** It was announced yesterday that the major and minor league seasons would be delayed due to the Coronavirus outbreak that is sweeping the country. There is no current timetable as to when the season will actually start. **
The backfields are open and minor league games are on the precipice of starting. The Chicago White Sox are notoriously slow in announcing official rosters for their various affiliates. Minor League Baseball begins on Thursday April 9th and the Charlotte Knights (at Durham), Winston-Salem Dash (at Carolina) and Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (at Charleston) all open up on the road. The Birmingham Barons will host Rocket City at Regions Field however.
Through sources and some informed speculation, FutureSox has obtained some information on expected roster assignments for the affiliated clubs. The following information isn’t set in stone and things can always change given the fact that minor league games haven’t even begun in Arizona and Florida yet. The rookie level clubs in the Dominican Summer League, Arizona League and Great Falls won’t be starting until later this year and we’ll leave out names projected for rookie ball as of now. Below is what we currently have projected for the White Sox’s affiliated rosters.
CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS (TRIPLE-A)
One of the biggest stories to watch for the remainder of spring training is the apparent logjam at the catcher position. Zack Collins, Yermin Mercedes and Seby Zavala are scheduled to return to the Queen City. Mercedes and Collins are both options for the 26th spot on the big league roster, but Yermin seems more likely at this juncture. 2017 2nd rounder Gavin Sheets will make his International League debut and is locked in as the primary first baseman for the Knights in 2020.
Nick Madrigal will be the every day second baseman in Charlotte, but will likely spend the majority of his season in Chicago. Chris Getz has strategically placed veterans in Charlotte in recent years to cover injuries in the big leagues and 2020 will be no different. The rest of the Charlotte infield will contain: AJ Reed, Matt Skole, Andrew Romine, Cheslor Cuthbert and Ramon Torres.
Speaking of veterans, there are a plethora slated for the Charlotte outfield. Nicky Delmonico has an outside chance at making the big league club but will be playing in Triple-A otherwise. Daniel Palka, Joel Booker and new additions Trayvon Robinson and Jaycob Brugman will make up the rest of the outfield. There are four prominent outfield prospects in the system not named Luis Robert, and any of them could theoretically start here as well. That doesn’t appear to be the plan however.
The organization will have some decisions to make in regards to the pitching staff in Charlotte. There are many veterans and journeymen currently occupying space as Non-Roster Invitees, and not all of them will survive into the season. Michael Kopech is a member of the system’s top 30 and will be the star attraction. The rest of the staff will be made up of some combination of the following: Adalberto Mejia (LHP), Drew Anderson (RHP), Alex McRae (RHP), Ross Detwiler (LHP), Matt Tomshaw (LHP), Kyle Kubat (LHP), Brady Lail (RHP), Tanner Banks (LHP) and Spencer Adams (RHP).
The bullpen in Charlotte could be very interesting, and many of these names could find themselves in Chicago at some point this season. Codi Heuer was a 6th round selection out of Wichita State in 2018. He’s moved quickly through the system, and word is that he’ll leap all the way to Charlotte to make his International League debut to start 2020. Ian Hamilton is battling an oblique injury after being injured quite a bit in 2019 as well. Righties Matt Foster and Zach Thompson will likely return to the Knights, with Danny Dopico joining them as well. Tayron Guerrero, Caleb Frare and Jacob Lindgren could find themselves in Charlotte also. Southpaw Bernardo Flores was expected to join the Charlotte Knights, but was sent to the Birmingham Barons from major league camp instead.
BIRMINGHAM BARONS (DOUBLE-A)
Many assumed that the promising group of minor league outfielders in the system would be dispersed evenly between Charlotte and Birmingham, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Luis Alexander Basabe, Micker Adolfo, Blake Rutherford and Luis Gonzalez are all different, but they’re also quite similar. None of them distinguished themselves enough in 2019 to move on from the Southern League. There should be enough plate appearances to go around in Birmingham, but the club will need to employ one of these guys as a DH every day to do so. Craig Dedelow has earned a chance at AA as well. He’s slated to join this crowded mix.
The 3rd overall pick from the 2019 draft and overall spring training standout Andrew Vaughn is expected to start the 2020 campaign in Birmingham with the Barons as well. This lineup looks pretty deep 1-5 and is loaded with potential (and top 15 system prospects). Vaughn will be the attraction, but the others are working towards big league futures as well. Rounding out the infield: Ti’Quan Forbes (3B), Mitch Roman (2B), Zach Remillard (UT), Laz Rivera (SS), Jameson Fisher (1B) and Damek Tomscha (UT). Doing the catching will likely be Carlos Perez who was an NRI to big league spring training along with defensive stalwart Nate Nolan and the newly added Xavier Fernandez.
