10 questions going into Spring Training

[VAfan]

As we approach Spring Training, a lot of things are set for the Sox.

 

We know our top 3 starting pitchers. Eaton, Cabrera, Abreu, LaRoche, Garcia, Gillaspie, Ramirez, and Flowers are all pretty set as starters. Robertson is our closer. Duke and Jennings have strengthened our bullpen. Bonafacio is making the team in some capacity.

 

So what hasn't been answered? Here are 10 questions that need to be answered.

 

1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him?

 

2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras?

 

3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.)

 

4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts?

 

5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche?

 

6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount).

 

7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Duke?

 

8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings.

 

9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year?

 

10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015?

 

Answer all 10, or pick and choose which ones you like, or add some others.

 

Should be an interesting season!

Edited February 14, 2015 by VAfan

[caulfield12]

As we approach Spring Training, a lot of things are set for the Sox.

 

We know our top 3 starting pitchers. Eaton, Cabrera, Abreu, LaRoche, Garcia, Gillaspie, Ramirez, and Flowers are all pretty set as starters. Robertson is our closer. Wells and Jennings have strengthened our bullpen. Bonafacio is making the team in some capacity.

 

So what hasn't been answered? Here are 10 questions that need to be answered.

 

1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him?

 

2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras?

 

3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.)

 

4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts?

 

5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche?

 

6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount).

 

7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Wells?

 

8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings.

 

9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year?

 

10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015?

 

Answer all 10, or pick and choose which ones you like, or add some others.

 

Should be an interesting season!

 

 

As for #7, I think you meant Duke?

 

 

Robertson

Duke

Petricka

Putnam

Guerra

 

Then there's obviously a whole ton of uncertainty. Webb, maybe, if he's not sent back to Charlotte. Jennings, as a 2nd lefty. Sanburn. Beck. Cleto. Do they want a long man? Would they push Montas onto the roster as a reliever if he completely dominated in spring training? Surkamp is unlikely. Erik Johnson, although he probably belongs in Charlotte...could be the long man, though.

 

Crain and Nate Jones...will they be the trade deadline "acquisitions" when/if they return? Or is that way too optimistic?

 

 

 

As for the LaRoche issue, that probably won't be resolved until the end of ST (along with the 4th outfielder). Right now, it's Shuck and Taylor, but that's not very reassuring. A number of names have been suggested (Padres' depth, Tabata, etc.) Will have to be patient there.

 

Another big question is who's the next starter if/when there's an injury or if Noesi falters? There's basically zero depth. Some of the names I mentioned above. It all depends on Rodon's progress. Names like Johnson, Carroll and Rienzo bring back too many unpleasant memories of 2014. Montas, Danish and Beck will be monitored closely. The biggest issue would be an early issue...and either blowing a service year of Rodon by bringing him up too fast OR running the risk of the back of the rotation pulling the team down in April/May.

[Kyyle23]

As we approach Spring Training, a lot of things are set for the Sox.

 

We know our top 3 starting pitchers. Eaton, Cabrera, Abreu, LaRoche, Garcia, Gillaspie, Ramirez, and Flowers are all pretty set as starters. Robertson is our closer. Wells and Jennings have strengthened our bullpen. Bonafacio is making the team in some capacity.

 

So what hasn't been answered? Here are 10 questions that need to be answered.

 

1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him?

 

2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras?

 

3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.)

 

4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts?

 

5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche?

 

6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount).

 

7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Wells?

 

8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings.

 

9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year?

 

10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015?

 

Answer all 10, or pick and choose which ones you like, or add some others.

 

Should be an interesting season!

 

Isn't Nate going to be rehabbing for the first half of the season? I thought he wasn't to be expected until June at the earliest because of his TJ surgery

 

[hogan873]

As we approach Spring Training, a lot of things are set for the Sox.

 

We know our top 3 starting pitchers. Eaton, Cabrera, Abreu, LaRoche, Garcia, Gillaspie, Ramirez, and Flowers are all pretty set as starters. Robertson is our closer. Wells and Jennings have strengthened our bullpen. Bonafacio is making the team in some capacity.

 

So what hasn't been answered? Here are 10 questions that need to be answered.

