Left Unsaid

The White Sox traded star pitcher Chris Sale yesterday to Boston for four prospects, and I only had to talk Clare back from the ledge a little.  She didn’t like the move, and I don’t much, either.  Of course, all the local sports “authorities” said it was the smart thing to do.

Oh, really?  Then answer me this: why didn’t the White Sox go after these players the first time around?  Three of them—infielder Yoan Mocada (Cuba), outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe (Venezuela) and pitcher Victor Diaz (Dominican Republic)—weren’t subject to the MLB draft.  All a team had to do was scout and sign.  That means the Sox didn’t know about them, didn’t want them or couldn’t afford them.  What changed?

With Mocada, considered the #1 MLB prospect, it was all about the money; he cost the Red Sox $31.5 million to sign, plus another $31.5 million because that put the team over the luxury tax.  GM Rich Hahn told reporters the team was interested in Mocada when he first turned pro, but “We quickly realized we weren’t going to be able to sign him.”  Really, how come?

I checked today, and Forbes lists the worth of team owner Jerry Reinsdorf at $1.34 billion.  What exactly can’t Reinsdorf afford in life?  Certainly not a ballplayer from Cuba.  If Hahn were being truthful, he would’ve said the Sox didn’t want to spend the money on Mocada.  This was in 2015.  Apparently, the team thought they were just fine with Carlos Sanchez, Tyler Saladino and Trey Michalczewski, their tenth-ranked prospect who hit .226 for AA Birmingham this year.  So, are they now saying they were wrong about these players? 

And what about pitcher Michael Kopech?  This was a player available to the White Sox in the 2014 draft, but they passed him over for Carlos Rodon.  What makes Kopech better now, after his 50-game suspension for PEDs and broken wrist from punching a teammate?  Kopech now is the second-ranked prospect for the Sox, ahead of pitcher Carson Fulmer, who went into yesterday as the team’s top prospect.  What exactly does Kopech have that Fulmer doesn’t?

I told Clare and Michele this is a win-win for our Sox, that either the gamble works, in which case I’ll have to eat a whole bunch of crow, or it doesn’t and the team is anointed Chicago baseball laughingstock of all time.  That means Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams will be looking for work while Reinsdorf looks for a seller.  I don’t care which possibility happens, as long as it happens soon.  Life is short, and Sox fans suffer through too much of it.