CHICAGO (AP) - For a franchise with five straight losing seasons and one playoff appearance since the 2005 World Series championship, the Chicago White Sox sure are an optimistic bunch.
They come into the year with a long line of promising prospects to go with a strong belief that they are setting themselves up to make a big jump in the standings.
“We’re going to shoot high and we’ll see where it falls,” manager Rick Renteria said.
Only three teams had a worse record last season than the White Sox, who went 67-95 and finished fourth in the AL Central. But they believe the breakthrough is coming - maybe sooner than later.
Chicago started loading up the pipeline at the 2016 winter meetings by trading former ace Chris Sale to Boston and outfielder Adam Eaton to Washington. Those deals brought in second baseman Yoan Moncada along with hard-throwing pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Michael Kopech and kicked the rebuilding process into high gear.
It continued during the season when the White Sox added two prized outfielders to the system. They signed Cuban Luis Robert in May and landed Eloy Jimenez in the trade that sent pitcher Jose Quintana to the Cubs.
“I don’t really believe in ’it’s too early to win,’” said James Shields, the opening day starter who was part of a Tampa Bay team that went from finishing last in the AL East in 2007 to winning the division and pennant in 2008. “These guys are very talented young men. If they put it together, something special is going to happen.”
Here are some things to know, with the opener at Kansas City on March 29:
BEST CASE
The young players in the majors and minors progress ahead of schedule and accelerate the rebuild. It’s a tough division, but the White Sox aren’t the only team relying on a new-look roster.
WORST CASE
The young players in the majors and minors experience setbacks, through injuries or poor play, and slow the rebuild.
STRENGTHS
White Sox have at least two big bats in the lineup with Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia, assuming he can build on a breakout season. Giolito and Lopez give them reason for optimism about the rotation. The same goes for Carson Fulmer even though he struggled in a big way this spring. Giolito, however, posted a 2.38 ERA in seven starts last season after being called up from Triple-A. Lopez showed some promise, despite a 4.72 ERA in eight outings.
Moncada played well down the stretch, batting .276 with five homers over his final 24 games.
BOUNCING BACK
Shortstop Tim Anderson struggled through much of his first full season in the majors after a close friend was shot to death assisting an assault victim in Alabama. He finished with a .257 average. He and the White Sox are hoping for more this year. Left-hander Carlos Rodon is once again sidelined to start the season, this time recovering from surgery in September on his pitching shoulder. He was sidelined at the start a year ago because of shoulder and biceps issues. It’s not clear when he’ll be ready. And it remains to be seen if he can develop into the pitcher the White Sox envisioned when they drafted him with the No. 3 overall pick in 2014.
FAMILIAR FACES
For all the talk about Manny Machado coming to Chicago and Abreu or Garcia possibly getting traded, the White Sox return largely intact. One move they did make was signing catcher Welington Castillo. He figures to help the young pitchers and could add some pop to the lineup. Castillo hit .282 with 20 homers and 53 RBIs in 96 games with Baltimore last season while throwing out 24 of 49 would-be base stealers for a major league-leading 49 percent success rate.
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