The Rick James-like aura of free-agent star Manny Machado loomed large over the entire weekend, even though he wasn't in attendance. Just as SoxFest opened its doors to the media Friday, the Padres emerged as the latest "mystery team" to kick the tires on the 26-year-old Machado. White Sox fans who have diligently followed the Machado sweepstakes and who were holding out hope they might see Machado storm into the same ballroom Dr. Richard Kimble stormed into more than 25 years ago were left unsatisfied. Sadly, there were no answers to who killed Dr. Lentz and, more importantly, there was no Machado.
General manager Rick Hahn, for some reason, won't bargain through the media, leaving us nothing to hold on to as the waiting game continues. Hahn did correctly point out that if a free-agent acquisition ends up contributing to a walk-off win in July, for example, no one will care that he took longer to sign than anticipated. Beyond the Machado pursuit, Hahn mentioned that there were a few "shorter-term things and plugs on the roster that we’ll continue to pursue."
Before the players were introduced Friday, the White Sox faithful chanted "Manny, Manny." For now, everyone will just have to settle for left-hander Manny Bañuelos, who's expected to compete for the fifth spot in the team's rotation despite not having pitched in the big leagues since 2015.
With right-hander Michael Kopech sidelined for 2019 after Tommy John surgery, right-hander Dylan Cease is the White Sox's top-rated pitching prospect who's healthy. He ranks No. 21 on MLB Pipeline's top-100 prospect list.
After an injury-riddled 2017 in which he had an ankle ailment and never fully clicked, Cease had a monster 2018 season that ended at Double-A Birmingham, where he had a 1.72 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and 78 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings in 10 starts. He earned MLB Pipeline's Pitcher of the Year award.
Cease, 23, is hoping to move up to Triple-A Charlotte and, if all goes to plan, could be on a big league mound sometime in August.
There's more to Cease, a Georgia native, than just minor league accolades. A self-proclaimed World War II history buff, Cease commanded the "Down on the Farm”" seminar at SoxFest on Saturday alongside fellow prospects Seby Zavala and Nick Madrigal. When a fan frustrated by high pitch counts and a lack of contact asked why so many pitchers get ahead 0-2 only to eventually walk a hitter, Cease slyly replied, "Never happened to me."
Cease is a character, one with some off-the-field activities that previously kept White Sox director of player development Chris Getz a bit worried. Getz and Cease shared one such tale.
Dylan has a twin brother, Alec, who "wants to be a pilot but right now is a waiter." Dylan recounted one stormy flight with Alec in a "sketchy" World War II era plane when the fuel switched from the auxiliary tank to the main tank, causing the plane to free fall for about 10 seconds. Getz punctuated the story by kindly asking Dylan not do that again.
"I was with the Cubs at that point, so it's OK," Dylan responded.
If all goes according to plan for Cease, the White Sox see him more as a leader of a pitching staff and less of an antique aircraft connoisseur. White Sox fans should enjoy Cease both on and off the mound for years to come.
It's safe to say 2019 will be an important year in the development of infielder Yoan Moncada, a former No. 1 prospect. Moncada hit .235 with a .714 OPS and struck out 217 times in 2018, the most in MLB. Immediately after the season, Moncada and the White Sox began making adjustments to his approach.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria suggested Moncada's issues at the plate could be more physical than mental. Renteria explained that a hand/grip adjustment could help give Moncada better plate coverage, particularly on the outside edges, and possibly cut down Moncada's strikeout rate.
"The way he's gripping the bat eliminated (his) coverage on the outside edge of the plate," Renteria said.
White Sox hitting coach Todd Steverson joined Moncada in Arizona just weeks after the end of the 2018 season to begin work on the new approach.
"This young man has a chance to be an impactful Major League Baseball player," Renteria said. "He's a 23-yea- old who really doesn't know yet who he is."
After struggling at the top of the order last season, Moncada could be helped by the veteran presence of outfielder Jon Jay in the lineup, as Jay could take some pressure off of him. Perhaps Moncada put too much of the burden upon himself last season as he asked Renteria to insert him at the top of the order.
What's clear is the White Sox need Moncada to step up. As ace Chris Sale collected the final outs for the Red Sox in the World Series clincher last October, White Sox fans were left to hope that Moncada can figure out who he is and live up to the hype surrounding the December 2016 trade in which Moncada was the centerpiece return from Boston to Chicago.
Renteria believes Moncada is "going to find out who he is" and will ultimately learn from his 2018 struggles and become the player the organization believes he can be. One of the ways the White Sox can have a successful 2019 season is a step forward in the development of Moncada.
The excitement surrounding Kopech's meteoric rise through the White Sox farm system and his MLB debut last August ended as abruptly as it began.After only four big league starts, the 22-year-old Kopech was sidelined with Tommy John surgery. Hahn called Kopech's season-ending injury a "kick in the gut," and many would say that would be putting it mildly.
Kopech will miss all of 2019, when there will be more to his rehab than just timetables and throwing programs. There will be an important mental side of the recovery as well.
Kopech discussed his struggles with anxiety during his professional career in an interview on the McNeil & Parkins Show on Friday.
"I've been pretty open with the fact that I struggled with anxiety at the end of last year," Kopech said. "It was pretty bad. My main focus is to try and be myself unapologetically. There were so many masks I wore or people who I tried to please and get to the big leagues that it kind of put more pressure on myself than there needed to be."
Kopech's honesty is refreshing in a sports world dominated by cliches and PR-ready robotic responses. It also came on the heels of another Chicago sports figure in Bears tight end Trey Burton also admitting to his own struggles with anxiety.
With a long road to recovery still ahead of him, Kopech will need to rely heavily on being in a good space mentally.
"One of the biggest hurdles is the psychological side," Hahn said, adding the biggest challenge for Kopech will simply be "boredom" over the next six to 12 months.
The slow and steady recovery from Tommy John surgery is a far cry from 100-mph fastballs on a big league mound. Hahn believes Kopech will be ready without limitations at the start of spring training in 2020.
Believe it or not, outfielder Eloy Jimenez, the No. 3 prospect in MLB.com's rankings, didn't dominate much of the conversation at SoxFest.
Jimenez's lack of a big league promotion in 2018 as he dominated minor league pitching was a hot and often divisive topic. But as the White Sox keep their focus on the Machado and Bryce Harper sweepstakes, the inevitable Jimenez call-up has been put on the backburner.
His time is coming, likely in the latter half of April or early May, a delay that would allow the White Sox to have an extra year of contract control. It's hard to imagine the 22-year-old Jimenez needing to make any adjustments or prove himself this offseason after getting on base at a .399 clip and registering a .996 OPS in 55 games at Triple-A Charlotte to close 2018.
Still, Jimenez has been working on his diet and conditioning this winter in order to aid his defense and become a "complete player," as he put it. Jimenez doesn't want to be a designated hitter.
There will be reinforcements coming behind Jimenez. Hahn added that he wouldn't be surprised if he were discussing Madrigal or Luis Robert the same way at SoxFest in 2020 that he was speaking about Jimenez on Friday.
Talent is deep throughout the minor league system, even as Hahn joked, in reference to himself, that some "jackass" traded away shortstop Fernando Tatis, the No. 2 prospect in baseball to the Padres in June 2016. Tatis will be "the one who got away," Hahn said.
Still, the overwhelming feeling coming out of SoxFest was that the long-term outlook of the White Sox organization is bright, and that's something we haven’t been able to say in quite some time.