GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox catcher of the future draws a great deal of attention in the present.

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1 WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF FEBRUARY 22, 2017 White Sox content with group of catchers entering 2017 Scott Merkin, MLB.com White Sox earn praise for reshaping club Scott Merkin, MLB.com Giolito feels work from offseason paying off early in camp Scott Merkin, MLB.com White Sox's Omar Narvaez following veteran catcher Geovany Soto's lead Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune Spring has sprung a lull in White Sox rebuild Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun Times Lucas Giolito says he learned from major-league struggles in 2016 Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun Times Under-The-Radar Reynaldo Lopez impressing White Sox: 'He s got some stuff Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago After a rough patch, Fulmer seeking another shot with White Sox Scot Gregor, Daily Herald White Sox to again use rotation at designated hitter Scot Gregor, Daily Herald White Sox content with group of catchers entering 2017 Prospect Collins still a year or two away from Majors By Scott Merkin / February 21st, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox catcher of the future draws a great deal of attention in the present. But with Zack Collins, the team's top pick in the 2016 Draft, still a year or two away from being behind the plate for Chicago, the team seems satisfied with the current catching combination in place at this point for '17. "We have a good young group willing to work," said Geovany Soto, a non-roster invitee who figures to split time with Omar Narvaez at catcher. "We are working really hard with the pitching, and our job is to make sure that we get the most out of the pitchers that we can." "Part of this whole process was looking for long-term solutions and guys that are going to fit on a championship club going forward," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "Part of that process is giving some young guys the opportunity to show what they can do and see if they can work their way into that mix. It potentially could happen at catcher." Alfredo Gonzalez, Kevan Smith and Roberto Pena are also part of the camp's catching picture, but Narvaez and Soto have the edge. Soto, a 34-year-old veteran, caught with the White Sox in '15, while Narvaez, 25, made his presence felt via a 34-game stint with the White Sox last season. Narvaez hit.267 in 117 plate appearances, without much power, but with a.350 on-base percentage. Hahn pointed out that pitchers liked throwing to Narvaez, an idea reinforced by Carlos Rodon's 3.45 ERA in 12 starts with Narvaez behind the plate. "I think we are on the same page when it comes to the way he calls a game," Rodon said of Narvaez. "Just the way we kind of set up hitters. We always have the same idea. Real good communication, I would say. I like the way he sits back there. Sometimes the way the catcher sits back there kind of appeals to certain pitchers."

2 "Our biggest key was we speak a lot during practice," Narvaez said. "We've got pretty good communication every single day. He's got really nice confidence. I tried to understand what he wanted to do, and he understands what I came for. We make a really good match." Collins, 22, was selected with the 10th overall pick in last year's Draft. Nick Hostetler, the White Sox director of amateur scouting, said at SoxFest that if the team had owned the No. 1 pick overall, it still would have targeted Collins. There's little doubt Collins can hit at the big league level, and the organization has little doubt its No. 6 prospect, per MLBPipeline.com, can remain at catcher. For now, he's learning through his first big league camp. "My opinion is it's a little bit less work than college because we only had two catchers in college and we still had about 20 pitchers, and it was a lot of bullpens we had to catch," Collins said. "I'm not trying to annoy [the other catchers] with questions. But I definitely [have] been watching what they do, and kind of learning things and seeing how they work with the guys." White Sox earn praise for reshaping club Royals GM Moore compliments 'unbelievable job' in retooling for future By Scott Merkin / February 22, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. -- White Sox general manager Rick Hahn caught a few members of the press off guard Tuesday with comments made during the annual gathering of managers and general managers for Cactus League media day. Hahn's words centered on trade talks involving Jose Quintana and the World Series champion Cubs, a question that was asked when Hahn was seen speaking with Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer before their 4 p.m. session began at their respective tables. "On my way here [to Spring Training], I was offered [Javier] Baez and [Kyle] Schwarber for Quintana," said Hahn, pausing with a smile for effect. "It was by the TSA agent at O'Hare [Airport]," Hahn added with a laugh. "So there has been some Cubs- Sox dialogue." Adding players such as Schwarber and Baez, key contributors to the Cubs' title