White Sox Can’t Miss Opportunity to Add Quality Free Agents
White Sox should be aggressive this offseason in pursuing top-tier free agents to add veterans to their young roster in their current rebuild.
This upcoming offseason could be huge for the White Sox. With many premier free agents available to sign, the Sox have the opportunity to add key veterans to supplement their younger roster.
The Sox current rebuild has gone well in terms of player development for many of their young talented players. Despite finishing the last two seasons with 95 losses or more, the Sox can move closer to becoming contenders with a few key additions this offseason.
There are many holes for the Sox to fill this offseason. One of the holes for the Sox to fill is in their starting rotation. Michael Kopech won’t pitch next season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery and James Shields has likely pitched his last game in a Sox uniform.
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The Sox can add one of many free agent starting pitchers this offseason. One of those pitchers will be Patrick Corbin. Corbin has pitched six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and could be a highly-targeted free agent this offseason. This past season, Corbin went 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA for the Diamondbacks. With a spot needing to be filled in the Sox starting rotation, Corbin could give the team a quality veteran pitcher for the next few seasons.
Corbin would be a perfect fit for the Sox pitching rotation going forward. He was selected to the All-Star game twice and has pitched more than 189 innings in three of his six MLB seasons. The Sox would also be adding another left-handed pitcher to their starting rotation to join another lefty in Carlos Rodon.
If the Sox can’t outbid other interested teams for Corbin, they could target another veteran left-handed starting pitcher in Dallas Keuchel. The 2015 American League Cy Young award winner would be another quality pickup for the Sox. Keuchel has a wealth of postseason experience and would make for a solid addition to the Sox starting rotation.
There are many relief pitching options for the Sox to target also this offseason. With a mostly young bullpen entering 2019, the Sox will also need to add quality veteran relievers via free agency. As mentioned in a previous article the Sox bullpen will be key to a turnaround season in 2019. If they are going to surprise many people next year, they will have to take advantage of signing solid relief pitchers this offseason.
Many Sox fans might agree that the team has to take advantage of signing quality free agents this offseason and those same people are likely focused on the team targeting Manny Machado. While Machado is having a solid postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he will be pursued heavily by other teams this offseason.
The Sox don’t have to sign Machado in order for the team to have a shot at contending in 2019 and beyond. It would be nice if the Sox outbid other teams for Machado, but there are other free agent infielders that could help the team. Josh Donaldson and Mike Moustakas will also be free agents this offseason and the Sox would be wise to target them along with Machado.
With the upcoming offseason being heavily anticipated by many fans across baseball, the Sox have a true chance at adding valuable pieces to their young team. Sox general manager Rick Hahn can’t allow this opportunity to pass as the team looks to become annual contenders in the next few years.
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The Sox can’t be idle this offseason as other teams will add many of these aforementioned free agents. If the Sox want to regain the trust of their long-suffering fans and respect, they can’t whiff on adding veterans to supplement their young roster. This offseason could prove if Hahn is the right general manager to lead the Sox back to contention.