Down on the Farm, But Why?

 White Sox GM Rich Hahn doesn’t want to bring up top prospect Yoan Moncada—setting AAA Charlotte on fire these days with a .347 batting average—anytime soon.  Hahn put it this way while talking to reporters the other day.  “He’ll be here when he answers all the questions we have for him with the developmental standpoint at the minor league level.”  Come again, Rick?  What, pray tell, are those questions?

Hey, I’ve got one.  Why are the Sox so concerned about rushing Moncada, given that Chris Sale, the guy they traded away for him, spent all of two months in the minors after being drafted in June of 2010?  Eleven games split between high-A and Triple A was all it took for Sale to get the call to the bigs.  He must’ve answered every last question.

Here’s another one: Does Hahn know that the 30 games Monacada has played at the AAA level is more than Albert Pujols, Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout had, combined?  Yup, those worthies were judged ready to go, questions answered.  Moncada will turn 22 at the end of the month, the same age as Thomas when he was called up; all the other players mentioned above were younger at the time of their MLB debut.  Oh, and Sox first baseman Jose Abreu never spent a day in the minors.  The Sox deemed his time in Cuba sufficient for him to take over from Paul Konerko in 2014.

It may be that Hahn doesn’t want to bring up Moncada right now because that would necessitate other moves.  For instance, if Moncada goes to second, what about Tyler Saladino and Yolmer Sanchez?  Which one leaves?  On the other hand, if Moncada moves to third, then Todd Frazier has to go, and how many third basemen batting .183 with 11 RBIs are going to bring anything in return?  If Hahn does nothing, Frazier disappears at the end of the season as a free agent; ditto left fielder Melky Cabrera, who’s not exactly tattooing the ball with a .235 average.  Hahn would rather wait for the July 30 trade deadline, when he could move Frazier and/or Cabrera should they remember how to hit. 

Hahn could also trade away any of a number of pitchers at the deadline, which could mean calling up other prospects.  That’s assuming they’ve answered all the right questions, of course.