The Chicago White Sox have free agents this offseason as does every team in baseball and they will need to determine whether they would like to retain each of them this offseason.
Jose Abreu
Most likely keep. The first baseman is coming off one of the best seasons of his career this past season as he led the American League with 123 RBI. With him being the only consistent force throughout the entirety of this rebuild, he provides some familiarity and consistency for the young guys, which the organization should take into consideration even if there are players such as Nicholas Castellanos and J.D. Martinez that provide similar value.
Ivan Nova
Welington Castillo
Let walk. Castillo has an $8 million club option for the 2020 season that should without a doubt be declined. While a .684 OPS is not too bad for a catcher, the team should look to find a better defensive catcher to be the backup behind James McCann for the upcoming season. If the team could bring Castillo back on a minor-league deal that would be okay, but bringing him back otherwise probably isn’t in the cards.
Jon Jay
Let walk. The team partially brought on the 35-year-old outfielder knowing he was close with Manny Machado when they were still hoping to bring aboard the young superstar. In the end, though, Machado chose the San Diego Padres to sign with and the White Sox were stuck with an outfielder who compiled a .626 OPS in 2019. This is an easy pass for next season.
Hector Santiago
Let walk. Santiago returned back to the organization he called home from 2007-2013 this past year, but being used as a reliever and a starter, struggled to the tune of a 6.66 ERA while averaging 6.0 BB/9. While his 11.9 K/9 rate was encouraging, he will continue to struggle as long as his control wavers which makes him no more than a minor-league signing for any team.
Ross Detwiler
Let walk. His 6.59 ERA makes him an easy pass for this team as they look to contend in 2020. If the team needs 12 starts from him next season as they did in 2019, they will have significant problems. There are many better options to serve as insurance for the starting rotation and arms like him and Santiago are not the types of pitchers they should be pursuing.
The Chicago White Sox have a chance to make a huge leap in 2020 and they need to take inventory of what they have and who they should look to retain as they embark on a critical offseason.