The busiest week of the MLB offseason has come and gone. While we saw the biggest free agents agree to new deals (Strausburg, Cole, Rendon), there were only a few boring moves made the rest of the week. This didn’t sit well with White Sox fans at all, understandably so. They want to see a winner. They want to see the money spent. While Yasmani Grandal was a great move, it cannot be the only significant one.
Even though the Winter Meetings are over, there is still time between now and Opening Day to improve the roster. Here’s what they still have to do (and should).
- Acquire 2 Starting Pitchers
Missing out on Zack Wheeler even with the highest offer, albeit being a measly 2M, really sucks. Especially when you factor in how they never seriously went after Cole or Strausburg. They now NEED to pick up one of Bumgarner, Keuchel, or Ryu. If they don’t, they will never hear the end of it from the fanbase. In addition to that, they should grab a swing-man type starter for added depth. The team cannot depend on Michael Kopech Dylan Cease or even Reynaldo Lopez to throw 200+ innings. Basically, if the White Sox have Dylan Covey start even a single game next year, they should be ashamed of themselves.
2. Acquire Another Impact Bat
What really set the White Sox fanbase off today was the fact that they didn’t even offer Anthony Rendon a formal contract. He actually ended up signing for less years and money than what they offered Manny Machado last year. But whatever, that’s done with. They still need to sign a second impact bat to go with Grandal. They have been linked to Endwin Encarnacion, Nicholas Castellanos, and Marcel Ozuna. Any of these additions would vastly improve the team.
3. Add A Reliever
You can never have too much bullpen help. The White Sox actually had a pretty solid bullpen last year with Alex Colome, Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall, and others. They still could upgrade it though. Dellin Betances is a name worth keeping an eye on here. He would be a low risk, high reward player. When he’s healthy, he can be in the discussion as one of the best relievers in baseball.
While signing players and spending money is obviously easier, trades are another way the team could bring in talent. We already saw them trade for Nomar Mazara. While he has potential, he isn’t someone that myself or anyone else wants to see counted on as our every day right fielder.
The team has also been heavily linked to David Price. The Sox still need pitching, specifically a lefty. They also have the ability to take on contracts. Andrew Benintendi has been the name thrown in with David Price. It would allow him to be the every day right fielder and move Mazara to a bench role.
Right now, the White Sox can still be a good team in 2020 if they make the right moves. No remaining free agent should break the bank anymore. Here’s a pretty good scenario that I thought of just now:
Robert CF, Benintendi RF, Moncada 3B, Grandal C, Abreu 1B, Jimenez LF, Anderson SS, Encarnacion DH, Madrigal 2B.
Rotation: Giolito, Keuchel, Cease, Price, Kopech/Lopez
Bullpen: Colome, Bummer, Marshall, Betances, Fry, Osich, Fulmer
Bench: Collins, McCann, Garcia, Mazara
Solid lineup, good pitching depth with a few high ceiling guys, great bullpen, versatile bench. It’s realistic, it’s within Jerry’s budget, it’s a good team.
Now they just have to shut up and go do it.
