White Sox announce first 44 names of 60-man player pool

It may be summer camp instead of spring training, but the White Sox made it feel closer to normal by taking their sweet time sharing their initial roster of 60-man players.

The White Sox got around to unveiling the first 44 names involved this morning, saying they “will announce additional players who will be invited to join the taxi squad in the near future.” Texas Rangers beat writer Levi Weaver explained some of the rules, regulations and logistics in this new form of rosterbation in a Twitter thread, and he notes that teams can add to the 60-man roster at any point. Removing players from the 60-man roster becomes trickier, which might explain why the Sox want to give themselves lots of room to operate.

Given the lack of precedents and the room for the White Sox to add, I can’t say I know exactly what a spot on this roster at this point in time means. It stands to reason that “getting included now” reflects a player’s standing more favorably than “getting included later,” and I’m operating under that premise for the time being. This position is subject to change as the 60-man fills out and we hear from the people in charge.

With all that said, there’s one big difference between spring training and this summer edition: Players on the 40-man roster aren’t necessarily locks to get invited to this major-league camp, while non-roster guys can sneak in from off the radar. The lack of development time gives AAAA talent a little more value in this picture for reasons pragmatic (they’re more capable of delivering a quality week in an emergency) and cynical (few long-term implications if they fail).

I might recommend opening up the “Who’s who among 2020 White Sox spring training non-roster invitees” post in order to brush up on some of the journeyman whose names will be mentioned here.

Pitchers on the 60-man, not on the 40-man

• Drew Anderson
• Ross Detwiler
• Tayron Guerrero
• Codi Heuer
• Tyler Johnson

Heuer looked like a potential bullpen breakout candidate early in spring training, while Johnson previously fit that label before injuries and mechanical changes forced him to adopt a slower track. The White Sox claimed Guerrero in December and outrighted him in January, so his omission from the 40-man roster isn’t necessarily a reflection of their interest. Everybody here knows Detwiler, and Anderson is a right-handed, less accomplished kind of Detwiler.

Position players on the 60-man who aren’t on the 40-man

• Cheslor Cuthbert
• Nick Madrigal
• Andrew Romine
• Andrew Vaughn
• Nicky Delmonico

Cuthbert and Romine both provide infield depth to a team that isn’t loaded with it beyond Danny Mendick. Back before the pandemic, Delmonico was trying to recapture his former glory to be a potential 26th man candidate. We all know Madrigal‘s gunning for the starting job at second base, so a spot on the 40-man needs to be earmarked for him.

It’s hard to imagine Vaughn being a factor for this season — there are so many bats, right-handed and otherwise, in that first base/DH logjam — but this is an opportunity for reps, and better understanding when they need to clear a path for him.

Pitchers who are on the 40-man, but not (yet) on the 60-man

• Zack Burdi
• Bernardo Flores
• Matt Foster

All three of these pitchers were reassigned to minor league camp over the first two round of cuts, but that alone doesn’t explain it (the cuts of Dane Dunning, Jimmy Lambert, and Luis Basabe all healed). I suppose oxygen is the reason — there are only 60 games, and the White Sox have already earmarked 24 pitchers — but it’s curious that Burdi wasn’t among the automatic candidates given how much they’ve invested in him, and how much he’ll need reps.

If I were more certain about how teams went about constructing these rosters, I’d say the Sox are signaling their intent to maximize their talent for a 60-game sprint by putting Heuer on in front of somebody like Foster, but who knows?

Position players who are on the 40-man, but not (yet) on the 60-man

• Micker Adolfo
• Blake Rutherford
• Seby Zavala

The White Sox are carrying four catchers already, even if Zack Collins and Yermín Mercedes aren’t great bets to see much time there. Still, that makes it hard times for a fifth catcher like Zavala. Likewise, the White Sox have seven outfielders ahead of Adolfo and Rutherford. Adolfo will get a fourth option due to all the time he’s missed due to injury, but Basabe only has one left after this year*, so he’s more of a priority.

(*This assumes option years work as they previously did.)

Notable omissions

Recent draft picks: If Garrett Crochet truly were another form of Chris Sale, the White Sox would get him introduce him to the majors via the bullpen mere months after drafting him. He’s not (yet) on that plan.

Notable prospects: It’s a little noticeable that Dunning and Lambert are on the roster while Jonathan Stiever isn’t. Hopefully that doesn’t mean Stiever’s forearm issue from the spring is still a factor. Gavin Sheets can’t break through the 1B/DH bottleneck right now, but he might also read some writing on the wall when Vaughn gets a faster nod.

Extra outfielders: This might be the end of line for Daniel Palka, while Luis Gonzalez was another one of those guys whose prospect stock looked especially affected by a lost year. As we’ve seen with Adolfo and Basabe, Gonzalez isn’t unique in that regard, either.

Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon