All of the players on this list so far are there for negative reasons. When you aren’t good, you shouldn’t be brought back many more times. Well, that isn’t the case here with James McCann. The reason that he is more than likely gone is because of how good he has been with the White Sox. He came over from the Detroit Tigers ahead of the 2019 season and we knew he was awesome defensively but he has really elevated his offensive game since arriving in Chicago.
McCann played in a 1B role with Yasmani Grandal in 2020. They were both very good but we know who the White Sox would choose if push came to shove. Grandal can be the best catcher in all of baseball in any given year so they are going to stick with him and his three years left on his deal. McCann’s deal is up and he can probably go and get starter money somewhere else.
Nobody would blame him if he wanted to move on and be the team’s number one guy. He is certainly good enough for his team both on and off the field. The White Sox are going to try really hard to sign him, you would think, but it feels like it is going to be really hard.