WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF MARCH 23, 2017 “White Sox youthful core building bonds” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Engel, Kahnle among four sent down” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Melky, Sanchez highlight offense vs. A's” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Quintana credits Fallon for help with English” …Scott Merkin, MLB.com “As White Sox trim roster, many eyes will turn to Triple-A Charlotte” …Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “White Sox make four more roster cuts” … Colleen Kane, Chricago Tribune “Wednesday's recap: Athletics 5, White Sox 3” …Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “‘Leury Legend’ good bet to make White Sox Opening Day roster” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Gonzalez roughed up early in White Sox’ loss to A’s” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Miguel Gonzalez can’t stop two-out rallies as White Sox fall to Oakland” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “How the White sox and Tim Anderson came to their creative contract extension” …Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “"You Sure You're Ready for This?" … Eli Saslow, ESPN.com

White Sox youthful core building bonds By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | @scottmerkin | March 22nd, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A White Sox scout made an interesting observation after the team moved their top five prospects per MLBPipeline.com to the Minor Leagues Tuesday afternoon.

"Charlotte better at least win the first half of their season," he said with a laugh.

The reference was made to the White Sox Triple-A affiliate, who will feature Lucas Giolito (No. 2), Carson Fulmer (No. 5) and Reynaldo Lopez (No. 4) as part of its starting rotation. Zack Burdi (No. 7) figures to be the closer, and of course Yoan Moncada, the No. 2 overall prospect in .

There was the first-half qualifier added because a number of these players could be moving toward the big leagues in 2017 as the White Sox make moves on their rebuilding path. Michael Kopech (No. 3), also sent out on Tuesday, will start with Double-A Birmingham or Class A Winston-Salem, and the same scenario will play out for catcher Zack Collins (No. 6). But the common thread is they all spent the past five or six weeks together forming a cohesive Spring Training bond.

"We have a goal through this stage we're going through right now," Fulmer said. "There's a lot of young guys that are going through this together and we're really, really close. The organization is doing a great job of keeping us together and developing us.

"Our friendship in the clubhouse is one of the most important things. You build good teams through the clubhouse and our manager and the organization are doing a good job of doing that." Rebuilds put forth by the Cubs, Royals and Astros in the recent past (with the Cubs and Royals winning the last two World Series titles) have followed a similar routine. Bring in the young talent, let them develop together, let them probably lose together and then hopefully, let them turn into a sustained success with some important supplemental pieces.

These elite prospects never really were considered for breaking camp with the team, but they've taken the first step together down a road leading to potential excellence. "They're disappointed, but we don't want them to be discouraged," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "They have to keep working to get better and help us move forward in the future. The are in a good position with the young men we've had in camp."

"You look at the championship in 2005. Those guys came up through the Minor Leagues together," said Fulmer, who has talked with Minor League baserunning and outfield instructor Aaron Rowand about '05. "That's where you build special relationships. You start feeling comfortable with the guys playing behind you and that's one of the most important things you can have. The organization knows what they're doing and we definitely trust the process."

Engel, Kahnle among four sent down Smith rolling with the punches this spring By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | @scottmerkin | March 22nd, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox made four roster moves prior to Wednesday's 5-3 loss to the A's at Camelback Ranch.

Outfielder Adam Engel and right-handed Tommy Kahnle were optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Left-handed pitcher Jace Fry and catcher Roberto Pena were reassigned to Minor League camp. With the moves, the White Sox have 37 players remaining in Major League camp: 17 , three catchers, 11 infielders and six outfielders. Engel showed his defensive prowess in center field on a number of occasions this spring. The team's No. 16 prospect overall per MLBPipeline.com also hit .222 with a .349 on-base percentage. Not a forgotten man Kevan Smith was outrighted off the White Sox 40-man roster four days before pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training. The move surprised the 28-year-old, who has been talked about in the past as the franchise's catcher of the future. But after speaking with manager Rick Renteria and understanding the opportunity was still there, Smith has hit .435 over 23 at-bats. He had 22 at-bats combined over his previous four springs. "I just want to know that I'm still in the future plans and have an opportunity," Smith said. "Obviously I'm getting it. I'm handling what I can control and going out and just doing my best." Geovany Soto and Omar Narvaez appear to be the frontrunners to break camp with the team at catcher. But Smith remains in camp and is earning positive reviews from elite pitching prospects such as Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech, with whom he could work with at Triple-A Charlotte. After getting knocked down by the White Sox roster move, Smith has bounced back up. "What's so hard for any player, especially a home-grown guy, is to not take it personal," said Smith, who was 2-for-16 in seven games with the White Sox last year. "But when you mature and come up through the organization, you start to realize it is a business as much as people don't want to accept it. "Nothing personal. Nothing against me. Whatever reasons they made for it, it's out of my control. If I let little things like that affect me, I really wouldn't be where I'm at today. Just got to keep rolling with the punches."

