Chicago White Sox take another step to promising future
GLENDALE, Ariz. - It was the first full-squad workout of spring training for the Chicago White Sox on Monday.
For most major-league teams knocking the rust off in Arizona and Florida, it's the perfect day to start examining position battles and projecting the 25-man roster coming out of camp.
For the Sox, things are quite a bit different.
They will have a complete team in Kansas City for the March 29 season opener against the Royals, but who is on the roster in September is going to be much more important than who is on the roster that leaves the desert late next month.
This is a team built for the future, and the payoff isn't expected to start showing in the standings until next year - more likely 2020.
That doesn't mean this is a meaningless training camp for the White Sox.
Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Nicky Delmonico and Carson Fulmer came up from Class AAA Charlotte last season and were key young contributors.
Monster young talents Michael Kopech and Eloy Jimenez head the next wave of prospects that should arrive at some point this year, and you can also add Zack Collins and Alec Hansen to that mix.
In 2019, start looking for players like Luis Robert, Blake Rutherford, Dane Dunning, Dylan Cease, Jake Burger and whoever the Sox draft with the No. 4 overall pick in June.
Most of the White Sox's top young players are in major-league camp. They're not going to make the team, but they'll get an important taste of what's to come.
They are hungry for the opportunity, to say the least.
"I'm really excited about what the future has in store," Kopech said. "Of course, we have a lot of big-league talent that has been taking care of business but when we are all there and able to help out together, it's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be a good deal for the next couple of years at least."
Jimenez has already predicted multiple World Series championships, and the Sox's front office has no problem hearing all of the bold talk.
"You have to start talking and thinking about it," White Sox vice president Kenny Williams said at a cool, windy Camelback Ranch Monday. "That's got to be your goal. You've got to start saying it, you've got to write it down, you've got to believe it, you've got to put the work in to do it."
The official work started on Monday, and it will continue through Cactus League play, into the regular season and beyond.
Rick Renteria's official title is Sox manager, but he is also a teacher, motivator and father figure to all of the young faces in training camp.
As usual, Renteria was bouncing all around the back fields for the White Sox's first full-squad workout, and he was usually smiling.
"I think we're on the right track," Renteria said. "I think the mindset is where it's supposed to be. I don't think any of these kids are concerned or consuming themselves with the possibility of failure. Much more, they're consuming themselves with the understanding they might hit some stumbling blocks but they're going to have a way to overcome and continue to push forward and become the best they can be."