 

1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him? Gordon Beckham

 

2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras? Kottaras

 

3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.) Crain, yes. Jones, yes but later in the season

 

4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts? Start in AAA, come up in June as a starter

 

5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche? ?

 

6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount). Shuck or maybe Taylor

 

7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Wells?

 

8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings. Eaton will get hurt at least once, Garcia will be healthy all season, Abreu will rest a little more and stay healthy, Sale will stay healthy

 

9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year? Davidson will have a much better year and will be a September call-up, Johnson has another rough year

 

10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015? They'll pick up a veteran SP looking to come back after injury and/or down years

 

Answer all 10, or pick and choose which ones you like, or add some others.

 

Should be an interesting season!

 

[cabiness42]

As we approach Spring Training, a lot of things are set for the Sox.

 

We know our top 3 starting pitchers. Eaton, Cabrera, Abreu, LaRoche, Garcia, Gillaspie, Ramirez, and Flowers are all pretty set as starters. Robertson is our closer. Wells and Jennings have strengthened our bullpen. Bonafacio is making the team in some capacity.

 

So what hasn't been answered? Here are 10 questions that need to be answered.

 

1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him? Sanchez and Gillaspie will be the regular starters at 2B/3B, with Beckham getting regular starts at both positions vs LHP.

 

2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras? Kottaras

 

3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.) Crain yes, Jones no

 

4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts? Start in AAA and then called up to the Sox in June, but possibly earlier if Danks/Noesi get injured/traded or are massively bad.

 

5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche? LaRoche is playing every day

 

6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount). The job is Shuck's to lose right now.

 

7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Wells? Robertson-Petricka-Duke-Putnam-Jennings-Guerra-Webb

 

8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings. All will play more games this year

 

9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year? No

 

10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015? A starting pitcher of some sort, but not sure exactly who

 

Answer all 10, or pick and choose which ones you like, or add some others.

 

Should be an interesting season!

 

[Eminor3rd]

I hope that both catcher spots are up for grabs. You want Kottaras in there because he mashes righties, but if Soto comes in strong, I'd love to see Flowers in Charlotte.

[cabiness42]

I hope that both catcher spots are up for grabs. You want Kottaras in there because he mashes righties, but if Soto comes in strong, I'd love to see Flowers in Charlotte.

 

Flowers can't be sent to Charlotte.

[Eminor3rd]

Flowers can't be sent to Charlotte.

 

I'm assuming no one would claim him, lol.

[GGajewski18]

I'm assuming no one would claim him, lol.

 

Flowers would definitely get claimed.

[Dick Allen]

Flowers would definitely get claimed.

That would be a good thing. I for one, am kind of sick of seeing him walk back to the dugout after an AB.

[Eminor3rd]

Flowers would definitely get claimed.

 

If someone had an injury to fill, sure. But he's making $2.6m this year. That's not a salary you just stash in the minors unless you really see some upside.

[Jose Abreu]

I think Crain has a chance to play a huge role in our 'pen

[he gone.]

Great First post. All points we are looking forward to finding out over the next month or so. Also of course in typical SoxTalk fashion it quickly turns into bashing one player for no apparent reason. Tyler Flowers is a major league catcher. I would challenge emnior3rd to name 15-20 catchers in the majors he'd rather have. Sure he's not amazing - but calls a decent game, has a decent arm, has enough power, and has shown the ability at times to get hot. Anyways, I digress. It's just hard when you see bad baseball IQ calling out a position or player for no reason.

 

1- I hope our starting 2b is Micah. That means that the most talented player, had the best spring, with pressure on. Also wouldn't be surprised to see it be Sanchez, start Micah in AAA, and see him up by June.

2- Soto or Kottaras. Either is okay. Lets be honest, he'll start 1 of 5 games and maybe day games after night games/Sunday lineups.

3- At some point Crain or Jones will be up on the team. Effective? Meh. I'd say effective enough, but not what people are hoping for

4- My guess is he breaks with AAA, is up in June in a long relief, bullpen role to keep his innings down. I believe at some point a Danks or Noesi, or hopefully not other, but one of our top 3 lands on the DL and Rodon slots in. At that point I believe either they go to a 6 man rotation for the majority of the summer, til like August, or slot Danks/Noesi into the long relief, spot starter roll. I think the Sox are hoping to have Rodon as part of their rotation for the playoff stretch.