Third to first • Renteria said that breaking camp with 13 pitchers is not out of the question, but he's leaning toward 12. • Renteria has yet to name an Opening Day starter. Jose Quintana stands as the favorite to get the nod. • Relievers Nate Jones and David Robertson are expected back in camp by Friday. The duo are pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. "We'll see how they've been working," Renteria said. "[White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] will slot them in to see what kind of work they'll do."

Melky, Sanchez highlight offense vs. A's By Scott Merkin and Jane Lee / MLB.com | March 22nd, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Andrew Triggs is fighting for a spot in the Oakland rotation and he enhanced those chances by allowing two runs over five innings during a 5-3 victory over the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.

Triggs allowed three hits in five-plus innings, striking out four. The first run scored by the White Sox came via a fifth-inning home run from Yolmer Sanchez, who figures to earn one of the team's bench spots, as well as compete for more regular playing time at second base. He added a ninth-inning triple.

Of Triggs, A's manager Bob Melvin said, "This was his best outing so far. I thought overall it was his best command, sharpest breaking ball, good movement on his fastball. Pitched really well." Miguel Gonzalez worked 4 1/3 innings for the White Sox, getting touched up for nine hits and four runs. The A's scored two in each of the first two innings, both rallies coming with two outs. "The first two innings, I was an out away from getting out of the jams. That didn't happen. I have to get better at that and I'll be all right," Gonzalez said. "We want to execute … since Day 1.

"Especially myself, I'm not a power pitcher. I've got to go out there and throw strikes and minimize damage. That didn't happen the first two innings. After that I settled down and I did pretty well. You always want to finish strong."

Stephen Vogt doubled home two in the first and Matt Joyce singled home two in the second. Vogt, Khris Davis and Ryon Healy turned in multi-hit efforts. Melky Cabrera drove in a pair of runs in the sixth off reliever Ryan Madson to cut the lead to one.

Athletics Up Next: Right-hander Raul Alcantara, who is out of options and vying for a roster spot, gets the start Thursday against Milwaukee at Hohokam Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. PT. Right-hander John Axford is also expected to see action in the game, which can be streamed via an exclusive webcast.

White Sox Up Next: Jose Quintana, who figures to make his first career Opening Day start on April 3 in Chicago, makes his second-to-last start of Spring Training when he faces the Reds at Camelback Ranch with a 3:05 p.m. CT start (MLB.TV). Zack Burdi, Dan Jennings and Michael Ynoa also are scheduled to take the mound for the White Sox. Burdi continues to get work despite most likely starting the season as the Triple-A Charlotte closer.

Quintana credits Fallon for help with English By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | @scottmerkin | March 22nd, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Jose Quintana made a promise at the end of the 2013 season.

This promise wasn't to become an American League Cy Young Award candidate or an All-Star or a pitcher who threw 200 innings per season. No guarantees of those types were needed with the talent and work ethic possessed by the southpaw. It seemingly came naturally.

The native of Colombia wanted to become fluent in English, being able to converse with his teammates and do his interviews with the media in the same way. And when Spring Training began in 2014, Quintana had achieved his goal.

No interpreter was needed, aside from occasional clarification on a point or two from Billy Russo, who serves in that role currently for the White Sox. Quintana was basically self-taught, aside from a couple of Chicago classes. His learning process began in-season, speaking with his teammates, listening closely to what they were saying and processing the words. He also watched American television shows to help pick up the language. What were the shows Quintana relied upon, you may ask? When questioned recently, he said there were a couple. When pushed for one in particular, Quintana laughed and needed a little help from Russo to jog his memory.

"Who is the guy who made the movie?" asked Quintana, referring to "Fever Pitch". "Jimmy Fallon," Russo responded. "I watched his show," Quintana said, smiling a little broader at this point. "I watched a couple of TV shows from him. It's really funny."

So the current host of The Tonight Show contributed to the current ace of the White Sox putting yet another impressive accomplishment on his resume. Ultimately this is not a tale of Quintana's late-night endorsement, as much as it's about the easy dedication and fervor with which Quintana approaches life. "Just did it on his own. Made it look easy. Didn't draw any attention to the process and all of a sudden he's fluent," said White Sox general manager Rick Hahn of Quintana. "It's kind of like how he picked up the cutter in one Spring Training."

"That's part of my job and I put a lot of effort in to learn that language," Quintana said. "It's fun. It's fun when you can talk with American guys and know what they mean and everything. It's a different language, sometimes a different style. So that's cool when you can talk with them." In 2010, at 21, Quintana pitched as part of the Yankees organization for the first time in the United States. He spoke Spanish and maybe a few words of English. It was difficult for him to form a phrase, and he lived that difficulty when going to a local mall or restaurant.

Flash forward seven years, and Quintana eloquently expressed himself on a national stage after no-hitting the USA for 5 2/3 innings during the World Baseball Classic.

Quintana added that it's easier to understand pitching coach Don Cooper's exact instructions even though Cooper does speak Spanish.

Credit goes to Quintana for his desire to learn, but maybe he can take from Fallon's regular bits and send a thank you note for Fallon's unknown contribution. Then again, Quintana's success might someday lead him to be a guest on the show.

