The White Sox are bad. There is no way around that. They are going to lose 100+ games regardless of who is on this team. Whether it is a veteran that GM Chris Getz calls up to try and light a spark, or a young guy that is trying to earn a spot in the big leagues, it doesn’t really matter, as the White Sox are not talented enough to win a significant amount of meaningful games.
With that being said, the focus on this year should be the development of the White Sox prospects, rather than veterans that won’t be on the team next year, regardless if Chris Getz wants to save face and not be one of the worst teams in major league history.
Chris Getz has sent down some of the White Sox most talented prospects in favor of veterans that aren’t significantly better by any means. He has prioritized Chris Flexen, Mike Soroka, and Brad Keller over younger pitchers that likely will be a part of the White Sox in the future. He has also sent down Oscar Colas in favor of guys he recently DFA’d. The process makes very little sense.
Here are a few players that Chris Getz should give another extended look to this season:
Oscar Colas
The treatment of Oscar Colas has been a head scratching one. He was ranked as a top-100 prospect and was one of their highest rated prospects last year, but the White Sox don’t treat him like one. After having him not make the roster out of Spring Training, they called him up for just one pinch-hit at-bat and then sent him back down.
Colas might not have the potential to be a superstar, but he has the talent to be a very solid major league player, as he looked much better in his second stint with the team at the end of last season.
The White Sox should give him a chance to get a few hundred at-bats to see what he can do. It is too early to make a determination on him, and all this promoting and demoting can’t be great for his confidence. I have nothing against Rafael Ortega, but there is no good reason as to why he should get playing time in Chicago over Colas.
The White Sox could use offense, at at worst, he should be up to help provide that. If the White Sox get rid of Ortega or trade Tommy Pham at the deadline, I would hope to see Colas up as soon as possible.
Dominic Fletcher
Fletcher was off to a decent start to the year before they shockingly sent him down to the minors in favor of Rafael Ortega. The same things I said above about Ortega taking at-bats in Chicago away from Colas apply here. But, this move is even stranger when you consider that Fletcher was acquired by Chris Getz himself, rather than Rick Hahn.
Fletcher still has his rookie status in tact, so he is clearly still adjusting to the major leagues. I don’t think anyone expected him to come up and rake right away, so I’m not sure why they sent him when he is still 4th on the White Sox in RBIs.
He should be back up soon so the White Sox can get a true evaluation of his talents to see if he can fit in the long term plans.
Chris Getz has made way too many puzzling moves and he needs to right the ship by having Colas, Fletcher, Nastrini, and Cannon back up. All of them have shown promise, so they should work out any issues in the majors, not AAA. Figure it out Chris Getz.
