I know what you are thinking. Traffic flows northbound for baseball in Chicago. Wrigleyville is the place to be to watch baseball in the Windy City, unless of course the northsiders have a game in their southside stadium, a stadium the Cubs have a record of 4-1 in the last 2 years. South Siders have had little to cheer about on the field for the last few years, but that could be changing soon.
Ups and Downs
The thing about the Sox is it can not get any worse. After finishing the 2018 season with a record of 62-100 the Sox should only be improving from here. This offseason was no walk in the park for Southsiders. Manny Machado, and Bryce Harper were both already having drinks named after them on western before opting to go to a different teams, sure the Sox rebuild might have been delayed another year by those missed signings but the Sox rebuild is still in tact.
The Future is coming and it is bright
Eloy Jimenez, the Sox’s 22 year-old prospect, could be out in the outfield this season. Rumors are circulating that Jimenez is closing in on a 6 year deal with the club. Jimenez would help add to the team and start building the clubs future roster.
Michael Kopech took a large step back when he fell to injury reserve last season after having surgery last year. Kopech may be out for the season but knowing that a future talent like Kopech will be ready to go next year in 2020 only makes the team that much brighter.
Even without Kopech the Sox do have a decent pitching group. Not a World Series champion group, but a group that can make a little noise. The combination of young pitchers with potential and veteran leadership from the bullpen can only lead to good things down the line. Carlos Rodon, should be pretty consistent, and hopefully Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez hopefully will take big steps in their second year on the mound. Yoan Moncada is going to have to take a few steps forward this season in the infield, the 23 year old played in his first full MLB season last year and this time around hopefully he can play a more consistent ball game.
The biggest thing for the Sox is improving their young talents, not pushing them too hard, and understanding that next year and the year after that is what matters. Sure adding Bryce Harper or Manny Machado would have been a very fun addition, and it would have sped the Sox rebuild a year or two but at the end of the day Chicago will be packing into Guaranteed Rate Field for some great games soon enough.
Sure the Northside has Rizzo, and Bryant but soon enough Moncada and Jimenez will be the new Chicago baseball duo.
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