During a time when the White Sox farm system was a barren wasteland of low-ceiling whatever or unfulfilled potential, he actually kinda sorta made it.

Saladino, who the White Sox drafted in the seventh round in 2010, never once appeared in Baseball Prospectus’ Top 10 White Sox prospects list. And we’re talking about years where the Top 10s were littered with guys like Keenyn Walker, Jared Mitchell, and the recently departed Courtney Hawkins. You scroll back through the years of Top 10 lists and you find a who’s-who of journeymen or guys who flat-out never made it.

Saladino wasn’t on those lists for a reason. He was one of those low-ceiling whatever types. He got solid defensive marks but was never supposed to hit. And he didn’t hit, at least not for a while. After a strong debut season in High-A in 2011, he spent the next three years bouncing between Double-A and Triple-A, never hitting enough to muster any excitement.

But the White Sox were bad, of course, and his advanced age and defensive versatility meant he was going to get a shot eventually. An guess what? In 2016 he hit! A .282/.315/.409 line with the ability to be a plus-defender at third base, shortstop, and second base made him valuable. In just 93 games, he was worth 1.4 WARP, and even at 26-years-old, it was possible that maybe he had found his niche as a major leaguer.

That very well may be true. In acquiring him Thursday for cash considerations, the Milwaukee Brewers got a player who still provides that defensive versatility, and he could be a valuable asset in case of injury or as a late-inning replacement for a team that is very clearly aiming for contention. But Saladino’s body betrayed him over the last year-plus, as a back injury ruined essentially all of 2017 for him, and with the emergence of Yolmer Sanchez playing essentially the role they once envisioned for Saladino, the acquisition of Yoan Moncada, and the presence of Tim Anderson, they just didn’t really have a place for him anymore. And nearing his 29th birthday, it was clear the potential for him being a piece on the next supposed White Sox contender was no longer there.

Those aforementioned prospect lists? A name that was prevalent on them for a number of years was Trayce Thompson, whom the White Sox reacquired from Oakland in a move that coincided with the departure of Saladino.

Thompson has bounced around a bit since the White Sox traded him to the Dodgers in a three-way trade that brought in Todd Frazier, and he’s struggled to stay healthy. After a 2016 season in Los Angeles where he was roughly league average, hitting for a bit of power and providing versatility in the outfield, injuries derailed him. Since that season, he’s had a grand total of 62 big league plate appearances between Los Angeles and Oakland.

The White Sox’s interest in bringing back Thompson isn’t surprising, given their history with him — he spent the first six years of his career in the organization — but where he fits into their plans is less clear. With Adam Engel once again scuffling at the plate, he could be given an extended look in center field, or at the very least be an upgrade as a defensive replacement/occasional starter in Nicky Delmonico’s stead in left field.

Lead Photo Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Outfield

Opening Day starters: Nicky Delmonico, Adam Engel, Avisail Garcia

All-Star Break starters: Nicky Delmonico, Ryan Cordell, Avisail Garcia

End-of-season starters: Nicky Delmonico, Ryan Cordell, Eloy Jimenez (Avisail at DH)

Optimistic take: Garcia hits as well as he did in 2017 and his defense takes another step forward, Delmonico’s bat-to-ball skills lead to a high batting average and his glove doesn’t hurt in any meaningful way, and Engel is merely “bad” at the plate instead of “totally lost” while providing value defensively and on the base paths. Cordell’s hot spring translates into a hot stint in Triple-A, where he forces his way to Chicago and either surplants Engel or is a useful utility outfielder. Charlie Tilson proves he can stay healthy over the course of an entire season and gets some useful time in the majors at some point during the season. Jimenez comes up by virtue of totally obliterating the minor leagues and turns into the second coming of Giancarlo Stanton.

Pessimistic take: Delmonico hits like someone who was never on anyone’s radar to begin with, Garcia hits like the year 2017 never happened, and Engel hits like he has his entire career. The back injury that kept Cordell on the shelf for most of 2016 flares up and he ends the season as a 26-year-old minor leaguer who can’t seem to stay on the field. Tilson gets hurt again, and Jimenez struggles with the high minors and ends the season looking farther away from the majors than he did before it.

