The Chicago White Sox made some offers to players ahead of the COVID-19 and most of them are signed long term. That was smart for those players.
The Chicago White Sox are in a tough spot because of COVID-19. Of course, every team in baseball is in a tough spot for many reasons. There might even be teams that are simply not able to pay the bills at all if there is no baseball played. As bad as things are, in terms of financial reasons, the White Sox aren’t in nearly as bad of a situation as some teams.
The Chicago Cubs are losing 70 percent of their revenue because of the way they make their money. That is bad for them because they still have some players that need major contract extensions. Guys like Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, and Kyle Schwarber are all going to need an upgrade in a contract but they are in no way going to get what they thought they were going to get.
Most of them, reportedly, were already offered extensions that they turned down. Now, the Cubs might have to move one or more of them because they need to shed payroll. That is something that probably won’t happen to the White Sox.
That is a tough look for them because now the league is struggling. The White Sox got most of their impact players on extensions. Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jimenez, and Luis Robert are all on deals that will keep them in a White Sox uniform for the foreseeable future. That was smart on both the White Sox and the players to get themselves financially stable.
No, nobody knew a pandemic was coming but it has. The White Sox and some of their best players are in a better spot than most teams and players looking for pay raises. If Mookie Betts wanted to get somewhere north of 350 million, there is no way that happens now. Looking back, he might regret not taking whatever contract the Boston Red Sox offered him.
For the White Sox, they might be able to take advantage of some of these guys going for cheaper later as well. Betts and George Springer have been on the radar for Sox fans and now they might be able to get them or someone good for cheaper than they otherwise would have. Nobody is benefitting from this virus in any way, shape, or form but the White Sox might be able to come out of it in better shape than most teams.