Dylan Covey was kept on the major league roster all of 2017, but mostly because he was a Rule 5 pick rather than any present major league success.  Now the White Sox can send him to the minors freely, and have done so.  Even including Covey’s 83 innings in Chicago last year, he still only has approximately 150 innings above High-A in his pro career and it isn’t crazy to think he would benefit from some learning down in Charlotte.  Ultimately, I believe he could have a successful career out of the bullpen without changing much, but if he wants to stick in the rotation he’ll need to make some improvements.

Covey will be joined by Thyago Vieira, the newly acquired flamethrower.  Back of the roster decisions can certainly be determined more by contract status than present ability, particularly in a rebuild, but it seemed possible Vieira might crack the Opening Day bullpen.  Barring injuries (or in Nate Jones’ case, injury-related setbacks), Jones, Joakim Soria, Luis Avilan, Juan Minaya, Gregory Infante, and Danny Farquhar were all pretty clearly ahead of Vieira.  Relievers Bruce Rondon, Jeanmar Gomez, and Xavier Cedeno are all in camp for auditions, as is Hector Santiago (a starter who could potentially be more of a swing-man out of the bullpen) and Vieira’s remaining options may have made it more attractive to stash him in Charlotte until they can sort through these other candidates for the suddenly crowded White Sox pitching staff.  All of the above combined with his lackluster 2017 makes Michael Ynoa’s assignment to minor league camp an even easier call.

Charlie Tilson was also sent to Triple-A.

Now, given that Tilson basically hasn’t played since August 2, 2016, it could be as simple as giving him time to knock some rust off without the pressure of trying to win a major league job.  Still, Tilson was certainly a candidate to get the first shot at the starting center fielder job, something the White Sox have wanted to see him try since they traded Zach Duke for him what seems like forever ago.  Barring some sort of really weird move like signing Carlos Gonzalez to play center field, which he can no longer do, it seems like Adam Engel is going to get one more crack at showing he can hit better than a pitcher before Tilson gets another shot at it.

 Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Look nobody has ever accused me of burying a lede, but while the short and simple answer to the question is “no”, there are individual elements of these games that matter both from a roster-building and developmental standpoint.

The White Sox begin their Cactus League schedule today against the Dodgers. Dylan Covey will start, and Tyler Danish, Thyago Viera, and Brian Clark are all expected to toe the rubber. It’s exciting, because live baseball will be in front of our eyeballs for the first time in far too long, but while these games can often feel like a meaningless slog as we count down to opening day, there are aspects worth keeping an eye on, even if the wins and losses absolutely do not matter.

1. HEALTH. If this list were 20-deep, health could probably take up spots 1 through about 16 or so. In those terms, the player everyone will have their eyes on is Carlos Rodon, who is in the early stages of a throwing program but who general manager Rick Hahn said Wednesday might not return until closer to June 1.

“This is more about getting him healthy for the long term rather than an extra two or three starts in April or May of 2018,” Hahn said. “I’m guessing it’s going to be closer to June 1, but until he’s actually throwing in games, it’s still speculative.”

Aside from Rodon, the most relevant injury-related name to watch in camp is Charlie Tilson. “Charlie Tilson if he’s healthy” has been an option in center field for more than a year now, but as much of a long-shot as it seems at this point, having a healthy Tilson as an option in center field would be a big bonus at a position where the incumbent is Adam Engel and his .517 OPS. Tilson is far from a sure thing, even when healthy. But you don’t know what you have in him until you know, ya know?

2. What the players and coaches say after spring training games actually matters, at least it matters as much as things like that can matter. Watching, say, Michael Kopech on the mound or Eloy Jimenez at the plate is fun to watch, but the results of those spring game appearances aren’t nearly as important as them executing what the coaching staff is asking of them in each appearance.

Maybe on Monday Don Cooper will have Kopech focusing on glove-side fastballs away, or standing tall. Fastball command is a common refrain you hear from White Sox coaches when working with young pitchers, and what and how they approach that with, say, Viara, is key.

You often hear what, specifically, those pitchers are working on after the game, in a matter-of-fact-ness that isn’t always the case in games that matter.

3. We mentioned Charlie Tilson earlier, and the group of outfielders will be worth monitoring throughout the spring. Tilson (yeah if healthy) and Engel are presumably battling for the starting center fielder spot, presuming the White Sox envision Leury Garcia for the utility role. There’s also Daniel Palka and Willy Garcia to consider.

Last year, the presumed starting center fielder in camp was Peter Bourjos before Jacob May came out of nowhere to earn the job. A lot can happen to change plans in these meaningless games.

4. Results. Wait, what? But you said …

Yes, results don’t matter. But let’s face it, it will be a helluva lot more fun this spring if Kopech comes out and torches a major league-ish caliber lineup, or Jimenez goes on a world-crushing tear. Last year, Yoan Moncada went .317/.391/.683 in 46 spring game plate appearances, and some guy nobody had ever heard of named Nicky Delmonico posted a .941 OPS and team-high five home runs in 71 plate appearances.

