The Glut in the Infield

[ron883]

What do you think the sox should do? They have 4 guys in AAA that may be MLB players. Saladino, Sanchez, Semien, and Johnson. They have a solid infield on the major league roster as it. I still stand by trading Alexei. None of these guys were huge ceiling guys, but they have performed very well in the minors. I'm not sure the trade value they would command.

Edited June 6, 2014 by ron883

[Andy the Clown]

What do you think the sox should do? They have 4 guys in AAA that may be MLB players. Saladino, Sanchez, Semien, and Johnson. They have a solid infield on the major league roster as it. I still stand by trading Alexei. None of these guys were huge ceiling guys, but they have performed very well in the minors. I'm not sure the trade value they would command.

 

Saladino is organizational depth -- not worth worrying about.

[caulfield12]

Just out of curiosity, did anyone have Saladino on their pre-season Top 15-20 list? 25?

 

I definitely don't remember his name being inside the Top 15 or so.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2014 by caulfield12

[Señor Ding-Dong]

Saladino is organizational depth -- not worth worrying about.

Organizational depth? Ha, that's pretty funny. I mean, if anything we're too deep at MI and the premise of this thread is what should we do with said excess depth.

 

Saladino is 24, tearing it up in AAA, and has positional versatility with his recent move to the OF.

 

The fact that he's been playing SS over Carlos Sanchez (who most highly of) has to stand for something. Add that on top of what he's doing with the bat and you can't just write him off as "organizational depth." It's not like he's 28 and at AA.

 

The notion that anyone not in the consensus top 25 is merely organizational depth and should be ignored is annoying.

[Chicago White Sox]

I'm not buying into the Saladino hype. Maybe if he keeps this up all year I'll reconsider, but until then he's a fringe reserve infielder prospect IMO.

 

Semien, Johnson, & Sanchez all may be legit to varying degrees. I think Beckham is pretty much a guarantee to be moved by next offseason and more likely by this deadline IMO. That opens up one spot in the lineup for Semien or Johnson. The real question is what they do with Alexei. If we keep him, the only way we're getting two of these guys' bats into the lineup is moving someone to the outfield, most likely Micah Johnson. I think Carlos Sanchez is the odd man out and will be traded in the next 9 months.

 

This is going to be an interesting deadline for us, because we have several pieces that should probably be moved, but with how the team is playing right now, a White Flag 2.0 is going to be a hard sell to the fans. Also, I don't think we should under estimate the addition of Rodon, who can be a member of our rotation as early as next year. With him in the fold, there is little doubt in my mind the Sox will active in free agency next offseason. I would argue having some momentum heading into the offseason would be beneficial when courting big name free agents and doing another White Flag isn't going to help in that regard. I could honestly see the Sox hold some of their trading chips and attempt to go on a run here. I don't see them being buyers by any means, but Hahn may feel a long-shot playoff run is more beneficial to the organization than the prospects we'd get back for guys like Dunn & Belisario.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Chicago White Sox

[beautox]

I'm not buying into the Saladino hype. Maybe if he keeps this up all year I'll reconsider, but until then he's a fringe reserve infielder prospect IMO.

 

Semien, Johnson, & Sanchez all may be legit to varying degrees. I think Beckham is pretty much a guarantee to be moved by next offseason and more likely by this deadline IMO. That opens up one spot in the lineup for Semien or Johnson. The real question is what they do with Alexei. If we keep him, the only way we're getting two of these guys' bats into the lineup is moving someone to the outfield, most likely Micah Johnson. I think Carlos Sanchez is the odd man out and will be traded in the next 9 months.

 

This is going to be an interesting deadline for us, because we have several pieces that should probably be moved, but with how the team is playing right now, a White Flag 2.0 is going to be a hard sell to the fans. Also, I don't think we should under estimate the addition of Rodon, who can be a member of our rotation as early as next year. With him in the fold, there is little doubt in my mind the Sox will active in free agency next offseason. I would argue having some momentum heading into the offseason would be beneficial when courting big name free agents and doing another White Flag isn't going to help in that regard. I could honestly see the Sox hold some of their trading chips and attempt to go on a run here. I don't see them being buyers by any means, but Hahn may feel a long-shot playoff run is more beneficial to the organization than the prospects we'd get back for guys like Dunn & Belisario.

 

I'll reluctantly buy into the hype of Saladino out of most likely to stick at SS it would be Saladino, Sanchez then Semien in my opinion. He is age appropriate for AAA and he has always had enough tools to be dangerous.

 

For the notion of a "white flag 2.0", I don't buy that and I don't think the fan base would buy that either. Hahn set the expectation that this was going to be a rebuilding year and we would be foolish to hold assets(Ramirez, Beckham, Dunn, Belisario) that would be better served bolstering our minor league rosters with depth and major league ready prospects then be in the hunt for a potential wildcard spot where we could go one and out.

