Chicago White Sox bullpen still a work in progress
For the last 15 months, Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn has spent most of his waking hours shaping the future lineup and starting rotation.
When the time is right, Hahn will get around to addressing the bullpen.
"As we project our future bullpens, we're going to have to be a little bit patient and see how some of our minor-league prospects develop," Hahn said. "Some of them are going to fulfill their promise as potential top-end starters and join future rotations for us. Some others are going to wind up playing critical roles in what we hope will be a quality bullpen in the future.
"At this time, we have to continue to let them develop and see which ones separate themselves."
There is a lot to watch on the Sox's bullpen of the future front.
Zack Burdi was projected to be the closer as early as this season when he was drafted No. 26 overall in 2016.
That projection has been pushed back. Burdi, a Downers Grove South High School product, is expected to miss the entire upcoming season after having Tommy John surgery in July.
"It shows you can make the best laid plans and sometimes the baseball gods laugh," Hahn said after Burdi went down with the elbow injury last summer while pitching for Class AAA Charlotte. "But certainly, part of what we're trying to accomplish here is accumulate as much talent as possible knowing that things happen. One way to insulate yourself against the unpleasant surprises is having a critical mass of options in the system and that's what we're trying to accomplish."
The White Sox drafted two promising relief pitchers - Tyler Johnson (fifth round) and Kade McClure (sixth round) - in 2017.
They also have a pool of minor-league starters that might pitch out of the bullpen when they reach the majors. Carson Fulmer, Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning, Alec Hansen, Spencer Adams and Ian Clarkin are all in that group.
To fill out this year's bullpen after trading David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, Anthony Swarzak, Dan Jennings and Tyler Clippard last season, Hahn acquired veterans Joakim Soria and Luis Avilan in a January trade from the Dodgers.
Hahn also brought in experienced bullpen arms like Jeanmar Gomez, Robbie Ross, Bruce Rondon and Rob Scahill as bridge relievers to 2019.
Holdovers Nate Jones, Juan Minaya, Gregory Infante and Danny Farquhar add more depth.
"Anytime you can add more additional late inning options, guys who are used to pitching in high leverage situations, it can only make the choices that the manager has stronger and make his job a little bit easier over the course of the summer," Hahn said.
After Robertson was traded to the Yankees last July, Minaya took over as the White Sox's closer and converted 9 of 10 save opportunities.
Manager Rick Renteria has several options at closer this season. Soria was a setup man for the Royals the past two years, but the 33-year-old righty has 204 career saves and is comfortable pitching in the ninth inning.
"It's not something I'm looking for, but if they give me the chance I will be happy to have that role," Soria said.