As White Sox trim roster, many eyes will turn to Triple-A Charlotte Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune | March 22, 2017

White Sox prospect Carson Fulmer smiled when considering what the roster at Triple-A Charlotte will look like to start the season.

Fulmer, the team's first-round draft pick in 2015 and the No. 5 Sox prospect, according to MLB.com, will be in the rotation. So will No. 2 prospect Lucas Giolito and No. 3 prospect Reynaldo Lopez. Top prospect Yoan Moncada will be manning second base, and No. 7 prospect Zack Burdi could be at the back end the bullpen.

"We've got some talent," Fulmer said. "Hopefully guys down there will be able to play for a long time together.

"That's where you build special relationships. You get to trust certain guys and you start feeling comfortable with the guys playing behind you, and that's one of the most important things you can have."

As the Sox narrowed their roster to 37 players with cuts Tuesday and Wednesday, they sent to minor-league camp a lot of the players who have provided intrigue this spring.

Burdi, who is still in big-league spring training because he requires fewer innings to work as a reliever, hasn't spent time in the majors, but the rest of the group has. Fulmer said such experiences make them crave a return.

"It's not an addiction, but once you get a taste of it, you want more of it," Fulmer said. "All of us young guys are trying to get back to where we've been. Time will tell, but I think we'll get a chance here soon and get a chance to create something special."

General manager Rick Hahn said it's reasonable to expect that group in Chicago at some point, but until then the players have to continue their work without putting too much pressure on themselves to earn the promotion.

"One thing I made clear to the guys we acquired this offseason was that none of them were going to justify a trade individually or even over the course of this season alone," Hahn said. "This is about building something for the long term, and it's going to be judged over the long term, so don't feel like start to start you need to prove we're right or that you've let anyone down. Let's build off what we accomplished here, and we expect we'll see you guys again soon."

Hahn said glowing things about the five prospects sent down Tuesday.

He called Lopez the "most advanced of the pitching arms" and said he has taken well to pitching coach Don Cooper's adjustments. He credited Fulmer with continuing to work on the mechanical tweaks he made late last year in Charlotte. While Michael Kopech will start at a lower level than Charlotte, Hahn spoke highly of his stuff and ability to rise to the occasion at age 20. And he called Giolito a "very mature, very cerebral, bright guy."

"He knows his delivery well, knows what he wants to accomplish," Hahn said. "He is receptive to instruction and ... feels an obligation to prove everything right about what has been written about him and that we showed faith in trading for him."

As for Moncada, Hahn cited his strong work ethic and ability to adapt and accept instruction, along with more obvious traits.

"Obviously everyone sees the athleticism and the bat speed and the tools that have a lot of people projecting great things for him going forward," Hahn said. "At the same time, he is 22 years old. He's got about 200 plate appearances above A ball coming into this year. Let's get him playing every day at Charlotte and have him force the issue when the time is right to get to Chicago."

Until then, Charlotte could be one interesting team this spring

White Sox make four more roster cuts Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune | March 22, 2017

The White Sox sent four more prospects to the minors Wednesday morning, bringing their spring training roster to 37 players with eight days to go in Cactus League play.

The Sox optioned outfielder Adam Engel and right-hander Tommy Kahnle to Triple-A Charlotte and reassigned left-hander Jace Fry and catcher Roberto Pena to minor-league camp.

Engel, who hit .222 with a double and nine runs scored this spring, was among the players competing for the center-field opening. His departure leaves Peter Bourjos, Jacob May and Leury Garcia as the three options for the position left in camp, while fourth option Charlie Tilson recovers from a stress reaction in his right foot.

Kahnle, who posted a 5.87 ERA in Cactus League play, was in competition for one of the final two bullpen spots. The Sox have six relievers left in that mix – right-handers Michael Ynoa, Dylan Covey, Anthony Swarzak and Zack Burdi and left- handers Matt Purke and . Right-hander Juan Minaya, another option, is recovering from a torn abdominal muscle.

On Tuesday, the Sox sent their top five prospects to minor-league camp — Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez and Carson Fulmer.

Wednesday's recap: Athletics 5, White Sox 3 Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune | March 22, 2017 Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez gave up four earned runs on nine hits as the White Sox lost 5-3 to the Athletics on Wednesday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. Gonzalez walked one and struck out one in 4 1/3 innings.

At the plate: Yolmer Sanchez tripled and homered and Melky Cabrera hit a two-run double.

On the mound: Zach Putnam pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief with two .

In the field: Cabrera was credited with an outfield assist when he threw out Khris Davis at second to open the fifth inning.

Key number: 0.96 — Spring ERA of bullpen candidate Cory Luebke, who recorded the final two outs of the fifth.

The quote: "My split-finger wasn't there today, not quite as good as I thought it would be. I was falling behind hitters first two innings. That doesn't really help you, especially against a team like this that's very aggressive." — Gonzalez.

Up next: Vs. Reds, 3:05 p.m. Thursday at Camelback Ranch. LH Jose Quintana vs. RH Bronson Arroyo

‘Leury Legend’ good bet to make White Sox Opening Day roster Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun Times | March 22, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Basketball is not a big deal in the Dominican Republic, so let’s cut Leury Garcia some slack for not knowing who Larry Bird is.