 

I'm sure Hahn will be very active on the offseason as we will need another OF ideally CF or RF and move Garcia to LF.

 

[cabiness42]

What do you think the sox should do? They have 4 guys in AAA that may be MLB players. Saladino, Sanchez, Semien, and Johnson. They have a solid infield on the major league roster as it. I still stand by trading Alexei. None of these guys were huge ceiling guys, but they have performed very well in the minors. I'm not sure the trade value they would command.

 

1) Determine which guy you think is most likely to be a major league SS and play him at SS

 

2) Of the guys left, determine which guy you think is most likely to be a major league 2B and play him at 2B

 

3) Of the guys left, determine which guy you think is most likely to be a major league 3B and play him at 3B

 

Leftover guys can DH or OF.

 

[TheFutureIsNear]

Ehh we should probably make sure these guys can actually play before we call it a "glutten". I don't like any of their bats enough for them to stick at either SS or 3B honestly. At least not on a team with world series aspirations. I think both Semien and Johnson will both be at least serviceable MLB 2b, but the rest are depth/UTL guys.

 

[southsider2k5]

Glutten? Well we know it isn't Alexei.

[Goober]

glut

[VAfan]

I'll reluctantly buy into the hype of Saladino out of most likely to stick at SS it would be Saladino, Sanchez then Semien in my opinion. He is age appropriate for AAA and he has always had enough tools to be dangerous.

 

For the notion of a "white flag 2.0", I don't buy that and I don't think the fan base would buy that either. Hahn set the expectation that this was going to be a rebuilding year and we would be foolish to hold assets(Ramirez, Beckham, Dunn, Belisario) that would be better served bolstering our minor league rosters with depth and major league ready prospects then be in the hunt for a potential wildcard spot where we could go one and out.

 

I'm sure Hahn will be very active on the offseason as we will need another OF ideally CF or RF and move Garcia to LF.

 

 

I don't see the Sox trading producing MLB players who are priced appropriately to "bolster our minor league rosters with depth." That makes no sense. And so far, it's not what Hahn has done.

 

The only guy who might fit that bill is the Matt Davidson trade, but I think he only did that deal because he thought Davidson had a shot to make the club this year.

[beautox]

I don't see the Sox trading producing MLB players who are priced appropriately to "bolster our minor league rosters with depth." That makes no sense. And so far, it's not what Hahn has done.

 

The only guy who might fit that bill is the Matt Davidson trade, but I think he only did that deal because he thought Davidson had a shot to make the club this year.

I did also say Major League ready prospects

[BlackSox13]

I'll reluctantly buy into the hype of Saladino out of most likely to stick at SS it would be Saladino, Sanchez then Semien in my opinion. He is age appropriate for AAA and he has always had enough tools to be dangerous.

 

For the notion of a "white flag 2.0", I don't buy that and I don't think the fan base would buy that either. Hahn set the expectation that this was going to be a rebuilding year and we would be foolish to hold assets(Ramirez, Beckham, Dunn, Belisario) that would be better served bolstering our minor league rosters with depth and major league ready prospects then be in the hunt for a potential wildcard spot where we could go one and out.

 

I'm sure Hahn will be very active on the offseason as we will need another OF ideally CF or RF and move Garcia to LF.

How about this. Move Micah to CF in Charlotte, when Avi comes back his new position will be LF with Eaton and his strong arm going to RF. See how Micah plays out the rest of the season, if it turns out Micah doesn't fit the mold then we trade for a CF this winter.

 

[Marty34]

If Rodon lives up to expectations as a top-of-the-rotation starter the Sox will have tremendous flexibility going forward. I'm in the camp that you never have enough (starting) pitching, especially at the Cell, so I would look to add a frontline starter via free agency.

 

Figuring out the the middle of the diamond is the next step. I think a Semien, Sanchez, and Johnson at 2B, SS, and CF is an intriguing alignment, but they'd have to upgrade the power at third.

[ron883]

If Rodon lives up to expectations as a top-of-the-rotation starter the Sox will have tremendous flexibility going forward. I'm in the camp that you never have enough (starting) pitching, especially at the Cell, so I would look to add a frontline starter via free agency.

 

Figuring out the the middle of the diamond is the next step. I think a Semien, Sanchez, and Johnson at 2B, SS, and CF is an intriguing alignment, but they'd have to upgrade the power at third.

Why "especially at the cell"? Can't you make the same argument for hitting?

Edited June 6, 2014 by ron883

[Balta1701]

My POV on this is that it will all work itself out in the end, just do the best we can to play all of the guys.

