Who’s who among 2022 White Sox spring training non-roster invitees

Camelback Ranch, White Sox spring training home
(Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports)

The lockout delayed the White Sox’s annual list of spring training non-roster invitees by a couple of months, and with spring training cut in half, fewer of them are needed than usual.

That makes it baseball’s second consecutive altered spring. Spring training of 2021 was a two-tiered event for COVID-related reasons, with the big leaguers and non-roster/alternate-site types showing up in March, and the minor leaguers moving in for April.

Because of the smaller rosters, only five players made the jump from NRI to the roster over the course of the 2021 season, least since 2015.

This time around, the limitation on bodies is self-inflicted. The White Sox announced 19 such players (down from 21 last year), and with the shortened Cactus League schedule and the prep-heavy flavor of the last three drafts, there are are also fewer top prospects than usual. A notable omission is Oscar Colás, perhaps because the Sox don’t want to preface his first stateside performance with a label that might heighten expectations without any real benefit.

Baby’s first spring, hitters

Céspedes has some of the louder tools in the White Sox farm system, but he needs to start bringing pitchers back into the zone in order to capitalize on them. Major-league spring training should continue to pose a test in this regard, although he still has just 91 games stateside, so any early struggles can be forgiven.

Rodríguez had the best pound-for-pound showing in the system last year, especially when you take actual pounds into account. His game isn’t the kind that should stand out in small samples, but he made his name by showing unexpected power in the Arizona Fall League, this might be a home away from home.

Baby’s first spring, pitchers

Perhaps Banks would have been part of a big-league camp or two if the last two springs weren’t compromised. He’s been a part of the White Sox farm system since they selected him in the 18th round of the 2014 draft, and he’s around because he’s made the lives of his managers much easier with four consecutive seasons with at least 120 innings between Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham. He spent all of 2021 as a swingman in Charlotte, where he struck out an uncharacteristic 70 batters against 13 walks over 59⅔ innings, although that’s only good for a 4.53 ERA in that ballpark.

Freeman has the organization’s eye after a strong season in Winston-Salem and Birmingham, and a respectable showing in the Arizona Fall League. Perez had a case for the 40-man roster, because he’s pitched well at every stop (2.47 ERA, 176 strikeouts, 54 walks, seven homers over 142 innings). The Sox chose Bennett Sousa and Anderson Severino instead for left-handed options on the 40-man roster, but there was no Rule 5 draft this year, so the Sox get to keep everybody.

Right-handed pitching depth

Were the Sox in the mood to add any Charlotte relievers to the 40-man last year, Crick probably would’ve been their first choice. He struck out 15 against three walks and four hits over 10⅓ innings after coming over from the Pittsburgh organization in August. He had moments of success for the Pirates from 2017 through 2020, so he’s somebody who could get looks early and often.

The White Sox briefly released Johnson in order to remove him from the 40-man roster, because his injury prevented him from being outrighted. He had knee surgery and will be looking to restore his stock as a fast-rising bullpen prospect. Rios was one of the few noteworthy roster developments in December, and we talked about him here. Vargas has yet to reach Triple-A, but not necessarily because of anything he’s done. He posted a 2.90 ERA with 99 strikeouts against 28 walks over 83⅔ innings in Birmingham last year, although the nine homers allowed is probably what makes the White Sox a little reluctant to send him to Charlotte.

Left-handed pitching depth

The St. Charles East product Benjamin spent time in the Rangers bullpen in each of the last two years, but his walk rate more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, and his ERA nearly followed suit (4.84 to 8.74). He works in the low-90s, so those kind of control problems obliterate his margin for error. Finnegan earned a World Series ring with the Royals the year after he was drafted, but his career is mostly another example of how miraculous Chris Sale’s fast track was. He bounced between the bullpen and rotation in the years since his early success, and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2018. The Sox have given Schryver a lot of upper-level opportunities, even though other lefties keep passing him by.

Catchers for those pitchers

The new name is one I didn’t expect: Ciuffo, a former first-round pick of the Rays who has appeared in 21 games over three seasons in a third-catcher capacity. He’s a lifetime .246/.292/.343 hitter in the minors, but he’s known for his defense, grading well for both his receiving and throwing. His inclusion surprised me because I thought we’d be seeing Raudy Read, an offseason minor-league signing whose profile is the opposite of Ciuffo’s (.275/.313/.523 line over 117 games at Triple-A).

Instead, the Sox went with Fernández, , who hit .282/.353/.446 as Carlos Pérez’s backup at Birmingham last year. I’m guessing with a shortened spring training, not as many catchers are needed, and familiarity with some of the system’s pitchers provides an edge. As for Pérez, I’ll get to him later.

Organizational players

One of the original members of the Birmingham Logjam is back in the band. Basabe spent the last two years with the Giants, surfacing for nine games of September action in 2020, but he had problems staying healthy there, too. He only played in 33 games after spraining his wrist in spring training. If his body would ever cooperate, he still has fourth-outfielder potential.

Smith has been that fourth outfielder for longer — 169 games over four seasons with Toronto and Baltimore — but a bout with COVID-19 threw him off, and he spent 2021 struggling in Triple-A Louisville. Cohoes’ Remillard has made himself useful in the system by playing every position except center field and catcher, although Triple-A seems to be his ceiling.

