share of revenue of the three major sports despite not having a salary cap and it's 100% due to owner collusion.

No question. Agree with everything you wrote. Other than Cespedes, it is interesting that I'm most excited to see how the guys in the lower half of that list play this year. But really, other than Gonzalez, there is a certain level of excitement in any of the guys on this list. How does Adolfo look after such a long layoff from playing actual games and can he stay healthy? Was Rutherford able to continue to add muscle/change his body during the time off, and does he finally take that next step to add power to his game? Etc

Anyone who thinks the PA should have accepted or countered, read the whole thread:

Hasn't anyone told the Dodgers that you only need 3 starting pitchers for the playoffs?

Annoying that the Cards get Arenado for this price, the Mets get Lindor and 3 years of Carrasco for, from what I can tell, not much more than what the Sox gave up for 1 year of Lance Lynn.

Anderson and Robert at .732? I think I’ll take the over on those.

I got Moncada with at least a .900 OPS this season.

Are you suggesting it's too late for Moncada to put up an .850 4.8 war season? Because PECOTA says so?

Too late? As in like when he did it 15 months ago?

So this is a tough one... First, Offseason has been bad. Not horrible, but bad. My generous grade of C- might be too generous. Let's get a few things clear: 1) The White Sox should have been willing to spend much more money. This is always going to leave a sour taste for me. We can't get around it, so with the limited budget we were working with, there's really no way to have an A+ offseason. We're aiming for like a B or B- offseason at best I guess. 2) TLR is an abomination. We can't wish it a way, so that's going to weigh the offseason down and now our max grade is like a C+. So, we can't change those two things. That sucks. Also, 3) we as fantasy GMs don't really get the whole free agency experience. Maybe Free Agent #1 just doesn't want to come to Chicago for whatever reason. We will never know. Anyway... My issues with the offseason: a) Eaton signing was stupid, shortsighted, too fast. We overpaid for an oft injured Eaton who is regressing and just had a terrible year. I'd take Eaton at like 3m as a prime Eaton is exactly what this team needs in RF, but we aren't getting that. We are getting a mediocre (at best) defender with little to no pop and little speed now. I'd look at any of the other options. b) Hendriks was an overpay. High chance that this contract bites us in the ass in 2 years or less. Closers just don't hold up extremely well. I think I would have rather signed like Archie Bradley + Brad Hand or something along those lines. Deepen the pen, lower the risk. c) Lynn vs. Dunning is a tough one. Lynn is a great addition but at only one year it's tough to bite. I would have tried to get more creative with Darvish/Snell. Would love to get the longer years of control. d) I'd focus my attention on a sign+trade. Signing one of Cruz/Ozuna and trading Vaughn in a package for a top starter would be my goal. Tough to pull off and easy to sit here on the sidelines and suggest... but it makes too much sense to me. e) Rodon is fine. Whatever, we need depth. Sign 1-3 more lottery ticket SPs. So, to me: Hand+Bradley > Hendriks (I save money and lower risk) Anything > Eaton (I probably save or equal money and have less risk of injury) Lynn/Snell/Darvish (either I get Lynn, or I get a better top of the rotation controlled starter. Darvish would cost me more $$$, Snell cost me more prospects) Sign+Trade (I'd increase budget getting Cruz or Ozuna and I'd lose Vaughn, but make the biggest increase possible without completely tearing the budget apart)

He’s waiting and likely gets $2.5-$3 million

I think he wins the 4th spot.

$ Saved / Not Signed (in 2020/21): LaRussa ($3M-$5M?) - WTF - Absolute Dumpster Fire on all levels. Ricky stays as was Hahn and Kenny's intention 60 games and best season in decades before Jerry fired him for his criminal BFF. Grandal ($18.3M) - Didn't like the signing at the time due to age/$s committed as a mid market payroll Keuchel ($18.0M) - Understood the signing at the time, don't have confidence it will work out, hope he doesn't vest the final season Eaton ($8.0M) - Child, please. Should have signed a higher cost quality player and clubhouse presence. OK Hendricks and Lynn - OK with both, though don't want an extension for Lynn. Rodon - Whatever, cheap option with upside Signing Alternatives Bradley $7M-$10M (perfect for defense, either start in CF or play on Robert off days / injuries. Pederson $7M-$10M (Would have signed him ultimately, could have if they didn't jump the gun on Eaton. Fine with a second year option / deal). Goes to LF, Jimenez to DH. McCann $8M-$10M Flowers $3M Kluber $11M Quintana $8M Lineup: SS Anderson 3B Moncada 1B Abreu DH Jimenez LF Pederson CF Robert RF Bradley Jr. C McCann 2B Madrigal Rotation: 1 Giolito 2 Lynn 3 Kluber 4 Quintana 5 Kopech 6 Cease 7 Lopez 8 Rodon