Hot take(s): Cordell leads all White Sox outfielders in WARP.

—Collin Whitchurch

Infield/DH

Opening Day starters: Welington Castillo, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Yolmer Sanchez, Matt Davidson

All-Star Break starters: Welington Castillo, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Tyler Saladino/Yolmer Sanchez platoon, Matt Davidson

End-of-season starters: Welington Castillo, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Tyler Saladino/Yolmer Sanchez platoon, Avisail Garcia

Optimistic take: Castillo performs more or less exactly as he did last year in Baltimore, both offensively and defensively, but with ~150 more plate appearances. Abreu is Abreu, and we put away our worries of him aging ungracefully for at least another year. Moncada lives up to the pedigree of a former top prospect and solidifies himself as a legitimate superstar for years to come. Anderson is a 20 homers, 20 stolen bases guy with improved defense (asking him to increase walks is too unreasonable, IMO). Sanchez and Saladino solidify themselves as worth rostering as we move farther along into the rebuild. Davidson adds 50 points to his OBP to go along with his mammoth power and proves rosterable beyond 2018.

Pessimistic take: Castillo’s defense regresses to pre-2017 levels and his offense takes a significant step back, making him more or less platoonable and thrusting Omar Narvaez into more playing time. Abreu starts to age as poorly as we’ve feared, and he spends the year battling nagging injuries that zap his power. The swing-and-miss in Moncada’s bat is more of a hinderance than anticipated, and his other tools aren’t able to carry him as well as hoped. Anderson has essentially his 2017 season again, and the Sanchez/Saladino combo is below-replacement level.

Hot take(s): Moncada makes the AL All-Star team. Saladino bounces back from his poor 2017 and is traded before July 31.

—Collin Whitchurch

Lead Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Both players were removed from the game. Saladino was diagnosed with a mild concussion and will enter MLB’s concussion protocol, meaning he won’t play again for at least seven days. Delmonico suffered a left shoulder subluxation. Rick Renteria said after the game that both players are day-to-day.

While it appears Saladino and Delmonico (hopefully) escaped serious injury, the list of injured White Sox has grown to a concerning level during camp. Jake Burger’s torn Achilles’ has already cost him his first full season as a professional, Luis Robert’s thumb injury is expected to cost him 10 weeks, Micker Adolfo’s elbow injury is going to limit him to DH, and Eloy Jimenez, Alec Hansen, Jeanmar Gomez, Gregory Infante, and the recently released Willy Garcia have all dealt with minor injuries over the last few weeks.

2. While Saladino’s injury is unrelated to the back injury that plagued him throughout 2017, it’s nonetheless unfortunate as the utility player has looked healthy and effective thus far this spring. A healthy Saladino would be a big boost for the White Sox depth, especially when you consider the uncertainty of Yolmer Sanchez as an everyday third baseman. And at 28 and coming off a lost season, his opportunities to prove himself as someone worth rostering as the White Sox next contention cycle opens are dwindling. Concussions are both scary and impossible to predict, but hopefully he can return sooner than later and this winds up a minor blip in his attempted return to productivity.

For Delmonico, any sort of long-term injury would represent a setback to a player who you wouldn’t even fathom to be in this position one year ago. But it also serves as an indicator at the precarious depth in the White Sox outfield. An injury to Delmonico would presumably elevate Ryan Cordell — already returning from his own injury last season — on the depth chart and also mean more playing time for Leury Garcia. Beyond them there’s … Daniel Palka?

Delmonico’s injury, as noted, appears minor, so hopefully he’s back out there relatively soon. And as far as the outfield depth goes, well…

3. Eloy Jimenez returned from the sore knee that sidelined him for two weeks and in four plate appearances in the last two games, has hit two home runs, a triple, and walked.

.@Lamantha21 showing off that opposite-field! #SoxSpringTrainingpic.twitter.com/QaPqFkUqCO

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) March 11, 2018

I’ve written a few times about how, at the very least, spring training is more fun when the exciting young players do well, but it’s not unfathomable that Jimenez torches Triple-A upon the season opening and finds himself in Chicago sooner than expected. At the very least, it’s nice to see him healthy and performing at a level that makes him one of the top prospects in baseball.

