Oct 26, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher James Shields throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning during game five of the 2014 World Series at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
According to a report by Scott Merkin of MLB.com the Chicago White Sox seem to be content with where they are in regards to the makeup of their team and will not be pursuing free agent starting pitcher James Shields.
With approximately $110 million dollars already on the books for the upcoming year passing on Shields makes sense financially and long-term as he would have commanded a multiple year deal for more money than the White Sox are willing to spend.
Nonetheless, this has been a very successful offseason for the South Side.
They upgraded their rotation, added depth to the back of the bullpen, and found some offensive weaponry in Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera.
It appears as if they are content with the current makeup of their roster. However, they still have issues in the fourth and fifth spots of the rotation.
The incumbent starters are John Danks and Hector Noesi who went a combined 19-22 last year. Danks’ contract makes him almost impossible to move, but Noesi has more flexibility when it comes to a roster spot.
Over the years the White Sox have used a plethora of Triple-A starters in the fifth spot trying to find a gem among the roughage.
They haven’t found much success, but three or four wins could be the difference between a divisional title, wild card berth, or another October working on the golf game.
Can they win the division with this pitching staff? Or are there more moves to make? I guess we’ll find out come Opening Day.