5- I don't see a problem with them both getting all the reps. LaRoche and Gillaspie. Beckham hasn't been that great at split historically. Last year yes, but historically no. Beckham should play like 60 games total. 40 or so 3b, 5-10 at SS, and 10-15 at 2b. Let Micah and Sanchez be the 2b and figure out what we have there.

6- I believe our 4OF or 5OF if you count Bonaficio (though I think he's the backup CF moreso) will be someone like Sierra who is claimed from elswhere. Though -- give me Brian Anderson!! hahah.

7- Pass. Bullpens are too tough to predict. Injuries, control problems, up and down from AAA. Lets just hope a few guys are consistent and good this year. No Scott Downs.

8- Eaton IMO wont play more than 135 games. Just how he plays lends itself to injury. Why i like Bonaficio so much. Abreu I dont count really as injured.. 145 games is solid enough for me. Plus he is two years removed from a short season now. I think he plays 150ish

9- People forget Eric Johnson. Think he has a chance to do something. Might even be the guy depending on how he bounces back that gets called up for the first spot start over Rodon. Davidson? Hope so. But wouldn't hold my breath. He is a 4OF/backup 3B at best.

10-5OF

10-

 

 

[southsider2k5]

To me, I think Will John Danks improve is probably the 2nd or 3rd most important question of this off season.

[shysocks]

1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him? Has to be Sanchez right now, Micah is not quite ready. Sadly, I can also see Beckham taking over for a stretch due to others' non-performance. By the way, the very first time I hear Hawk talking about what a leader Gordon Beckham is or some horse****, I'm muting him forever.

 

2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras? It's Soto's job to lose. Also Flowers isn't going anywhere, people.

 

3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.) No and no.

 

4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts? Seems like it's all pointing towards a midseason bullpen callup. Can we all remember that his effectiveness is not guaranteed, by the way?

 

5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche? Beckham or anybody else can sub for a DH if need be, shouldn't be a problem.

 

6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount). I'm... not sure. Honestly, Viciedo was a better fit for this team than Beckham. It's kind of an issue right now.

 

7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Wells? Of course pieces will probably move up and down, but out of ST my guess is this:

Robertson

Petricka

Duke

Putnam

Jennings

Guerra

Webb

 

Exactly as Huskers has it.

 

8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings. Who knows? A better question is will Avi prove to be a Major League starter?

 

9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year? Johnson will be high on the depth chart if somebody gets hurt and could prove to be an adequate fill-in again. I have no idea what to expect from Davidson but I don't think he'll crack the 25.

 

10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015? Some outfielder.

 

[shysocks]

A little conspiracy theory I've been concoting lately: Does anyone else think that Cooper talked up Noesi at Soxfest specifically to set up a narrative for keeping Rodon in the minors past the Super 2 cutoff? Everyone knows it'll be a service time issue, but this way the Sox can point back to January if Noesi is faltering to start the year and say, "Hey, we have a guy who our coaches really believe in and we're gonna give him a longer leash to figure things out."

[southsider2k5]

A little conspiracy theory I've been concoting lately: Does anyone else think that Cooper talked up Noesi at Soxfest specifically to set up a narrative for keeping Rodon in the minors past the Super 2 cutoff? Everyone knows it'll be a service time issue, but this way the Sox can point back to January if Noesi is faltering to start the year and say, "Hey, we have a guy who our coaches really believe in and we're gonna give him a longer leash to figure things out."

 

It is possible, but realistically the team was excited about Noesi the minute they claimed him. I remember the optimistic comments then.

[cabiness42]

A little conspiracy theory I've been concoting lately: Does anyone else think that Cooper talked up Noesi at Soxfest specifically to set up a narrative for keeping Rodon in the minors past the Super 2 cutoff? Everyone knows it'll be a service time issue, but this way the Sox can point back to January if Noesi is faltering to start the year and say, "Hey, we have a guy who our coaches really believe in and we're gonna give him a longer leash to figure things out."

 

No, I really don't think Cooper gives a single f*** about anybody's arb clock.

[Kyyle23]

It doesnt really seem like the White Sox have been overly concerned about anyones arb clocks in the past couple years. They have been fast tracking high draft picks wherever they could

[shysocks]

No, I really don't think Cooper gives a single f*** about anybody's arb clock.

