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Along with this post, Tim Dierkes is holding a live White Sox-centric chat on Wednesday at 9am central time. Use this link to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.
The White Sox made additions as expected at left field, second base, and in the rotation. GM Rick Hahn brought in a new manager and largely stayed out of the trade market, resulting in a team that needs to see increased production from incumbents.
Major League Signings
Options Exercised
Trades and Claims
Notable Minor League Signings
- Victor Reyes, Jake Marisnick, Bryan Shaw, Hanser Alberto, Billy Hamilton, Mike Morin, Erik Gonzalez, Keynan Middleton, Nate Fisher, Nate Mondou, Chris Shaw, Ricardo Sanchez
Extensions
Notable Losses
The White Sox kicked off their offseason with the hire of Pedro Grifol as manager. The 52-year-old former Royals coach will hopefully serve as a breath of fresh air after Tony La Russa’s two-year tenure. Perhaps to compensate for Grifol’s lack of managing experience, Charlie Montoyo will serve as his bench coach. Jose Castro is the new hitting coach, also taking on this role for the first time. He’ll be assisted by another new addition, Chris Johnson.
After making fairly obvious calls to exercise Tim Anderson’s option and decline that of Josh Harrison, the club was given an extra $8MM to play with due to a surprising decision by AJ Pollock. Pollock chose a $5MM buyout over a $13MM player option, despite a disappointing season. He ended up signing with the Mariners for $7MM, sacrificing a million bucks in the process, but finding what he presumably feels is a better situation for playing time. That’s a bit odd, because the only sure thing in Chicago’s outfield at that point was the oft-injured Luis Robert. Pollock explained this month to The Athletic’s Corey Brock, “I just felt for me and for the team, in talking with them, there would be a better fit somewhere else.”
At November’s GM Meetings, Rick Hahn noted he expected to be more active this offseason in trades as opposed to free agency. Not long after that, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine noted that the Sox “[had] their eye on” Oakland catcher Sean Murphy. Murphy, of course, would wind up with the Braves in a December trade that also brought William Contreras to Milwaukee. James McCann was also traded this offseason, while free agency included catchers Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez, Omar Narvaez, Tucker Barnhart, Mike Zunino, Austin Hedges, Curt Casali, and Luke Maile.
Given those catching options and their prices, Hahn chose to stand pat. The Sox will stick with incumbents Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala behind the dish. After a terrible 2022 season marred by October ’21 knee surgery, Grandal has spent this offseason training with Blackhawks strength and conditioning coach Paul Goodman, according to James Fegan of The Athletic.
It was clear the White Sox were going to add a starting pitcher this winter, and in late November they reached an agreement with Mike Clevinger. Clevinger, 32, had a middling post-Tommy John surgery season in ’22 for the Padres, particularly over his last 13 starts including the postseason. Unbeknownst to the White Sox at that time, Clevinger was under investigation by MLB following allegations of domestic violence. Earlier this week, MLB announced that they “will not be imposing discipline on Mr. Clevinger in connection with these allegations.”
Shortly after the Clevinger agreement in November, longtime White Sox star Jose Abreu agreed to a three-year, $58.5MM deal with the Astros. At the age of 36, we thought Abreu would be limited to two-year offers. The Guardians reportedly offered three years as well, though at an unknown average annual value. Abreu later commented through an interpreter that the White Sox made a “really good offer” of unknown value. But unlike the first time Abreu approached free agency, the White Sox did not seem likely to retain him. They’ve lost their best hitter from 2022, but did open up first base for Andrew Vaughn as expected. Vaughn logged 645 innings in the corner outfield spots for the Sox last year and struggled defensively.
With limited payroll space, it seemed in December that the White Sox were at least willing to discuss closer Liam Hendriks in trades. Such concerns took a backseat to the unfortunate news in January that Hendriks would undergo treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As Hahn put it in a statement, “Our thoughts and reactions at this time are for Liam the person, not Liam the baseball player. I know the entire Chicago White Sox organization, our staff, his teammates, and certainly White Sox fans, will rally in support of Liam and Kristi during the coming months.”
