White Sox: Offseason Has Been Almost Too Quiet Thus Far
By Matt Manetti
The White Sox have had a quiet offseason so far. There is still room for improvement heading into 2018.
It’s been a quiet offseason for the Chicago White Sox. All we’ve seen is them ink catcher Welington Castillo to a two-year $15 million contract with a club option for $8 million in year three. We have heard the Sox full engaged in the trade talks for Manny Machado. But it’s still unclear how realistic their chances are in any potential deal. They have the prospects but may not be willing to part ways with them. Perhaps his teammate, Castillo, can convince him to sign here next offseason.
We figured it would be a quiet offseason for the Sox but maybe not this quiet. This team still has some holes to fill heading into 2018. And if they don’t act soon, there may not be much to choose from. That could be part of the plan. If the White Sox are woefully bad again in 2018, they get a better draft pick in 2019. It’s all part of rebuilding. But they could also look to add some veterans to flip at the deadline, just like they did this year.
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I imagine Rick Hahn is somewhere studying up on free agents and pondering his next move. He’s shown to be a very capable general manager, with the smarts to pull off some amazing trades. You can argue he hasn’t lost a trade yet and he’s willing to take chances. But calculated chances. He wouldn’t be engaged in talks with Baltimore if he didn’t think his team had a realistic shot at resigning Machado.
Eventually, he will have to come out of hibernation and sign some players. They still are at least one pitcher short in their starting rotation and unless Michael Kopech or one of the other young arms is going to be there on Opening Day, there are no in-house options. The bullpen is still a work in progress and some free agent relievers are starting to come off the board. Some who could potentially help this team long term. And we still don’t know who the closer will be, although that person may not have many games to save in 2018. So I guess that isn’t such a high priority.
I don’t expect Hahn to come out and start giving offers to big-name free agents like J.D. Martinez and Yu Darvish. But it would be nice to see them engaged with guys who could potentially help fill out this roster. Fans understand this team is expected to be bad again. But you still have to make the necessary signing to have your roster full.
Next: Are White Sox Still Frontrunners to Acquire Manny Machado?
Right now the Sox are short in many areas. And that last thing they want to do is get themselves in a spot where they need to rush prospects to the minors, just to fill a spot because it wasn’t addressed in the offseason.