Rebuilding White Sox no longer need to rush promising prospects
If the Chicago White Sox are looking for a slogan for the upcoming season, I'm here to help.
"What's the Rush?"
In past seasons, when the Sox operated in win-now mode, minor leaguers showing even a sniff of major-league ability were rushed to Chicago.
The White Sox drafted Chris Sale on the first round in 2010, and he pitched in only 11 minor-league games before getting the call to the majors.
Gordon Beckham played in just 59 minor-league games before joining the White Sox.
Carlos Rodon pitched a grand total of 11 games in the minor leagues, and Carson Fulmer only had 26 games under his belt before making the jump from Class AA Birmingham last season.
Calling up top prospects before they were ready used to be the White Sox way, but that is no longer the case now that a needed rebuild is up and running.
Fulmer is likely to open the upcoming season with Class AAA Charlotte, which makes sense considering the No. 8 overall pick in the 2015 draft was overmatched last year while going 0-2 with an 8.49 ERA in 8 relief appearances with the White Sox.
Starting pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez, acquired from the Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade, both logged time with Washington in 2016. They both showed flaws, too, and are likely to open the season with Fulmer in Charlotte.
The same goes for new second baseman Yoan Moncada, who has superstar potential but still needs time to learn how to hit big-league pitching.
General manager Rick Hahn said needed patience is going to be in play as the Sox look to build a team that's a perennial contender.
"With each of the players we acquired, we still feel there's a fair amount of development left, which is going to happen in the minors and, frankly, is going to happen once they get to the big-league level," Hahn said. "I will say that you've seen a level of aggressiveness out of us in recent years in terms of our promotions. At this point going forward, we're really not going to have anyone in Chicago until they've answered any questions we've had for them at the minor-league level and we feel they're ready to succeed and sort of have that finishing element in terms of development done at the big-league level.
"In other words, it's not going to be based upon we need a starter on Thursday so this guy's getting promoted. He's only getting promoted if he's truly ready in his own development as far as having that impact."
Acquired from the Red Sox in the Sale trade, the 21-year-old Moncada was named Baseball America's minor-league player of the year in 2016 after posting a combined hitting line of .294/.407/.511 with 31 doubles, 6 triples, 15 home runs, 62 RBI and 45 stolen bases in 106 games with high Class A Salem and AA Portland.
Moncada made his major-league debut with Boston in September and was 4-for-19 while striking out in his final nine at-bats.
"I learned a lot from that," Moncada said.
Brimming with confidence, Moncada will push hard to join the White Sox this season if he does start off at Charlotte.
"I'm ready," Moncada said. "I was born ready, and I'm ready to play in the majors right now."
If Moncada feels he is ready now, the Sox feel the second baseman will be even more confident in May, June, July or whenever he arrives.
The same goes for Giolito, rated as baseball's best pitching prospect by MLB.com.
An impressive 6-5 with a 2.97 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 115⅓ innings for Class A Hagerstown, AA Harrisburg and AAA Syracuse last season, Giolito was not so good (0-1, 6.75 ERA) in 6 games (4 starts) with the Nationals.
"Last year, I was able to get my feet wet in the big leagues a little bit and kind of understand what it takes to be there, what it takes to stay there," the 6-foot-6, 257-pounder said. "I learned a lot. I didn't pitch well last year at all, especially at the big-league level, so it was a huge learning experience, kind of how to deal with failure, how to pick back up after that."