Latest White Sox list of top 30 prospects

Andrew Vaughn

With no games to watch, it's always fun to entertain ourselves by talking about lists, right? I visited whitesox.com Monday night and noticed that Jim Callis has his latest list of top 30 White Sox prospects available. 

You can peruse the whole thing by following the link, but the top 10 are usually the most notable, and here they are:

1. Andrew Vaughn, 1B
2. Michael Kopech, RHP
3. Nick Madrigal, 2B
4. Garrett Crochet, LHP
5. Dane Dunning, RHP
6. Jared Kelley, RHP
7. Jonathan Stiever, RHP
8. Matthew Thompson, RHP
9. Micker Adolfo, OF
10. Gavin Sheets, 1B

We've already seen four of those first five players in the majors. Madrigal, Crochet and Dunning were all useful-to-good during 2020, and we saw Kopech make his debut in 2018. He missed 2019 because of Tommy John surgery, and opted out of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All four of those guys figure to be on the roster when 2021 opens, and we'll almost certainly see Vaughn -- who is easily the top hitting prospect in the organization -- sometime next summer.

After Dunning, the depth thins out, but I do find the No. 6 player on the list of interest. Kelley, the 19-year-old pitcher the Sox drafted in the second round of the 2020 draft, stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 215 pounds. Like a lot of kids from Texas, he's got the big fastball, and he was good enough to get invited to the team's alternate training site in Schaumburg this summer. 

Kelley was featured in the organizational reports section of Baseball America's October edition. Here are some of the quotes from farm director Chris Getz, as told to beat reporter Scot Gregor:

"[Kelley's] looked very good. Jared's work ethic has jumped out to everyone observing. His attention to detail and willingness to learn are other factors that have quickly shown, the attributes we had seen and heard about prior to selecting him."

"We will be focusing on his four-seam fastball, breaking ball and changeup. All his pitches flash major league potential, so we're aiming for consistency within his delivery and arm action to fully allow him to be efficient with all his pitches."

"He is a strong, powerful kid who knows how to generate power. He knows how to use his size and strength as a weapon."

It's something new for the Sox to have three pitchers who were drafted out of high school in the top 11 on their prospects list.

Thompson, a 6-foot-3, 20-year-old right-hander, is No. 8 on the list and was drafted in the second round in 2019. Andrew Dalquist, a 6-foot-1, 20-year-old right-hander is just outside the top 10 at No. 11. He was drafted in the third round in 2019.

It will be a good test for the Sox's player development staff to see if they can get at least one of these three guys to become useful members of a big-league rotation in the years ahead.

White Sox add 4 players (including Jake Burger) to 40-man roster

The deadline to add Rule 5 Draft-eligible players to the 40-man roster was 5 p.m. Friday, so the White Sox added three of their prospects to the roster: third baseman Jake Burger, first baseman Gavin Sheets and right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Johnson.

The Sox also claimed right-handed pitcher Emilio Vargas off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. These four additions bring the 40-man roster to its maximum number.

Burger (first round), Sheets (second round) and Johnson (fifth round) all are members of the 2017 Sox draft class.

Of the three, the only surprising addition is Burger, who hasn't played a game in three seasons after twice rupturing his Achilles' tendon. Burger, 24, had a shot to return healthy to affiliated baseball in 2020, but you know, that pesky pandemic got in the way. 

The team's No. 14-ranked prospect ended up playing in something called the CarShield Collegiate League in Missouri this summer, before eventually reporting to the Sox's alternate training site in Schaumburg.

Anyone who gets chosen in the Rule 5 Draft has to stay on his new team's major league roster for the entire season, or else get offered back to his former team, so it seemed unlikely to me that Burger would be chosen -- if he were left exposed. Turns out, the Sox aren't going to risk that possibility with a player they liked enough to select in the first round of the draft.

Johnson, the Sox's No. 24-ranked prospect, doesn't seem all that far from the majors. He's 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, possesses a high-90s fastball and was successful during a stint in Double-A Birmingham in 2019. The Sox gave him a look in summer camp this year, and he was at the alternate training site in Schaumburg for the rest of the season. 

At age 25, it's not too hard to envision Johnson being selected if he were available in the Rule 5 Draft, so it was pretty much a no-brainer to add him to the 40-man roster.

Sheets is an interesting case. He's a left-handed-hitting first baseman, so he's blocked in the organization by American League MVP Jose Abreu and top hitting prospect Andrew Vaughn. But he is the No. 10-ranked prospect in the organization, and he had 83 RBIs in 2019 at Double-A Birmingham.

Even though Sheets, 24, lacks a clear path to the majors with the Sox, he's a decent enough prospect that you'd prefer not to lose him for nothing. Like many players, 2020 was basically a lost season for him, but if he opens 2021 strong, maybe he's a piece that can be included in a trade midseason.

If the Sox would have left him exposed in Rule 5, maybe a rebuilding team snaps him up and gives him a shot -- especially if the designated hitter rule becomes permanent in the National League.

