Y2Jimmy0

Lets pump the breaks on the pitching part of this. Cease is still in High-A and older than Kopech was in same league. Kopech raced through AA and took names while doing so. Lets see Cease in Birmingham first.

See I actually disagree with many on Kopech. I want him in the big leagues with Cooper. His stuff is excellent. His command has been shit. I'd rather take these lumps and get it worked out in the majors. There's not really an easy way to make a spot right now though.

I think AZL will be all HS and Latin everything. Those guys all have to go there. On the position player side in Arizona you are looking at this: Catcher: Kleyder Sanchez , Tyrus Greene (16th rder), Gabriel Ortiz (19 rder), Jose Colina 1B: Sam Abbott (8th rd 2017), Harvin Mendoza Infield: Lency Delgado, Kelvin Maldonado, Bryant Nova, Sydney Pimentel (2017 intl signing), Camilo Quintero (2017 intl signing), Outfield: Cabera Weaver, Anderson Comas, Anthony Coronado, Josue Guerrero, Luis Mieses. All 2016-2017 international signings plus the 7th round pick Weaver. I have no idea where Franklin Reyes is. Maybe he's going to Kannapolis

Again though, they can't convince someone to sign when they don't have money. They didn't save much of anything on top 2 picks. They overslotted Bilous. My guess is they overslotted Carranza and Martin as well. That's the extra savings.

I'd still rather have Moncada long-term

There were never going to have the money to do that. When 1st and 2nd rounders go at or near slot there's just not enough wiggle room.

I was looking at rosters earlier and trying to figure out what the hell Chris Getz is going to do. Many guys need promotions and some guys aren't ready to move to accommodate. Here's my best guess. AAA Charlotte Knights 1B Casey Gillaspie 2B Danny Mendick (from AA) SS Eddy Alvarez/Jose Rondon 3B Matt Skole DH Patrick Leonard OF: Eloy Jimenez (from AA), Jacob May, Mason Robbins Catcher: Alfredo Gonzalez, Brett Austin, Dustin Garneau Rotation: 1. Michael Kopech 2. Jordan Stephens 3. Carson Fulmer 4. Spencer Adams 5. Donn Roach Bullpen: Aaron Bummer, Tyler Danish, Chris Beck, Juan Minaya, Ricardo Pinto, Rob Scahill, Gregory Infante, etc Issues: Eloy will definitely be moving. Charlotte needs to keep some 4A guys in case of injury with White Sox but it makes things harder. An infielder or two from Birmingham to Charlotte would make sense as well. Guys like Jake Elmore, Alex Pressley and Michael Saunders are also currently on this roster. AA Birmingham Barons 1B: Nick Basto/Zach Remillard (from High A) 2B: Trey Michalczewski/Bryant Flete SS: Yeyson Yrizarri (From High A) 3B: Matt Rose Catcher: Zack Collins and Seby Zavala OF: Luis Alexander Basabe, Alex Call and Joel Booker (from High A). Jameson Fisher, Tito Polo Rotation: 1. Alec Hansen 2. Dane Dunning 3. Dylan Cease (from High A) 4. Jordan Guerrero 5. Ian Clarkin Bullpen: Ian Hamilton, Jose Ruiz, Ryan Burr, Brian Clark, Connor Walsh, etc Issues: I think Keon Barnum gets released first of all. Multiple OF from W-S need to come up to AA. Cease should as well and Flores has argument too. Hamilton and Ruiz could be in AAA but there's lots of 4A filler up there currently. A+ Winston Salem Dash 1B Gavin Sheets 2B Mitch Roman SS Laz Rivera 3B Ti'Quan Forbes DH: Micker Adolfo Catcher: Yermin Mercedes and Nate Nolan OF: Luis Robert, Blake Rutherford, Luis Gonzalez Rotation: 1. Bernardo Flores 2. Lincoln Henzman 3. Blake Battenfield 4. Jimmy Lambert 5. Luis Martinez Bullpen: Tyler Johnson (from Low A), Blake Hickman, Danny Dopico, Matt Foster, Kyle Kubat, Zach Thompson, etc Issues: Robert and Gonzalez need to be here. Dedelow has an argument as well. Madrigal will be here eventually. Adolfo could be a candidate to move up too. Guys like Gonzalez, Johnson, Henzman and Rivera need to move to W-S. A- Kannapolis Intimidators 1B Justin Yurchak 2B Tate Blackman SS Johan Cruz 3B Luis Curbelo DH Anthony Villa Catcher: Evan Skoug and Carlos Perez OF: Steele Walker, Craig Dedelow, Alex Destino, Tyler Frost Rotation: John Parke, Yosmer Solorzano, Parker Rigler. Issues: More than a handful of guys need to move up to W-S. Some of the college draft picks could end up here as well. Who am I missing? What do you guys think?

Greg, you have no idea what you are talking about. Soria and Avilan have been really good this year. You won't get top level prospects but you'll definitely get something useful. Jones needs to pitch better but I still think they move him for solid return.

I'm expecting Jones, Soria and Avilan to all get moved. Jones needs to pitch a bit better but Hahn will blow another hole in that bullpen. Guys like Cedeno, Shields and Santiago bring back nothing but yeah sure why not? I think Abreu gets talked about a ton but they ultimately don't move him. Leury Garcia and Avisail Garcia are the two wild cards IMO.

