I’m thrilled to have accepted a new role as Managing Editor of MiLB Content for
@SoxOn35th
! Covering the
#WhiteSox
farm system for the past few years has been an amazing experience, and I’m so excited to step into this new role and further develop our prospect coverage!
Jim Bowden said that the
#WhiteSox
“have” to accept if the Reds offer Jonathan India and Ty Floyd for Cease…
Getz should be fired on the spot if that’s the offer he accepts for Cease
If you told me before the season that we’d flip Fedde for Vargas, I would have been happy. Since then, Vargas has destroyed Triple-A pitching and has held his own in 80 MLB PAs this season with a .735 OPS and a 108 wRC+.
I guess I just don’t see why we’re so upset?
🚨 NEW TOP 100 MLB PROSPECTS 🚨
And this is massive June update.
- Paul Skenes now No. 1
- 12 new players
- Huge rises from Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies prospects
Plus a ton more.
New list:
Trade idea:
#WhiteSox
receive Ian Happ and Mychal Givens
#Cubs
receive Norge Vera, Bryan Ramos, Jake Burger, and Yoelqui Cespedes
The cubs get two high upside prospects, a 1B for the next 5 years, and a close to MLB ready OF
The Sox get the lineup and bullpen help they need
Jake Burger’s wRC+ before being sent down: 83
Burger’s wRC+ after being called back up: 217
Obviously that is unsustainable, but Burger made adjustments after being sent down and looks like a completely different hitter. Let’s hope Gavin Sheets can do the same.
As much as I dont like it, the Sox probably need to make a choice between Abreu or Vaughn this offseason. Either let Abreu walk in free agency or extend him and trade Vaughn for a better roster fit. Forcing 1Bs to play in the outfield just isn’t cutting it.
The Jake Burger for Jake Eder trade is looking a hell of a lot better early on this season. Eder’s far enough removed from TJ that he’s returning to his 2021 form:
2.18 FIP
3.06 xFIP
11.35 K/9
3.38 BB/9
Wouldn’t mind seeing him get bumped up to Triple-A soon.
For any
#WhiteSox
fan that still needs convincing on Getz’s first front office hires, his new assistant GM oversaw the development of Corbin Carrol, who played like an absolute star for the D-Backs in the NLWC. That’s a guy I want in my front office.
Consensus right now seems to be that the White Sox will land one of Jac Caglianone, Konnor Griffin, or JJ Werherholt at
#5
on Sunday.
I have my own preferences here, but all three of these prospects would immediately be our 3rd best prospect and land on top 100 lists.
The
#WhiteSox
have acquired minor-league right-handed pitcher Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa from the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder Robbie Grossman.
After Andrew Benintendi’s homer yesterday, he is up to a 128 wRC+ and is slashing .269/.321/.500 in the last month.
It only makes sense that, while on the worst streak in franchise history, Benintendi would finally be figuring it out at the plate lol
While the power hasn’t showed up in Triple-A, Oscar Colas has clearly improved in the areas the Sox wanted him to when they sent him down. Currently has a 9.9% BB rate and a K rate just under 20%. Have to wonder if they are starting to think about recalling him.
I know rebuilds suck, but the
#WhiteSox
rotation 3 years from now could be some combination of:
Schultz
Thorpe
Nastrini
Eder
Cannon
Iriarte
Pallette
Taylor
Keener
Bush
Adams
McDougal
They won’t all hit, but 5 of them could. The depth of this system has been totally revamped.
I’m just as sad to see Burger go as everyone else, but it always made sense to trade him at his peak value.
Eder is a really nice arm to add to this system, with a wipeout slider and could join our rotation in 2024.
Colson Montgomery has a HR and a 2B so far in tonight’s
@WSDashBaseball
game. He continues to torment High-A pitching, and prove that he’s overdue for a promotion.
If the
#WhiteSox
are interested in Nicky Lopez, I feel like a Lopez for Jake Burger swap makes sense for both sides. Hunter Dozier is not good, and Burger can take over for him while also being a right handed 1B option to spell Pasquantino. Burger can finally have a starting job.
Despite all the bad that’s come with the White Sox 2024 season, there have been several positives to build off of long term. Jonathan Cannon’s emergence is one of them.