Vargas, the fourth player added to the roster, is a 24-year-old who has topped out at Double-A. He has made 23 starts at that level over the course of 2018 and 2019, pitching 121 innings with 100 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA. Sounds like an organizational depth piece, and anything more will be a bonus.

Miguel Cairo expected to be hired as White Sox bench coach

Miguel Cairo

Slowly, the White Sox are assembling a coaching staff around new manager Tony La Russa. Last week, we learned that Ethan Katz will replace Don Cooper as pitching coach. Now comes news that Miguel Cairo is expected to be named bench coach.

The hiring was first reported in an article by James Fegan of The Athletic.

Cairo was a utility player during his 17-year career in the major leagues. He played for La Russa in St. Louis on two separate occasions -- from 2001 to 2003, and again in 2007. In total, Cairo played for nine different teams.

He finished his career with Cincinnati in 2012, and he stayed with the Reds as a special assistant to the GM from 2013 to 2017. His most recent role was that of minor league infield coordinator for the New York Yankees.

So, when Cairo joins the Sox, this will be his first time in a uniformed role at the big-league level since he retired as a player. Everybody's got to start somewhere, so we'll see what he can do.

More details are expected on the rest of the Sox coaching staff next week, but we've heard that one before -- they said that just last week, in fact.

The latest report from Scott Merkin on MLB.com says that hitting coach Frank Menechino, first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler are expected to be retained.

It already has been announced that third-base coach Nick Capra will not be returning. The fate of former bench coach Joe McEwing is unknown. Obviously, Cairo is taking his role, but it's possible McEwing will get the third-base coaching job -- a role he served in previously with the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

McEwing does have ties to La Russa. He played for him as a member of the Cardinals in 1998 and 1999.

A solution for the White Sox OF/DH problem that doesn't involve George Springer

Michael Brantley

Do we really believe White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is going to open his wallet this offseason and sign George Springer, the best free agent position player on the market?

Sure, the Sox have a gaping hole in right field, and Springer would look good there. But I'll file that possibility under, "I'll believe it when I see it." Even amid a pandemic, signing Springer is going to take a nine-figure outlay, which is something the Sox have yet to do in team history.

So, if not Springer, then what?

Here's my proposal: Sign *both* Michael Brantley and Jackie Bradley Jr.

Make the 33-year-old Brantley the primary designated hitter, but he's still young enough and decent enough defensively to spend some time in left field. Eloy Jimenez remains your primary left fielder, but he can DH sometimes.

Luis Robert is the everyday center fielder. Duh.

And Bradley Jr. becomes the left-handed half of a right-field platoon with Adam Engel. Whichever player doesn't start in right field becomes the late-inning defensive replacement for Jimenez when the Sox are trying to protect a lead.

These proposed signings would give the Sox three outfielders capable of playing center field -- Robert, Engel and Bradley Jr. -- and can you imagine all three of them being in the outfield at the same time in the ninth inning? A one-run lead feels a little safer with that defensive alignment, no?

Brantley has a career .297/.354/.440 slash line. He's hit .300 or higher for three consecutive years. His OPS has been .800 or better for four consecutive years. And he swings left-handed, to help balance out the Sox's right-handed-heavy lineup. Not to mention, Brantley doesn't strike out much -- he had only 28 strikeouts in 187 plate appearances for the Houston Astros in 2020.

A left-handed contact hitter with gap power sounds like exactly what the Sox lineup needs.

Bradley Jr. is 30 years old and coming off one of his better seasons with the Boston Red Sox. He slashed .283/.364/.450 with seven homers. He's also a left-handed hitter. He can run; he takes some walks; and he's an high-end defensive outfielder. Those are all skills the Sox could use.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not going to be angry if the Sox somehow come up with the cash to sign Springer. But the objective here is to replace *both* Edwin Encarnacion and Nomar Mazara, who weighed down the Sox lineup at DH and RF, respectively, in 2020.

If you can't get the All-Star, it's not necessarily a bad thing to take two quality players who set a higher floor for your team and add to your depth and platoon flexibility.

Mark Buehrle among first-timers on National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot

Mark Buehrle

Will any former players get elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year? I'm not sure, because none of the 11 first-timers on the ballot jump off the page to me.

Of interest to White Sox fans, former Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle is among those first-timers. What case does he have? Not a great one. In fact, it would be a good accomplishment for Buehrle if he remains on the ballot for more than one year.

His longtime teammate, Paul Konerko, was eligible for the first time last year, and Konerko quickly fell off the ballot after receiving only 10 votes, or 2.5%. It wouldn't be shocking if Buehrle met a similar fate. (You have to get 5% of the vote to stay on the ballot.)

Here's the case for Buehrle: 16 seasons, 214 wins, five All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves, one World Series ring, two no-hitters -- including one perfect game -- a career ERA of 3.81, a career ERA+ of 117, and 14 consecutive seasons of 200 or more innings pitched and 10 or more victories.

Buehrle came four outs short of making it 15 consecutive seasons of 200 or more innings and 10 or more victories. In his final season, 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays, he went 15-8 with a 3.81 ERA -- a career average season for him -- except for the innings total of 198.2.

