Minor League Assignments

[SoxAce]

Willing to bet they're working on something with Dunning. I wouldn't get worked up with him starting there. I doubt he'll be there long anyways.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

On the latest White Sox Talk podcast, they said Dunning is going to start in AA.

[Chicago White Sox]

On the latest White Sox Talk podcast, they said Dunning is going to start in AA.

I don’t know, I’d probably trust Getz over Chuck but that’s just me

[BlackSox13]

For some reason I was thinking Dunning would start in AA and Stephens in AAA. Oh well, trust the Sox know what they're doing with their pitchers

[The Beast]

What’s the latest on Alec Hansen?

[Chicago White Sox]

For some reason I was thinking Dunning would start in AA and Stephens in AAA. Oh well, trust the Sox know what they're doing with their pitchers

I’m assuming those moves will happen fairly quickly. As I mentioned in another thread, Dunning made 22 high A starts last year. Overall he was good enough to probably jump to AA. Stephens was pretty good across 16 AA starts last year and turns 26 this September. The clock is somewhat ticking on him. I fully expect within four to six weeks two of Stephens/Guerrero/Adams moving up and making room for Hansen & Dunning. Seems like the Sox may be trying to give those three guys a little bit of time with Collins & Zavala.

[buntforahit]

I’m guessing we see something like for WS:

 

Dunning

Cease

Flores

Martinez

Solorzano

 

My guess is Lambert grabs a spot when Dunning moves up.

I see a WS rotation of Dunning, Lambert, Cease, Flores and Puckett. Love that rotation!

Where's Sheets going to start?

[Chicago White Sox]

I see a WS rotation of Dunning, Lambert, Cease, Flores and Puckett. Love that rotation!

Where's Sheets going to start?

The problem is we know Puckett is in the AA rotation per Getz.

 

Dunning, Cease, & Flores are locks for the Dash’s rotation. I think Martinez has the next best case for a spot. That leaves one opening for Lambert, Solorzano, Hickman, or Davis. I was probably wrong to assume Solorzano gets that spot as he was dreadful in 2017 and should probably repeat in Kannapolis. Honestly I have no idea which of those other guys get the spot although Lambert is probably the safest guess.

[buntforahit]

The problem is we know Puckett is in the AA rotation per Getz.

 

Dunning, Cease, & Flores are locks for the Dash’s rotation. I think Martinez has the next best case for a spot. That leaves one opening for Lambert, Solorzano, Hickman, or Davis. I was probably wrong to assume Solorzano gets that spot as he was dreadful in 2017 and should probably repeat in Kannapolis. Honestly I have no idea which of those other guys get the spot although Lambert is probably the safest guess.

 

I've heard from people that are in AZ that Puckett is in the WS camp. And IMO Lambert has more upside the Martinez.

Sheets?

[ChiSoxJon]

So apparently there was a conference call yesterday with Chris Getz and FutureSox tweeted out some of the news:

 

AAA: Kopech will obviously be in this rotation. No other big prospects in this rotation to start the season (see AA comments).

 

AA: Stephens, Adams, Guerrero, Puckett, & Clarkin will start the season in the rotation. Hansen will join the staff once he finishes his throwing program (timing TBD). Jimenez, Collins, & Zavala will be there on the positional side.

 

A+: Dunning will start 2018 in this rotation. The OF to start the season will be Rutherford, Basabe, Call, & Booker. Robert will start start his season here when healthy and be the primary CF.

 

Extended: Curbelo will start 2018 here to get regular at-bats.

Hopefully Kopech is up by July

 

Stephens, Adams, and Guerrero should really be in AAA, borderline ridiculous...hopefully move quick, Hansen may be a September call-up

 

Dunning is likely in W/S for two months tops, but that OF is crowded...I see Rutherford needing a demotion to KAN, Basabe clicking, Call hopefully clicking and moving up to AA somewhat fast, Booker maybe up to AA by July, and Robert in AAA by the end of the year...Forget when Adolfo can field again but he'll be there too

 

Hopefully Curbelo rakes upon return with KAN, real talent

[Lillian]

Rutherford couldn't have looked worse in the games I saw him this spring

 

I agree. He looks very gawky and awkward. He certainly doesn't seem very athletic. He reminds me of a youngster, who hasn't quite "grown" into his body. I'm no scout, but he certainly hasn't impressed me. I thought the same thing, watching videos of his high school days, before the 2016 draft. What do you suppose the scouts see in him?

[caulfield12]

Hopefully Kopech is up by July

 

Stephens, Adams, and Guerrero should really be in AAA, borderline ridiculous...hopefully move quick, Hansen may be a September call-up

 

Dunning is likely in W/S for two months tops, but that OF is crowded...I see Rutherford needing a demotion to KAN, Basabe clicking, Call hopefully clicking and moving up to AA somewhat fast, Booker maybe up to AA by July, and Robert in AAA by the end of the year...Forget when Adolfo can field again but he'll be there too

 

Hopefully Curbelo rakes upon return with KAN, real talent

 

Thats very aggressive with Robert missing two full months...probably AA at end of he year, then AFL.