But he should know. When Garcia first joined the Sox in 2013, coach Joe McEwing playfully began calling him Larry Legend, after the Celtics Hall of Famer.

“Larry Legend, yeah,’’ Garcia said. “As soon as I got here, he gave me that nickname. I don’t know where that come from but . . .”

In the course of the conversation about Bird, teammate Todd Frazier provided helpful hand signals.

Leury Garcia bunts against the Milwaukee Brewers during the second inning of a spring training baseball game, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) “Number 33?” Garcia said.

Bingo.

“Thanks, Fraz!,’’ Garcia said.

“Legend” might be a stretch for one who is fighting for a spot on the roster. But Garcia is versatile, which increasing his value and his chances. The only positions he hasn’t played in the majors are first base and catcher. He even appeared as a pitcher in two games.

“It has helped me a lot,’’ Garcia said. “They can put me in the lineup wherever they need me to play.’’

Garcia is having a good spring, 15-for-45 (.333) with four doubles, two walks and two stolen bases in two attempts. Manager Rick Renteria said he is comfortable playing the switch hitter anywhere.

“Leury has shown pretty solid defensive prowess at all of them and kind of transitions very easily,’’ Renteria said.

Gonzalez roughed up early in White Sox’ loss to A’s Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun Times | March 22, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Although he finished with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, right-hander Miguel Gonzalez didn’t brush off his start (4 1/3, nine hits, four runs) as just getting his spring work in during the Sox’ 5-3 loss to the A’s.

“I’m not a power pitcher,’’ Gonzalez said. “I’ve got to throw strikes and minimize damage. That didn’t happen the first two innings.’’

Gonzalez, who pitched for Mexico in the WBC, felt good in the bullpen but his split-finger pitch failed him in the game, he said. It was a contrast to James Shields the night before, who said he felt lost in the pen before throwing six scoreless innings.

After Gonzalez, relievers Cory Luebke, Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam and Aaron Bummer did not allow an earned run.

Roster cuts

In a second round of roster cuts in two days, outfielder Adam Engel and right-hander Tommy Kahnle were optioned to AAA Charlotte. Left-hander Jace Fry and catcher Roberto Pena were reassigned to minor league camp.

Engel batted .222 with seven walks in Cactus League games while demonstrating plus defensive skills in his first camp. The 2015 Arizona Fall League MVP is ranked 12th among Sox prospects by MLBpipeline.com.

Kahnle (2.63 ERA, 25 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings last season), allowed four earned runs over 7 1/3 innings. Thirty-seven players are left in camp, including 17 pitchers, three catchers, 11 infielders and six outfielders.

The Sanchez formerly known as Carlos

Yolmer Sanchez homered against Andrew Triggs and tripled against ex-Sox Frankie Montas — who struck out four over two innings. Melky Cabrera drove in two with a double.

The Sox are 12-13-1. Their third straight loss dropped them below .500 for the first time since they were 1-2-1.

On deck

Reds vs. White Sox, Glendale, 3:05 Thursday (CSN), Bronson Arroyo vs. Jose Quintana

Miguel Gonzalez can’t stop two-out rallies as White Sox fall to Oakland By Dan Hayes / CSN Chicago | March 23, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. — His split-fingered fastball could use a little work, but Miguel Gonzalez is ready for the regular season.

The White Sox pitcher allowed four earned runs, all with two outs, in his penultimate Cactus League start on Wednesday. Gonzalez also gave up nine hits as the White Sox lost to the Oakland A’s 5-3 at Camelback Ranch.

"I'm pretty excited for (the regular season)," Gonzalez said. "We all know that spring can be a little long sometimes. But we are here, we are here to work and keep doing what we are doing. We are going to be OK."

Gonzalez allowed two runs each in the first and second innings. Both rallies came with two outs and were a bit of a surprise to the right-hander, who left after 4 1/3 innings. Gonzalez wonders if his split-fingered fastball might not be as sharp as normal because of the dry desert air in Arizona that affects many pitchers.

"It wasn't there today," Gonzalez said. "Not quite as good as I thought it would be. Bullpen I felt really good. Falling behind hitters first two innings. That doesn't really help you, especially a team like this that's very aggressive.

"I'm working on (the splitter). It's fine. I mean it's a little different then it is in Florida. It's not as humid. But you can't think that way. You have to go out there and keep working."

Melky Cabrera went 1-for-3 with two RBIs for the White Sox. Yolmer Sanchez tripled and homered in the loss. Former White Sox farmhand Frankie Montas struck out four over two scoreless innings to earn the save for Oakland.

The White Sox sent four more players to minor league camp before the game, including reliever Tommy Kahnle. The team sent five players to the minors on Tuesday, including pitcher Carson Fulmer. While Fulmer would love to start the season in the majors, he said it won't hinder him from taking advantage of his time at Triple-A Charlotte.