The pitching staff has a lot of promise but seems to be fluid at the moment. Dane Dunning and Jimmy Lambert will likely be assigned back to the Barons but won’t start the year in the rotation while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. The Birmingham rotation will be led by 2018 5th rounder Jonathan Stiever. Stiever had a huge minor league season in 2019, but is on the shelf with some forearm soreness which should delay the start to his season. It goes without saying that missing him for any significant amount of time would be a big blow. The rest of the Barons’ rotation will feature Kade McClure, Lincoln Henzman, Blake Battenfield and John Parke. McClure is seen as the only true prospect of the bunch.
The Barons’ bullpen should be very solid to start the year. 2016 1st rounder Zack Burdi is healthy and he’s been assigned to Birmingham to begin. Tyler Johnson, drafted in the 5th round in 2017, is another potential high leverage option who will join Burdi. Will Kincanon also has high leverage experience. He is expected to make the jump to Double-A, with righty Alec Hansen returning as well. Right-hander Vince Arobio is expected in Birmingham as well, in addition to southpaws Kodi Medeiros, Bennett Sousa and Andrew Perez.
WINSTON-SALEM DASH (HIGH-A)
Konnor Pilkington, Taylor Varnell, Jason Bilous and David Martin are all 2018 draft picks who will start the season with the Dash in the Carolina League. Joining them in the starting rotation will be recent addition and southpaw Sam Long. There should be many unheralded names that comprise the rest of the pitching staff as well. Those players are as follows: Johan Dominguez, Austin Conway, J.B. Olsen, Hansen Butler, Jose Nin, Wyatt Burns, Jake Elliott, Devon Perez, Wilbur Perez and Lane Ramsey.
Many of the outfielders scheduled to start in Winston-Salem have played at this level before. Some of them would be in Double-A with other organizations, but the depth of outfield prospects in Birmingham pushes the talent down the board. Ian Dawkins, Tyler Frost, Alex Destino, Romy Gonzalez and 2019 draft pick Jonathan Allen are expected to comprise the Winston-Salem outfield. Lenyn Sosa will take over as the shortstop with the Dash after spending last season in Kannapolis. Corey Zangari will be the primary first baseman and get his first taste of the Carolina League as well. The rest of the infield likely looks like this: Michael Hickman, Samir Duenez, Johan Cruz, JJ Muno and Ramon Beltre. Evan Skoug and Gunnar Troutwine will be doing the catching.
KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS (LOW-A)
Kannapolis will begin the 2020 season under their new moniker at some point. The Cannon Ballers will feature a very young team with some advanced college performers thrown into the mix too. The pitching staff looks interesting, with Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist expected to start the season in Low-A. Isaiah Carranza was a top 200 draft prospect in 2018. He immediately underwent elbow surgery in the White Sox system, but should join the affiliate this year.
The rest of the pitching will be made up of more 2019 draftees. Lefties Avery Weems and Dan Metzdorf should get some starts, along with righties Chase Solesky and Jeremiah Burke. A troika of day-three relievers could also be fast movers in this system. Caleb Freeman, McKinley Moore and Sammy Peralta all possess upside and their roles will be interesting to watch. Others on the pitching staff will likely include Yoelvin Silven, Cooper Bradford, Karan Patel, Trey Jeans, Pauly Milto, Nate Pawelczyk, Garvin Alston, Tyson Messer and Connor Reich.
Kannapolis will have two prospects in the middle infield with Jose Rodriguez primarily at second base and Yolbert Sanchez making his stateside debut at shortstop. Sam Abbott and Harvin Mendoza will likely split duties over at first base. The rest of the infield could include guys like Lency Delgado, Luis Curbelo, and Joshua Raivera. Ivan Gonzalez and Tyrus Greene should make a decent catching tandem as well. Tyler Osik, Jakob Goldfarb and Daniel Millwee are options behind the dish. Kelvin Maldonado and Jonah McReynolds could be rostered here in some capacity.
The outfield could be really young if the Great Falls roster makes its way to the South Atlantic League. Bryce Bush will repeat this level and could thrive with a healthy season. Cameron Simmons was a 20th round draft pick last year out of Virginia and he’s likely to play with the Cannon Ballers as well. Caberea Weaver was the club’s 7th rounder in 2018 and the former Georgia prep standout really struggled with the Voyagers in 2019. Luis Mieses, Anderson Comas and Josue Guerrero were all members of the 2016 international signing class and all three could factor into this club as well.
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