Rick Hahn was busy on Saturday afternoon. He gave the White Sox bullpen some added reinforcements while also addressing the hole at second base.
On Saturday afternoon Bob Nightengale reported that the White Sox agreed to a two-year contract with reliever Joe Kelly.
High-powered reliever Joe Kelly has agreed to a 2-year contract with the Chicago #WhiteSox. The deal will be final when he completes a physical.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 13, 2022
Soon after the news broke Ken Rosenthal reported that the White Sox had agreed to a one-year contract with Josh Harrison. The deal has a club option for 2023.
Free-agent infielder Josh Harrison in agreement with White Sox, source tells @TheAthletic. One-year contract with club option for 2023. Expected to play 2B.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 13, 2022
Joe Kelly
The Joe Kelly deal is one White Sox fans should be excited about. The addition of Kelly gives Tony La Russa a formidable back end of the bullpen when paired alongside Liam Hendriks and the newly acquired Kendall Graveman.
The Dodgers were the front runners to resign him but the White Sox swooped in and a deal came together relatively quickly. According to David Vassegh, Tony La Russa was the driving force behind acquiring Kelly.
Kelly is coming off a stellar 2021 campaign. Kelly’s 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings were the third-highest mark of his career. The right-hander posted a 2.86 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP. He also notched a pair of saves.
Kelly also owns the postseason experience that Rick Hahn covets and has a proven track record.
The 10-year veteran has two World Series rings. The first came in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox and the second in 2020 with the Dodgers. He was a key contributor to that Dodgers bullpen posting a 1.80 ERA during the regular season.
Since having surgery Kelly has seen an uptick in velocity. This has helped him use his changeup more effectively. In 2021 he threw his changeup 115 times, the most since he joined the Dodgers in 2019.
Josh Harrison
Meanwhile, Harrison is the front runner to be the White Sox starting second baseman on Opening Day. Harrison is a two-time All-Star who spent the 2021 season with the Washington Nationals before being traded to the Oakland Athletics for the final 48 games of the season.
Harrison is seen as a contact hitter. His career average is .274. Last season while he was in Washington he hit .294 in 90 games. He cooled off a bit when he got to Oakland but still managed to finish the season with a .279/.341/.400 slash line. He also had 43 extra-base hits including eight home runs.
His best season was back in 2014 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He batted a career-best .315 and was named to his first All-Star team. His performance was good enough to finish ninth in the MVP voting. Harrison returned to the All-Star game in 2017 after hitting a career-high 16 home runs. He is not known for his power. However, he is very athletic and can steal bases. In 2016 he swiped 19 bags.
Harrison’s primary position is at second base which was a glaring need for the White Sox. However, like Leury Garcia, Harrison can play multiple positions but has spent the majority of his career in the infield. The bulk of his career has been at second base, where he has logged 545 games. He has also spent 299 games at third base, 138 in the outfield, and 45 at shortstop.
