By Connor McKnight, WLS-AM Sports

(CHICAGO) With eight more roster moves this week and Opening Day inching nearer, the White Sox potential 25-man roster has taken a bit more shape. Filling in the detail even more was a lineup against the Chicago Cubs that looked suspiciously like a potential April 3rd lineup.

Here’s how Ricky Renteria filled out his card:

Peter Bourjos, CF

Melky Cabrera, LF

Jose Abreu, 1B

Todd Frazier, 3B

Avisail Garcia, RF

Tim Anderson, SS

Tyler Saladino, 2B

Geovany Soto, C

Danny Hayes, DH

Sure there’s some quibbling about whether Hayes or Matt Davidson gets the opening crack at the DH spot but with the spring Hayes has had (hitting over .400 with an OPS north of 1.000) it seems he may be making a push–especially with the White Sox looking for more pop in the lineup.

Where Tim Anderson hits, I think, will largely be decided by Anderson, himself. Can he hit for more pop than an average short stop? With his speed (his ridiculous, preposterous speed) will Renteria hit him higher in the lineup and have him take bases? Does his patience and discipline mature enough to keep him in the middle-ish of the lineup?

All questions that will be exciting to answer throughout the season but questions that will take some time to answer.

As for the cuts, most we could see coming but let’s go through the list.

Somewhat surprising, but not really:

Chris Beck and Giovanni Soto were both sent out to AAA. Of the eight cuts, these were/are the two closest to making the roster/getting some time in the Bigs this year. Beck, whose stuff looks nasty at times, just wasn’t able to control the zone enough last year with the Sox or this year in Arizona. Soto’s spring hadn’t gone all that well either, but, seeing as he’s left-handed and the Sox may have just one lefty (Dan Jennings) set for the bullpen, I thought Soto would be around longer.

Makes sense, maybe we’ll see you soon:

Tyler Danish, Willy Garcia and Blake Smith were all reassigned to minor league camp without a specific assignment. Danish, who succeeds without velocity but with a nasty sinker, could very well see the big leagues again in 2017. He’ll need to pound the bottom of the strike zone wherever he ends up (AAA bullpen role?) but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Sox let his stuff play up in short relief. Garcia was a former prospect with the Pirates who has yet to blossom. There’s still raw skill there but the Sox will let that season in the minors. Smith was very interesting to watch. The Sox lack of lefties in the Major League pen has been noted (although with Zach Putnam’s reverse splits as a right-hander, that neutralizes the need some) Smith’s left-handedness was intriguing. He was also pretty good. The Sox won’t try to develop a left-handed specialist in the minors–specializing that early would unnecessarily stunt a player’s development–but Smith could be up sooner rather than later in that specific role.

Saw it coming, nice spring though:

Relievers Brad Goldberg and Aaron Bummer showed some promise as relievers in their work in spring. Goldberg, who’d been a key part of Team Israel’s bullpen in the qualifying rounds, seems to be able to handle a tough situation. Bummer, at 23, has some room to grow and big ‘ol breaking ball that’s fun to watch. It’s a plus for both that they’re with a team that normally pulls everything it can out of their pitchers.

Listen to Connor McKnight host “White Sox Weekly” every Saturday afternoon, before the White Sox game broadcast. Then stay tuned for Connor’s pre- and post-game shows on WLS-AM and the Chicago White Sox Radio Network.

@ 2017 WLS-AM Sports