Last year I gave you that Hines card. This year, I give you this GoJi Future Stars card, featuring the guys that give me optimism for your team.
The Sun has the Black Sox going 79-83 but I have reason for optimism and mostly it's because of these guys on the card. They all made the Opening Day roster. While I feel bad for Ayyad Faisal, I think it's good for the team. They need more offense.
A lot is riding on these new bats. All three guys are 22 years old!
I like Angel De La Cruz the best and I think he is going to stick. He's got nothing left to prove in AAA (he hit .389 in 2059 and .372 in 2060 - I looked it up for you). While he didn't do that great in his short stints with the big club, he had a great spring .343 / .446 / .629. I hear he is penciled in at short. Too bad for Ayyad Faisal but that guy could play anywhere on the field.
Timofei Gadomsky also had a strong Spring: .345 / .356 / .603. He bullied hisself into the Opening Day roster. He'll lose his prospect status but he got as high as #56 prospect. He skyrocketed up from Short A to AAA last year and now up with the big boys.
Sergio Lopes, though, I'm surprised to see make the OD roster. But he, too, had a great spring: .344 / .389. / .531. He's earned it if Rock was really doing a true competition, but I think he needs more seasoning in AAA. He took Kyle Beers's spot, which was surprisingly considering that how solid he was last year. You'd think they'd throw back one of those rule 5 guys and keep Kyle. I'm sure he'll be back up with the club by May.
But if these guys stay healthy, the future looks bright. I can see the Sox finishing with a winning record.
See if you can get all those guys to sign this card. You'd be making bank.
Jenks
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Opening Day Roster
Chicago Black Sox 2061
C - Marcos Echevarria / Jarod Webber
1B - Timofei Gadomsky
2B - Adhyapayana Mehta
3B - Jeremy Starks
SS - Angel De La Cruz (rookie)
LF - Hasheem Makin
CF - Bill Barrett
RF - Ragheb Burhan
DH - Jorge Gutierrez / Sergio Lopes
UTIL IF - Ayyad Faisal
SP - Stevie Bodine
SP - Adam Hines
SP - Carlos Moya
SP - Azim bin Ghalib
SP - Dhrtatman Seshadri
RP - Jae-Ho Chang
RP - Art Cherry
RP - Mike Baker
RP - Dmitr Zhivlyuk
RP - Randolph Marable
RP - Carl Vincent
RP - William Mejia
RP - Yoriyuki Ine
RP - Tim Adams
RP / SP - Bobby Sherman