run, certainly would speed up the White Sox rebuild process even with the subtraction of a talent such as Quintana. But the work done by the White Sox to date certainly can't be overlooked. This first week of Spring Training has allowed the White Sox to see Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito, Zack Burdi and Zack Collins, to name a few, on the field together and present the team with an early look at its future. Members within the organization aren't the only ones taking notice of the rebuild. "Rick has done an unbelievable job," said Royals general manager Dayton Moore, who won a World Series crown after undergoing his own rebuild. "They have a lot of great things going on, a lot of people I admire over there." Moore mentioned director of player development Chris Getz, director of amateur scouting Nick Hostetler and Marco Paddy, who is in charge of the team's international pursuits, as three of those White Sox frontoffice members he admired. Moore has worked with all three, including Getz most recently in Kansas City. This rebuild has been talked about before by Hahn, executive vice president Ken Williams and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Hahn gives Reinsdorf the most credit for greenlighting this direction. "He wanted us to build something sustainable even though his natural demeanor is to want to win and to want to win now," Hahn said. "As competitive as he may be, and he's as competitive as anybody in the

3 organization, he's also smarter than everybody in the organization. He knows where we were and what the realities were." These few weeks prior to baseball action stand as the slower time in terms of trade talks. But Hahn expects those talks to pick up and hopes the dialogue continues throughout the season. Just don't expect the Cubs-White Sox trade engineered by the TSA agent to come to fruition. "I told him that's a nice start. Get back to me and add to it," Hahn said. "I haven't heard from him. So I guess that's the end of that. "Great Cubs-Sox rumor. Great dialogue, in public in front of everybody. Jed didn't raise it so I don't know if they are not communicating or what." Giolito feels work from offseason paying off early in camp No. 11 overall prospect hoping to see better results in 2017 By Scott Merkin / February 21st, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Lucas Giolito likes the way the ball is coming out of his hand, a noticeable difference even through just one week of Spring Training pitching with the White Sox. "Much better than last year," said Giolito, MLB's No. 11 overall prospect, per MLBPipeline.com. "I made a lot of positive changes in the offseason trying to simplify things -- get back to basics, let the ball kind of come out of my hand instead of forcing it. And it's feeling very good." Giolito admitted to not pitching the way he wanted once given a chance with the Nationals in He developed a few issues with mechanics, and made it worse by trying to force things instead of relaxing and trusting his stuff. "So, this year, I did a lot of dry work in the offseason, a lot of things where I could just feel my mechanics off the mound," Giolito said. "For me, it's about being able to repeat and stay in line. I'm focusing on those two keys, and everything falls in place after that. "If things start to fall toward the third-base side, or you're leaning toward home plate, it's easy to get out of whack. It's hard to correct it on the fly when you're tall. For me, I keep my head back and it's good." Danish feeling strong Tyler Danish underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee last August. But based on how he felt after throwing two innings of batting practice Tuesday, he's approaching full health. "I'm perfect," Danish said. "I had two innings today and walked into [White Sox head athletic trainer Herm Schneider's office] after and said, 'I might not be coming in here every day anymore.' I'm very close. I'm throwing the ball well." Danish, who is the White Sox No. 21 prospect, per MLBPipeline.com, explained he's getting a couple of more inches on his stride after getting the procedure done. "I can get out over the ball a little bit more," Danish said. "Everything has been great so far." The maturation of Anderson In White Sox starting shortstop Tim Anderson, manager Rick Renteria sees a young player who has grown quite a bit as a Major Leaguer since his debut last June 10. "Pretty interesting. He's pretty happy, he's loose, he's comfortable," Renteria said. "He's starting to get a bit more comfortable with everything, the whole aspect that surrounds the game of baseball. "He goes out there, and we talked about him just being a leader by example. He doesn't have to say much, but I said, 'You can if you want, but just be a leader by example by going about your business,' and I think he's going to continue to develop and be a pretty good piece." Anderson, who hit.283 with 37 extra-base hits over 431 plate appearances in '16, gives Todd Frazier credit for helping him the most. "It's unreal," Anderson said of Frazier. "Whatever's on his mind, he's going to say it. You never know what you might hear. He keeps you on your toes, and he made me feel very comfortable last year."

