The Chicago White Sox will be represented on ESPN in the coming weeks with the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) airing on the network.
The Chicago White Sox will get to be represented by some former players on ESPN in the coming weeks with the network agreeing to a deal to air KBO games in the absence of baseball in the United States as detailed by Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Finding a team to root for in a league that most are unfamiliar with might prove to be very difficult, but there are some teams that have former Chicago White Sox which could make those teams intriguing.
Julio Franco, who famously is the oldest player to ever hit a home run at the age of 48, will be the hitting coach for the Lotte Giants this season as detailed by Chris Chavez of Sports Illustrated.
The right-handed slugger spent one season in the South Side in which he had a slash line of .319/.406/.510 with 20 home runs, 98 RBI, and a 137 OPS+. That allowed the first baseman to win a Silver Slugger Award that season and finish eighth in AL MVP voting.
That would be the only season he’d spend with the Chicago White Sox, but it sure was a good one.
In more recent memory, Tyler Saladino will be playing for the Samsung Lions.
Saladino spent a lot more time with the organization than Franco did, having been selected by the team in the seventh round of the 2010 MLB Draft.
The 30-year-old made his MLB debut in 2015 and spent parts of four seasons with the major league team, hitting .231/.281/.330 with 12 home runs, 68 RBI, and a 68 OPS+ over 246 games.
In 2018, the Chicago White Sox traded the utility infielder to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Lastly, Odrisamer Despaigne will be the Opening Day starter for the KT Wiz, as Yusseff Diaz of Call To The Pen notes.
Despaigne obviously was not a very noteworthy player for the organization, having only made three starts for the team in 2019.
Over those three starts, the 33-year-old compiled a 9.45 ERA, 6.89 FIP, 2.325 WHIP, 4.7 K/9, and 4.7 BB/9 before being DFA’d in June and eventually outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte.
Certainly, nothing will fill the void MLB currently is leaving baseball fans, but KBO is at least providing something for Chicago White Sox fans to stay engaged with.