steveno89

I'm very much on board with selecting Madrigal. Even knocking his MLB.com grades down a little still results in a solid player: Scouting grades: Hit: 65 | Power: 40 | Run: 60 | Arm: 50 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55 MLB.com He's small, but if Ozzie Albies can start hitting for power I'm sure Madrigal can as well. I think he is the Sox guy at #4, especially if the Giants and Phillies aren't in on him.

Sox apparently have narrowed the selection for #4 overall to seven players. Likely: Mize, Bart, Bohm, Singer, India, Madrigal, Swaggerty? Mize is gone, but the rest of the draft is far less certain. India is interesting, although the lack of a true plus tool and track record is somewhat concerning. Madrigal seems to have the highest floor.

That is my current preferred order as well. Bohm is just such a big guy that I worry about his ability to stick at 3B longterm. I see him shifting to 1B eventually at 6'5", 240 lbs. Madrigal seems like the safest bet to hit at the mlb level. If he can develop a little more pop I think he could be a solid all around player up the middle. His stats and size remind of Dustin Pedroia with less pop.

The obvious issue with India is the lack of track record. He was nowhere near this good in his freshman or sophomore season, and then largely came out of nowhere in 2018. How much of this is reality vs. him having a "Career" year? I'm ok with Madrigal/India/Bohm being the guy for us.

High school arms are just so risky at the top of the first round, I don't necessarily blame them for passing in favor of college talent. See Tyler Kolek as a recent disaster example.

I like Liberatore, but I think the Sox almost certainly go with a college player that will be quicker to the major leagues at #4 overall. Mize is the only sure player that should be off the board as of right now. I'd be good with Singer/Madrigal/Bohm

I think Singer or Madrigal would be solid selections given the lack of true blue chip talent at the top of the draft. Both are players that could rise through the minors fairly quickly and contribute at the mlb level.

I cringe every time I see that name

What would we even be willing to surrender to trade for Matt Harvey hypothetically? He was pretty brutal this season.

Meh on Montes de Oca. Injuries and control issues have his stock down considerably. I'd like to see the White Sox end up with Singer or Madrigal at #4

I'm not even sure how abandoning the rebuild would be an option at this point considering how far in we are? 2018 and 2019 are likely pretty grim seasons, but it allows us to fully stock up the farm system for the next 4-8 seasons if done right.

I think Sox fans are much more on board with the current rebuild and direction than if we were a mediocre team with a thin farm system. We get to add another high upside prospect at #4 overall to the system in June as well, likely a college player that could be up in 2-3 years. Patience is going to be key, but this team will look very different by 2020.

Cleveland is the class of the central right now, but I'm not sure about 2-3 years down the line. Lindor is due to receive substantial raises through arbitration the next three seasons, and recently rejected a $100 million contract extension. Kluber is signed for reasonable money. Detroit is lacking young position player talent, as are the Royals. I think the Sox will have a solid shot at the division in the next 2-5 years.

Was reading an article recently about "Should the Rockies made a trade for Jose Abreu" and got to thinking what an acceptable deal for each side could look like. Rodgers is very likely to be off limits, but I could see a deal being worked around Colton Welker + Peter Lambert for Abreu making sense. Again, no clue if either side would be interested, but it seems fair from a value standpoint.

India is likely playing himself into the top 10 picks for sure at this point, maybe even higher?

He has had a quality season, no doubt. I wonder how much his age will count against him though, as 23 is considerably old for a prospect to just be entering the minors. I wouldn't use a first or second round pick on him given the age.

What about Liberatore at #4? I know we all seem to think the Sox want to go with a college bat (and they likely do), but Liberatore seems to be a high upside HS lefty that could develop three plus pitches with average or better control.

Agreed^ If India finishes the season strong, he could go top 5 anyways. I'm sure the Sox are scouting him.

Tigers have actually done what they could to shed big contracts and gain prospect depth. They didn't have the assets the Sox had to jump start the rebuild, but they are in better shape than the Royals and Orioles I'd say.

It's natural for fans to vent a bit when the on field product is garbage. This is all very much expected though. 2018 was always going to be a painful rebuilding year, and 2019 might be as well.

The Royals and Orioles are in much much worse shape than the White Sox are. The Royals at least have a ton of draft picks this season to help aid their rebuild, but zero impact talent in their farm as of right now. The Orioles might be in the worst shape of any mlb team, as Machado is going to bolt in free agency and the Yankees and Red Sox look stacked moving forward. Both franchises are headed for a rough 5 years

The lack of information on Hansen reminds us all of Rodon. I get wanting to be careful with a top prospect, but no information in this case is scary.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that this team is struggling big time right now. Hahn said this season could easily be the most painful of the rebuild, and we basically did nothing to improve the mlb roster in the offseason (by design). We should be headed to another top 5 overall draft pick, and I don't necessarily view that as a bad thing. Our rotation is a disaster right now, but we need to stay the course until younger arms prove themselves ready.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2018 -> 12:11 PM) Why would Hansen working out with Rodon be a bad thing? Hell, if they were rehabbing together, I think that would be wonderful. Who better to mentor Hansen than a professional pitcher with a ceiling like that? If Hansen is not throwing minor league innings by June 1st I would be concerned. As of right now we all can be patient.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 17, 2018 -> 11:02 PM) Always better to wait at least 54-60 games to make ANY early assessments (Hawkism). Except for Engel, perhaps...and Gonzalez might need to switch with Santiago/Volstad or be released outright if he keeps this up. That said, they probably don't want to throw Danish, Beck, Volstad or Guerrero/Stephens into the starting mix just yet. Agreed, have to give the season 60 games before we will have a grasp on performance. That being said, Gonzalez looked awful last night.