CHICAGO -- It's a widely held belief that the White Sox will promote Yoan Moncada, ranked as baseball's No. 1 prospect by MLBPipeline.com, to the Major Leagues in mid-May as soon as he's spent enough time in the Minors to give the team an extra year of control.
But general manager Rick Hahn said on Tuesday that service time is not the only consideration and hinted Moncada -- acquired from the Red Sox in the Chris Sale trade in the offseason -- could remain at Triple-A Charlotte for a while.
"We think the world of his talent and future, and we think he is responding to the challenges we put ahead of him, but we're not going to rush this," Hahn said. "As satisfying as it may be for all of us to see him out there, even tonight, at the big league level because it gives you that shot in the arm and shows there is progress in the rebuild, it's not in the long-term interest of Moncada or the club.
"He'll be here when he answers all the questions we have for him with the developmental standpoint at the Minor League level. He's done a good job, but there is a benefit to letting him answer all of those and continue the repetitions at that level until that next stage takes place at this level."
Moncada, though, is off to a fast start this season, batting .345 with six home runs, 11 RBIs and 24 runs scored in 28 games for Triple-A Charlotte. He was named the International League's Batter of the Week on Monday after hitting .500 with two homers, four RBIs and eight runs in six games last week.
Hahn said he's been pleased with Moncada's development this season.
"I think he's made a great deal of progress since the end of spring," Hahn said. "There were a few specific elements on the defensive side of the ball, as well a few at the plate, that we wanted to see progress with. He has responded to that. He's shown a fair amount of progress in each of those areas that we've asked of him.
"That said, we want to see that over an extended period of time. It's awfully important to not lose sight of the fact this is a 21-year-old player, one who was not playing two years ago as of right now. It's a guy who has fewer than 325 or so plate appearances above A-ball."
Hahn also addressed the perception by some that the club has been less than candid about the biceps bursitis that has kept left-hander Carlos Rodon on shelf since early in Spring Training.
"All I can tell you is there's certainly nothing in our organization's interest to create unrealistic expectations about a player's health or when they might return and as a result we've always shared more information than perhaps other clubs have," Hahn said. "At this point on Carlos, I'm only comfortable telling you he continues to progress in his throwing program. I've answered the question that he's [throwing] off the mound, but until we get him out on a rehab assignment it's difficult for me to project a return date for him. We do anticipate him returning here and, hopefully, he can progress in a linear fashion from where he is right now."