Three potential platoon partners for Nomar Mazara
1. Hunter Pence
Who better to help along with the transition to a new team and environment than a player Mazara was in the same lineup with in 2019?
Pence, 36, had a resurgence this past season in which he hit .297/.358/.552 with 18 home runs and 59 RBI to give himself a 128 wRC+ and 1.8 fWAR in 83 games.
His 1.015 OPS against lefties would serve very well in a platoon role with his former teammate.
Despite his strong season, Pence would almost certainly be willing to have this type of role with the White Sox while also occasionally serving as the team’s DH if Edwin Encarnacion sits or plays first base.
While Pence’s ability on the field is the biggest reason he makes sense for the White Sox, his character and winning pedigree is another reason he’s a good fit.
For a young White Sox team, he can serve as a veteran presence as someone with postseason experience.
He’s also been known to be a great glue guy in the clubhouse and that would be very useful in terms of developing a strong winning culture in a year where the White Sox will have higher expectations than they have become accustomed to.
The only concern about bringing in Pence on what would likely be a one-year deal is that the Rangers had him play a mere 55 2/3 innings in right field last season due to the fact he had -4 DRS and a -1.7 UZR in that span.
That being said, it’s hard to see him playing that badly in a larger sample size there especially when you consider his 0 DRS and 0.6 UZR in left field last season.
Pence is probably the best option of the three that will be mentioned in this article.
2. Kevin Pillar
The outfielder was once one of the best defensive outfielders in all baseball, patrolling center field at a level that few others could replicate. His bat, though, has never been too impressive with a .701 career OPS.
With diminishing defensive prowess that saw the San Francisco Giants play him in right field this past season, the outfielder appeared to lose his calling card. However, Pillar did manage to record 2 DRS and a 0.8 UZR over 222 innings in right field for the Giants.
He also still played a large majority of his time in center spent between the Giants and Toronto Blue Jays. His -5 DRS and -0.5 UZR over 1,170 innings is a far cry from his best days, but still was only slightly below league average.
Offensively speaking, Pillar had a career-high 21 homers and 83 RBI while slashing .259/.287/.432 to give himself an 83 wRC+ and 1.5 fWAR.
His splits make him a great fit for the White Sox, though, as he had a .823 OPS against southpaws in 2019.
The advantage of adding Pillar over Pence would be his ability to still serve as a solid defender at any outfield spot they put him at.
With the team relying on Luis Robert to play center field from the get-go, having Pillar as insurance in case he does not perform early on is a major plus.
On top of it, the White Sox were one of the worst defensive teams in baseball in 2019, so the closer they can get to league-average defense, the better.
3. Domingo Santana
The right-handed hitter is a very one-dimensional player and arguably a DH at this stage of his career.
In 2019, the 27-year-old hit .253/.329/.441 with 21 homers and 69 RBI to give himself a 107 wRC+ and 0.0 fWAR.
His fWAR was so low due to his abysmal defense in right field for the Seattle Mariners that saw him register -17 DRS and a -16.1 UZR in 865 2/3 innings split between left and right field.
If the White Sox are willing to ignore defense, though, his .820 OPS against left-handers actually would look very nice paired with Mazara in a platoon role.
As a platoon partner, Santana would not even be playing every day, which could possibly mitigate concerns about his defense killing the team regularly.
That being said, his defense is the reason he’s the third option of the three talked about in this article, especially when it’s considered that the White Sox struggled defensively in 2019.
The advantage of adding Santana is that he’s significantly younger than both Pillar (31) and Pence (36).
If he could replicate his 2017 season with Milwaukee Brewers that saw him have a 3.3 fWAR or come close to that level of production, Santana could potentially turn into a building block for the White Sox in the same sense they are hoping Mazara can.
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All three of these options could certainly help the White Sox form a solid platoon situation with Nomar Mazara in 2020.