4 Third to first Renteria liked what he witnessed from Zack Burdi's bullpen session on Tuesday. "Pretty impressive. He had a couple of balls get away in the total sequence, which gets hairy," Renteria said. "But for the most part, down in the zone, both sides of the plate. Mixed in some changeups, which for him are still high velocity. But he looked good." Relievers Juan Minaya and Anthony Swarzak also drew praise from Renteria. Those two are part of the mix for the final two bullpen slots behind David Robertson, Nate Jones, Zach Putnam, Dan Jennings and Jake Petricka. "We obviously have an extended amount of time to give ourselves an opportunity to look at them and get comfortable with them and allow them to get comfortable with us, which is a good thing," Renteria said. "We'll see how they perform during the spring and see how it fits." Aside from the stress reaction in Charlie Tilson's right foot, Renteria reports everyone is healthy in camp. White Sox's Omar Narvaez following veteran catcher Geovany Soto's lead Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune February 22, 2017 Omar Narvaez said he followed the career of Geovany Soto from the time he first came up in the majors with the Cubs. So the 25-year-old White Sox catcher is relishing the chance to work alongside the 34-year-old veteran this spring at Camelback Ranch. "Every time I spend some time with him it makes me a lot better," Narvaez said. "He was one of the catchers I always followed. "He has been doing a lot for me, especially a lot of mental situations we talk about." Narvaez said he has more confidence this year after making his big-league debut with the Sox last year and catching in 34 games. He's in the mix to make the team with Soto and Kevan Smith but said he feels like he needs to win the job. Fellow catchers Alfredo Gonzalez and Roberto Pena are also in their first Sox spring training, and No. 6 prospect Zack Collins is in his first big-league camp even though he likely is a year or two away from making his debut. "It's a long spring as we've talked about, so it's not like I have to rush too quickly (on the catching decision)," manager Rick Renteria said. "We can allow the younger guys to back them up and all those guys who have been around a little bit to get some starts and kind of get their feet underneath them." Narvaez said he has been checking off catching each of the pitchers. He caught 2016 first-round draft pick Zack Burdi on Tuesday and said, "It was nasty." On Monday, he caught No. 2 overall prospect Lucas Giolito and said simply, "Wow." "This makes me happy being with a lot of new players and talent in here," Narvaez said. Offseason fix: Giolito said he's feeling "very good" after working to fix mechanical issues in the offseason. He said his mechanics got a little out of whack in 2016, which included six appearances with the Nationals when he posted a 6.75 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. "I did a lot of dry work in the offseason, a lot of things where I could just feel my mechanics off the mound," Giolito said. "For me it's about being able to repeat and stay in line. I'm focusing on those two keys and everything falls in place after that."

