More Building

Bears’ fans—and media, as witness to all the loving ink being poured over new General Manager Ryan Poles—drink the Kool-Aid every year. White Sox fans, beer in hand, sit there and expect the worst. We’re rarely disappointed. Two big injuries going into the start of the season would devastate Bears’ Nation. Lance Lynn and Garrett Crochet go down, and Sox fans shrug their shoulders before uttering those two words that echo across the South Side six months out of every year: “It figures.” That goes for first-round draft picks as well as injuries. Back in 2016, the Sox made catcher Zack Collins the tenth pick in the June draft; pitcher Zack Burdi went 26th. The buzz on Collins was that he’d be a plus-hitter who might have to move over to first base. Instead, he was pretty much a bust at and behind the plate. So, off he goes to Toronto in an exchange for backup catcher Reese McGuire, another disappointing first-round pick (in 2013). Burdi, meanwhile, didn’t last a full year in the minors before needing Tommy John surgery. He was good before, less than that after. The Sox released him last August, and the Diamondbacks cut him in spring training last month. All in all, not much to show for two high draft picks. In partial defense of the Sox, the 2016 draft wasn’t all that great; that’s when a front office really has to do its scouting homework. Both Alex Kirilloff and Gavin Lux were available after Collins, Dylan Carson and Dakota Hudson after Burdi. Kenny Williams/Rick Hahn went in another direction. It figures.