4. Speaking of young players performing well, Lucas Giolito looked downright dominant during his Saturday start against the Cubs, striking out eight over four innings and flashing the nasty curveball that scouts have long drooled over.

.@LGio27 is looking sharp early in Mesa! pic.twitter.com/jWBHH0BB9F

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) March 10, 2018

On the latest episode of The Catbird Speaks, Nick and I discussed the appeal of post-hype prospects. Giolito qualifies in that you don’t read his name on top prospect lists anymore, and it’s easy to forget how much potential he has while dreaming on the hype of Michael Kopech, Alec Hansen, and Dylan Cease. But showing consistent velocity (he reportedly sat 93-95 throughout Saturday’s start) to go along with that curveball will go a long way in him developing into the front-line starter the White Sox hope he can be.

5. Carson Fulmer had another inconsistent start on Friday against the Padres, and while he entered the spring as the presumptive No. 5 starter in the opening day rotation, his struggles coupled with the presence of Hector Santiago make it worth wondering if he’d be better served starting the season in Triple-A.

Fulmer showed flashes of what the White Sox hope he’ll become during a few September starts last season, but the former Top 10 pick has yet to show any semblance of consistency as a starting pitcher, and his performances both in Charlotte last season and this spring leave a lot to be desired. The White Sox will one day need to make a decision on whether or not Fulmer can start in the majors, but there’s no rush. Having other internal options means the White Sox can continue his development in Charlotte, and it’s looking like that might be the best option right now.

I have declared myself as the president of the Jake Burger Fan Club and anyone who would like to challenge my spot on the throne is welcome to fight me on that waterfall in Wakanda.

— Collin Whitchurch (@cowhitchurch) February 26, 2018

As you’ll see from the time stamp on this tweet, I made my grand declaration at 2:41 p.m. CT. And then…

Burger is down and holding his knee

— James Fegan (@JRFegan) February 26, 2018

Honestly, the turn-around would make Jonah Keri weep.

Jokes aside, Jake Burger’s injury — he crumpled over while booking it to first on a slow grounder and the initial diagnosis is a left Achilles’ tendon injury — is terrible news. We should know the severity of the injury on Tuesday, but assuming the worst, it would mean an entirely lost season for a player the White Sox thought highly enough of to draft No. 11 overall just nine months ago.

Semi-reasonable optimistic take: Burger missed a season, the rehab goes smoothly and he comes back next year, no worse for wear in the power department, and only marginally worse in the departments he wasn’t so good at in the first place (speed, defense). He’s not yet 22 years old and even after losing a season, is still young enough to have a productive career.

That’s not overly far fetched, but it’s also not likely. No matter what you think of Burger (scouts and evaluators are incredibly split on him as a prospect) it’s a major blow to his development.

2. Burger’s unfortunate injury overshadowed a Michael Kopech spring debut that was everything one could hope for.

It’s hard to get too excited about any performance on Feb. 26, but in an abbreviated two innings of work, Kopech seemed to accomplish exactly what he and the White Sox wanted, giving up just one hit (a ringing double by Stephen Piscotty), walking none, and striking out three. His fastball was as advertised, reportedly hitting 101, and he mixed in his secondaries, including a developing changeup that was the focus of the outing.

“The velocity is going to be there for me,’’ Kopech said. “I’m excited about my other stuff right now, throwing my changeup when I can, using my slider as an out pitch. I’m not going to focus on velocity, but it’s always good when it’s there.’’

Kopech’s bread and butter will always be that fastball, but they key to his developing as the White Sox hope will be him commanding the secondary pitches. It was just two innings of a spring training start before the calendar even says March, but a good start is a welcomed sight.

3. Kopech is the consensus No. 2 prospect in the White Sox system. The consensus No. 1 prospect, Eloy Jimenez, has only appeared in one of the White Sox first four Cactus League games. The reason, we found out Monday, is because of a sore left knee he suffered during practice and re-aggravated during his lone appearance in a game.