[ChiSoxJon]

Thats very aggressive with Robert missing two full months...probably AA at end of he year, then AFL.

Sounds more probable but I'm not ruling anything out

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Have we seen who is going to be the opening day starter yet for Charlotte? I can't find this info anywhere, which seems strange considering the game is tomorrow...

[Chicago White Sox]

Looks like the rosters have finally been set:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2P...amp;single=true

 

No real surprises for Kannapolis. Was hoping there would be at least one younger positional to crack full season ball.

[Chicago White Sox]

Also, the lack of LatAm talent hitting full season ball is really discouraging. Carlos Perez is the only prospect of note on Kannapolis’ roster and he’s pretty fringey IMO. I know a lot people here give Paddy the benefit of the doubt given what he started with, but I find these results to be unacceptable. Whether it’s a scouting or development problem is up for debate, but all our LatAm signings shouldn’t be burning out in rookie ball. Something has to change here or we’re going to go back to a bottom 10 farm system as soon as our top guys graduate.

[harfman77]

Also, the lack of LatAm talent hitting full season ball is really discouraging. Carlos Perez is the only prospect of note on Kannapolis’ roster and he’s pretty fringey IMO. I know a lot people here give Paddy the benefit of the doubt given what he started with, but I find these results to be unacceptable. Whether it’s a scouting or development problem is up for debate, but all our LatAm signings shouldn’t be burning out in rookie ball. Something has to change here or we’re going to go back to a bottom 10 farm system as soon as our top guys graduate.

 

They are coming along, the farm system is deeper than it has been in nearly 30 years which holds some of the guys back that would be making it into full season ball in years prior. Nunez and Reyes have upside at GF and there are a litany of guys on the AZL roster that have a fairly good ceiling. They did well identifying Tatis, who is now a top ten prospect and Adolfo is starting to click and he took the lions share of the Sox pool in the year he was signed.

 

The problem with LatAm talent is that it is so volatile, players that sign for millions of dollars don't make it through AA, and players that sign for $30K can end up as all-stars. I think patience is warranted on that end as some of those guys will still have a chance to shoot up the charts and make an impact in the next few years.

[harfman77]

Man, there are a lot of OF's in AA and high A and only so many spots for them to play once everyone is healthy. I wonder if you might see RH start buying some pieces or trying to trade for some draft picks to clear up some of the logjam. Limited AB's will hurt all of their developments, so its better to pare down then to have the most loaded OF in A+.

[Chicago White Sox]

They are coming along, the farm system is deeper than it has been in nearly 30 years which holds some of the guys back that would be making it into full season ball in years prior. Nunez and Reyes have upside at GF and there are a litany of guys on the AZL roster that have a fairly good ceiling. They did well identifying Tatis, who is now a top ten prospect and Adolfo is starting to click and he took the lions share of the Sox pool in the year he was signed.

 

The problem with LatAm talent is that it is so volatile, players that sign for millions of dollars don't make it through AA, and players that sign for $30K can end up as all-stars. I think patience is warranted on that end as some of those guys will still have a chance to shoot up the charts and make an impact in the next few years.

I don’t disagree with you from a conceptual standpoint, but our guys are burning out in rookie ball. Look at the every other organization and tell me how many only have three LatAm signings in their top 30? I get we identified Tatis, but we should still see a handful of guys each year hitting full season ball. If those guys burn out in A ball like Johan Cruz, Antonio Rodriguez, & Luis Martinez I’d actually consider that to be progress. But guys like Amado Nunez can’t get over the Great Falls hump and that’s a real issue. At some point we should just get lucky and see a few guys come out of nowhere & make the jump to Kannapolis as it’s simply a numbers game and for the most part we’ve fairly active in recent years. Maybe these past couple signing classes are a sign of things to come, but right now I view our LatAm program under Paddy being a pretty big failure.

[Chicago White Sox]

Man, there are a lot of OF's in AA and high A and only so many spots for them to play once everyone is healthy. I wonder if you might see RH start buying some pieces or trying to trade for some draft picks to clear up some of the logjam. Limited AB's will hurt all of their developments, so its better to pare down then to have the most loaded OF in A+.

I don’t see much of a jam at AA. Hawkins & Robbins don’t warrant regular playing time, so the everyday OF should be Fisher, Polo, & Jimenez. High A is stacked, but Robert will miss the first month or so & Adolfo is DHing, so that leaves Rutherford, Basabe, & Call as your regulars & Booker as your 4th OF. Will be interesting to see what happens when Robert comes back and Gonzalez forces a promotion. My guess is we’ll see a chain reaction where Basabe & Call get pushed up to AA and Polo & eventually Jimenez get pushed up to AAA.

[bmags]

I'm mainly surprised that Destino is not in Kanny. It's nice that Villa finally gets a shot out of GF but disappointed one of Reyes/Zangari still are where they are.