White Sox: 3 players who definitely won’t be back with Chicago in 2021

The Chicago White Sox already declined the option of Edwin Encarnacion for the 2021 season. They aren’t bringing him back on his original deal that he was signed to. They could make him a much lesser offer down the road but it seems unlikely at this point. He wasn’t very good for the team on the field in 2020 but you can claim that he was a good leader for some of the young guys.

The problem for Encarnacion’s tenure with the White Sox is that it came when they were trying to win. There are still a lot of young players with a lot to learn but they need to win baseball games now. As fun and exciting as this winning window seems like it will be for them, it won’t last forever. A few bad moves and the window could pass them by so they need to have some accountability along the way.

Encarnacion was bad in 2020 so they aren’t bringing him back. As nice of a player as he was throughout his career, the Sox don’t have the time to be messing around. They need to supplement their young core with a lot of great players down in the lineup. If someone with league average numbers replaced Encarnacion in 2021, the White Sox offense will be even more lethal than it was in 2020.