Three best players on Chicago White Sox right now
The Chicago White Sox have a bunch of talented players, but three of them stand out among the rest on the 2020 roster.
The Chicago White Sox have a much-improved team this year after having a very successful offseason that makes the roster look completely revamped.
Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to see that product on the field yet, but when we do, it is certainly going to start a special time in the South Side.
Hopefully, this season will start sooner rather than later, but using a division structure like the one recently proposed by MLB would be dreadful for the Chicago White Sox as the division would be out of reach due to the Los Angeles Dodgers presence in that scenario.
If the Chicago White Sox don’t have to face them regularly, though, the organization could find themselves competing for a division crown when baseball resumes.
In order to have this success, the team will need many of their players to make significant contributions.
Three of those players would need to replicate their 2019 seasons and possibly even do better for this team to make the playoffs, though.
Without further to do, here are the Chicago White Sox’s three best players that they will lean on when baseball resumes.
. 3B. Chicago White Sox. Yoan Moncada. 1. player. 128
Yoan Moncada was possibly the most obvious name to make this list after a phenomenal breakout season in 2019.
Moncada, 24, finally had a season that lived up to the expectations he had when he was the centerpiece of the deal that saw Chris Sale head to the Boston Red Sox, a deal that will forever be defined by a surgery.
In 2019, the switch-hitter had a .315/.367/.548 slash line with 25 home runs, 79 RBI, and a 141 wRC+ (FanGraphs).
That gave him a superb 5.7 fWAR on the season, making him one of the best third basemen in all of baseball last season.
The Chicago White Sox rewarded him for that and gave themselves a gift over the long haul, as they signed him to a five-year, $70 million extension.
His ability to be as productive as he was in 2019 going forward has to be a given for this team to have anything close to the success they want going forward.
Moncada has become “the guy” in the South Side and because of that, he needs to lead this team into the future.
Having players come up from the minors and have success like Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal is crucial for this team going forward as well, but their new face of the franchise needs to play up to his potential and possibly even improve going forward.
player. 128. . SP. Chicago White Sox. Lucas Giolito. 2
The success of Lucas Giolito going forward is more important for the Chicago White Sox than it might necessarily be for other teams.
Giolito, 25, broke out last season also, making people understand why he was the prize of the deal that sent Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals.
The right-hander registered a 3.41 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.064 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 in a season that saw him finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting and make the AL All-Star team.
His ability to replicate that success going forward is possibly just as crucial as that of Moncada due to the fact that he’s truly the best pitcher on the team and it’s not really close.
Dallas Keuchel definitely has the best track record of any of the arms in their current rotation, but the team can’t possibly expect the southpaw to pitch like his former self going forward.
While Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, and/or Reynaldo Lopez could all eventually reach Giolito’s level, none of them are there yet.
Giolito, Keuchel, and Gio Gonzalez are, truthfully, the only pieces of the rotation with the type of track record required to be completely confident in them right now.
Of those three, Giolito is the only one that can be reasonably asked to be the team’s ace as he simply is the team’s best pitcher now.
Some will argue that Keuchel still deserves to be in that discussion, and given his track record that is fair.
However, over the long haul, the Chicago White Sox need Giolito to be their ace, unless if the team adds a starter that is even better than him at some point.
3. player. 128. . C. Chicago White Sox. Yasmani Grandal
The Chicago White Sox’s best addition of the offseason, Yasmani Grandal, also deserves to be on this list without question.
Not only is Grandal one of the best players on this team, but he’s arguably the best catcher in baseball.
His 2019 season saw him hit .246/.380/.468 with 28 home runs, 77 RBI, and a 121 wRC+ (FanGraphs).
That gave him the second-best fWAR (5.2) among catchers, trailing only J.T. Realmuto who had a 5.7 fWAR last season.
The 31-year-old simply deserves every penny of the four-year, $73 million contract he signed with the Chicago White Sox this past offseason.
Sure, his age might be a little concerning for a backstop, but what he brings to the organization is so valuable.
Having an established presence behind the dish that defends as well as Grandal does can, and will, do wonders for the Chicago White Sox pitching staff.
That especially is important when comparing him to James McCann, who struggled mightily defensively in 2019.
The catcher position has often been looked at as a place for teams to try to get good defense while sacrificing offense.
Outside of Realmuto, Grandal is the only backstop that delivers elite offense and defense behind the plate.
Grandal is someone that other teams can only dream of having right now and he’s going to be vital to this organization’s success over the long haul.
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All three of these players have the ability to carry the Chicago White Sox into the next phase of their rebuild which will, hopefully, eventually lead to a championship.