"Obviously last year getting a taste, it's that dream you've had since you were a kid," Fulmer said. "You want more of it. It's not an addiction in a way. But once you get a taste of it you want more of it. All of us young guys are trying to get back to where we've been. I think time will tell, but I think we'll get a chance here soon and get a chance to create something special."

How the White sox and Tim Anderson came to their creative contract extension By Dan Hayes / CSN Chicago | March 22, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Among the many complex elements involved in getting a deal done, timing appears to have been the most critical for Tim Anderson and the White Sox.

Even though Anderson has less than a year of service time, both sides felt it was imperative they complete a six-year pact during spring training that could pay the shortstop upward of $50.5 million.

With Opening Day rapidly approaching, neither the White Sox nor Anderson's representatives at Reynolds Sports Management had any interest in allowing talks to extend into the season for the player's sake. And when it comes to why now — whether it was eliminating risk or assuming it, the years of control on the back end or the dollars and cents — it was clear to all parties that the present was the only logical time to finalize a deal that could keep Anderson in Chicago through 2024.

"We felt now was the right opportunity to get the length of control we were looking for and we were comfortable with," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "I think the fact that it is an aggressive move on our part is probably not a surprise given what you've seen us do with some of our other players, which took people by surprise. But again, we view him as a premium talent who's going to be an important part of what we're trying accomplish for the next several years."

To complete a deal like this, one that members of the White Sox front office often refer to as "win-win contracts," both sides must make significant concessions. Anderson's extension is the fifth long-term deal completed by the White Sox in four years, starting with Chris Sale's contract in March 2013.

The team benefits by locking up the first two seasons of Anderson's free agency at an affordable rate. The White Sox used that additional control to their advantage this offseason when they traded Sale and Adam Eaton for seven talented prospects.

But to gain those benefits, Hahn and Co. must be comfortable enough with the expected performance, the potential for injury and the person to assume the risk created by guaranteeing $25 million.

On the other side, Anderson's representatives must potentially concede the front end of free agency in order to gain security.

Even then, the deal isn't complete unless the player is satisfied.

"There's a lot of things that have to line up for a deal like this to work," said White Sox assistant GM Jeremy Haber.

When the two sides first made contact several weeks ago, Anderson's management team was skeptical.

The club's first offer was rejected.

Similar to the White Sox, Anderson's agent, Larry Reynolds, sees a star in the making. Not only does he possess the tools and work ethic necessary to become great, Anderson's reps believe he also has the drive necessary to make further progress. Given Anderson produced 2.8 Wins Above Replacement in his first season, Reynolds' team needed to be convinced to sacrifice valuable front-end years on the next contract.

Once the White Sox adjusted the proposed arbitration numbers, the likelihood of an extension increased.

When he has one-plus year of service time in 2018, Anderson will earn $1 million — exactly $50,000 shy of what Kris Bryant is making this season after he already won a Rookie of the Year award and a Most Valuable Player award. In 2019, Anderson's $1.4 million salary will be $400,000 more than Mike Trout — already a two-time AL MVP runner-up — earned with roughly the same amount of service time. The $4 million Anderson is set to take home in 2020 is $400,000 higher than Jackie Bradley is earning this season in his first year of arbitration eligibility and $1.275 million more than Lorenzo Cain earned in his in 2015.

Those figures as well as a $7.25 million payday in 2021 and $9.5 million in 2022 were enough to convince Anderson and his team to concede his first two years of free agency.

"This deal was a challenging one, particularly when you have a special talent like Tim's to consider," said Reynolds Sports Management COO Patrick Murphy. "The length of the contract and the club options were concerning, but as the negotiations progressed, Larry (Reynolds) and the group got more comfortable. In the end, what really mattered was the fact that Tim wanted to do the deal, so we pulled the trigger."

To arrive at the point where they wanted to lock down Anderson, the White Sox had to feel comfortable assuming risk. If anything goes wrong, they'd be on the hook for half of the contract. According to Hahn and Haber, there was never any doubt about pushing forward. Hahn said the White Sox initially discussed the possibility of an extension a year ago.

The ease with which they decided to move on that idea only grew the more they knew Anderson, whom they selected with the 17th overall pick of the 2013 draft. Not only is Anderson athletic, the White Sox have found him to be a quick learner who’s motivated to prove his doubters wrong.

"One of the things we talked about before engaging was if there was anyone in the organization who felt that Tim got guaranteed money that it would change how he approached the game and how he prepared," Hahn said. "Everyone I had that conversation with immediately to a man said no. He's about trying to be great and trying to win championships. He's not doing this for the money. He's not going to change his work ethic or who he is in the clubhouse or the field just because he has guaranteed cash in his pocket now."

All it took was the time to hammer out the deal.

But with the team's April 3 opener nearing, both sides hoped to have an answer by Sunday. They didn't want Anderson, who said he was surprised the team wanted to extend him, to be worried about his status as the regular season approached.

Whereas the two parties spoke about once every four days at the start, Reynolds and Haber were in contact 2-3 times per day on Friday and Saturday as negotiations intensified. After it was finalized, Anderson said he could feel the weight of it all. The sides agreed to the deal late Saturday and Anderson took his physical on Monday.