 

Even guys who are looking really solid at AAA probably have a 50% bust rate at the MLB level. Given enough time over the next season or two, the guys who are going to stick at the bigs will do so and the guys who can't cut it will get a couple chances at Charlotte to find a groove and fill in when there's an injury or a backup slot open.

 

Working Saladino and Semien in the OF is a good move, working Sanchez at SS is a good move, but IMO eventually this glut is a problem that will solve itself. If we're lucky, there are 2 big league starters out of those 4 guys.

[Marty34]

Why "especially at the cell"? Can't you make the same argument for hitting?

 

I think the Cell is as tough on a pitching staff in the summer as Texas and Yankee Stadium and I don't believe there is such a thing as too much pitching. If some offense has to get sacrificed in the process of putting together the best starting rotation in the league I can live with that.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Marty34

[Andy the Clown]

Organizational depth? Ha, that's pretty funny. I mean, if anything we're too deep at MI and the premise of this thread is what should we do with said excess depth.

 

Saladino is 24, tearing it up in AAA, and has positional versatility with his recent move to the OF.

 

The fact that he's been playing SS over Carlos Sanchez (who most highly of) has to stand for something. Add that on top of what he's doing with the bat and you can't just write him off as "organizational depth." It's not like he's 28 and at AA.

 

The notion that anyone not in the consensus top 25 is merely organizational depth and should be ignored is annoying.

 

The notion that a player's past performance means nothing in his evaluation is more annoying.

[caulfield12]

How about this. Move Micah to CF in Charlotte, when Avi comes back his new position will be LF with Eaton and his strong arm going to RF. See how Micah plays out the rest of the season, if it turns out Micah doesn't fit the mold then we trade for a CF this winter.

 

 

Eaton needs to be much better than a 625-ish OPS player just to hold down CF, let alone a corner spot.

 

He has a pretty strong arm for CF, but, at best, it's erratic and a slight improvement on Rowand...but not of the caliber to play RF.

[Marty34]

I'm having a difficult time seeing Eaton in the team's future plans. He's not a natural CF'er and he isn't getting on base enough to make up for it. If they replace Ramirez with Sanchez they are going to need more production out of the OF.

[brian310]

I personally do not want to see an OF with both Eaton and M. Johnson. I think for sure, 2 of Davidson, Gillaspie, Semien, Sanchez, Johnson, Beckham, Ramirez are dealt by next season. If we fall out of contention by say mid-July, it's very possible that we deal either Beckham or Ramirez. Maybe when Polanco comes up for the Pirates, he can light a spark under the rest of the team and have them play into contention causing them to want to make a deal to improve a weak position (shortstop). I don't really see many current contending teams that need a shortstop.

 

Edit: also, with possibly having 4 lefties in the rotation next season, maybe we can package Danks and an infielder somewhere in the off-season (I remember reading a few weeks back that AA said that if he was to upgrade Toronto, it would be with a SP or 2B)

Edited June 7, 2014 by chisoxfan310

[Marty34]

I personally do not want to see an OF with both Eaton and M. Johnson. I think for sure, 2 of Davidson, Gillaspie, Semien, Sanchez, Johnson, Beckham, Ramirez are dealt by next season. If we fall out of contention by say mid-July, it's very possible that we deal either Beckham or Ramirez. Maybe when Polanco comes up for the Pirates, he can light a spark under the rest of the team and have them play into contention causing them to want to make a deal to improve a weak position (shortstop). I don't really see many current contending teams that need a shortstop.

 

Edit: also, with possibly having 4 lefties in the rotation next season, maybe we can package Danks and an infielder somewhere in the off-season (I remember reading a few weeks back that AA said that if he was to upgrade Toronto, it would be with a SP or 2B)

 

The keys for me are SS and CF. If Sanchez can handle SS and get on base at a good rate, they are going to need more power out of CF or 3B. Do they take a chance on Rasmus for CF or Headly for third? BTW, Viciedo's time with the Sox should just about be up.

 

Trade chips would be Ramirez, Gillaspie, Beckham, Viciedo, and De Aza.

[caulfield12]

Now Viciedo is having his first prolonged slump of the season and we're going to dump him...?

 

And replace him with? Sierra and DeAza? Should they also plan on replacing Eaton? And Garcia being a DH?

 

They have to let this season play out. After being completely terrible the last 2-3 weeks, Viciedo's still in the vicinity of a 730 OPS LFer (which is above or right around MLB average for the position)...granted, that still makes him below average if you count his defense, but no team's going to overpay for him at the moment.

 

By this line of argument, we should also try trading Davidson and Erik Johnson, too.

Edited June 7, 2014 by caulfield12

[brian310]

I personally do not want to see the Sox sign Rasmus.

[elrockinMT]

I fail to see the infield "glut" that was referred to