White Sox are among only active teams this offseason

The Chicago White Sox have been one of the busiest teams this offseason with the signing of Yasmani Grandal and re-signing of Jose Abreu. 

While the White Sox have been active, only one other team has been more active than them this offseason in the Atlanta Braves.

Despite having not made too many big moves, they did sign the top reliever available in Will Smith and added catcher Travis d’Arnaud.

They re-signed many players from last season too including Tyler Flowers, Chris Martin, Nick Markakis, and Darren O’Day.

Outside of the Braves, the league is mired in another offseason of apparent inactivity at the moment which is certainly frustrating for fans as well as current free agents.

The White Sox have gotten ahead of the most in this regard which should actually bode very well for them.

Many free agents truthfully just want to be locked into a long-term deal at the end of the day that is deemed as fair value.

This could particularly help them in negotiations for Zack Wheeler. Tim Ryder of MMO reported the White Sox are the highest bidder for the right-hander.

While someone like Wheeler isn’t necessarily worried about getting shut out in free agency, being the team showing the most interest in bringing him on certainly can’t hurt, especially if he hopes to sign early on in free agency.

Obviously, there is a fine line between being aggressive and reckless, but the signings of Grandal and Abreu certainly wouldn’t represent the latter in my opinion.

Grandal is one of the best catchers in the league who will now be making $18.25 million per season over the next four years, which is fair value.

Abreu, meanwhile, has been with the organization his entire career. While $50 million over three years for Abreu might be a little steep, considering his impact on the team, keeping him long-term was worth it.

So, while the White Sox definitely need to be careful this offseason and make sure they are effectively spending, the team has so far done a good job of staying aggressive while the rest of the league has looked on.