Comments on: Stuck with the middle class http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/01/26/stuck-with-the-middle-class/ Just another Baseball Prospectus Local Sites site Wed, 05 Dec 2018 22:40:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: Russ http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/01/26/stuck-with-the-middle-class/#comment-3590 Thu, 26 Jan 2017 22:34:26 +0000 http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=5544#comment-3590 My first reaction from the FanGraphs piece was “This trend started 10 years ago, and the White Sox were the last to notice.”

I don’t know if that is a function of ownership being in place for over 30 years – certainly being behind trends isn’t unique to sports when business ownership is long in the tooth – or if its a function of the front office having such little turnover. (Would “the Sox way” have changed sooner if Jerry allowed Kenny Williams to interview for the Toronto job?)

I’m glad the Sox are trying a rebuild, I just wonder if this regime is going to do a modern rebuild or an old-school rebuild. It’s one thing to trade your two best players for AAA/AA-prospects, but if they’re looking for AAA/AA prospects for Melky and Frazier, they are doing it wrong. They need to get out in front of analytics and scouting and get A/low-A prospects for their vets.

Kyle Hendricks was in A ball when he was acquired for Dempster. Do the Sox have the front office capable of making those vets-for-low-minors trades? I’m leaning towards “no” since they have proven themselves to be so far behind the trends.

]]>