You might even say it’s preventing his own

Rodon hired one of the best personal trainers in the business to work with him this off season. He's taking baseball serious for the first time in his career. I usually have no time for nonworkers which is exactly what Rodon has been up till now. His talent can't be denied and now he's actually putting in the work. I think he's in a perfect situation to have a good season.

Bradley>Eaton 7 days a week.

No. I like the Hendriks signing but they brought the wrong former Sox back. Should have been Quintana, Flowers instead of Eaton and Rodon. Hendriks, Quintana, Flowers, Dahl, and Lynn would have been the same cost and I think better. Jerry sucks and his money is tight but Hahn sucks at using the money wisely, there is always millions wasted. Year after year.

Because there are eight innings that happen before the 9th. There are also major holes in the starting rotation as it stands now, with some really good relievers already in the pen who might have been able to step into the closers role, or someone cheaper out there to do that job. Even a mediocre starter going to cover triple the innings that a closer will, and if the starters are bad, it doesn't matter how good your closer is.

Vafan, you are way too worried about blocking unproven players. There will be injuries and plenty of playing time available this year. Having quality depth though is more important than avoiding it due to wanting to leave spots open.

They still need a LH bat. Im waiting patiently for Miller. @Y2Jimmy when is that gonna happen?

Folty's body was all out of whack. Towards the end it looked like he was on death's door. If he figured out whatever it was that was making him look so ill and has righted the ship, he's worth every bit of a contract.

But every advantage you give yourself in these situations is a chance to separate yourself from the pack. Just because we might be as good as the other teams deemed to be playoff teams doesn't mean you stop adding, especially when you have the chance to do so. When you have built in depth and back up plans, bad luck can more overcome than if you are shallow and unlucky.

If Folty is available for a minor league deal, there is a reason for that. He's been pretty bad. Now they say he was at 90-92 during his workout which would be in line with a normal guy who throws 96, considering the time of year. But you know he has been ramping it up. Obviously, it makes sense to sign him if a minor league deal is all it will take, but I wouldn't expect much.

No. Offseason grade c- being generous ill post more detailed response When off work you will want to hire me as gm

.260/.330/.440 or something, more strikeouts than expected. But long-term, I think he's a 1:1 K:BB guy with Grandal-like slash lines, maybe a bit higher average

Living wage arguments fall on deaf ears when you talk about millionaire ballplayers vs billionaire owners. If this was an argument that ballclubs should hold down the cost of a hotdog, ticket, parking, beer, and soda I would be all in. I really fear that we are approaching when fans are in decline because they can't afford to attend it. For those of you who haven't gone to a minor league game...you're missing a treat. A great seat costs $10 and the food price is like fast food pricing anywhere. Parking can be free up to a few bucks. No wonder they have nice crowds where I have gone. The fan pays the freight on this great sport...owners and players should do more to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I’d give it two years before I never sat down watched a baseball game again if they expand to 16 teams. What’s the point? the playoff teams are decided in March, and the playoffs themselves are totally random. Fuck all that.

Do you even think to fact check yourself? From 2014 to 2019, MLB total payrolls went up from $3.45 billion to 4 billion.

Is there a way to have 7 playoff teams and give the top 3 byes? Then they’re all rewarded. 4v7 and 5v6. Then the winners of those face each other to see who plays the 1 seed. How long would 1-3 need to sit on this scenario?

All I want is an owner that gives a shit and spends. Don’t lie to fans and tell them the money will be spent and then fabricate stories to try and placate the fans. This franchise is pathetic. Rick Hahn cares more about criticizing twitter than doing his job. What a clown.