The White Sox are the latest team to make significant cuts in the minors, per The Athletic’s James Fegan, who reports that they have let go of 25 players (Fegan provides the entire list in his tweet). The White Sox will pay all of their minor leaguers, including those they just released, through the end of June, Fegan adds.
As you’d expect, most of the names here aren’t especially familiar. However, there are at least a couple notable players, including outfielder Josue Guerrero, whom the White Sox signed to a $1.1MM million bonus out of the Dominican Republic in 2016. Josue Guerrero, the nephew of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero and the cousin of the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr., didn’t post inspiring numbers as part of the White Sox’s system. In 244 plate appearances in rookie ball from 2017-19, the 20-year-old hit .224/.282/.365 with five home runs.
The White Sox also said goodbye to left-hander Byron Andre Davis, who Fegan notes was part of the return they received from the Royals in a 2017 trade centering on outfielder Melky Cabrera. Davis, now 26, dealt with injuries over the past couple years and hasn’t pitched in the minors since 2017.
I thought they froze roster moves.
Roster moves for the majors are frozen….
not for minors
Billionaire owners pinching pennies.
@Manfredsajoke
I suppose, or more likely it’s because 42 minor league teams got axed this off-season. That’s over 1,000 minor league spots that just got eliminated.
that didnt happen this offseason and may not even happen next offseason given the general pushback by MiLB.
@DarkSide830
Officially it hasn’t happened yet, mainly because of COVID-19 and the potential of MiLB not playing at all this year. It will probably either happen when/if MLB starts back up this year or when MiLB starts back up (whenever that is).
Looking at many of the late April articles floating around the web, COVID-19 doomed the pushback by MiLB and MiLB now accepts the fact that the contraction will happen. I haven’t seen an actual agreement yet by MLB and MiLB regarding the contraction, but it looks to be a matter of when, not if.
@Connor Byrne (or any other MLBTR writers)
If you happen to be looking over this message board, could you do us a favor? If you know the status of the MiLB contraction, could you please update us on this? Just a basic one-sentence comment will suffice. I would appreciate it greatly.
Thinking about it, since I haven’t seen it as officially a done deal, a little bit of doubt is creeping into my mind. There’s no need to get into a meaningless debate if we don’t know the current status.
Why give up on a 20 year old when there’s nothing to lose right now anyways.
This is the standard time for minor league cuts.
These are likely guys that in a normal season would have been cut at the end of spring training barring a rash of injuries
its business move nothing more nothing less. save some small cash, still pay them through June so its fair, in their eyes, I might add. no minor league ball it looks like this year, so trim your fat so to speak….
wasnt aware there was another Guerrero besides Vlad SR and Jr, Gabby, and the one in the Mets system (i think there was one in the Mets system)
Yes Gregory Guerrero and he’s not very good either
And you know this how. Have you seen him play?
@king beas He was supposed to be good but hasn’t panned out well. He still has potential (or at least I hope)
again, does anyone know if there is a non-paid site with the full list of players? i know The Athletic is worth the money, but i dont have a subscription currently
Baseball America will have it, eventually. I think they typically update once a week during the season, it’s slower in the off season. The site last updated in March. With a few teams dumping players, maybe they’ll post something soon.
The list is in his tweet
Teams are just dumping non-prospects because they know there won’t be a minor league season, and they don’t want to shell out those peanuts they pay them.
Low.
I suspect every team will be cutting lots of players why? 1: Teams will have at least one less minor league affiliate so the need is not there. 2: The draft will only be five rounds ( unless that is eliminated as well ( a real possibility 3: Coronavirus can be used as a financial excuse to make cuts.4: As others have pointed out there will be no minor league season.
The only valid reason you listed is 3, that’s what happening here. Why would a shortened draft have anything to do with CUTTING players? That just doesn’t make any sense at all.
“It’s called a Numbers Game.” Teams do not need as many minor leaguers since there will be one less team. That ( along with saving money) is also why the Draft got cut to 5 Rounds ( at most). They go hand and hand
Any way I count them, there appear to be 26, not 25.
What is up with baseball clubs smashing the dreams of so many of their own athletes all at once? Not a fan of this at all.
It is not just the owners. The Players Association agreed to five rounds. Neither side is committed to growing the game. Look at the amount of kids playing soccer and hockey in this country compared to say 1994. Then contrast that to baseball. I do not know if they care or oblivious to that fact. For example: Scott Boras who loves to come up with numbers talks about all the people who will be watching baseball, but forgets all of the other options out there from Disney Plus to Play Station for kids that were not there years ago,
I understand it’s around this time that some guys get released. The draft usually replaces them when the rookie leagues and short a seasons start in July. I just wonder if it’s has something to do with the MiLB cut list projections. I know that one projection has Great Falls on it.