This offseason will be an intriguing one for the White Sox, as there have already been reports that the White Sox aren’t going to be working “heavy” in free agency. It is likely that the free agent deals they are involved in are buy-low candidates that they could potentially trade at the deadline.
However, last year general manager Chris Getz made an intriguing move when he signed starting pitcher Erick Fedde to a two year, 15 million dollar deal. This brought Fedde back from the Korean Baseball Organization, where he played for a year after leaving Major League Baseball. This turned out to be a great signing, as Fedde pitched very well for the White Sox.
The White Sox will likely be on the lookout for these type of deals again this offseason, as Fedde strongly over performed his price tag. Erick Fedde’s performance could make Chris Getz take another look at some other players who play in the Korean Baseball Organization or the NPB, the Japanese Professional league. This isn’t a market that the White Sox have tapped into in a very long time, yet it has yielded some very good major leaguers.
In MLB Trade Rumors free agent prediction article, the White Sox were linked to two international players, one from NPB, the other from the KBO.
The first player one of the writers linked the White Sox to is Hyeseong Kim, a 25 year old infielder from the KBO. Last year, he hit .326 with 11 homeruns, 75 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases. He also is an above average fielder, something the White Sox have coveted as of late. These are very solid numbers and the defense and speed will likely translate over with no problem.
How well Kim’s bat will translate over remains to be seen, but that should keep his price tag on the lower side, as the article expects him to make around 8 million a year in the deal. This type of money is right in the price range for the White Sox.
The other player the White Sox were linked to is 27 year old starting pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Ogasawara currently plays in the NPB, where he threw 144.1 innings last season. In those innings, Ogasawara struck out just 82 batters, but had a very solid 3.12 ERA.
Ogasawara walked just 22 batters, so he has very good control of the strike zone. He also had a very solid 1.199 WHIP. MLB Trade Rumors predicts his deal will be for two years and 12 million, also in the price range of the White Sox.
While the White Sox recently haven’t signed any players from the KBO or NPB, but perhaps the Erick Fedde signing could signal a change. Both of these players could turn out to be very productive MLB players, which would make them a steal for their price range. This is exactly how the White Sox should operate this offseason, as if they take a chance on these types of players, it could work out extremely well, just like the Erick Fedde signing did.
Seems like poking through garbage for scrap metal to me, given our talent level it seems appropriate. Wish there was an article on the WS farm system with a realistic comparison to other teams and honest timeline to being competitive.