30 Teams in 30 Days: Chicago White Sox Preview

The 30/30 Club

Club 6: Chicago White Sox

One of the more active teams in recent seasons in the trade market has been the Chicago White Sox.  Today we look at where the team stands as we head towards the 2018 season in the sixth installment of the 30/30 Club.

Past reports:

2017 Record: 67-95, 4^th in the American League Central

Acquisitions: C Welington Castillo (free agent), RP Joakim Soria (trade – KC via LA Dodgers), RP Luis Avilan (trade – LA Dodgers), SP Miguel Gonzalez (free agent), SP Hector Santiago (minors – ST invite)

Departures: C Geovany Soto (free agent), P Mike Pelfrey (free agent), RP Al Albuquerque (free agent), RP Zach Putnam (free agent)

Projected Lineup:

LF Leury Garcia

2B Yoan Moncada

1B Jose Abreu

RF Avasail Garcia

C Welington Castillo

DH Nicky Delmonico

SS Tim Anderson

CF Adam Engel

3B Yolmer Sanchez

Projected Rotation:

SP James Shields

SP Lucas Giolito

SP Miguel Gonzalez

SP Reynaldo Lopez

SP Carson Fulmer

SP Carlos Rodon* (injured until June)

Position Battles:

Chicago has been positioning themselves in the past couple of years to get younger, and their depth chart reflects that.  Third base is one position that there is a battle between Matt Davidson and Yolmer Sanchez.  There is also a battle between three players for two positions in LF and DH between Nicky Delmonico, Leury Garcia and Tyler Saladino, with the inside track looking like Garcia in LF and Delmonico at DH.  There will also need to be an answer for their rotation when presumptive ace Carlos Rodon comes back from injury in June, but that will probably come down to Miguel Gonzalez and Reynaldo Lopez.

Outlook:

The White Sox have traded a lot of talent in the past fifteen months, dealing ace pitchers Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, third baseman Todd Frazier, relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, left fielder Melky Cabrera, and center fielder Adam Eaton.  In return the team has acquired a plethora of young, talented players, starting with second baseman Yoan Moncada and SP prospect Michael Kopech in the Sale trade, starter Lucas Giolito in the Eaton trade, outfield prospect Eloy Jiminez in the Quintana deal, and outfield prospect Blake Rutherford in the Frazier deal.  The White Sox also have homegrown young talent coming up through the ranks, as 3B/LF/DH Nicky Delmonico and SP Carson Fulmer have come up to the big leagues in the past year.  Last year saw a relative breakout of third baseman Yolmer Sanchez as well, as his defense played up well, and he was passable on offense.  This team is going to need their young players to keep developing in 2018 if they want to eventually contend with the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.  This group isn’t quite ready for prime time, but give them a couple more years of development time and they could be very well challenging the Indians for the division for years to come much like the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs in recent years.