While stressful at the time, Anderson is pleased to have security and a home for at least the next six seasons.

"It's life changing," Anderson said. "For me to go out and perform the way I did and for them to reward them the way I did, it's such a blessing. Especially for someone like me from where I come from. It's just really an honor for me to be able to do this.

"That speaks highly of them, for them to believe in me like that. Just from 115 days in the big leagues last year. I'm very thankful and forever be humble and just keep moving forward with this."

"You Sure You're Ready for This?" At 19, Cuban slugger Yoan Moncada became the highest-paid prospect in MLB history. But two years later, he's still acting like a kid. by Eli Saslow / ESPN.com | March 23, 2017

Alex Vega has built his auto business in Miami fulfilling outlandish demands from the rich and famous, but one day in the winter of 2015 he got a call from a client with a request Vega could hardly fathom.

"Ten cars?" Vega remembers asking the caller, trying to suppress his disbelief. "You want to start out with 10 customized cars?"

On the other end of the line was Yoan Moncada, an entirely unproven teenager who was also the highest-paid 19-year- old in the history of baseball. He had been in the country for a handful of months, and he had yet to play a major league game in the United States. His last means of transportation had been his older sibling's hand-me-down bicycle, which he had pedaled 3 miles each day down a dirt road to a baseball stadium on the southern coast of Cuba. Now he planned to drive his new fleet of cars under his baseball agent's insurance policy.

Moncada told Vega he wanted to begin by customizing a BMW i8, then a Lamborghini Huracan and a BMW X6 -- more than $500,000 worth of work. Moncada said he wanted the luxury cars souped-up and ready for spring training. Then he made one last request: He asked that each car be stamped with a personalized logo of his initials.

"Are you sure you're ready for all this?" Vega asked him.

It is the same question many in baseball now pose to Moncada, whose talent has developed with a hyperspeed that's forced the rest of his life to catch up. In less than two years, he's moved from Cuba to Ecuador to Guatemala to the United States. At 19, the switch-hitting second baseman shattered MLB's record international signing bonus, earning a $31.5 million payday --four times more than what he could have earned as the first pick in the MLB draft. "New family, new language, new friends, new life, new rules," Moncada says now through a translator. "I knew I wanted to come here to play baseball, but I never thought about dealing with all of this."

Moncada begins this season with yet another transition, this time to the White Sox , who traded pitcher Chris Sale to the Red Sox in December for Moncada and a few other prospects. Moncada will start the year in Triple-A, but by making the trade, the White Sox staked their future on a prospect who could still break either way. Moncada is the player the Red Sox trusted with $31.5 million but could never trust to show up on time for his mandatory English classes. He is a versatile defender with natural speed and a sculpted upper body, and yet his agent says Moncada has sometimes mowed through 85 Twinkies in a week. And, just months after he arrived in the U.S., he was on the phone with Vega, negotiating for cars even though he didn't have a driver's license.

Vega has worked on cars for rappers, NFL players and even Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals star who he hoped would open up the hockey market. But his biggest business is in baseball -- he estimates he's worked with about 300 players, most of whom had a desire to show the money they could burn. Mets star Yoenis Cespedes asked Vega for a different luxury car to drive each day of the week. Hanley Ramirez wanted a $550,000 Lamborghini that would literally spit fire from its exhaust. Yasiel Puig asked about a tricked-out helicopter that would get him to the stadium on time. Juan Uribe had come looking for a limousine van with a wraparound couch and two big-screen TVs.

"Usually, we come up with a bigger-than-life idea and then I make it happen," Vega says. But this time, with Moncada, Vega found himself as the rare salesman who had to become the realist. He told Moncada to save some of his bonus. He could do a few cars, he said, but not 10.

"It's a long career," Vega remembers saying. "I want to work with you for a long time. We'll get to 10 eventually, but not yet. You need to slow it down."

IT WAS NOT advice Moncada was used to hearing, since his very arrival in the United States had always depended on urgency and vigilance. There are so many routes for a baseball player out of Cuba, and as Moncada matured into one of the island's top prospects playing for Cienfuegos, he spent his teenage years considering each possibility. He paid attention to the stories of Puig being detained by a Mexican drug cartel and Jose Fernandez jumping overboard to save his mother at sea. He knew about Aroldis Chapman defecting from the Cuban national team during a tournament in the Netherlands and about Jose Abreu eating his fake passport while on an airplane to Miami.

What all of those stories had taught Moncada was that he would leave Cuba only under one condition: "The legal way or not at all," he says. "I wanted it to be safe and simple."

And so began a journey that turned out to be every bit as complicated and unconventional as the rest. Moncada says he asked Cuba for permission to leave in 2013, but the government delayed its decision and stalled for more than eight months. During that time, Moncada fathered a child with an American woman who had once worked for baseball agents. (She would later deny that she played any role in helping him leave Cuba.) He also reconnected with an old Cuban friend, Carlos Mesa, who had played some minor league baseball in the United States. Mesa told Moncada that he knew someone who might be able to help.