The era of the 200-inning starting pitcher is pretty much over, and I think Buehrle's consistency and longevity will be appreciated more as time goes along. We won't see a lot of pitchers like him in the future. However, 2005 was the only season in which he received Cy Young votes, and his lack of dominance and lack of a defined peak make it likely that he won't get Hall of Fame votes -- he's not unlike Konerko in that regard.

Here is a complete list of the 11 first-timers on the ballot this year:

• Mark Buehrle
• Tim Hudson
• Torii Hunter
• Dan Haren
• Barry Zito
• Aramis Ramirez
• Shane Victorino
• A.J. Burnett
• Nick Swisher
• LaTroy Hawkins
• Michael Cuddyer

And here are the 14 holdovers, with the percent of votes they received last year in parenthesis. One must receive 75% of the votes to earn election to the Hall:

• Curt Schilling (70%)
• Roger Clemens (61%)
• Barry Bonds (60.7%)
• Omar Vizquel (52.6%)
• Scott Rolen (35.3%)
• Billy Wagner (31.7%)
• Gary Sheffield (30.5%)
• Todd Helton (29.2%)
• Manny Ramirez (28.2%)
• Jeff Kent (27.5%)
• Andruw Jones (19.4%)
• Sammy Sosa (13.9%)
• Andy Pettitte (11.3%)
• Bobby Abreu (5.5%)

So, do we think anyone gets in this year? I'm guessing Schilling gets the nod, even though I'm not personally a fan. Clemens and Bonds still have the steroids albatross hanging around their necks. It will be interesting to see if they can inch closer to the 75% mark. Vizquel remains the best defensive shortstop I've seen, but the sabermetrics guys don't like him, and he wasn't a good hitter.

Ballots are due Dec. 31, and results will be announced Jan. 26. We shall see.

Catching up: White Sox moving back to ESPN 1000

Catching up on one bit of news from last week: White Sox radio broadcasts are moving back to WMVP 1000-AM, the local ESPN sports talk station. A multiyear agreement was announced Nov. 12. 

Terms were not disclosed, but the deal includes all regular season and postseason games, plus some spring training games.

The Sox were last on the ESPN radio station from 1999 to 2005, the year they won the World Series. The team has since made the rounds, going from WSCR 670-AM to WLS 890-AM to WGN 720-AM. 

You need a scorecard to keep up with all of this, because 1000-AM will be the fourth station the Sox have aired on since 2015.

As part of the deal, ESPN 1000 will air “White Sox Weekly,” as well as pregame and postgame shows. Reports indicate "White Sox Weekly" will be a two-hour program during the season, and a one-hour program during the offseason.

Darrin Jackson will be back as the color analyst on the radio broadcast. Andy Masur's future as the play-by-play man is up in the air. He was working on a one-year contract at WGN last season. He reportedly is a candidate to keep the job, but nothing is cast in stone. 

ESPN also will hire a pregame and postgame show host at some point.

Ethan Katz expected to be named White Sox pitching coach

The White Sox are expected to announce new manager Tony La Russa's full coaching staff sometime this week, but sources are saying Ethan Katz will be the new pitching coach.

Katz, who will replace Don Cooper, was most recently the assistant pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants. However, most Sox fans will recognize the 37-year-old as Lucas Giolito's high school coach.

Three major leaguers -- Giolito, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty -- played for Katz at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles. 

That said, Katz has a lot more experience than just coaching star high school pitchers. The Los Angeles Angels hired him in 2013 to coach pitchers in rookie ball, and Katz was moved up to be the pitching coach at the Angels' Midwest League affiliate in Low-A the next season. 

Later, Katz worked in the Seattle Mariners organization, where he won 2016 Coach of the Year in the California League. He made the jump to coaching big leaguers last year, when the Giants promoted him to the aforementioned position of assistant pitching coach.

When Giolito struggled in 2018 -- going 10-13 with a 6.13 ERA -- he turned to Katz in the offseason to help him refine his mechanics. We're all familiar with the story from there. Giolito is now the undisputed ace of the Sox's pitching staff. He's finished in the top 10 of the Cy Young voting in the American League in each of the past two seasons. He was a 2019 American League All-Star, and assuredly would have been an All-Star in 2020, as well, had an All-Star Game been played.

But this is more than just a hire to cater to Giolito. Katz obviously has a track record of success. He keeps getting promoted everywhere he coaches. And as a 37-year-old, the hope is he will be a better communicator when working with young pitchers than Cooper, whose best success stories are now several years in the past. 

Can Katz unlock the talent of Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez, Dane Dunning, Michael Kopech and Jonathan Stiever? That's what he's being brought in to do.

Both Cease and Lopez have regressed over the past year, much to the frustration of everyone associated with the Sox, and that regression is one reason the Sox are in the market for more starting pitching this offseason.

If the Sox can do a better job of developing their own pitchers, owner Jerry Reinsdorf's unwillingness to spend and cries of poverty become less of an issue. 

Katz obviously helped Giolito secure his spot in the Sox's rotation for both the short and long term. Now we'll find out whether he can do the same for some of the other young pitchers listed above.