My guess is Cease still being in High A hurts him. FG is way higher on Burdi than the rest of the industry and Robert at #17 overall is high as well. Seeing Collins in there is nice and Adolfo's presence doesn't surprise me. That bat looks real.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-updated-top-131-prospect-rankings/ 9 White Sox in the top 131 4. Eloy Jimenez 15. Michael Kopech 17. Luis Robert 33. Nick Madrigal 75. Zack Collins 86. Micker Adolfo 91. Dane Dunning 111. Zack Burdi 113. Alec Hansen No Case is puzzling. Also no Basabe or Rutherford.

I got a late start but I'm in the process of writing the 2018 DSL Preview. This is the team roster: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?y=2018&sid=milb&t=t_ibp&cid=633 They obviously haven't had a ton of international signings of late. This roster doesn't really have many exciting pieces because of it. Aruban SS Jerrick Francees and C Jefferson Mendoza were signings from this year that are on the current roster. SS Sydney Pimentel and SS Camilo Quintero were also signed during this period but are not on the roster. What this tells me is that the Low-Rookie Level AZL Affiliate will be super young and really fun. 3B Ramon Beltre and SS Lenyn Sosa were in affiliated ball last year. Sosa and Beltre could honestly be in AZL or Great Falls. Catcher Kleyder Sanchez was good in the DSL last year and was mentioned by Ben Badler as a sleeper prospect. He's likely in Arizona. Many of the 2017 signings are likely there as well. We will release the AZL Preview from the official roster is released but there's a solid chance that the following players will be on that squad: C Kleyder Sanchez (2016 intl signing) SS Camilo Quintero (2018 intl signing) OF Anderson Comas (2017) OF Josue Guerrero (2017) OF Luis Mieses (2017) OF Anthony Coronado (2017) RHP Jenderrson Caraballo (2017) RHP Brayan Herrera (2017) Ramon Pineda (RHP) Seeing some of these guys stateside will be pretty cool in my opinion. Added to that bunch will be 2017 8th rounder Sam Abbott and the HS guys that were drafted this year: 3B Lency Delgado, OF Cabera Weaver, SS Kelvin Maldonado.

Not officially but he will be signing.

Who is coming to FutureSox Night on Wednesday? You have 4 days to get tickets. It will be a great time. I'm setting up a tailgate around 4pm for those that will be around early. Once again: your $58 ticket gets you an outfield seat to the game, pre-game patio party from 5:40-7:40 with unlimited food and beer. It's also $1 hot dog night inside the park that night as well. Come out and join us!

Seems as if 16th rd catcher Tyrus Greene signing as well

Jason Bilous is signing as well: https://www.wdel.com/sports/caravel-alum-bilous-ready-to-build-his-pro-baseball-career/article_00e2c856-6a09-11e8-a390-e77eb7ea4e95.html

He has a Sox logo in his picture so he's signing as well. Curious to see the $$ on that one.

Sowers is signing S

I would imagine he is. They've signed their top 15 picks since 2012 and I'm expecting everyone to sign this year as well. They had to save somewhere.

His game reminds me of Nick Swisher kind of.

Hostetler loves Walker's wood bat success. He can really, really hit. They also think he's a 60 runner that can stay in CF. I'm not sure I agree with that but with mid first round grades on him he was a no brainer for their staff at #46. Time will tell if they're right.

I disagree. Cease has better stuff for sure but Dunning is very safely a mid-rotation starter and he's at AA already. Cease still has tons of reliever risk in my mind, has never thrown a full season of innings and is at High A. I would have Dunning ahead of him and the majority of publications agree with that as well.

Basabe? He's a top 12ish prospect in a top 3 system in the game. There is no chance in hell the Sox are getting a guy like that for Shields.

His contract is like $5 million by that point. They could get $2.5 million paid for and possibly a couple of flyers in A ball. Still worth it though.

You might be able to attach a reliever with a guy like Shields for a team like Milwaukee. Avilan, Soria, and Rondon have all been good and I think Jones still gets moved if he starts to pitch a bit better. I think in a deal with the Brewers you could target a guy like SS Jean Carmona. Former international signing that is #15 in the system. You could even take something like 18 year old OF Je'Von Ward. Those are moves you need to make. Try and get some younger guys for Rookie ball with tools. I expect Shields to be moved. I think Hahn will trade whatever relievers have value as well. I thought Nate Jones would possibly bring back a top 100 guy at the deadline. There's still time but he has a 4.61 FIP, is only striking out 9.82/9 and is walking too many guys. He is 32 years old though and they may deal him due to his extensive injury history regardless. Luis Avilan has value. He makes barely any money and has another year left on his deal. He has a 2.77 FIP with a 1.99 FIP vs LHH. He's also striking out 10/9. Joakim Soria has been quietly solid as well. 10.38 K/9, 2.70 FIP. I personally think all of those guys get moved. Bruce Rondon is a bit of a different story. He has put up a 1.97 FIP and 12 K/9. Has been one of the 25 best relievers in the sport. He's 27 with two years reamaining on his deal. Hahn would absolutely trade him after doing similar with Tommy Kahnle last year but I'm not sure if what he'd bring back would be worth getting rid of him. On the position player side, Jose Abreu is obviously the big chip. I still don't think they move him. I'm sure they'd trade Avisail Garcia or Leury Garcia at this point but those guys value isn't very high at the moment. I'm curious to see what the front office ends up doing.