View Insider Benefits

Prospect rankings aren't everything. However, the current economic realities of baseball and the structures in place under the current and recently-agreed-to collective bargaining agreements have put scouting and development at the forefront of most front office strategies. The Yankees are doing it. The Dodgers are doing it. The Royals and the Cubs have converted recent lofty draft rankings into World Series titles. But the White Sox didn't even need to look at those trends or those teams. They only needed to look at their own history.

It also makes the Red Sox the team to beat in the American League and ratchets up already astronomical expectations for an organization that is clearly going for it now.

As the day dawned at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, the Red Sox were hunting for a reliever to pitch the eighth inning and a left-handed hitter, all the while remaining mindful of trying to stay below the $195 million luxury-tax threshold.

"That's a wow," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Boston's like the Golden State Warriors now of baseball."

As recently as the general managers meetings last month, Dombrowski said it was unlikely that the Red Sox would add another starting pitcher this winter, even as White Sox general manager Rick Hahn made clear that Chicago was finally willing to talk seriously about trading Sale.

McCutchen, 30, is coming off his worst major league season and posted career lows in batting average (.256), on-base percentage (.336) and slugging percentage (.430). The 2013 National League MVP also ranked last among qualified center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved at -28.

As the day dawned at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, the Red Sox were hunting for a reliever to pitch the eighth inning and a left-handed hitter, all the while remaining mindful of trying to stay below the $195 million luxury-tax threshold.

"That's a wow," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Boston's like the Golden State Warriors now of baseball."

As recently as the general managers meetings last month, Dombrowski said it was unlikely that the Red Sox would add another starting pitcher this winter, even as White Sox general manager Rick Hahn made clear that Chicago was finally willing to talk seriously about trading Sale.

McCutchen, 30, is coming off his worst major league season and posted career lows in batting average (.256), on-base percentage (.336) and slugging percentage (.430). The 2013 National League MVP also ranked last among qualified center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved at -28.

Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus

Keith Law's last full set of organization rankings had the White Sox at No. 22. According to Baseball America, the White Sox haven't ranked in the top 10 since 2002. They haven't been in the top half of the majors in Baseball America's rankings in a decade, and the past five years have been brutal: 27th, 30th, 29th, 24th, 30th and 23rd.

Even Big Papi is a Moreland fan.

Insider

Dec 6, 2016Keith LawESPN Senior Writer CloseSenior baseball analyst for Insider

Colome is pre-arbitration eligible this offseason. He was paid $521,700 this year.

Become an insider and get access to all our articles and tools.

Was special asst. to Blue Jays GM

During spring training, Sale was quite vocal about the decision to limit the time teammate Adam LaRoche's son was allowed in the clubhouse. That flap led to hard feelings all around, along with LaRoche's retirement.

7:59 AM ETESPN.comFacebookTwitterPinterestEmailprintcommentAfter losing free agent Mark Melancon to the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals are in need of a closer -- and their solution could come from the Tampa Bay Rays.

With the trade of Sale, the White Sox seem to have finally set off in the right direction. Door No. 2 it is.

Boston went 93-69, then got swept by Cleveland in the AL Division Series and finish out the career of Ortiz.

But when the Washington Nationals began to emerge Monday night as the favorite to acquire Sale, Dombrowski swooped in.

Even the rival New York Yankees tipped their cap.

Member, Professional Basketball Writers AssociationFollow on TwitterFacebookTwitterPinterestEmailprintcommentIf you were looking southward from downtown Chicago when reports hit that Chris Sale had been traded to the Boston Red Sox, you would have noticed that Guaranteed Rate Field was shrouded in a light fog. That might be a pathetic fallacy, but the vision seems appropriate for the current state of the Chicago White Sox.

— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) December 7, 2016

Subscribe