The
#WhiteSox
fortunately built up very good depth at the catcher position this season, even after trading away McGuire. They have at least competent options behind the plate with Yaz’s injury. I’ve been a Carlos Perez fan for a while, he’s ready for his shot.
One major positive in the
#WhiteSox
farm system over the last month has been Matthew Thompson. In his last 6 starts he has a 2.16 era with 34 Ks in 33.1 innings. Walks are still an issue, but he’s starting to show why the Sox have remained high on him despite his inconsistency
The Arizona Diamondbacks have DFA’d former top-prospect OF Kristian Robinson, per a team announcement.
Robinson, 22, is a toolsy OF prospect with an .836 OPS across three lower-levels in the
#DBacks
system this season.
He was
@MLBPipeline
’s 12th-ranked ARI prospect.
Overall, this is why you wait before making judgements on a teams draft class. The
#WhiteSox
first 10 picks as a whole looks VERY solid, and pairing the massive upside of Wolkow with Gonzalez’s high floor makes this feel like another great strategy for Mike Shirley and co.
Noah Schultz, in his longest outing of his pro career last night, pitched 4 shutout innings with 3 K’s and no BB’s. Aside from one hiccup of a start last week, he has been near perfect in his debut professional season!
Again, I hate the fact that we have to go through a rebuild again, but the
#WhiteSox
did a great job revamping their farm system. The consensus is they brought in enough talent to go from a bottom 5 system to top half of the league, and most new prospects are close to MLB ready.
I’m 100% rooting for a TA bounce back season in Miami this year, but it’s pretty clear the Sox were right in not picking up his $14 mil option.
I do wish they would have resigned him to the deal Miami did, though.
I’ll take that outing all day from Drew Thorpe. He wasn’t perfect, and the defense let him down a couple times, but the Sox should be very happy with what he displayed today.
I genuinely hope that Chris Getz proves to be a competent head of baseball ops/GM. He seems to be well respected and maybe he’s more qualified than we are giving him credit for.
The process of hiring internally and ignoring all of the known issues with this org is still gross.
Don’t think the
#WhiteSox
did bad in the Santos trade. Berroa and DeLoach have some upside, and it’s always nice to get added draft flexibility.
I am NOT a fan of trading Mena for Fletcher though.
We will see how this plays out.
Noah Schultz threw another 3 scoreless IP last night, upping his scoreless streak to 12 innings, with 16 K’s and just 1 BB to start his season. Meanwhile, Colson Montgomery went 3-4 with a 2B and 2 BBs and currently has a 1.647 OPS in High-A. The Sox 1st rounders look strong!
So Colas, Sosa, and Perez combine for 5 hits yesterday, and the all sit for guys like Andrus, Yaz, and Trayce freaking Thompson today… make it make sense
Overall this is a rock solid haul. Thorpe is one of my favorite minor league pitchers, Iriarte and Zavala bring a ton of upside, and Wilson is a serviceable reliever. Not a bad job by Getz.
Per sources, the entire return for Dylan Cease is RHP Drew Thorpe (Padres No. 5 prospect per
@MLBPipeline
), Samuel Zavala (No. 7), Jairo Iriarte (No. 8) and RH reliever Steven Wilson. Thorpe is No. 85 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect list.
Lenyn Sosa now has an .862 OPS and a 129 wRC+ since he was recalled on the 18th. Just wanted to make sure all the people in my mentions who said he was trash based off of 50 at-bats know that 😎
Burke was drafted less than a year ago and is already getting called up to Double A. Had a 2.89 ERA in Winston-Salem and was averaging over 10Ks per 9 innings. Looks like the Sox may have hit on their 3rd round pick!
The White Sox power armed RH starting pitching prospect Sean Burke was promoted to AA Birmingham. He had a nice final outing for Winston today as well. Congrats to Sean on the promo. Keep shoving in Birmingham!
Benitendi always seemed like an easy fit to me. No he’s not a power bat, but there is plenty of power on this team that I think the new coaching staff can regain. Benitendi gives the Sox a rock in the lineup that will consistently be a pest to pitchers (especially RHPs)
Random thought: if Soroka pitches well this season, instead of being a trade candidate could he be a mid-season extension candidate?
The Sox traded for Lance Lynn with one year left on his contract, then extended him that July.