Mesa spent a lot of time in St. Petersburg, Florida, at a nearby restaurant called Habana Cafe, a place popular among baseball players during spring training, and he had become friendly with the owner, Josefa Hastings. She was a former flight attendant who used her fluent Spanish and her Florida business connections to help a handful of Cuban baseball players navigate their new lives. She had come from Cuba herself at age 4 and had spent her career training and hiring Cuban waiters and cooks. "My main skill is that I understand how big the gap is between those two countries, and I know how easy it is to fall into that gap," she says.

Mesa asked her to help Moncada, and Hastings says she occasionally spoke with the prospect on the phone in Cuba to discuss the logistics of visa applications and paperwork. When Moncada finally procured his legal permission to leave Cuba, the only country that would give him a travel visa was Ecuador, so Hastings and Mesa flew to meet him in Quito, the capital city.

Moncada's play in two seasons with Cienfuegos was enough to put him on every MLB team's radar. REUTERS What Hastings knew about Moncada then came mostly from the whispers she overheard in her restaurant: a five-tool franchise player, a switch-hitter, a natural speedster with a power hitter's physique. Hastings arrived in Ecuador expecting to find a finished product. Instead she met a 19-year-old who could barely summon the composure to look her in the eyes.

"Here's a kid who had just left behind the only thing he had ever known, and he was like a dog with its tail between its legs," she says. "He was shy, skittish, lonely, confused. He was just so unbelievably scared."

Within days, news of Moncada's departure from Cuba had spread throughout the baseball world. "He was this shiny $50 million diamond that everyone was looking for," Hastings says, and so she and her husband, an accountant named David Hastings, hired a former police officer to live with Moncada in Quito. Moncada spent two months living and training there -- working out with Mesa on a youth soccer field, because there were no public baseball fields -- until he was granted another visa, this time to travel to Guatemala, where he could find better baseball facilities. He spent six months there, establishing residency so he could qualify to enter the majors as a free agent.

In November 2014, Josefa and David flew down to plan a showcase for Moncada. As soon as they announced the date and his location became public, Moncada's safety was in jeopardy. More than once, David says, including on the date of the event, cars chased him through the streets in kidnapping attempts.

As about 75 scouts made their way into the stands to watch Moncada, Josefa Hastings found him sitting in the dugout, stoic and alone. He hadn't faced live pitching or played in front of a crowd for nearly a year. Now a few hours of batting practice and timed running drills would determine the difference between tens of millions -- and whether he'd be able to leave behind this life, in which he'd grown accustomed to a state of constant fear.

In the dugout in Guatemala, Hastings sat down next to Moncada and tried to teach him an expression in English.

"Go big or go home," she said, but all he did was stare back at her blankly before walking out onto the field.

In fellow Cuban Jose Abreu (right), Moncada has found a "mentor and friend." JOSE MANDOJANA FOR ESPN ALL 30 TEAMS left Guatemala impressed: Moncada had explosive speed on the bases and the muscular build of an NFL linebacker. Some scouts compared him to Mike Trout. Others said they were reminded of Robinson Cano. He had the versatility to play anywhere in the infield, and he could hit for raw power from both sides of the plate. Best of all, unlike some Cuban players who didn't defect until their late 20s, Moncada had his entire prime ahead of him.

It had all the makings of an obvious bidding war in the open market of foreign free agency, and in the end it came down to the Yankees, Dodgers, Padres and Red Sox. Moncada came to the U.S. at the end of 2014 and moved in with Josefa and David. David, a CPA who'd never worked in baseball, became his agent and represented him in negotiations. The previous record signing bonus for an international amateur was $8.27 million. By late February, the Red Sox had increased their offer for Moncada to $31.5 million, and they had to pay another $31.5 million to the league for exceeding its spending limit for foreign signings.

"I feel totally exhausted," David said, standing in the family's St. Pete kitchen, once the deal was finally signed.

"I feel so rich!" Moncada responded.

It took him awhile to understand just how much money he had already earned. David explained that Moncada had just made the equivalent of 656,250 years of work, based on his $4 monthly salary playing for Cienfuegos. Still, when Moncada got his first check, the total was much less than what he'd been expecting, and he came to David in a rage, convinced he'd been robbed. "He didn't really know about the concept of taxes," David says. "I had to print out a pay stub and show him why it was 35 percent less than he thought."

Even at 65 percent, Moncada had money to spend on drones, video games, toys and clothes. He sometimes spent $1,500 or more during nights out, David says. After he purchased the second $200,000 car, Josefa tried to talk some sense into him. "You are being an idiot, just wasting all this money," she told him. "What are you even thinking?"

"Go big or go home," he told her with a smile.