5 Spring has sprung a lull in White Sox rebuild Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun Times February 21, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. So this is it? More than a few White Sox fans, while on board with the Chris Sale and Adam Eaton trades that reeled in seven prospects and signaled the start of a rebuild, want to see more. There s a theory going around that Sale and Eaton were traded because they either spoke out against vice president Ken Williams during the Adam LaRoche catastrophe last spring or contributed to some other levels of tension in the clubhouse. That no other trades have been made since adds fuel to that fire. While Sale curried no favor by blasting Williams and, in a rage against the organization, cutting up throwback jerseys before a game he was scheduled to start last July, the fact of the matter is Sale and Eaton were dealt because of the hauls of young talent brought in return. The Sox other high-end trade chip, Jose Quintana, was probably close to being gone, too. General manager Rick Hahn has said two similar deals at least one, presumably, around the holidays fell through at the ownership level, and it s reasonable to think they involved Quintana. Since then, the Sox haven t backed down from their lofty demands, and talks have simmered. More than a week into spring training, it s beginning to look more and more like Quintana will be the Opening Day starter when the Sox host the Detroit Tigers on April 3. Trades do happen during spring training, but the non-waiver trade deadline this summer will be a more active time, and Hahn is holding his cards, knowing he doesn t have to deal the 28-year-old left-hander, who s under contract control till Quintana would have value a year from now, with three years left on a reasonable deal that tops out at $11.5 million in the final club option. The reasons we pull the trigger [on a trade] is because we feel it s going to put us in the best position for the long term, Hahn said. On any given player, their length of control and how you project their performance going forward will factor into whether the return serves us better for the long term or it s better to sit and let this player continue to develop or be part of the plans for the long term. With a respectable veteran starting rotation of Quintana, Carlos Rodon, Miguel Gonzalez, Derek Holland and James Shields and a lineup that includes Jose Abreu, Todd Frazier, Tim Anderson, Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie, the Sox don t shape up today as a contender in the American League Central. But they also don t look like the 100-loss team some envisioned when the first two rebuilding moves were made. Not yet, anyway. We don t view it as everyone in that locker room needs to be moved to serve the next championship White Sox club, Hahn said. A lot of those players are hopefully going to play key roles on that next club. If we get to the point where we feel like it s in the long-term benefit of the club to perhaps take a little something away from today to serve the longer greater good, then that s when you wind up making a deal. Lucas Giolito says he learned from major-league struggles in 2016 Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun Times February 21, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. Lucas Giolito hopes to find some stability with the White Sox, who acquired the highly touted pitching prospect in their offseason trade with the Washington Nationals for Adam Eaton. When Giolito first heard about the deal on Twitter, he did not like the tweet, but he did give the move a thumbs-up.

6 It was an immediate positive reaction, he said. It was a fresh start for me. I m excited to be with a new organization, a bunch of new young players coming up. Giolito, ranked as the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball last season, encountered tough times when the Nats called him up. In 21 innings, he gave up 26 hits, walked 12, struck out 11 and posted a 6.75 ERA. Ugh. I experienced a lot of hardship in the big leagues last year, said Giolito, now ranked 11th on the MLBPipeline.com prospects list. I didn t pitch well at all. I got hit pretty hard, so I learned a lot from that. He coped with the adversity by learning to make adjustments on the fly, slowing things down when they re speeding up. I m trying to take everything I learned and apply that and be a little bit better this year, he said. Having pitched at the Class A, AA and AAA levels and in the majors last season alone, it will be good to have some stability with the Sox. Giolito said pitching coach Don Cooper s talking points in camp are throwing his big curve for a strike and commanding the fastball down and away to hitters. Manager Rick Renteria said the Sox want Giolito to do more than bury the curve in the dirt as a put-away pitch but spot it for a strike. He s got a lot of talent, Renteria said. He has a couple of pitches he will bury that nobody will be able to hit. Giolito said he simplified his mechanics and is letting the ball come out of his hand without forcing it. And it s feeling very good, he said. Much better than last year. I developed a few of my own [mechanical issues] last year trying to fix things. I made things worse, so this year I did a lot of dry work in the offseason