Feel free to call me a moron for this idea 🤷♂️
Abraham Nunez tied for the largest international signing for the
#WhiteSox
this offseason. He hit his 2nd HR in the DSL today and is currently hitting .409 with a 1.340 OPS. Also has stolen 4 bases. Still extremely early, but the Sox might have found a good one 👀
Jacob Gonzalez probably leaves room for the
#WhiteSox
to go over slot in Round 2. Not the most exciting pick, but all he did was produce for three years in the SEC. Big time lefty power, and should move through the system quickly.
Cuban RHP Marlon Vega (20) left Cuba and will seek to sign with an MLB team, per sources.
He was Rookie of the Year (2021) and MVP (2022) of the Cuban National Series. Two U-23 World Cups (2021/2022) member and reserve in the V World Baseball Classic roster.
Juan Carela quietly had a terrific debut with the
@WSDashBaseball
. 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 Ks, and 0 BBs. Forced a lot of swinging strikes too. Getting him for Middleton could sneakily be one of the better moves of this trade deadline!
Drew Thorpe has been even better than advertised this season, and that’s coming off a season where he was the MiLB pitcher of the year.
He would be our
#3
starter if he was called up today from Double-A. He has nothing left to prove at that level.
Per
@JamesFox917
Jonathan Cannon is being promoted to Double-A. Cannon has had a great first full professional season so far, and with an organization that lacks pitching depth, he could be ready to join the
#WhiteSox
rotation as early as next year.
I've got a draft signing tracker set up to keep track of how much of their signing bonus pool the
#WhiteSox
have used/have left. Will post updates as signings get announced!
As long as they can sign him, George Wolkow is by far my favorite pick for the
#WhiteSox
. Massive power potential at only 17 years old, and a local product. MASSIVE upside
I’ll keeping an eye on the
#WhiteSox
MiLB transactions on Monday/ Tuesday morning. Colson Montgomery has nothing left to prove at the High-A level, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a promotion to Double-A on the affiliates off day.
Nick Martinez will be making slightly more than Cease’s estimated arb numbers in the same timeframe…
Yea, the Sox can ask for almost whatever they want for Cease in a trade
Right-hander Nick Martinez and the Cincinnati Reds are in agreement on a two-year, $26 million contract that includes an opt-out after the first year, sources tell ESPN. Martinez, 33, opted out of the last two years and $16 million of his deal with San Diego to reach free agency.
@JacobMorley
Getsy and Hackett will add more value to other teams with the system they install. Losing Steno 100% would have hurt the most just because of the miracles he’s work with this O Line
I would just like to point out that I’ve been a Jake Eder stan since the trade, and have the receipts to prove it
This dude was on his way to being a legit top 100 prospect before TJ, and last year was all about building his arm back up. This is the real Jake Eder 🔥🔥
Konnor Griffin, the top-ranked prep prospect in this year's Draft class, has been named the Gatorade High School Player of the Year.
The 18-year-old from Mississippi has 60-grade power and was 87-for-88 in SB this spring.
More on the 6-foot-4 SS/OF:
Trade news: All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez is going to the Miami Marlins and right-hander Pablo Lopez is headed to the Minnesota Twins, sources tell ESPN. Deal is done. Players are being informed right now. More are involved.
This is pretty misleading… Colas was out of baseball for 2 years prior to this season, and mostly played in Japan’s equivalent of minor league baseball. Also, hes only played 25 games in double a. Let’s not pretend like he is egregiously being held back
Happy draft day to all! Whoever the
#WhiteSox
pick today, they will immediately be one of our top prospects and have a chance to develop into a core part of the team’s long term plans.
Twins 2B/CF prospect Luke Keaschall, who has been battling an elbow injury this year, will soon be shut down to undergo Tommy John surgery. He will end his season early, so he’s in a better spot to have a full 2025 spring training.
Edgar Quero is one of the best hitters in Double-A right now. This is the prospect we saw in 2022, and probably would have seen last year if the Angels didn’t have him skip High-A.
Curious to see when he gets bumped up to Charlotte.
A reminder to White Sox fans who are mad about Korey Lee starting the season in Triple-A… If we only went off of Spring Training numbers, Micker Adolfo would have cracked the MLB roster back in 2022.
Let Lee show that he can carry this into the regular season first.