Chicago White Sox: Predicting the final 26 man roster for 2020

Catchers

The Chicago White Sox are pretty loaded at the catcher position. That fact is because they made the big splash in early November when they signed Yasmani Grandal to a four-year deal. He is one of the very best catchers in the world at hitting and defense. He is the full package. He was brought in to assume the role as the team’s full-time catcher. He is also a big bat that will be inserted right into the middle of the lineup with some other big bats that were already there.

Another thing Grandal brings is experience. He was a pretty big part of some good teams.  The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers both had a fair amount of success with Grandal in the mix. He was never the team’s best player but he was always near the top. That is pretty much the exact same role he will assume with the White Sox.

The White Sox had an All-Star catcher already there when they brought in Grandal. His name is James McCann.  McCann was very impressive during the 2019 season for the White Sox. He was one of the team’s leaders both on and off the field. It had to come to him as a bit of a shock when they signed Grandal to that big deal, but he has been professional about it. He knows that together, they have a chance to form one of the league’s best tandems.

He might also see some time at other positions, but his primary focus is going to be the backup catcher. He should still see a fair amount of playing time because he is a very good player. There is room for him to make an impact on this team. He makes the roster with no question and should play a big role in 2020.

First Base

The Chicago White Sox have seen Jose Abreu be the face of their franchise for a few years now. He was the only above-average player that wasn’t traded away during the course of their rebuild. They probably could have gotten a pretty big haul for him on the trade market but they opted to keep him in favor of adding even more prospects. That appears to have been a smart move because now they have him to lead this very young clubhouse.

He is also a very impressive player in addition to what he brings to the clubhouse. He finally had a large amount of talent around him in the lineup during the 2019 season and he showed what he can do with it by leading the American League in RBIs. He also hit 33 home runs and had a 2.4 WAR. This is an impact player that is now showing what he can do as a part of a good team. He has hit the 100 RBI mark in every season but one.

Abreu is going to be relied on to put up big numbers again in 2020. He doesn’t necessarily have to be the team’s best player anymore but he does have to be one of the best players. That takes a lot of pressure off him which should see him excel. This is going to be a big year for Abreu who has been the one player to see this rebuild through from the beginning.

Second Base

The Chicago White Sox have some big long term plans for second base, but for now, it is going to be Leury Garcia. He hasn’t played all that much of the position in his MLB career but he has proven that he can play almost every position on the diamond. Even on days that he doesn’t start at second, he can play another position while someone else takes a day off. This guy makes the roster because of the multi-talents he brings to the table.

Garcia was a pretty good player for the White Sox in 2019. That is one of the main reasons that they brought him back this season. He hasn’t been let go or traded to this point so it is fair to assume that they are going to give him another look in 2019. His time at second base for the White Sox might come to an end at some point this season, but he will definitely be on the opening day roster for Chicago.

If they end up with someone else at second base during the season, Garcia’s spot on the roster will still remain. He will help the team in many different ways throughout the season and you need guys like that in the fold in order to be a playoff team.

Shortstop

No player was more exciting to watch for Chicago than Tim Anderson. He was such a good player for them during a season that saw them start to improve as a team. He was so good that he won the Major League batting title for leading the league in average. He also made a name for himself by being one of the most electric players in the league. His “bat flip” against the Kansas City Royals took the league by storm and now he is probably the most popular White Sox player.

Anderson has assumed one of the leadership roles on this team. He has been there for a while and after struggling in 2018, he burst onto the scene in 2019. Anderson having another good year is very important to the chances of the White Sox having a good year. He will be a part of an even bigger lineup. He might even hit lower in the lineup because of how deep it is.

Anderson’s one weakness in 2019 was his defensive abilities. He had a lot of errors but the good news is he recognizes that. He works on his craft more than any player in the league which should lead everyone to believe that he will be better in 2020. If his defense improves even slightly, he will get the credit he deserves as one of the best shortstops in the league.

Third Base

Third base is one of the deepest positions in all of baseball. A lot of the league’s best players play the hot corner and the White Sox are no exception. Yoan Moncada is probably the player in the White Sox organization that has the highest ceiling. He was amazing in 2019 after struggling in his first full year of Major League Baseball. He was the number one prospect in all . of baseball when the White Sox acquired him from the Boston Red Sox in the Chris Sale trade.

Moncada is the most important piece to this team’s success. He needed to be a good player for this rebuild to work and luckily enough, he is. He was so good in 2019 that only two other American League players had a better batting average and one of them was Anderson. If he can put up similar numbers again in 2020, the White Sox should win a good amount of ballgames.

Moncada started his MLB career as a second baseman. Then, after Manny Machado chose to go to the San Diego Padres, Moncada made the switch to third base and it was the best decision the team has ever made. Moncada is so good that if the White Sox are in contention this year, he could be in MVP talks.

Right Field

The White Sox made a lot of moves this winter offseason. It was a lot of fun to watch but they really didn’t do anything during the Winter Meetings. Most teams do most of their damage at that time and the White Sox were relatively quiet. They did make one move, however, in the form of a trade. They took a chance on Nomar Mazara from the Texas Rangers. He has only been okay during his time in the MLB but has never really reached his potential.

The White Sox are hoping to be the ones who unlock that potential. He has hit 20 home runs on the dot in the first three years of his career. Then last year, his fourth, he hit 19. So at the very worst, he is adding 20 home runs to the White Sox lineup.  That is a pretty good add for a team that desperately needed to get some more production from the right field position.

Mazara could end up being even better. He has a lot of talent that he has yet to unlock. If the White Sox can get him to improve on his past, they will look like geniuses for trading for him. If he is the worst hitter in the lineup this year, chances are that they are a good team. He definitely cracks the roster and is the Opening Day starting right fielder.

Center Field

Everyone likes the new rookie every year. The thing is, Luis Robert is different. He has the potential to be one of the best centerfielders in the league. He is a five-tool player that can do it all for the White Sox in 2020 and beyond. They are going to have this guy in the fold for the better part of a decade or more. They didn’t play and games with his contract or service time, they just got him signed to what could be a team-friendly deal and moved on.

The deal he signed shows that he is going to be the Opening Day centerfielder. That was a big risk for the White Sox to give that much money to someone who has never played a single game in the big leagues but if he reaches his full potential, it will be a steal of a contract. He has already been very good in Spring Training which is exciting for fans of this team.

Robert is just as good defensively as he is at the plate which makes him scary. There is a good chance that he is in the race for American League Rookie of the Year in 2020. He might struggle early on but once he figures it out, the American League is in trouble. He might bat low in the lineup at first but once he catches on he will be an impact hitter.

Left Field

The fact that Eloy Jimenez hasn’t even scratched the surface of his potential is bad news for the rest of Major League Baseball. He, in a season that he had two decently long stints on the injured list, hit 31 home runs and had 79 RBIs. As a rookie,  he was as impressive as anyone in the league. He came in fourth place for the American League Rookie of the Year which is a bit questionable. It doesn’t matter,  however, because the sky is the limit for this kid.

This is a guy that can make a big impact with his bat. He can hit for power and for average depending on the situation. He struggled to pick up what MLB pitchers were trying to do with him early on but once he figured it out, he was off to the races. It was an awesome rookie year for Jimenez last year which left fans wanting more.

2020 should see him develop into one of the best pure hitters in all of baseball. He will be the left fielder on Opening Day which should excite a lot of White Sox fans.  He will be an impact player from day one forward this season. If Jimenez can take yet another step, this team is going to be very dangerous at the plate.

Designated Hitter

The Chicago White Sox have been pretty lame at the designated hitter position since Jim Thome left. That is supposed to be a free spot in the starting lineup to insert a good hitter to help your team score runs. Instead, the White Sox have been pretty terrible at finding guys to fill that role. They are hoping that Edwin Encarnacion is a short term solution to the problem.

At 37 years old, he isn’t getting better but he certainly shows no sign of getting worse either. He doesn’t have to worry about playing the field so the wear and tear on his body have been good.   He has hit 30 home runs or more in eight straight seasons. If he can come in and drop 30 for the White Sox this year, that is just another boost to this roster.

This guy can hit in a lot of different places within the roster. As long as he is hitting in a spot with the potential for others to be on base, that is a great addition to this lineup. He hits 30 home runs in his sleep so the better team he is on, the better his numbers will be. Expect him to be the designated hitter on Opening Day.

Starting Pitchers

Lucas Giolito was one of the most improved players in all of baseball from 2018 to 2019. He came in sixth place for the American League Cy Young Award because he was one of the best pitchers in the world for most of the season. He is the ace of this staff and is likely going to be the Opening Day starter this year. Expect him to be on the mound often this season. Opening Day, a potential Wild Card Game,  Game one of a playoff series, it doesn’t matter because this is the main guy in the rotation as of right now. The key for Giolito is to repeat what he did last season.

Dallas Keuchel is probably the biggest addition to the Chicago White Sox because of the fact that pitching is so important in the game today. He is probably going to slot in as the number two guy behind Giolito. He brings experience and a Cy Young to the table. Keuchel is the type of guy who is going to be a good impact on this young rotation as they look to take the next step. The most important thing for Keuchel is to set an example by pitching well and being a good leader.

Gio Gonzalez is another key piece that the White Sox brought in this season. He is, in a perfect world, a number four or five starter but in the early going he is probably going to be their third guy. The two that will come after him are on the young side so having the veteran ahead of him is probably the smart play. He was brought in to come in and eat some innings while helping the young guys reach their potential.

Dylan Cease has all of the potentials in the world. He was a high-level prospect when the White Sox acquired him and he remained at that level all the way through his MLB debut. He did make his big league debut in 2019 and had ups and downs. The White Sox are hoping that he can find his way this season and turn into that stud he projects to be. He will be on the Opening Day roster and should start the fourth game of the season for Chicago.

Reynaldo Lopez was probably their best starting pitcher during the very hard 2018 season. Then, he took a step back in 2019. This year is very important to him. The White Sox are going to keep bringing guys in so if Lopez wants to remain as a starter for this team, he needs to have a good year this year. The scouting report on him is that he is good early in the game and then starts to struggle once he reaches the order for the second time. That has the makings of a good reliever so if he wants to remain a starter he needs to clean that up this year. With that said, he will be on the Opening Day roster.

Relievers

Alex Colome is probably the most important pitcher in the White Sox bullpen. He is going to be the closer of this team. They opted not to trade him at the 2019 trade deadline which looks like a very smart decision. It is going to be a good year for the offense so they need that stud closer to come in and close out games that have a lead. The ninth inning is the hardest to hold a lead so to have a guy who has proven he can get some saves is extremely important.

Over the past few weeks, the White Sox negotiated a very team-friendly deal with Aaron Bummer. He is a great relief pitcher that showed what he can do in 2019. He already looks to be in the midseason form right now during Spring Training so having him in the fold is very good for this team. If he can be that guy again this season, he will be the perfect setup man in the 7th/8th inning.

Steve Cishek has been a pretty good reliever during his MLB career. His two most recent seasons have been spent on the other side of town with the Chicago Cubs. He pitched well for them in large part so adding him to this White Sox bullpen is going to be a good move. He doesn’t have to be the closer or the setup man which takes the pressure off him as well.

Kelvin Herrera is going to be on the Opening Day roster and be given plenty of opportunities to pitch this season. He has had up and down stretches so far in his career but the White Sox sees something in him. With other good players around him, he might be able to be a solid arm on this team.

Jace Fry is going to be a part of this bullpen. He will be on the Opening Day roster as he is a good pitcher in this organization. The White Sox are hoping that he can be a steady part of the team. They are going to be a team that scores a lot of runs so closing out games that they have a lead is very important. Playoff teams in today’s MLB must have a good bullpen so guys like Fry are extremely important.

Evan Marshall was fantastic for the White Sox in 2019. It wasn’t easy to pitch for that team and he did it admirably. He had a 2.49 ERA and a 1.303 WHIP. If he can repeat some of that in 2020 then this bullpen should be pretty good.  It hinges on guys like Marshall along with Cishek,  Bummer, and Colome being as good as they were in 2019. Marshall is a good candidate, along with Bummer, to play the role of setup man at different points in the season.

The White Sox had high hopes when they drafted Carson Fulmer with the eighth pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. He was a stud for Vanderbilt University before coming to the White Sox. He never lived up to his potential as a starter. In fact, he wasn’t very good at all. He does, however, have a lot of talent. He might never be a starter for the White Sox again but he should be on the opening day roster with a chance to be a middle relief pitcher.

Bench

Adam Engel could be a really good player for the White Sox in 2020. He likely isn’t going to start in centerfield because Luis Robert is there. Robert is better at a lot of things than Engel but we don’t know for sure how he will be in the field. That is why Engel will be on the opening day roster. He is having a very good spring at the plate and in the outfield. He will be the perfect guy to bring in as a defensive replacement at different points in the season.

Zack Collins is in an interesting spot. He has a lot of talent as he showed in the Minors. Last season, he came up to the MLB during the season and was underwhelming. With that said, he still showed flashes of that made him one of the White Sox top prospects. He might not get much time behind the plate because of the Grandal/McCann duo but he has a role on this team. He might be able to be a backup first baseman or designated hitter on this team. He is a good option to make the Opening Day roster as a bench player.

Danny Mendick is going to be on the opening day roster as a middle infield backup. He can be a guy who comes in on off days for Anderson or Garcia. He had a pretty good year in a short sample size last season. He hit .308 which is a very good average, but it was only in 39 at-bats. He also hit two home runs and had 4 RBIs and 6 runs scored. He is a good option to be a depth player behind some of the stars.

The last roster spot will go Nicky Delmonico. He has had a pretty good Spring Training so far and should be afforded a chance to make an impact for this team someday. If he can continue to have a strong showing the rest of the spring, he will be a good guy to try and carry that momentum into the regular season. He can hit and he can play in the field in a depth role. He isn’t going to move any needles but he can be a good guy to have as an extra.