That's definitely true. Doesn't mean there's no link, like Hahn reminding Coop to just let everyone know how much they like Noesi.

 

Honestly, the equation Noesi Keeps Spot = Rodon Stays Down occurred to me and I've fit the evidence around that. I'm only80% kidding.

 

It doesnt really seem like the White Sox have been overly concerned about anyones arb clocks in the past couple years. They have been fast tracking high draft picks wherever they could

Beckham and Viciedo come to mind, although those are less recent examples. I think they were all set to play that game with Davidson last year too before he belly flopped, although that was also different because we had no designs on contending. Either way I have no doubt they'll screw around with Rodon and I'll be glad when they do.

[VAfan]

Here are my preliminary answers.

 

1. I think the Sox want it to be Johnson. But it's more likely that someone will hold down the fort until Johnson is ready. Sanchez, probably, but if Saladino proves he can hit, it might be him. Beckham and Bonafacio provide insurance in case one of the young guys is not ready.

 

2. I think the Sox want it to be Soto. But if he's not healthy, none of the other options look great to me. Kottaras only had 38 plate appearances last year for 3 different teams.

 

3. I think Crain will make it back, but possibly not right away. The Sox can probably stash him on a DL list if he needs more time. I think Nate Jones will also be in the mix late in the season.

 

4. I agree with those who say Rodon won't break with the club, and when he comes up could start in a bullpen role. But if the Sox are contending, I think they'll want to use him as a starter in the second half. If he looks really good, maybe Danks or Nieto will be traded.

 

5. LaRoche looks like he'll probably play most of the time, though his splits against lefties were pretty bad (but they were slightly better than Gillaspie's splits). I'm not sure the Sox have someone on the roster to fill his platoon slot, but I bet they'll keep looking. If Johnson makes it at second base, I could see him sitting against lefties with Beckham and Bonafacio subbing for him and Gillaspie. That would currently leave JB Shuck as an option, but he's a lefty too. I even checked Soto's splits, and he didn't hit lefties well.

 

6. Shuck appears the only guy to fill that role now, but I think the Sox keep looking here, with whomever they find becoming the LaRoche platoon partner.

 

7. Bullpen? Robertson, Duke, Jennings seem set. Petricka and Putnam slot next for me. It'll be a huge dogfight for the last 2 slots between Guerra, Crain, Albers, Webb, Surkamp, and perhaps other guys picked up off the street.

 

8. I think Eaton, Garcia, Abreu, and Sale will all be healthier. No need to have Sale throw too many pitches in a game now that we have a bullpen. Abreu should be better adjusted to a 162 game season, and LaRoche can let him DH more. Eaton may have hammy issues again, but I expect he's learned from running into walls. And Garcia better not be diving for baseballs.

 

9. I have an optimistic hope for Matt Davidson, even if it's based on no evidence. The Sox could use a righty power bat on the bench. Johnson now has to worry about the younger guys that were way behind him being much closer after his wasted year.

 

10. I'd look for a 4th outfielder/rightly platoon with LaRoche and starting and bullpen pitcher reclamation projects. But I also think the Sox might come up with another major surprise during the season. The only reason I think this is that Hahn and Williams do not like to sit still.

Edited February 13, 2015 by VAfan

[fathom]

It seems like something would have to go wrong in ST for Johnson to not end up being the starting 2B and Soto the back-up catcher. Sanchez will end up in AAA, IMO.

[Leonard Zelig]

If Rodon does not pitch with the Sox this year, will he be in the same position next year with the arbitration clock issue?

[ChiSox59]

If Rodon does not pitch with the Sox this year, will he be in the same position next year with the arbitration clock issue?

 

Good question. I've wondered the same thing myself. Although I see it as a highly unlikely scenario unless he gets hurt.

[witesoxfan]

If Rodon does not pitch with the Sox this year, will he be in the same position next year with the arbitration clock issue?

 

If he does not pitch in the MLB this year, then yes, he will be in the same position next year as he is this year, and it's certainly possible the Sox would delay his clock, although given where they are at, I'd consider it more likely that he'd break camp with the Sox at that time.

 

Assuming there's no injury, I'd be very, very surprised if he doesn't pitch in the majors this season.