Chicago White Sox: Five taxi-squad players to call up
The Chicago White Sox have some interesting options from the taxi-squad in Schaumburg.
The Chicago White Sox are coming off a loss to the Minnesota Twins. They struggled to keep the Twins off the board in the first inning as they hung four on the White Sox before they ever even got to come up to bat. It was a tough night for Lucas Giolito as his command was a little off but his defense did him no favors. It was a tough night but there is still a lot of optimism.
The Twins are a very good team and probably the best team the White Sox are going to face this year. They still have a long way to go before becoming a World Series contender but this season is going to be a huge step for them. They have had so many great young prospects come up the ranks and join their team. Not only are a lot of them on the team now, but they are also making a significant impact at this level.
They also have a lot of veteran leadership there now after making some very nice signings in the offseason. They can help a lot of these young guys reach their true potential in the Major Leagues. As many good young players as the White Sox have at the MLB level, there are even more on the way. There are so many good players waiting for their opportunity to play at the big league level and a lot of them have a realistic chance for that to happen this year. These are the five players currently at the Schaumburg Taxi-Squad that could get called up at different points this season:
Nick Madrigal – 2B
Nick Madrigal is one of the White Sox top prospects. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. He is the second baseman of the future as the White Sox try to round out their already awesome offensive infield. He is a guy that can hit for average as good as any young prospect in the world. He is going to be very good either at the very top or very bottom of their order.
The nice thing about Madrigal is that he can play Gold Glove level defense. There is a good chance that he is thrust right into that spot right when he joins the team. The White Sox showed on Opening Night that they need someone to come in and be a good second baseman right away.
The question about Madrigal right now is service time. He could have an extra year of control if the White Sox keep him down for the first week of this short 60 game season. That seems to be the only logical explanation as to why he is in Schaumburg right now because he is so clearly the best second baseman in the organization. Hopefully, he is called up soon enough so he can help this team improve on both sides of the baseball.
Andrew Vaughn – 1B
Andrew Vaughn might end up coming in and being one of the best power hitters on the team in the not so distant future. With guys like Eloy Jimenez, Jose Abreu, and Luis Robert in the mix, that means this lineup could really have some extra pop in short order. He had an outside chance at making the team out of Summer Camp but the White Sox ultimately decided to keep him down. He was just drafted a year ago after all.
As the third overall pick by the White Sox in 2019, you know that they have extremely high expectations for him. It almost seems like perfect timing for the White Sox to let Vaughn play first when he is ready and either move on from Abreu or allow him to become a designated hitter. Either way, Vaughn is going to be a very good player for this team.
If it happens for Vaugh this season, there is no doubt that he is going to need to adjust to Major League pitching. It might not take him long but there will certainly be a learning curve. If he doesn’t get the chance in 2020 then you can bet your bottom dollar that he is going to in 2021. Once he does finally arrive on the South Side, the White Sox are going to be a better team for it.
Luis Alexander Basabe – OF
The Chicago White Sox are pretty set in left-field and center-field for the next decade or more. Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert are going to man those positions for a very long time and be very good while doing it. There will be injuries and off days to deal with but for the most part, they are going to be there and be awesome. They have Nomar Mazara that they acquired from the Texas Rangers to be the right-fielder and he seems like he is going to get the chance there for now.
For Luis Alexander Basabe, he might be a guy worth calling up to try out there in certain situations when those guys can’t play. For example, Mazara is on the injured list right now so Basabe filling in there might be something worth considering. It isn’t going to happen early in the season but it would be really cool to see him with the White Sox at some point in the near future.
He came to the White Sox organization in the deal that sent Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox. He came over with Michael Kopech and Yoan Moncada. Moncada is a superstar and Kopech has the potential to be a top-flight pitcher if he can ever get on the field. That trade is already a solid one for the White Sox just based on Moncada alone so if one of (or both) Kopech/Basabe can be good, it would be a slam dunk trade.
Dane Dunning – SP
The Chicago White Sox have a pretty deep rotation. Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez, and Carlos Rodon make up the current five-man rotation. Kopech has opted out of the short season and Gio Gonzalez is currently in the bullpen. Clearly, there isn’t much room but injuries or bad play could lead to a lot of different things.
That could lead to Dane Dunning becoming a White Sox call up for a start or two. They could also call him up and use him as a reliever at first if they so wanted. He has magnificent stuff and there have even been people to say he has some of the best control over his pitches in the organization. Adding a guy like that to this group could be very good for them one day and it could very well come this season.
Dane Dunning was the third piece in the trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals. Giolito and Lopez were ahead of him in the trade so it appears that if the White Sox can get a little something out of Dunning, it would have been a great trade for them. Washington won the World Series in 2019 so they have no regrets at all but the White Sox have certainly benefited from this trade too and Dunning could make it even better as early as this season.
Yermin Mercedes – C
Yermin Mercedes has to be one of the most fun players in the White Sox organization to talk about. He hits bombs and has seemed like he has a bit of the clutch gene in him. There is no doubt that he would make a really fun White Sox team even more fun if he were called up. It makes sense why the White Sox sent him down to Schaumburg as they already have three catchers on the roster. Yasmani Grandal and James McCann were locked to make it and they went with Zack Collins as the third option.
Mercedes will certainly be called up if one of those three were to get hurt. He is also capable of playing other positions if they need him to. That fact could also see him get called up if they run into problems creating offense in the clutch moments of a game. Mercedes was looking like he was exceptional at doing that during the Spring Training and Summer Camp portions of 2020.
light. Hot. White Sox potential stat leaders in 2020
If the White Sox were to call him up this season, they would be doing it hoping that he can recreate some of that magic he had during the exhibition seasons. Those games were meaningless but something has to be said for a guy who can come up clutch when the lights are shining the brightest on him. Seeing Mercedes face the MLB test would be truly awesome to watch. Hopefully, some of these White Sox prospects are able to come up and make a big impact one day soon.