We interrupt this Prospect Week to bring you your regularly scheduled episode of P.O. Sox. As always, thanks for your support.
Andrew asks:
Is is a crazy thought to let Mercedes and Collins platoon at DH in April (especially with Narron around to work with them) and let the better receiver stick around when Vaughn comes up after a month in Charlotte? Is it a thought the Sox would find crazy?
I wish I found it crazier, because I think it's a little too plausible that they'd hand over DH duties to two guys who they haven't played when they had plenty of chances with lower stakes. The crazier part is that they'd consider Mercedes a real catching candidate. Collins isn't a good catcher, but he could play there on a part-time basis with zero improvement if he hit like he was supposed to. Mercedes is mostly there because his arm works behind the plate, and his body type doesn't really work anywhere else. So I'm guessing Narron is there primarily for Collins, unless...
Philip asks:
Is Lucroy inevitably the backup catcher or is he organizational depth with another veteran signing likely to occur during spring training?
I wouldn't call it as inevitable as others. Take Geovany Soto's minor-league deal in 2015. That had all the markings of "he's going to back up Tyler Flowers unless he gets hurt, this just saves us a roster spot for a few weeks." Soto's issues stemmed from health, not talent.
Lucroy's been banged up himself, but his production has lagged even during healthier times in recent seasons. Unlike Soto back when the Sox first signed him, Lucroy just might be washed at this point in his career. The fact that we haven't yet learned a dollar amount if he makes the team suggests the lack of such a guarantee.
One big question is what kind of opt-out language Lucroy has in his contract. Last week, FanGraphs' Kevin Goldstein wrote about all the ways veterans can look for other opportunities. If Lucroy can opt out at the end of spring training and looks like the superior option to Collins, the Sox might roll with Lucroy right out of the gate. If he can opt out at the end of April or May, maybe the Sox want to see how Collins looks before they add Lucroy to the 40-man roster. I think the Sox would ideally love to have Collins look promising enough for Lucroy to remain a reasonable third catcher option, but it's iffy on both sides of that equation.
Mark asks:
What has Chris Getz accomplished that warranted his promotion to asst GM?
The shortest answer is that he might've been appealing enough to other teams to inspire the Sox to bump his title and pay. His name ended up in the The Athletic's league survey where agents were asked to name someone who hasn't been a GM before but should be within the next two years.
As for a reasons-based answer, I'd probably point to his part in modernizing the White Sox's minor-league pitching apparatus while Don Cooper was still at the head of it, a process that was delicate and deliberate. He was able to implement a pitching lab and instructors/coaches like Everett Teaford and Matt Zaleski, and it proved successful enough in producing quality relief depth that Cooper, a guy who'd been in the White Sox for decades, now looks way out of place.
Other areas of the Sox farm have lagged. Some of it could be the talent he's handed, although the attempt to modernize the hitting hierarchy via Matt Lisle appeared to be clumsily executed on the management side, and I'm not sure who is most responsible for Omar Vizquel. At any rate, the hope is that some of the recent rookie-ball success stories show progress with instructing swing changes, at least among hitters who aren't entrenched in their habits. That's something we couldn't learn due to the pandemic, which isn't Getz's fault to my knowledge.
Chef Eric asks:
If Minor leagues are able to play, what would be White Sox and Getz goals for prospects as far as development? I think almost all the top players in the system will at least graduate this 2021 season.
Jared Kelley and Yoelqui Céspedes and maaaaaaaybe Norge Vera are the first/only top-100 candidates likely left, and all three have shown just about nothing in pro ball. So that's not ideal.
I think the biggest big-picture goals are:
- Translate some of those promising rookie-ball lines into promising A-ball performances
- Get the high school pitchers on working every-five-days-for-five-months schedules
- Try to produce a high-minors outfielder some way, some how.
But before those are realized, I'm expecting that it may take a month or two to properly evaluate the levels of competition. It'd be crazy if there were simply unprecedented leaguewide rust, but combine that with the elimination of rookie-ball/short-season affiliates, and it's going to result in previously unqualified players being assigned to levels that seem over their heads, and some potentially ugly months. Do enough of them dilute the talent to make High-A a Medium-A, or are there just going to be a number of extreme performances around the usual standard? Figuring out how to tell apart the results of inaction versus the results of being overmatched strikes me as the first priority.
Wes asks:
Is 2021 going to be the year of Bryan Ramos when it comes to Sox prospects?
It's always the Year of Bryce Bush around these parts!
But yeah, my takeaway from reviewing the international prospects is that Ramos seems like a Rich Man's D.J. Gladney, and literally when you include the signing bonuses ($300,000 to $225,000). Gladney gets the headlines for natural reasons -- the ACE ties are great -- but Ramos has the edge in everything but raw power, and his hit tool might make in-game power easier to generate. I'm excited to watch both of them. I'm excited for minor league baseball, period.