The White Sox are, as you might expect, taking things slow.

“We’re very, very cautious with him,” Renteria said, adding: “As soon as we get a nice feel for where he’s at and he feels comfortable, we’ll start inserting him into the lineup.”

Getting a glimpse of the uber-prospect’s prodigious power is one of the most-anticipated things of the spring. It’s Feb. 27. (Have I mentioned that it’s very early yet?) The White Sox caution is completely understandable.

4. Last spring, Tyler Saladino hit .365/.431/.692 with four home runs in 56 spring training plate appearances. He followed that up with a disastrous, injury-plagued season in which he was only able to play in 79 games and put up an embarrassing .178/.254/.229 line.

Saladino is once again hitting in Arizona, going 4-for-7 through three games thus far (I know, LOL spring training small sample sizes), including Monday’s game in which he went 2-for-2 with a walk. The numbers to date don’t mean a lick, but it got me wondering where the 28-year-old fits in on this White Sox roster.

Barring any unforeseen roster changes, one would presume Saladino will have a spot on the White Sox bench come Opening Day as a second utility player, backing up Yolmer Sanchez, Tim Anderson, and Yoan Moncada along with Leury Garcia. But while he looked like a reasonable bet to stick around in that type of role two years ago, the back injury that plagued him throughout 2017, as well as his advancing age, puts his future with the team in doubt. One would expect this year to be his last shot.

5. White Sox prospect Mikey Duarte, a 23rd round pick in last June’s draft, spoke to reporters Monday about last October’s mass shooting in Las Vegas that claimed the life of 58 people, including his sister.

As we continue to grieve over yet another mass shooting two week ago at a high school in Parkland, Fla., the voices that have spoken out about the issue of gun control have grown in stature as those voices have turned into the survivors themselves, or those, like Duarte, who were directly affected.

“There’s no reason that a school should be shot up with 17 kids dead,” Duarte said. “A church, 26 people dead. A concert in Las Vegas, 58 dead. It just keeps happening over and over again and it’s not going to stop until our people high up do something about it. And yeah, I think there’s no reason to have a semi-automatic weapon. There’s no reason to have an AR-15. If you need to protect your home, you should be able to have a pistol at your house, to protect someone if they break in your house. There’s no reason to have an AR-15 or a bump stock weapon to kill hundreds of people at a time. There’s no reason. So yeah, I think something needs to be done to help your kids and my kids one day, live in a safer environment.

“People keep tweeting the same stuff over and over again after a mass shooting and nothing’s done. Sorry it happened. Thoughts and prayers to the families that lost someone today.  But what have you done to prevent it? You’re high up, you have every resource to do something about it and nothing is ever done besides a tweet. And what’s a tweet, really? A tweet is just a tweet. That’s just some words coming out of the mouth. I think something needs to be done to make this country safer.”

The entire account is deeply moving, unsettling, troubling, and a whole bunch of other verbs that don’t entirely do it justice. I highly encourage you to check it out for yourself.

Lead Photo Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

This was finally supposed to be Tyler Saladino’s big year. He was finally fully recovered from his litany of injuries. He was a league-average bat in 2016, capable of playing anywhere in the infield. And Brett Lawrie, his main competition for playing time, had been non-tendered (and ultimately disappeared from baseball). Sure, Tim Anderson is already in Chicago and Yoan Moncada wasn’t long for Charlotte but second base (and then the super utility role) were his to lose. Things were finally looking up!

Until they weren’t. When the best month of your season’s hitting line is .221/.329/.294, it’s safe to say you’re maybe not having the best of years. Power has always been the weakest aspect of Saladino’s game, so starting the season with six extra base hits over the first two months was extremely concerning. Turns out there was a reason for it, as the Sox placed him on the disabled list with back spasms at the end of May.

Saladino would see no action again until a six game rehab stint in Charlotte in July. His numbers upon returning were no better than before the month plus of rest and his final stats were depressing: .178/.254/.229 with a TAv of .181.