A showcase in Guatemala spurred the Red Sox' $31.5 million deal for Moncada. PRENSA LIBRE/AP PHOTO "They are like my American parents," Moncada says of Josefa and David, and to them it sometimes felt as if they were raising a moody teenager. They called Moncada "the kid," and often he could be sweet and endearing, buying them gifts and staying up late to video-chat with his family in Cuba. But he could also be stubborn and frustrating. David let him drive his 10-year-old Toyota Sienna, and Moncada sped away so fast he "practically got that car up on two wheels," David says. Moncada discovered Twinkies at Wal-Mart and started consuming them by the box, sometimes eating more than 10 in a single sitting even as the Red Sox were trying to counsel him on diet and nutrition. When David took Moncada to the dentist in the winter of 2015 -- the first dental visit of Moncada's life -- he had about 15 cavities, David says.

And then there were the mornings when Moncada simply wouldn't wake up, which drove Josefa crazy. As a former flight attendant, she had been taught that being late meant losing her job. "You aren't worth $31 million to anybody just staying all day in bed," she would tell Moncada, and sometimes she would beat him with a pillow to get him out of bed for practice.

But once Moncada finally got to the ballpark, his coaches and teammates gushed about his willingness to work in the batting cage and field extra grounders. "The only place I'm comfortable is on the field, so I'm always going to stay as long as I can," he says. His progress was evident: He stole 94 bases in his first 187 minor league games and flashed enough power to rise quickly through Boston's system.

From extended spring training, to Class-A, to Class-A Advanced, to Double-A, every move brought another seismic cultural transition. He asked the Red Sox to hire his old friend Mesa and pay him $200,000 to travel along with Moncada. The two friends ate at Chipotle almost every day because Moncada had mastered the menu and he could reliably order in Spanish.

Whenever he moved to a new city, the Hastingses would go there first to find him an apartment, take care of any paperwork and deliver his cars. Then they would go back home to Florida and hope. "It's always just kind of, 'OK, good luck, fingers crossed,'" David says.

What David usually worried about most was Moncada's money: "I look at his bank account each morning to see if he's making big mistakes or little mistakes," David says.

What Josefa worried about most was his reputation: "If I was in his position, there would be no girls, no clubs, no cars," she says. "I would be either on the field or locked in my room. But that takes wisdom, and unfortunately that's something all of his money can't buy."

Between each of his frequent moves, Moncada would usually come back to Florida to see Josefa and David. He purchased a house on their street and spent afternoons sitting at Josefa's restaurant, where a gigantic map of the world hung on the wall. Sometimes, Moncada and Josefa would stand together under the map and she would point to where he was going next. "Hot or cold?" he would always ask, and then once in a while he would put his finger on the map and trace the distance between his new destination and Cuba.

"I knew I wanted to come here to play baseball, but I never thought about dealing with all of this," Moncada says.

THEN, IN DECEMBER Josefa was suddenly pointing him to Chicago, and at first Moncada was devastated. He had barely made it to the major leagues in Boston, playing during a handful of games with the Red Sox last September, but he had imagined spending his career there. In 25 years, no team had ever traded away the No. 1 prospect in baseball, and now Moncada and a few others had been swapped for Sale, an ace entering his prime. "It's fair to say that Yoan took it as a very personal rejection," David says.

But that first night after the trade, Moncada received a text message from one of his new teammates, All-Star first baseman Jose Abreu. The two men had once played together in the infield for Cienfuegos when Moncada was 17, and now over text messages Abreu told Moncada about the White Sox's deep Cuban tradition, having featured nearly 20 Cuban-born players, including Minnie Minoso, Orlando Hernandez, Jose Contreras and Alexei Ramirez. "This team gets it," Abreu texted that night.

Abreu believed Moncada was a future All-Star. Moncada, meanwhile, saw in Abreu a "mentor and friend whose example I can only hope to follow." Abreu had transitioned to life in the U.S. more quickly than almost any other Cuban player, defecting to Haiti by boat in 2013 and earning a spot in the MLB All-Star Game less than a year later. Like Moncada, he had been made instantly rich, with a $68 million contract that was the largest in White Sox history. Like Moncada, he had also spent some of that initial money buying luxury cars from Vega. "He's helping me navigate the game but most of all the culture," says Moncada, whose locker was side-by-side with Abreu's at spring training. "He's a few years ahead of me in that. I try to follow whatever he does."

Moncada will start this season in Triple-A Charlotte, with the potential to come up as early as April or May (though almost certainly not before a mid-April series against the Twins, allowing the White Sox to save a year of Moncada's service time). Throughout spring training, he showed off his power but also struck out in 14 of his first 41 at-bats and made a few routine errors at second base. And so he spent extra time with Abreu in the batting cages and worked to widen his fielding stance. In his final seven games in Arizona, he went 10-for-22 with four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs.

One night this spring, after most of the team had already left the facility, Moncada finished in the cage and walked alone to the team's parking lot, where one of Vega's cars was waiting. It was the BMW X6, with forged wheels and red-and- white trim. On the front of the hood was Moncada's personalized logo, an artful combination of his initials, which he had also recently inked onto his neck.

He had a body built for baseball and a car built for speed, and in both places his tattooed initials looked clean and natural. He started the car's ignition and zipped out of the parking lot, logo leading the way, even if it wasn't yet clear exactly what that logo would come to represent.