where I could just feel my mechanics off the mound. For me, it s about being able to repeat and stay in line. I m focusing on those two keys, and everything falls in place after that. The Sox say they are in no rush to move along their prospects, and Giolito figures to bring his 6-6 frame, upper-90s fastball and plus curve to AAA Charlotte to begin the season. Success there would give him another shot in the majors this season. Right-handers Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning also came from the Nationals with Giolito. Lopez is ranked 46th by MLBPipeline.com and 10th among righties. Dunning, a Nats first-round draft choice in 2016, is the Sox 10th-ranked prospect. We all have the same goal in mind, Giolito said of the Sox new, well-regarded stable of young talent. We want to develop together, put some really good players at the big-league level and win games. Under-The-Radar Reynaldo Lopez impressing White Sox: 'He s got some stuff By Dan Hayes / CSN Chicago February 21, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. -- He maybe doesn't receive the same hype as some of his peers, but the White Sox think Reynaldo Lopez deserves plenty of attention. A highly-touted prospect for two seasons now, Lopez took a big leap forward in a 2016 season that resulted in two promotions, including a trip to the big leagues. While Michael Kopech and Lucas Giolito have garnered much of the attention, Lopez, who was acquired with Giolito in the Adam Eaton trade, is right on their heels if not equal. Lopez -- who produced a 3.21

7 ERA in 19 minor-league starts last season and struck out 42 batters in 44 innings in the majors -- is rated the No. 31 prospect in baseball by Baseball America and 38th by MLB.com. "He's looked good from the get-go," pitching coach Don Cooper said. "The bottom line is we like all three of them. I didn't hear a lot (about him). When people are asking me questions it's usually about Giolito and Kopech. I'm not sure why because he's a gifted kid. He's got some stuff." Lopez, 23, already has pitched in 11 regular season games (six starts) and made a playoff appearance. He earned those outings by excelling in a season that began at Double-A Harrisburg. Two seasons after he put up outstanding numbers at Single-A, Lopez dominated the Eastern League with 100 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings and 3.18 ERA. He attributes his success to calming himself down in game situations. "I just kept my focus in the game," Lopez said through an interpreter. "Before, I thought a lot about things and I couldn't think. And then I realized to keep my focus on the game. Sometimes if someone hit me or something, my mind got stuck in that moment. But then I understood you have to have a short memory and just let the things that are happening (be) in the past and focus on what's happening." Lopez, 23, said he has taken the same approach to handling his trade to the White Sox. The right-hander admits he was shocked at first when he heard he was traded by the Washington Nationals, who signed him for $17,000 in 2012 out of the Dominican Republic. But the more he thought about it, Lopez realized how good of an opportunity he has in front of him with the rebuilding White Sox. The club intends to try Lopez out as a starter --- there's debate among scouting analysts whether he's meant for the bullpen or rotation --- at Triple-A Charlotte this season. Asked what he prefers, Lopez said he's a starter. And rather than try to impress the club by overthrowing a fastball that MLB.com graded 70 on the scale, Lopez has worked on location early in camp. Those efforts haven't gone unnoticed by Cooper and manager Rick Renteria. "Lopez is a guy who maybe goes under the radar a little bit, but when you see his bullpen work, he's pretty clean, pretty efficient," Renteria said. "He hits his spots." Through four throwing sessions, Cooper said he likes how Lopez has located his fastball and curveball. Cooper thinks the changeup, which is the lowest graded of his three pitches (45 out of 80), is where the most work is needed. But Cooper is pleased with how Lopez has worked in the bullpen and batting practice and looks forward to seeing how it carries over once the exhibition season begins. Lopez likes how he has fit in with the White Sox through the first week and a half. An aggressive pitcher by nature --- "I like to get ahead in the count," he said --- Lopez has tried to work down in the zone in the early part of camp. He said that was one of his main takeaways from pitching in the majors. "I learned a lot from that experience," Lopez said. "I learned how to pitch. It's not just throw hard. You have to locate your pitches and be smart. I think that was the most important thing for me, from that experience." After a rough patch, Fulmer seeking another shot with White Sox Carson Fulmer, who changed his delivery last season in Class AAA, gets observed closely by pitching coach Don Cooper. Scot Gregor / Daily Herald February 21, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Much has changed in one year for Carson Fulmer. At this time last spring, Fulmer was the Chicago White Sox's top pitching prospect, and the former Vanderbilt All-American was eager to show the world why he was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2015 draft.

