White Sox
general manager Rick Hahn came out and stated the obvious before Monday’s game
against the Tigers, that top prospect Eloy Jimenez won’t be among the September
call-ups. Hahn told reporters it didn’t
make sense “for Eloy, at age 21, to make an appearance at a third level [of
professional baseball] this season.” Of
course, “sense” is in the eyes of the beholder.
Hahn went on to
say, “In our opinion, it’s in everyone’s best interest for him to continue to
develop into a well-rounded impactful player we project him to be.” With a talent so great, Hahn said he would
rather err “on the side of patience.”
What a crock.
By waiting until
the middle of next April, the Sox will get to keep their prized possession
through 2025; bring Jimenez up now, and he could be gone after 2024. Would Hahn be so patient if keeping
Jimenez—who batted .355 in Triple-A vs. .317 in Double-A—meant losing him a
year sooner? I doubt it. So, why not be a grown up and admit to your
motivation instead of stringing everyone along for an entire season? Notice that Hahn didn’t say that at one point
in the season he was leaning in the direction of bringing Jimenez up. That being the case, he spent the better part
of a year talking gobbbledegook.
Why not gamble
that calling up Jimenez now would actually benefit his development? Jimenez would have a month in the majors and
something to carry with him through the offseason. If he did great, he’d focus on doing more of
the same come April 2019. If he did
so-so or worse, he’d have his offseason motivation. But, no, the White Sox prefer to be
penny-wise and pound-foolish.
That’s the
perfect epitaph for the reign of Reinsdorf.
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