White Sox: Lack of Depth Needs to be Addressed in Offseason

White Sox had a serious lack of depth all season. This team needs to add depth for next season if they want to contend.

The Chicago White Sox don’t have a deep team by any means. This was one reason why they struggled so much. If this team wants to compete with teams in their division, they need to add some depth to its roster.

Austin Jackson was a key pickup during the offseason. Finally, they had a guy who could play center field, allowing Adam Eaton to move to right field. When Jackson got hurt, there was no one to step in. J.B. Shuck, among others filled in, but the White Sox could never find someone to replace him. Coincidentally, this team started losing ball games.

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Jake Petricka and Zach Putnam were two key cogs in the Sox bullpen. Both spent a lot of the season on the disabled list and this team struggled for it. And this team had no one to replace these guys. Tim Anderson was able to replace Jimmy Rollins but other than that, there wasn’t much depth on this team at all.

The bullpen lost two of its key guys and fell apart. The starting center fielder went down with an injury and there was no one to step up. Shuck was not a great replacement but it was all they had. Ken Williams and Rick Hahn cannot allow that to happen next season. If they’re smart, they will use some resources to make sure they add depth to the organization.

It pains Sox fans to look at the Cubs but in this case we will. In the first game of the season, Kyle Schwarber went down with an injury. It seemed like a huge blow to the team, but they went on with business as usual and never looked back. Now, Schwarber is back playing in the World Series and the Cubs went on to have one of the best seasons in its history. Schwarber was such a huge part of this team’s future, but his injury didn’t effect them. That’s because the Cubs front office was smart enough to ensure they had guys that could step in.

The best thing the Sox front office can do is prepare this team to be able to go without a key player. That could be the difference between making the playoffs or falling flat. This team definitely fell flat and it was because the roster was suspect. Not only were there holes, but there was no depth.

Next: White Sox Season Review: Grading the Infielders

Organizations that can put a team on the field with some depth are much more successful than ones that do not. And the Cubs are a great example of this. Now, let’s hope the front office gets the message and will take the necessary steps to make sure an injury to a key player doesn’t derail another promising Sox season.