Eloy Jimenez is on White Sox Opening Day roster (and so is Ryan Cordell)

As expected, top prospect Eloy Jimenez will be on the White Sox's Opening Day roster. He is scheduled to start in left field Thursday when the team begins the season against the Kansas City Royals.

Because Jimenez previously had been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte before signing a six-year, $43 million contract extension, someone had to be placed on the injured list for Jimenez to be recalled.

That someone is Jon Jay, who is sidelined by a hip injury.

As we noted in our previous blog, the Sox are carrying 12 pitchers to start the season -- four starters and eight relievers. Fifth starter Ervin Santana is on a minor-league deal. He isn't needed until April 10, so he won't be added to the 40-man roster, let alone the 25-man roster, until then.

That means the Sox are carrying 13 position players. Daniel Palka and Jose Rondon are safely on the team (for now), and surprisingly, Ryan Cordell is coming north with the Sox.

Cordell is likely to be optioned back to Triple-A Charlotte the moment Santana is needed. When Jay comes back, Palka, Rondon and possibly Adam Engel could be in danger of losing their roster spot.

Here are the 13 position players:

Catchers: Welington Castillo, James McCann
Infielders: Jose Abreu, Yonder Alonso, Yolmer Sanchez, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Rondon
Outfielders: Jimenez, Engel, Palka, Cordell, Leury Garcia

The thing I'll be watching on Opening Day: pitcher Carlos Rodon's performance. Rodon is "finally healthy," so they say, but I don't know if his velocity has ever come back since he had shoulder surgery late in 2017.

Rodon averaged only 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 20 starts last season. In previous seasons, he had never been below 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings. In 2018, he didn't have his best fastball, and his slider was spotty at best.

What kind of stuff will he feature this year? We get our first look Thursday.

White Sox set eight-man bullpen for Opening Day

Nate Jones

The White Sox's 25-man roster isn't in full focus yet, but we have a pretty good feel for who will be on the pitching staff when the season opens Thursday.

The Sox announced the eight members of their bullpen Sunday, before they concluded the Cactus League schedule with a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Indians.

The bullpen will be:

Right-handers: Alex Colome, Nate Jones, Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Burr, Dylan Covey
Left-handers: Jace Fry, Caleb Frare, Manny Banuelos

Five summarizing thoughts:

• Colome will get first crack at closing. Duh. He led the American League with 47 saves for the Tampa Bay Rays two years ago, so he's a logical choice.
• Jones is fortunate he has a track record. His spring ERA is an unsightly 12.71, and he's had a ton of injuries the past few seasons. His velocity is down to 94-95 mph. He used to sit at 97-98 mph. He doesn't have much deception in his delivery, so I'm wondering if he can be an effective late-inning reliever if the velocity doesn't come back.
• Burr made the team on the basis of a strong spring -- 15 strikeouts and no walks over 10.1 innings pitched. He also allowed only nine hits. That's how you earn a roster spot.
• Covey also was good this spring, a 2.45 ERA and only 12 baserunners allowed in 11 innings. He only struck out four, but maybe he's the guy the Sox bring in when they need someone to induce a double-play grounder in the sixth or seventh inning. His sinker has been working. Covey and Banuelos both are stretched out enough to give the Sox two options who can pitch multiple innings.
• Frare recovered from a terrible start to the spring to beat out Aaron Bummer for the LOOGY role. Frare's 7.88 spring ERA doesn't impress, but that number was at 16.20 after his first three spring appearances. He's been spotted against left-handed hitters in recent spring outings -- that's his role when the season starts -- and he has gotten the job done.

It also appears the Sox will carry only four starting pitchers to start the season. There are off-days March 29, April 2 and April 5. The Sox do not need a fifth starter until April 10, which means Ervin Santana will stay in Arizona to continue to get his work done. Starting pitchers Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Ivan Nova will come north with the team.

This means the Sox will have 13 position players on the roster for the first few series of the season. If one of those players is going to be Eloy Jimenez (and I don't see why not), someone will have to go on the disabled list to create a spot for the top prospect, because he was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte earlier this spring.

Nicky Delmonico already has been optioned, so the guess here is Daniel Palka or Jon Jay will come down with some sort of minor ailment that will cause a trip to the injured list.

Reports: White Sox working on long-term deal with Eloy Jimenez

Eloy Jimenez

So, there's hope that all that nonsense about Eloy Jimenez's service time will become a moot point.

Reports say the top prospect and the White Sox are close to agreeing on a contract that would put Jimenez under team control for the next eight seasons. Jimenez would get $43 million guaranteed over six years, and he could earn up to $77.5 million over eight years if two club options are triggered.

In other words, if this contract is signed, there is no need for the Sox to bury Jimenez in the minors for the first three weeks of the regular season in order to get a seventh year of team control -- now they've got him for eight.

As we've said all along, Jimenez appears to be the best starting option at a corner outfield spot, so that means he should be there on Opening Day.

Fingers crossed that it all works out, because the Sox are a team desperately lacking in buzz. They haven't even sold out their home opener yet.

If Jimenez is going to be on the team, that has ramifications for position battles in the final week of Cactus League play, too.

For the sake of argument, let's say the Sox are going to carry 13 pitchers. Personally, I think 12 is enough, but let's be honest, the Sox disagree with that. They've been carrying 13 pitchers for the past several seasons, and I fully expect them to break camp that way this spring.