It’s not entirely fair to judge someone whose back is clearly unhealthy’s season solely on statistics. No one is going to be able to hit with that kind of injury. But you also can’t just ignore it going forward. This is a potentially career-wrecking situation and the main thing to hope for from Saladino in 2018 is that he’s fully healthy.

Lead Photo Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Pure fan devotion could be enough motivation to watch, of course, but even fan devotion is put to the test by the second-worst team in baseball. Even fans that are dedicated to the team through thick and thin need something to look forward to and care about. Yoan Moncada hasn’t set the world on fire, but as the best prospect in baseball he’s always worth paying attention to. It’s likely that he’ll improve even more in the coming weeks, making him the highlight in the White Sox lineup. Carlos Rodon has improved drastically over his last three starts, showing the top of the rotation potential that has always been buried inside. Reynaldo Lopez’s debut Friday and final two months in Chicago will also be worth keeping an eye on. Those are the obvious bright spots, but there are things beyond that to watch.

There isn’t much luxury in rebuilding. It’s almost entirely a drudge through a mucky, miserable season with slight glimmers of hope about the future to come. If one luxury can be found, however, it is in the fact that the team can give chances to players that otherwise would not receive them. Now that the roster is devoid of veteran talent, the focus can be narrowed even more on players like Leury Garcia, Yolmer Sanchez, Matt Davidson, Tyler Saladino, Alen Hanson, and Nicky Delmonico.

Coming into the season, none of those names really sparked a fire in the hearts of White Sox fans or analysts. Sanchez had been given a full-time role on the 2015 team, but he produced just a 61 wRC+. Garcia was a prospect with promise, but he never quite put things together in the big leagues. Saladino had proven himself as a useful utility player but nothing more, and so on. They were all players that weren’t worth getting excited about and yet, they had plenty of potential if given the right opportunity.

Given the opportunity to succeed, Garcia has stood out more than any of the others. He did have more potential all along, but his 107 wRC+ while playing good defense in a premier position has been a revelation. Even if in the long run he is merely a fourth outfielder, that’s value gained simply through giving him an opportunity. Watching how he proceeds this season following his hand injury is certainly worth giving attention to.

Sanchez has seen his playing time take a hit since the promotion of Moncada, but he’s still worth keeping an eye. Hope was all but lost for his offense entering 2017, but he’s produced mildly well with a .313 on base percentage and 85 wRC+. That’s not awe-inspiring, but it’s an improvement on his past production. Perhaps on the other side of the coin is Saladino, who has disappointed in his season shortened by injury.

These players are the ones worth keeping an eye on despite the team being pummeled night after night. They’re not the prospects that are going to dazzle on the 100-loss team, but they are the players benefitting the most from the White Sox being bad. Each of them is being given an opportunity that they normally would not have. If even one of them is a contributor on the next good White Sox team, it’s a big win for the rebuild. Even when the games are miserable, long, and seemingly worthless eyes can be put on these players, and thoughts can be churning about what their future might hold. 

Lead Photo Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

1. Jose Quintana wasn’t good.  Specifically, he fell apart in the second inning, allowing a three-run home run to major league debut-ing JaCoby Jones and a two-run opposite field shot to Nick Castellanos. Both came after jumping ahead 0-2, which reflects a problem he had all day putting hitters away once he got to two strikes — he didn’t register a strikeout until his 16th batter faced.  He had trouble locating his curveball, which I suspect helps to explain the former.

The worst thing about Quintana’s bad outing wasn’t just that it directly caused the White Sox to lose, but it kicked off a horrible conversation about whether or not the White Sox should have desperately rushed to trade him for whatever package they could scrounge up. The idea that a player with his track record’s value would fluctuate from start to start is asinine. Also, if you’re afraid that if you keep Quintana for too long you won’t get as much as you should for him, perhaps the solution isn’t “Trading him for less than you should get for him.”

2. We were treated to a preview of how the lineup is likely to function for the foreseeable future.  The top half is pretty good, and three of the top four had multi-hit games. And granted, Justin Verlander is a tough draw, but Tim Anderson went o-for-4 with 3Ks, and even though his rookie year was a success, this was always going to be an issue he’d have to work through.

There are some pretty massive holes in this lineup, and it’s going to yield a lot of 1-2-3 innings.

3. The bullpen looks like it should be a good group, and today it posted 3.2 shutout innings after Quintana’s departure.  Jake Petricka and Zach Putnam both looked largely like their old, effective selves in their first appearances back from long absences due to injury.

If Petricka and Putnam are good again it would make it that much easier to manage the day-to-day should they trade David Robertson or Nate Jones.

4. PECOTA projects Tyler Saladino for a .305 OBP and it’s not hard to see why, given his major league track record.  But he registered two hits and a walk in his debut at the top of the lineup, and he had plus OBP seasons in the minors, so maybe if there’s more development in there from regular PAs he could beat his projections and wind up at a .330 or .340 level? Please?

5. It’s been months of rumors about Quintana to the Astros or Pirates or maybe the Yankees, and those are all logical trade partners to varying degrees.  Recently, however, the Cardinals have been floated as another suitor for Quintana’s services.  The estimable Jon Bernhardt explored the idea further, arguing that it makes a ton of sense for St. Louis and that they should have the pieces to get it done.

Quintana makes a lot of sense for a lot of teams, which — circling back to number one — is another reason why the White Sox can hold out for the right offer.

Lead Photo Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

It was a somewhat odd move from a purely talent-based view. Lawrie’s an established league-average hitter capable of playing second and third base decently and still had one year left before hitting free agency. That’s a useful piece on any team but even more so on one that’s had some of the shallowest benches in the American League for what feels like the past decade. But then you remember that Lawrie has only played more than 125 games once in his six year career and seemed to be blaming the Sox training staff for his recent foot-related ailments and, yeah, his time on the south side had probably run its natural course.

Which brings us to Saladino. Over his first full year in the majors, he put up a very impressive .282/.315/.409 line with eight home runs and 11 steals thrown in for good measure. He did that without a regular position or guaranteed playing time. He played every position on the field other than pitcher and catcher (and should really never pitch unless the Sox want to challenge his Tommy John-repaired elbow unnecessarily). He was more or less the perfect bench player: useful enough bat, good option to pinch run, and playable anywhere you needed him. And that may be his ceiling.

But the White Sox aren’t going anywhere this season. Or next season. So if there’s ever been a time to find out just what Saladino can bring to the table, it’s the first half of this year. If he thrives, fantastic! He’ll still get regular playing time spelling Anderson, Frazier, and Moncada once he forces the issue. And if he falters, well, that’s OKish too. He’ll go back to being a bench player and no real damage is done in the long run. What seemed like an unforced gamble at first blush may actually wind up paying off pretty well.

Lead Photo Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

In terms of the White Sox’ greater strategy, Rick Hahn pointed out that it made sense to tender Lawrie at the beginning of the winter as they had believed Todd Frazier was a likely candidate for a trade. Had that happened, Lawrie would have shifted over to his more natural position at the hot corner. Obviously, it didn’t, and Hahn cited a desire to free up playing time for Tyler Saladino and Yolmer Sanchez as part of the reasoning behind letting Lawrie go with the arrival of spring. Saladino has demonstrated an ability to contribute in the majors, which is not yet true of Sanchez. Leury Garcia is also coming off of a good 2016 in Charlotte and has gotten off to a hot start in Spring Training. The White Sox are likely interested to see if there is anything there as well, and may wind up needing his ability to cover in center more than they needed another option to cover second and third.  It may also be the case that Lawrie still hasn’t recovered from injuries that cost him almost half of 2016, although that’s (reasonable) speculation at this point.

Some excited onlookers have interpreted Lawrie’s release to mean that the Yoan Moncada Era has commenced earlier than expected. While Tim Anderson arrived earlier than most would have predicted last season, that was in the context of a team that was trying to win immediately, had gotten off to a great start, and had a huge need at shortstop. Here, the White Sox don’t have any reason to rush Moncada, either from a gaming service time perspective, or from the perspective of 2017 wins and losses.

