A Star is Born

[Panerista]

You can argue the Sale trade feels a player light, but we arguably got back the highest ceiling positional & pitching prospects in baseball. If even one of these two works out, the trade is an anbsolute win for us because we were not going to be able to put a winner around Sale before we lost him to free agency. If both work out, wow is all I have to say.

 

Ultimately the Sox got what they needed to make a no regrets deal and took it. The move was made 100% on merit with the intention of kicking the rebuild off right and had nothing to do with behavioral issues. The notion that the front office RF aded Sale & Eaton for such reasons and only then decided to rebuild is some the bats*** craziest nonsense I have ever heard.

Not to mention they basically gave us the $35M. Moncada is cheap when he's really an expensive asset.

 

I'm surprised the board is not talking about Moncada as well. He is essentially the key piece to our rebuilding effort and he just had a superstar performance last night.

 

Even though wins do not matter moving forward in 2017, this game felt oddly significant and a glimpse into what our very bright future holds. Moncada has all the potential to become a star player for the White Sox.

I'm realistic about the fact we're better off losing, but if we win, it's best the young guys contribute with it.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Sox-35th

[steveno89]

Not to mention they basically gave us the $35M. Moncada is cheap when he's really an expensive asset.

 

 

I'm realistic about the fact we're better off losing, but if we win, it's best the young guys contribute with it.

 

A small part of the is also getting Sale's contract off the books. He's a great bargain still, but dealing him saved the Sox roughly $39.5 million

 

We have cleared tons of money off of our books, and even more will be freed after Shields' deal expires after 2018. We are in a great position financially.

[Kyyle23]

Moncadas follow through on his homerun last night was awesome. You could tell he knew he got it

[Panerista]

A small part of the is also getting Sale's contract off the books. He's a great bargain still, but dealing him saved the Sox roughly $39.5 million

 

We have cleared tons of money off of our books, and even more will be freed after Shields' deal expires after 2018. We are in a great position financially.

Right now, as a White Sox fan, the only concerns I have are with regards to the talent the White Sox draft. It's kind of nitpicky, but I would be a bit more comfortable if I knew any of the White Sox positional draft picks would pan out. Our farm system is so stacked it probably doesn't matter a lot and I haven't lost faith in Tim Anderson, but that's my only concern.

[Chicago White Sox]

Acquiring stars is the hardest part of a rebuild and perhaps the most vital part of it. If you can't sign/draft/develop stars, the length of the rebuild can expotentially increase. Relying solely on the draft is a dangerous game, because it's simply way too unpredictable. What Hahn has accomplished here is incredible. As of today, we have two positional guys that look like sure-fire stars in Moncada & Jimenez plus a third guy in Robert that might just join them. We have almost no long-term financial commitments and should be able to add at least one more positional star in free agency. That is an incredible foundation to build off of with even a system of average pitching talent. But we are absolutely loaded with high-end pitching. Kopech is obviously the key, but if he can develop into a legit ace, the rest of the staff should fall in place nicely with an array of TOR options. And this doesn't even factor in landing a potential star at #1 in next year's draft. Point is, blowing it up early before our core assets expired in value and landing guys like Moncada has taken away a ton of uncertainty and has potentially allowed us to complete a rebuild in record time.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Chicago White Sox

[Balta1701]

Moncadas follow through on his homerun last night was awesome. You could tell he knew he got it

[steveno89]

Right now, as a White Sox fan, the only concerns I have are with regards to the talent the White Sox draft. It's kind of nitpicky, but I would be a bit more comfortable if I knew any of the White Sox positional draft picks would pan out. Our farm system is so stacked it probably doesn't matter a lot and I haven't lost faith in Tim Anderson, but that's my only concern.

 

The draft and farm are vital aspects to the rebuild, but also cleaning up our books to have financial flexibility moving forward will be very important as we look to build a championship caliber roster.

 

I fully expect us to be active in free agency after 2018 to start plugging holes

[Bob Sacamano]

The draft and farm are vital aspects to the rebuild, but also cleaning up our books to have financial flexibility moving forward will be very important as we look to build a championship caliber roster.

 

I fully expect us to be active in free agency after 2018 to start plugging holes

 

The thing that sucks about that is, since some of our top prospect position players likely won't be up next year, you don't really know who is a "hole." And even if a guy or 2 do come up, a small cup of coffee at the MLB level isn't enough to know if a position is a hole or not.

[Rowand44]

The thing that sucks about that is, since some of our top prospect position players likely won't be up next year, you don't really know who is a "hole." And even if a guy or 2 do come up, a small cup of coffee at the MLB level isn't enough to know if a position is a hole or not.

The good news about that is we'll get a good long look at some of the non top tier guys to see if they might be something. Guys like Gillaspie, Cordell, Engel, Delmonico and maybe if Tilson comes back from the dead should all get some good ab's to see if they're actually something. Not to mention guys like Leury and Davidson will get to try and prove that they're useful on a contending team. We'll learn a lot about a lot of guys in 2018.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Rowand44

[Lip Man 1]

Not a lot of guys could handle a pitch like that on the outside corner and drive it the opposite way into the seats.

 

Very impressive.

[Bob Sacamano]

The good news about that is we'll get a good long look at some of the non top tier guys to see if they might be something. Guys like Gillaspie, Cordell, Engel, Delmonico and maybe if Tilson comes back from the dead should all get some good ab's to see if they're actually something. Not to mention guys like Leury and Davidson will get to try and prove that they're useful on a contending team. We'll learn a lot about a lot of guys in 2018.

 

I meant in the sense of signing a free agent to plug a hole.

[chitownsportsfan]

I have to admit I was worried after the first 10 games or so that he was going to have trouble gearing up for MLB fastballs. Let's just say, after he ripped a 99 and 95 mph fastball for the HR and walkoff last night those fears are greatly diminished.

 

Glad to see him pick himself back up after a tough stretch in the middle of the game as well when he struck out with RISP and dropped a surefire double play ball.

[caulfield12]

I have to admit I was worried after the first 10 games or so that he was going to have trouble gearing up for MLB fastballs. Let's just say, after he ripped a 99 and 95 mph fastball for the HR and walkoff last night those fears are greatly diminished.

 

Glad to see him pick himself back up after a tough stretch in the middle of the game as well when he struck out with RISP and dropped a surefire double play ball.

 

The last Martes hit showed 97 on the screen...and fairly effortlessly pulled.

Edited August 11, 2017 by caulfield12

[BlackSox13]

And still currently have the second pick. All is going according to plan.

 

Sidenote: how have the Giants played four more games than us?

Seriously man, all is going according to plan. Hahn laid this out last winter and we're now just beginning to see talent emerge. That rebuild has gone perfect so far, IMHO.

 

I'm surprised the board is not talking about Moncada as well. He is essentially the key piece to our rebuilding effort and he just had a superstar performance last night.

 

Even though wins do not matter moving forward in 2017, this game felt oddly significant and a glimpse into what our very bright future holds. Moncada has all the potential to become a star player for the White Sox.

Yeah, I don't get either. The future star of the White Sox just had his first huge night and the names Sale and Eaton come up. It's just plain dumb.

 

Just wait until the off season, when those who refuse to let go, start whining about Sale winning his first CY in a Boston uni. Forget the names of the future (Moncada/Kopech/Hansen/Jimenez/Burger/titsonbull) , because with the chronic whiners, it's all about what the Sox haven't done and not about what they are doing or the future. They still cling to their Hero's of old. I kinda like the hero, Yoan Moncada. He's pretty good.

[caulfield12]

Let's not forget Tatis, Jr., haha. (The one trade that's almost indefensible.)

 

At any rate, hopefully Burger can hold down 3b for a decade and we don't-won't have to rue losing Manny Machado Jr. for Juego Grande Shields.

 

Ironically enough, that position is soon bringing forth Donaldson, Machado and Arenado, three names most often bantered about in future FA discussions around here.