That leaves room for 12 position players. Here's how it would look with Jimenez in the fold:

C: Welington Castillo
1B: Jose Abreu
2B: Yolmer Sanchez
SS: Tim Anderson
3B: Yoan Moncada
LF: Jimenez
CF: Adam Engel
RF: Jon Jay
DH: Yonder Alonso
Bench: James McCann
Bench: Leury Garcia
Bench: ????????

Daniel Palka, Jose Rondon and Nicky Delmonico are on the bubble. Before this Jimenez news, you'd have three men battling for two spots. Now, you've got three men for one spot.

I'm thinking Delmonico is an odd man out. Palka vs. Rondon is a much tougher call. Palka has that one big skill that nobody else on the team has -- left-handed power -- but that's all he does. Meanwhile, Rondon is right-handed hitter who hits lefties and can handle all infield positions competently.

Not an easy decision, but it's a decision I'd be happy to see the Sox have to make if Jimenez is coming north with the team.

White Sox prospect Dane Dunning has 'successful' Tommy John surgery

In the history of baseball reporting, has any pitcher ever been described as having "unsuccessful" Tommy John surgery?

Not that I'm aware of. They always say it was "successful."

White Sox pitching prospect Dane Dunning is the latest player to "successfully" have the procedure. His visit with Dr. James Andrews was Monday.

Dunning is the No. 6 prospect in the Sox organization and the No. 80 prospect in baseball overall, according to MLB pipeline.

So, with Michael Kopech also recuperating from "successful" Tommy John surgery, that means two of the Sox's three best pitching prospects will miss the entire 2019 season.

Yep, that rebuild is right on schedule.

We're about to embark on Year 3 of this rebuild, and I'm not sure the Sox have *anything* in place for the long haul. Maybe Tim Anderson is a keeper? Does a shortstop who plays good defense and bats .240 with a .687 OPS qualify as a success story?

That's about all we have from these young players right now, Sox fans. It's already ugly, and some things need to start going right sometime in 2019.

Carlos Rodon gets Opening Day start for White Sox

Carlos Rodon

The White Sox on Monday announced that left-hander Carlos Rodon will start the season opener March 28 on the road against the Kansas City Royals.

According to a report on whitesox.com, Rodon will be followed by Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Ivan Nova in the starting rotation. Manny Banuelos and Ervin Santana are competing for the No. 5 spot.

For the first time in a couple years, Rodon is healthy and ready to begin the season on the active roster. After experiencing shoulder problems at the end of the 2017 season, he started the 2018 campaign on the disabled list before returning to make 20 starts, going 6-8 with a 4.18 ERA, 90 strikeouts and 55 walks in 120.2 innings pitched.

Rodon, 26, has made three starts this spring, allowing seven runs on nine hits with eight strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched. He figures to get one more Cactus League outing before the first performance that counts.

Bummer, Fulmer optioned to Charlotte

The Sox announced four roster moves before Monday's 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants. 

Left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer and former first-round draft pick Carson Fulmer were optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Outfielder Charlie Tilson and left-handed pitcher Colton Turner were reassigned to minor league camp.

Of the four, Bummer had the best chance to make the club, but seven walks in nine innings and a spring ERA of 12.00 earns a pitcher a demotion, for sure.

The Sox are 7-14-2 this spring after the loss to the Giants. They have lost four in a row.

Eloy Jimenez among the latest White Sox players to be optioned to minor leagues

Before Wednesday's 10-7 Cactus League victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the White Sox made nine roster moves. Most notably, top prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease were optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Also bound for the Knights are pitcher Jordan Stephens and catcher Seby Zavala. Outfielder Micker Adolfo was optioned to Double-A Birmingham. Catcher Zack Collins, pitchers Donn Roach and Jimmy Lambert, and outfielder Luis Robert were reassigned to minor-league camp.

There are some big names among those nine, and obviously, Jimenez is most notable because he's the best corner outfielder in the organization. Alas, this is not an era of Major League Baseball where the best players are necessarily on the field.

Top prospects are held in the minors for service time reasons, and veteran free agents go unsigned for reasons unknown.

I knew Jimenez would start the season in Charlotte, but I really expected him to hang around big-league camp for another week or so. Why wouldn't he? We know he's going to be in the majors sooner rather than later, and who is he taking at-bats from?

You have to believe the Sox wanted to option Jimenez now, while he's 4 for 26 on the spring. Nobody can question the move at the moment. If Jimenez stayed in camp for another week and went, say, 9 for 17 with three home runs, all of a sudden Sox brass would have to give some baloney about the need for Jimenez to work on his defense as the reason for demotion.

I'm somewhat amused that Houston Astros pitcher Collin McHugh called the Sox out on Twitter as a result of these moves.

McHugh tweeted, "Wishing Eloy the best of luck as he goes to AAA to work on...defense? baserunning? creating excess value for a $1.5 billion franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs in a decade? bunting?"

There's a lot of truth in that criticism.

Time to read the season previews ...

Hey, guess what I'm doing this weekend? Time to read some season preview magazines and see what the "experts" think of the upcoming season.

One thing I'm thinking: The folks who produce these magazines must not have been too happy about the slow free agency period this offseason.

They probably had to go to press before Manny Machado signed with the San Diego Padres and before Bryce Harper signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Heck, Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel still don't have contracts, and both could be difference-makers in the pennant race. If someone ever signs them ...