Moreover, Moncada still has not had 250 plate appearances above High-A, so the White Sox would not even be raising the appearance of impropriety by starting him in the minors to give him time to iron out any wrinkles in his defensive game or in terms of making contact against pitchers with higher level command.  Moncada has hardly been left to stagnate at levels where he has nothing left to prove, and Lawrie’s presence or absence doesn’t change that reality.

One possibility is that Moncada destroys the high minors to the point where his promotion is the only choice, and the release of Lawrie does help clear an obstacle to his arrival in that sense–it’s easier to do this now than in-season. But in the meantime, they can also find out whether Sanchez or Garcia have anything to offer moving forward or can make visible progress against major league pitching with regular playing time, which is the type of sorting and evaluating expedition that rebuilding teams have the “luxury” of conducting. And if Moncada struggles initially in Birmingham or Charlotte, there are still plenty of bodies to cover the infield.

Lead Image Credit: Joe Nicholson // USA Today Sports Images

One of my favorite aspects of PECOTA to look at around this time of year is the player comparisons, something that is far from gospel but at least somewhat useful in that: “it takes a player’s baseline projection and finds players with the same age and similar contact, power on contact, walks, and strikeout rates, as well as similar height, weight, handedness, and position (or start/relief split for pitchers).”

There’s always something interesting in these player comparisons, so I thought I’d take a look through the top ones for White Sox players and see if anything fun comes up.

Carlos Rodon

Fun comp: 2014 Madison Bumgarner

Baseball Prospectus Editor in Chief Aaron Gleeman wrote a piece last week listing the pitchers PECOTA thinks are the best bets to break out in 2017. Among those pitchers was Rodon, and when you look at his top comparable player and the stats that pitcher put up in that season, it’s easy to start dreaming of a future Cy Young contender.

The grain of salt that’s needed to be taken with these comps is important to remember, of course. At 24, Bumgarner had already completed three straight 200-plus inning seasons, where Rodon first full season a year ago saw him max out at 165 innings. Stuff like that are the most obvious flaw in these projections (remember, this exercise is supposed to be fun). But when you see Rodon compared to a pitcher and season that produced 217 innings, 219 strikeouts, and 6.1 WARP, you see why both the White Sox and PECOTA are enticed by his potential.

Jose Quintana

Fun comps: 2014 David Price, 2014 Johnny Cueto, 2010 Adam Wainwright

Quintana’s comps are a testament to his consistency and the fact that he’s established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the league. Price in 2014, Cueto in 2014 and Wainwright in 2010 all led their respective leagues in innings pitched and strikeouts. In both Cueto’s and Wainwright’s cases, their performances led to second place finishes in Cy Young voting. Price put together his season across both Tampa Bay and Detroit, so he could have another thing in common with Quintana before long.

Brett Lawrie

Fun comps: 1999 Ray Durham, 2009 Alexei Ramirez

Lawrie’s comps are fun mostly because they include two memorable seasons by White Sox infielders. Durham’s ’99 was his second season in what wound up being nine straight of .800 OPS or higher, and 11 straight at .785 or higher. Ramirez’s ’09 was his second in the majors and another step in establishing him as an above-average contributor at his position.

The difference between those two and Lawrie, of course, is that both were consistently healthy throughout those seasons, while Lawrie has yet to prove he’s able to do that.

Tyler Saladino

Fun comps: 2014 Brian Dozier, 2008 Brandon Phillips

If there’s any comp that might make you believe this system is whacked out of its mind, it’s this one. Saladino profiles as a solid major-league utility player, someone who can start in a pinch but that shouldn’t be relied on to be a meaningful contributor if you have eyes on contention. In 2014, Dozier hit 23 home runs, stole 21 bases, and put up a .762 OPS and 4.4 WARP in 707 plate appearances. Two years later he was a 40-dinger guy who garnered MVP votes. Phillips’ ’08 numbers were similar, but it was a below-average offensive season by his standards.

So there you have it. The White Sox have future Cy Young contenders and top second basemen on their roster already. This rebuild is going to be much simpler than anyone expected.

Lead Photo Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports