Chicago White Sox: Avoiding arbitration with every eligible player

The Chicago White Sox have avoided arbitration with every player that was eligible for it and are ready to go out there and compete.

The Chicago White Sox announced on Friday that they have signed a bunch of players to contracts that will avoid them from hitting arbitration ahead of the 2020 season. They are all ready to go for the year with everyone on the roster signed. There are no more arbitration-eligible players currently on the roster of the team. That is the best news possible for a team getting ready to try and win some baseball games this year.

Alex Colome received 10.5325 million dollars as the White Sox closer. The other right-handed pitcher that was arbitration-eligible was Evan Marshall who signed a 1.1 million dollar deal. Infielder Leury Garcia signed a deal worth 3.23 million dollars. Outfielder Nomar Mazara received a deal worth 5.56 million. Last but certainly not least, is left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodon who received 4.45 million dollars. These are all important pieces to the White Sox in many different ways. All of these men are capable of coming into 2020 and making an impact at different times.

Carlos Rodon is coming off a Tommy John surgery. He underwent that surgery during the 2019 season after deciding it was the best course of action. He won’t be ready to start the year but he should make his season debut sometime over the summer. There were hopes at one point that he would be a top of the rotation guy so if he ever does pan out along with the other pitchers this team has it could be dangerous.

Out of all of the arbitration-eligible players, Alex Colome received the most money. That is because he is the best player at his position on the list and arguably the most important. He was very good at closing out ballgames for the Sox in 2019 and they now expect more of the same in 2020. Marshall also received a deal so he, Colome, and Aaron Bummer should form a very strong back end of the bullpen for them this year.

Nomar Mazara is one of the newest members of the Sox so showing him that he means something to the team is important. He hasn’t reached his full potential yet in his Major League career so this could be a very big year for him. The White Sox gave him a healthy “prove yourself” deal so it is up to him to take advantage. That also goes for Leury Garcia. He was great for the White Sox in 2019 but his role is going to decrease. If he can keep those numbers up with less time on the field, he will prove to be very valuable to them.

It is good to see the White Sox get all of their deals done and avoid arbitration. Nobody likes going to arbitration because it forces the team against the player. It could possibly cause some friction because, in arbitration, teams are likely arguing why the player doesn’t deserve as much as they want. That is not going to happen this year as everyone who was eligible is locked in. It is time to watch some fun baseball on the south side.