Expert Opinion

Clare likes the idea of going in on season’s tickets, just as soon as she can pay off her student loans (very doable, in large part because she was a smart student with generous parents) and have enough for her wedding next summer.  With the White Sox, really, what’s the rush?

Forget, if you can, their current five-game losing streak, because it’s all about the future, not these Sox but those down the line.  Why, at the start of spring training MLB Pipeline had the Sox with the third-best minor league system while Baseball America had them fifth and some other outfit put them at fourth, up from 24^th the year before.  What sages these folks be, or not.

Here’s a breakdown of that vaunted minor-league system: the Triple A team is 26-29; Double A, 19-35; high A, 19-38; and low A, 29-25.  Yoan Moncada, the consensus best minor leaguer around, is batting .291 at Triple-A Charlotte, one point below Jacob May, he of the disastrous 2-for-36 MLB debut, so that makes you wonder.  So does the fact that there’s nobody in Double A hitting above .249.

Here’s another headscratcher: Luis Robert, the 19-year old who is going to cost the Sox in the neighborhood of $50 million once the MLB tax is added on, has been assigned to play summer ball in the Dominican Republic.  Huh?  Dominican players dream of leaving the island in pursuit of a professional career, and we’re sending our phenom to play with people not ready for rookie ball?  How is he going to progress?

Let’s hope Robert makes his way to the U.S. to play somewhere in the Sox system before the end of the season.  Otherwise, Clare is better off putting her money away for a house.  Like I said, there's really no rush.