Entering the offseason the White Sox have plenty of money to spend, a lot of starting pitchers available in free agency and a spot to fill in the rotation.
As things stand now the White Sox have Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease leading their young rotation, with Michael Kopech optimistic that he’ll be ready to go in spring training and Carlos Rodon likely to return until the middle of 2020 at the earliest.
So, let’s take a look at the top free agent starting pitchers this offseason and their projected contracts. All of these pitchers should be on the White Sox radar this winter.
The projected contracts for these guys will be coming from FanGraphs and MLB Trade Rumors. They’ve been doing them for several years and for the most part have been pretty accurate. Of course, these are just projections, so let’s just have some fun with them.
Gerrit Cole
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 8 years, $256 million
C’mon, Jerry, spend the money. At least give your front office a chance here and don’t just settle for “having a seat at the table.” There’s no reason not to pursue Cole and the least the White Sox can do is offer him a huge deal. If he declines, fine, but don’t walk away offering less money than other teams. Don’t repeat your mistake from last offseason. And that goes the same for the next guy on the list.
Stephen Strasburg
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 6 years, $180 million
Again, surprise him with a mega offer. Now, unlike Cole, who was already wearing a Scott Boras hat right after Game 7 of the World Series with money signs in his eyes, Strasburg is most likely going to stay with the Nationals. Make him think about it, though. Again, these two guys should be pursued by the White Sox, but we all know they’ll most likely be looking at the next tier of free agents.
Madison Bumgarner
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 4 years, $72 million
It seems like Bumgarner has been around forever, so it’s a bit surprising when you see that he’s only 30-years-old. Plenty of experience on a championship team and he can bring the White Sox an edge that they haven’t had in a while. The concern is obviously that he has thrown a lot of innings since making his debut in 2009.
However, Bumgarner has been durable throughout his career, just keep him away from his dirt bike. The only other injury that he’s suffered was a fractured hand in 2018 during spring training, when he was hit with a line drive. That limited him to 21 starts, but was once again 100% healthy in 2019 and pitched more than 200 innings for the seventh year in his career.
Zack Wheeler
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 5 years, $100 million
And hey, the White Sox have already been linked to Wheeler!
Going back to veteran left-handers, the White Sox may be focusing on that segment of free agent pitchers.
Bruce isn’t the only thinking about a possible match in free agency between Dallas Keuchel and the White Sox.
Dallas Keuchel
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 3 years, $39 million
Whether it’s the White Sox or any team, you probably don’t want to go more than three years for Keuchel. The lefty can still be solid, but you should be expecting him to decline as he approaches his mid-30s.
Cole Hamels
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 2 years, $30 million
Cole Hamels was having a good season with the Cubs in 2019 and then he went down with an oblique injury. He had one of those in 2017 that derailed his season and guess what happened in 2019?! The Cubs probably didn’t help things out, as they might have rushed Hamels back and the lefty was never the same. Yet, he showed that when he was healthy he was still capable of pitching like an elite starter.
Hyun-Jin Ryu
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 3 years, $54 million
I mean, Hyun-Jin Ryu could be a home run signing for any team. You don’t have to commit to a huge deal and you get a lefty who has a 2.98 ERA in 740.1 MLB innings. Injury concerns might make the White Sox hesitate, but again it’s not like their rotation would be dismantled because if they go after a guy like Ryu, then they might actually sign two free agent pitchers this offseason.
And here a few more mid-tier free agents the White Sox might look at.
Kyle Gibson
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 2 years, $18 million
Looks like Kyle Gibson should hire Kiley McDaniel as his agent to really drive up his price.
Jake Odorizzi
FanGraphs
MLB Trade Rumors Prediction: 3 years, $51 million
Admit it, this would be the most White Sox free agent signing ever. An OK signing, but nothing to really excite the fan base.
You can check out all the projections below.