In my October offseason outlook for the White Sox, I suggested that Pollock and Adam Engel might continue to serve as the backup plan in center field, given Luis Robert’s injury history. Pollock chose free agency, and the club non-tendered Engel. Instead, the White Sox added Jake Marisnick, Billy Hamilton, and Victor Reyes on minor league deals. Leury Garcia has also played some center field, but in general, I expected the Sox to add a better safety net for Robert.
The White Sox did address their left field situation in a decisive way, signing Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75MM contract that ranks as the largest deal in franchise history. Coming off a season in which he hit five home runs in 521 plate appearances, we were surprised to see Benintendi land a five-year deal. But as MLBTR’s Steve Adams put it, the 28-year-old Benintendi is a high-floor player who has “settled in as a contact-oriented left fielder who draws walks, rarely strikes out, and provides quality defense.” It seems that the Sox at least explored trade options before signing Benintendi, as they were connected to the Arizona outfield surplus before the Diamondbacks traded Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays.
While the White Sox reportedly expressed interest in Royals infielder Nicky Lopez in late January, he has not been traded to date. The free agent market offered second base capable players such as Brandon Drury, Jean Segura, Aledmys Diaz, and Adam Frazier. Plenty of middle infielders were traded, such as Kevin Newman, Kyle Farmer, Kolten Wong, Miguel Rojas, Luis Arraez, and Adalberto Mondesi. The Sox instead opted to bring Elvis Andrus back on an affordable $3MM deal in February.
Andrus, 34, has yet to play second base in his 14-year MLB career, but he’ll do so for the White Sox. He’ll also be available as a capable backup for shortstop Tim Anderson, who has played in about 62% of Chicago’s games since 2021. Though a certain portion of the White Sox fanbase would like to move on from Anderson, the club conveyed to potential suitors that they would not be trading him, reported Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic during the Winter Meetings.
Anderson, 29, is under team control through 2024 via a club option. Speaking to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin in February, it sounds like Anderson would prefer some clarity on his future with the club. He said, “I’m on two option years, and we let it get here and it’s like, dang, I kind of want to know where my feet are going to be at the next whatever years it is and I want to know where I’m going to be at.” He also made quite clear he’d like to stay. Anderson’s heir apparent, former first-round pick Colson Montgomery, could be knocking on the door of the Majors when Anderson enters his contract year.
Turnover has been constant in right field for the White Sox in recent years. Grifol and the White Sox would like to see 24-year-old prospect Oscar Colas win the everyday job, with Gavin Sheets, Leury Garcia, and Marisnick considered other options. Eloy Jimenez is primarily expected to serve as designated hitter, but may play right field occasionally. Colas has only seven games at the Triple-A level, but has a chance to seize the job early this year.
Hahn’s other offseason moves were around the margins, grabbing Nick Avila in the Rule 5 draft and acquiring cheaply-available arms like Franklin German, Gregory Santos, and A.J. Alexy.
While Hahn likely entertained more trades than the ones that reached the rumor mill, ultimately his offseason was a predictable one. The chances of the 2023 White Sox mostly rest on players that were already in-house. Specifically, it will boil down to seven players who disappointed due to some combination of injury and underperformance in 2022. Anderson, Robert, and Jimenez have been unable to stay healthy the past two years. Lucas Giolito, Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, and Lance Lynn combined for 15.9 WAR in 2021 and 4.2 in ’22, a difference of nearly 12 wins.
Though the club can’t count on big offense from Andrus or Colas, the other seven members of the team’s likely starting lineup all project as above average hitters. The team’s rotation is fronted by Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease, while Lynn and Giolito should be solid if not aces. Even without Hendriks, a bullpen fronted by Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer, Joe Kelly, and Reynaldo Lopez could be formidable.
The 2023 White Sox are a team that is surprisingly easy to dream on, but also a team light on depth in certain spots. If Grandal struggles again, Seby Zavala isn’t likely to provide much offense from the catcher spot. There are some backup plans for Anderson and Moncada, but the outfield looks thin if Robert goes on the IL or Colas doesn’t hit the ground running. Similarly, the rotation has question marks in the fourth and fifth spots with Michael Kopech and Clevinger and has little room to sustain injuries.
While the 2022 season left a bad taste in fans’ mouths, FanGraphs suggests the AL Central is mostly a toss-up among the Guardians, Twins, and White Sox. It’ll be interesting to see what this post-hype team can do if key players stay healthy.
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