White Sox set for rebuilding season

White Sox set for rebuilding season

By Alex Rodriguez

For White Sox fans, this 2017 campaign will be difficult to endure. They’ll have to hear about their crosstown rivals, Kris Bryant, that pretty boy at third base, and Javier Baez, the phenom defending second.

It’s hard to see, but there are some things White Sox fans should be ecstatic to see, hear and talk about coming out of spring training.

Coming from last year’s soap opera between former first baseman Adam LaRoche, his son Drake and the White Sox organization, and then dealing with former starter Chris Sale’s scissor problem in June, it’s clear that the Sox are on the right track in dealing with clubhouse drama.

They are taking a good page out of manager Rick Renteria’s playbook: silence.

Entering spring training, the White Sox had the most riveting offseason of any team in baseball as they are looking to rebuild.This definitely had to do with trading key pieces such as Sale to start a youth movement on the Southside.

Rick Hahn, Vice President and General Manager, orchestrated two blockbuster deals, saying goodbye to left-handed pitcher Sale and outfielder Adam Eaton for a hefty price of three top prospects in all of baseball, according to the MLB website, including Yoan Moncada, the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball.

While there are rumors as to when and where pitchers Jose Quintana and David Robertson will end up by the end of the season, Sox fans can finally put their trust in their architect.

Speaking of youth and excitement, Sox fans are getting a taste of what the future holds for their ballclub. What a difference a couple of months make, moving up from the numberNo. 22 farm system to a top-10 farm system in the league, according to ESPN’s Keith Law.

These young men include Moncada, along with pitchers Lucas Giolito, Micheal Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez, who are all top-50 prospects, according to MLB.com.

While none of the above will be on the opening day roster, fans won’t have to wait long before they can see the kids taking over their franchise.

The new kids on the block will help veterans such as first baseman Jose Abreu and outfielder Avisail Garcia, who can start on a clean slate in 2017.

Even though Abreu’s 2016 campaign wasn’t bad from a statistical standpoint, posting another 100 RBI season and a batting average of .293, his slugging percentage was down to a modest .468 for a power hitter, and we saw his home run total cut down to 25.

No one had more hype and struggles in 2016 than now designated-hitter Garcia, who had almost career lows in on-base percentage at .307 and a batting average of .245, according to MLB.com.

Both Abreu and Garcia are positioned to have bounce-back seasons in 2017 and in four days, can approach the batter’s box at Guaranteed Rate Field ready to play ball.