For every fun thing like that you have a May or Cody Asche, so take everything with a grain of salt. But the long spring is a lot more bearable when your presumed future roster pieces are playing well.

Lead Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

1. Avisail Garcia attributed a new offseason program and 17-lb. weight loss to his surprising turnaround in 2017. On Monday, he reported to camp seven lbs. lighter, according to him, with eyes toward turning his improvements at the plate last season into more power in 2018.

We joked a lot last season about how long it would take the most stringent Garcia doubters *raises hand* to finally come around to him being an above-average contributor, but the fact that his breakout at the plate was fueled by an insane .392 BABIP leaves reason to believe regression will come. Indeed, PECOTA expects a .275/.329/.431, 1.6 WARP season out of Garcia, down from .330/.380/.506, 3.7 WARP a year ago.

Considering where Garcia came from (he had never been so much as a 1 WARP player before last season) even those numbers would be acceptable when you consider the fact that he was borderline DFA-able a year ago, but it’s clear he’s still kind of in the “prove it” phase of his supposed turnaround. If he can indeed add some more pop (his .176 ISA in 2017 was slightly above average) it would certainly make the expected did in his batting average more tolerable.

2. When Corey Dickerson surprisingly hit DFA Land on Sunday, it brought about the usual flurry of rumors about where the 2017 All-Star could land. Dickerson had been a solid if unspectacular outfielder for most of his career before last season’s breakout in which he hit .282/.325/.490 with a career-high 28 home runs and an ISO on par with the likes of Justin Turner and Chris Davis. He was worth 3.9 WARP, although like Garcia PECOTA projects some regression (1.0 WARP).

It’s borderline sacrilege of me, the world’s staunchest Nicky Delmonico supporter, to suggest a move that would shuffle him to the bench, but one wonders if someone like Dickerson, who will be 29 in May, might be of interest to the White Sox. He’d be under team control for the next two seasons and, depending on what the White Sox think of Delmonico, could be a short-time contributor or a long-term solution. This all, of course, depends on Tampa’s asking price, but the Rays aren’t operating from a position of strength following the DFA, and surely want to get something for instead of letting him hit the open market for nothing. I’d be surprised if it’s not something Rick Hahn & Co., are at least considering.

3. One of the more intriguing new faces in White Sox camp is Thyago Viera, the flame-throwing reliever the White Sox acquired for international money from Seattle during the Mariners’ ill-fated pursuit of Shohei Ohtani. Viera is the type of highly-volatile arm that’s easy to dream on, but while he’s maybe more interesting than most players acquired for $500K and nothing else, there’s a reason he was available for exactly that. His fastball touches 100 and he has a developing slider, his BB% has never been lower than 9.0. His lineout in the BP Annual sums it up:

Thyago Viera has the potential to be a bullpen weapon if he can harness his command, which is something that can be said about dozens of other minor-league relievers.

That potential is the reason you write about someone like Viera, of course, and if there’s anyone capable of harnessing Viera’s command it would seemingly be Don Cooper. The uncertainty in the White Sox bullpen is such that Viera will likely get his share of opportunities (if you’re a fantasy player you could consider him a deep sleeper closer candidate if things break right for him and if something were to happen to Nate Jones and/or Joakim Soria), and if he lives up to the potential the White Sox have in him, it will aid their bullpen rebuild a lot quicker than anticipated after last season’s clearing house sale.

4. Speaking of fantasy baseball, Baseball Prospectus came out with its Dynasty 101 on Friday, which is the fantasy-focused version of their Top 101 prospects list. The list features six White Sox, No. 5 Eloy Jimenez, No. 12 Michael Kopech, No. 19 Luis Robert, No. 53 Alec Hansen, No. 75 Jake Burger, and No. 80 Dylan Cease.

From a purely baseball perspective, the list isn’t a whole lot different from the Prospect Top 101, which isn’t unexpected. (Good prospects are good prospects, fantasy or otherwise, ya know?) But given how combustible pitching prospects are, it’s understandable that Robert and Burger are higher than the other list while Hansen and Cease are lower. The fantasy team on the main site provides good coverage all season long, if you’re into that kind of thing, and I hope to supplement it with some White Sox-specific fantasy thoughts this year as well.

5. Speaking of Burger (dang, you are killing it with those transitions today, Collin), James Fegan’s feature story on the White Sox most recent first round pick makes him sound like an sponge for information. Burger moved to Arizona over the offseason and spent time with Mike Gellinger, the White Sox minor league hitting instructor whom both Matt Davidson and Nicky Delmonico have credited with helping them develop within the organization.

The spring, of course, is filled with optimism from a number of players confident that the work they put in over the summer will translate to success on the field. As James notes, Burger’s draft spot was considered high by many observers and he has plenty of doubters among professional scouts and analysts. But his profile is such that, if all of his hard work truly translates as he moves his way through the season, he’ll wind up a helluva find for the White Sox.

Lead Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports