Two positions the Chicago White Sox must address before opening day is catcher and center field.
The dust has settled from Winter Meetings, but the thrill of new beginnings is fresh on the south side of Chicago. The Chicago White Sox are knee-deep in a rebuilding effort that sent ace, Chris Sale and outfielder, Adam Eaton to pennant contenders while firing the first salvo of a full-blown fire sale. The only question remaining for the rest of the offseason is not who, but when.
Before Winter Meetings the league was in a holding pattern to see where various free agents would land and how that would trickle down to trade deals — not to mention the new CBA was tentatively agreed upon in the eleventh-hour. But the White Sox got the ball rolling when they traded Sale to the Boston Red Sox for Yoan Moncada and two other prospects. The league followed the South Siders’ momentum as one free agent after another began to sign while teams clamored for players.
Although the White Sox have clearly won two significant trade deals this offseason, they still have valuable players that other teams want. However, after claiming five right-handed pitchers and two position players not much has been said about what the White Sox need next.
Pitching Staff
Pitching seems to be a focal point, but it is foolish to keep loading up on arms – especially right-handers – after the batch they just brought in. The rotation features Jose Quintana, Carlos Rodon, James Sheilds, Miguel Gonzalez and Carson Fulmer penciled in as the fifth starter. Fulmer took his lumps in 2016 at the big-league level and could probably use some more time at Triple-A to continue developing before he joins the everyday rotation. The addition of Lucas Giolito from the Washington Nationals adds another strong arm to the rotation but could use a brief stint in the minors as well, to avoid starting the clock on big-league service.
If the White Sox started the season tomorrow the rotation would showcase a patchwork of pitchers with no discernable philosophy to winning. But that’s ok – for now.
Quintana would lead the staff followed by Rodon and Sheilds. With Quintana under club control through 2020 and still fairly young, he could provide veteran leadership at a fair price while becoming the face of the franchise.
Rodon would be the only other lefty, and with the pressure of winning off his shoulders, he could focus on developing instead of producing. Shields, on the other hand, is expendable at any price. If the once-dominant right-hander produces, the White Sox can move him by the trade deadline, and if not they can designate him for assignment. Either way, Shields will be booted from the south side soon enough.
Gonzalez is a placeholder until Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez or Zack Burdi step into the rotation, but the veteran right-hander could find second-life in Shields’ spot if he produces.
Fulmer is the tentative fifth starter and White Sox brass want him to succeed in this role. The first-round pick out of Vanderbilt has an erratic delivery and there’s concern that his command could wane in later innings. In his debut, Fulmer was used in relief with mixed results while the front-office maintained their support of the hurler as a starter.
The South Siders have netted a strong supply of right-handed pitching thus far and if they wanted to grab anymore pitching prospects they must target lefties. Yet, considering the strength of pitching prospects injected into the minor-league pipeline diving into the discussion for everyday players is a more prudent path.
Position Players
Position players are a concern. It’s been said that strong teams are strong up the middle and the White Sox are missing two-thirds of that equation.
Tim Anderson played well in his introduction to Chicago while his double-play partner, Brett Lawrie had a tough season. Center field and catcher remain question marks for 2017 and with Eaton’s departure, the gaps in the outfield are much larger.
The temporary solution might be Rymer Liriano who was recently claimed off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers leaving Avisail Garcia in right field. Jacob May and Adam Engel were added to the 40-man roster a few weeks ago to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, but making the active roster seems a long shot for both. The most likely scenario is a platoon effort from anyone that is swinging a hot bat.
At catcher, there’s a menu of poor options. Dioner Navarro and Alex Avila are gone leaving Omar Narvaez and Kevin Smith behind the dish. It’s been documented how poor the White Sox catchers were at framing and they were even worse at swinging a bat. Management is on record supporting Zack Collins as the future everyday catcher, but the slugger is still refining his skills around the dish and still needs time to develop – even if it’s only one more year in the minors.
In the meantime, it seems appropriate for the White Sox to go fishing for a veteran catcher to handle the pitching staff while Collins cuts his teeth in the minors.
The White Sox hold the deck and can deal when they are ready – whether it’s now or in July.
Matt Enuco is a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB covering the Chicago White Sox. Follow Matt on Twitter.
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