8 This spring, Fulmer is trying to regroup from an erratic first full season in pro baseball while keeping up with new White Sox pitching prospects Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Michael Kopech. "The coaching staff has told us young guys that in order to be a good pitcher in the big leagues, you have to have failure at one point," Fulmer said. "Last year, I had some struggles. I needed to learn more about myself and my ability. I got kicked around a little bit and I think that's beneficial. "It definitely helped me prepare myself for this year and really get ready to have a good year. It's a new year. I have high expectations for myself and am really looking forward to having the opportunity to prove myself once again." Fulmer opened the 2016 season as a starter with Class AA Birmingham, and he struggled in 17 starts for the Barons while going 4-9 with a 4.76 ERA. Nonetheless, the Sox's bullpen was ravaged by injuries heading into the all-star break and fresh arms were in demand. With a glaring lack of depth in the system, Fulmer got the call and he made his majorleague debut on July 17, pitching 2 scoreless innings of relief against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif. "You've been working your whole life to get to that point, and I think the biggest thing is being able to get the experience in those in-game moments," the 23-year-old Fulmer said. "I feel like the only way I get better is if I face really good competition. Obviously, being in the big leagues, that's what you get." Fulmer tailed off after his scoreless debut against the Angels, and the right-hander was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte after going 0-2 with an 8.49 ERA in 8 relief appearances. Throwing strikes was Fulmer's biggest problem, but he worked with Charlotte pitching coach Richard Dotson and adjusted his delivery. The change worked very well, and Fulmer allowed only 1 earned run in 15 innings over his last three starts with the Knights. He also had 14 strikeouts and only 3 walks over the closing stretch. "My first start in Triple-A was in Gwinnett, and I didn't have the best success," Fulmer said of an outing that lasted just 1 inning and resulted in 6 runs allowed on 5 hits and 2 walks. "But I was able to spend a little time with Richard Dotson and you know, not really change anything but figure a couple of things out. "He had a ton of success in the big leagues. Being around someone like that to ask questions to was really a big part of why I had success in Triple-A after that start." Fulmer's delivery was herky jerky when he was getting roughed up, and Dotson helped him make an alteration. "Staying tall and really just getting the ball down," Fulmer said. "That's the most important thing. Keep the ball down and you will have success. He definitely helped me." Doton was promoted to minor-league pitching coordinator after last season, and he's still working with Fulmer in training camp this spring. Fulmer is getting additional help from Sox veterans Jose Quintana, Miguel Gonzalez, Derek Holland and James Shields. "He's full of life," Shields said of Fulmer. "He's a winner at heart. He comes in here every day and wants to learn something new. That's a good attribute to have. "We talk a lot. I watch what he's doing out there and give him some pointers on things that I went through when I was young. He knows I'm here for him whenever he needs me." White Sox to again use rotation at designated hitter

9 Scot Gregor / Daily Herald February 21, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. -- In 2003, Frank Thomas was a dangerous designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox, and the future Hall of Famer hit 42 home runs and piled up 105 RBI under then rookie manager Ozzie Guillen. At SoxFest last month, the 48-year-old Thomas still looked like he could swing the bat, and he even joked about coming out of retirement. If Thomas was serious, the White Sox might have offered him a tryout. Since the "Big Hurt" made a messy exit following the 2005 season, the Sox have looked high and low for a replacement. Future Hall of Famer Jim Thome actually did a good job replacing Thomas, but neither Adam Dunn nor Adam LaRoche were productive designated hitters after Thome. The White Sox have been forced to use a rotating group of players at DH, and that's going to continue this season under new manager Rick Renteria. "We are going to use that slot to kind of alleviate being in that both sides of the ball situation," Renteria said. "I'm not afraid to use that slot for any number of our guys to help them out a little bit." First baseman Jose Abreu will DH when he needs a break, as will third baseman Todd Frazier, right fielder Avisail Garcia and left fielder Melky Cabrera. Last season, Garcia was the Sox's primary designated hitter and he struggled in that role. "It's not my position, but last year I tried to handle that situation," Garcia said. "I did my best, but I think my real position is in the outfield. I feel better there. I don't like DH but I don't have control of that, so I just go to do my job." Burdi watching: For the most part, manager Rick Renteria liked what he saw from Zach Burdi's batting practice session on Tuesday. "Pretty impressive," Renteria said of the hard-throwing reliever. "He had a couple of balls get away in the total sequence, which gets hairy. But for the most part, down in the zone, both sides of the plate. Mixed in some changeups, which for him are still high velocity. He looked good." Big news: Veteran starter James Shields' nickname is "Big Game James," but the Sox's right-hander says the tag never was a good fit. "I never really was Big Game James," Shields said. "That's Big Game James Worthy, man. I've been telling the media that since Day 1. I guess if you have a nickname it's all good, but that's his nickname."