Edited August 11, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=0&sort=9,d

 

Moncada closing in on a 35% strikeout rate after today.

 

Going to be something to follow with Davidson, Yoan, Adam Engel, Tim Anderson, etc. Yoan still putting up overall positive defensive numbers and a 0.3 fwar. 704 ops.

[FT35]

I have to admit I was worried after the first 10 games or so that he was going to have trouble gearing up for MLB fastballs. Let's just say, after he ripped a 99 and 95 mph fastball for the HR and walkoff last night those fears are greatly diminished.

 

Glad to see him pick himself back up after a tough stretch in the middle of the game as well when he struck out with RISP and dropped a surefire double play ball.

 

Love your posts and certainly don't mean any offense by my thought and don't really aim this to entirely to you, but I always thought it was interesting how people could take such a small sample size out of such a long season on a player so young and let themselves make general assumptions about that player's success. During his development years, there were COUNTLESS 10 game periods (roughly 30 ab's) when Paulie couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if you held it still for him and he turned out to be a pretty decent fastball hitter. It's the story of slumps...some all-star caliber players stay in them for weeks. Some start their career with a long one. Maybe it's just because there have been so many "top prospects" to bust--people already sit high on the skepticism meter on new players. To me it takes 3-4 abysmal YEARS of being in and out of the lineup, up and down between MLB and MiLB for me to start wondering if someone just can't adjust to MLB pitching. In other words, the Gordon Beckham story! Even then, there's been too many cases where a player figures it out later to end up being able to contribute on an MLB team. 30 at bats though...10 games...whatever--that's tough! Mike Trout was 4 for his first 30 (.133) with 8k's. With us--Moncada was 4 for his first 30 (.133) with 11k's. Someone with Moncada's hype got hyped because he CAN turn gear up for MLB caliber pitching. Just because he hasn't done it in the MLB games doesn't mean he hasn't hit his fair shares of 99mph fastballs between pitching machines and facing some of the top talent in the game at the minor/international level. I'd be more concerned if he couldn't hit a change-up--but even then, I'd give him a few years before I assume he would perpetually struggle with them.

[SCCWS]

 

 

Another concern is whether he should continue as a switch hitter. That issue may resurface next spring training if he continues to struggle from the right. Certainly his defense has improved in one year so he may eventually solve the RH struggles he is having. The K% is skewed because of the high # from the right side.

[Jose Abreu]

Another concern is whether he should continue as a switch hitter. That issue may resurface next spring training if he continues to struggle from the right. Certainly his defense has improved in one year so he may eventually solve the RH struggles he is having. The K% is skewed because of the high # from the right side.

I'd be willing to bet that he'd be much better batting as a RH vs LHP than he would if he were batting as a LH- even if he's poor as a RHH.

[bmags]

I'd be willing to bet that he'd be much better batting as a RH vs LHP than he would if he were batting as a LH- even if he's poor as a RHH.

 

Yeah rarely have I seen the "drops switch hitting" lead to some big results.

[Jose Abreu]

Yeah rarely have I seen the "drops switch hitting" lead to some big results.

Especially when it's the right side that is being dropped.

[Rowand44]

His right side swing(at the moment) eerily reminds me of Jose Valentin's. He's also 22 and can obviously improve that a ton. We'll see.

[BaconOnAStick]

Yea I'm worried. He looks dreadful.

[Chicago White Sox]

Yea I'm worried. He looks dreadful.

Yup, he's a bust. Better hope Jimenez is the real deal or this rebuild is doomed.

[SCCWS]

Yup, he's a bust. Better hope Jimenez is the real deal or this rebuild is doomed.

 

Boston is very much the opposite of us. They promote positional players that usually contribute but their pitching prospects mostly struggle. I blamed Moncada's burp last year as no AAA time. But the players in his high prospect grouping, Benetendi( no AAA time) and Devers ( 9 days in AAA) have been strong contributors immediately despite AAA seasoning. Hopefully the sox see more RH pitching to boost the kid's morale.