Why didn’t Nick Madrigal make the White Sox 30-man roster for Opening Day?
Well, according to the White Sox, he’s not the team’s best option at second base.
It can be difficult for White Sox fans to agree to that. They’ve gotten used to planning the future of the franchise with the help of lead ratings, and they’re still not exactly wrong. There is Yoán Moncada at third base, Eloy Jiménez in left field, Tim Anderson managing shortstop and Luis Robert ready for his major league debut in center field. Lucas Giolito is on top of the pitching team, with Reynaldo López and Dylan Cease behind him.
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Shouldn’t Madrigal be next? Especially now that the team is ready to jump into containment mode?
Fans also saw Madrigal bring his single, high-touch, anti-modern style to the “Summer Camp” and exhibition games over the past week. In fact, Madrigal looked good, and received rave reviews from his coaches and teammates about the improvements he made since spring training. Giolito said Madrigal seemed like a player who could help a White Sox team with postseason expectations from day one.
And yet, after the Opening Day list was announced on Thursday, general manager Rick Hahn said that for all that Madrigal has done, he has not yet reached the status of Leury Garcia.
“We really want to make this decision about what was best for the club as a whole, as well as consideration for Nicky’s long-term development,” said Hahn. “It all came down to, in the end, we felt the lineup was stronger and overall we were going to be more productive with Leury at second base, providing us with that presence of change in the lineup. Currently, Leury seems, her moment.
“I know the overall numbers for the Cactus League, going back to Glendale, and the three (exhibition) games here are not extremely impressive for Nicky, but he certainly looked much better in the last three weeks. To his credit, he came ready to compete, and we still think about the world of it and believe that it will help us sometime during the summer. “
Due to the focus of years into the future, fans may be a little biased towards the next big thing. The White Sox have been talking about Madrigal since they passed the No. 4 pick in the draft two summers ago. He had an extremely successful season last year in the minor leagues, striking out, and this is still incredible, just 17 times. He has a great glove, good speed and great baseball intelligence.
And it could be the best second baseman in the organization.
That’s nothing against Garcia, who brings excellent versatility off the bench, an ability to play at least six different positions that is extraordinarily valuable to a team with dreams of competing. But Madrigal was the best choice for a reason. Its ceiling is much higher.
And while it would be far-fetched to suggest that he was close to reaching that limit in a season and a half of the minor leagues, a spring training and a “summer camp”, it might not be crazy to think that he is the best option for the White Sox in second base.
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Hahn said in January that Madrigal had more to show the White Sox before earning his promotion to the major leagues. And apparently it is still the case. But there will be virtually no chance for Madrigal to prove himself ready without minor league games in 2020. However, Hahn pointed to the team’s belief that Madrigal will be ready sometime before the end of the 60-game 2020 campaign.
How he’ll be able to make the significant jump from “not ready” to “ready” by doing nothing more than playing mock games against other White Sox minor leaguers seems like a scratch. But Hahn said that even in the absence of a normal minor league season, the training site at Schuamburg will provide a development opportunity for the team’s younger players.
“The absence of games obviously changes the way you assess readiness,” said Hahn. “In the end, you want Nick to be in a good position to be successful when he gets here. Part of that is being able to play every day and not be on the bench. Eventually, it will drop to his consistency level and what we are seeing from the evaluation point of view in Schaumburg, as well as the opportunities presented in Chicago to ensure that you will have the opportunity to play every day when the time comes.
“We’re going to have the same challenges that other clubs have, not being able to have a live competition. But between the pretend games and the various drills and activities that Chris Getz and his people have lined up for (the director of player development ) Schaumburg, we believe there will be a real development opportunity for those guys out there. “
One thing you won’t find in Hahn’s comments is the two-word phrase on everyone’s mind: service time. The White Sox have never said that length of service plays a role in decision-making when it comes to promoting the best prospects. But the realities of baseball are what they are, even in this unusual season. And if Madrigal’s major league debut comes approximately a week after the season, the White Sox will gain one more year of team control than they would have had if the season had started on the roster.
That may not seem fair to the player: It wasn’t when the Cubs did it with Kris Bryant in 2015, and it hasn’t been in any of the cases that followed, but it’s certainly the smartest move for the team, even if it’s likely to be removed in the next round of collective bargaining. If the White Sox benefit from these realities of the game, they can prepare for even longer-term success. Assuming Madrigal becomes the type of player the White Sox and his fans think he can be, having him on the roster as long as possible helps the team’s containment window stay open longer. After all, Hahn has always mentioned this rebuilding project as a long-term effort. As exciting as the idea is for the White Sox to make some noise in 2020, far more important is the team’s ability to compete for championships for the next decade.
In case Madrigal suddenly reaches preparation within a week, it will be interesting to hear what changed. If he’s away from the majors any longer, it will be interesting to see how Garcia fares in that span of time.
But Madrigal is not here now, and the White Sox will start a season of high expectations without him.
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