Show something

Both were left off the 40-man, so it’s to the club’s benefit that the Rule 5 draft was a casualty of the lockout. McClure made his MLB camp debut last year, then had a great stint with Birmingham before running into the typical problems adjusting to Charlotte. While he could get the full year to figure out Triple-A, it wouldn’t hurt to have some success in a friendlier environment. Pérez is third-catcher ready now, and the recent strides made in power have closed the gap for what he needed to accomplish offensively. Defensively, his framing is a weakness, but he handles the rest of catching duties well enough to be a factor, and the incumbent backups have far bigger problems behind the plate. We just need to see what the Sox ultimately decide with the guy backing up Grandal before figuring out the bar Pérez needs to clear in 2022.

Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon
30 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
joewho112

Does anything in the new CBA make the introduction of robot umps more likely? Does it fall under the giving less notice for rule changes?

jorgefabregas

Yolbert Sanchez also is a somewhat surprising omission. I guess they have a lot of similar guys, but AA + AFL production, plus age would put him there most seasons, I would think.

Trooper Galactus

I thought the same thing and I wonder if he’s delayed by visa issues.

jhomeslice

Read an article with some substance about Sox being interested in Montas and Manaea. From Jon Heyman, not ass clown Nightengale. Wonder what the cost would be, really hoping if they do something that does not involve Kopech or Vaughn.

metasox

Bassitt was for 2 prospects, no? I would think something similar.

roke1960

I would think Oakland would be very interested in Sheets, with Olson gone. Probably Sheets and a lower prospect could get Manaea.

metasox

Could be. But Hahn mentioned Sheets as the lefty bat they need so don’t know if he is in the mix.
Based on history, the Sox should just keep whatever players Oakland wants and move on.

Last edited 2 years ago by metasox
Trooper Galactus

I love Sheets, but I think this vastly overstates his value in trade, never mind he doesn’t strike me as the sort of player that Oakland trades for to build around.

jorgefabregas

I’m assuming it will hurt, like at least one of Kopech, Vaughn, and Rodriguez.

hitlesswonder

If it’s for both, the Sox would have to be trading Vaughn, Kopech, Rodriguez, and Crochet. If it’s just one…pick two names from the above four…

Trooper Galactus

I think Montas will cost a higher end prospect than Manaea, but as I stated, I think the White Sox have too big of a talent gap between their top trade pieces and the tier behind them that they’d have to overpay for Manaea and could probably just be outbid for Montas.

jorgefabregas

I didn’t interpret it as both.

jorgefabregas

I think two would be an overpay for Manea. Well, depending on which two.

calcetinesblancos

Lol. Trading Kopech for a pitcher with no control left would be so White Sox that it almost HAS to happen.

Trooper Galactus

This is where we run into the massive problem with the White Sox having the worst farm system. Not only can they easily be outbid for a guy like Montas (good ceiling, under 30, two years of control) without including guys off the 26-man like Vaughn or Kopech, there’s such a vast gap between them and their next tier (Sheets, Rodriguez, Montgomery, etc.) that they’d probably have to OVERPAY to get a guy like Manaea (average pitcher, over 30, one year of control) because their second tier guys just won’t cut the mustard.

PauliePaulie

I was bummed when we gave away Madrigal. Would really hate to lose Vaughn as well.

metasox

A’s have shown themselves to be good at evaluating talent. If they have had a good look at the Sox system, there might be someone who isn’t obvious. But sure, it won’t be as easy as with other orgs.

Trooper Galactus

If that’s the case, they’d still demand a top talent and try to get the under-the-radar one they assess will be huge as a secondary add. Maybe they evaluate Colson Montgomery as a top-50 prospect, but that doesn’t mean they’d assign that value to him in a trade.

PauliePaulie

Sox trade with the A’s?
What could possible go wrong?

Joliet Orange Sox

At least Montas and Manaea are easier to spell than Samardzija so there’s that. The fact that Manaea has already been misspelled in these comments makes me think he is more likely to follow in Samardzija’s footsteps of coming to the Sox for a mediocre year in return for players we regret trading.

Last edited 2 years ago by Joliet Orange Sox
calcetinesblancos

Oh we’ll definitely regret it almost instantly, no matter who we give up.

Trooper Galactus

I mean, we already have people misspelling Velasquez.

calcetinesblancos

JFC that would be the most Sox thing ever to not simply just sign the players you need because it would cost actual money, and then go out and trade away all your good young controllable talent for a few pitchers that are an ass hair away from being free agents.

Trooper Galactus

You’ve cracked the code, my friend.

metasox

at the same time we will hear something about building “sustainable” success

knoxfire30

No chance the sox give up Kopech or Vaughn for 1 year of Manaea or 2 years of Montas. The problem is they dont have much on the farm of immediate interest, and trying to piece together a package of say crochett, sheets, burger, engel types is pretty unappealing if you are the A’s and those guys make up most of the sox depth this year.

calcetinesblancos

It’s astounding how much flexibility the Sox would have and how much surplus tradable pieces they would have if they just signed someone like Conforto or Suzuki, neither of which will break the bank. I don’t understand the reluctance to go that route. And they are actually really stupid because just one of those “fuck it we’re in!” moves would generate a ton of buzz that the team currently lacks.

knoxfire30

Cubs just signed suzuki, 5 years 70 mil….

knoxfire30

Blue Jays trading for Matt Chapman… baseball hot stove heating up