Chicago White Sox: Nomar Mazara’s grade for 2020 season
The Chicago White Sox didn’t get what they expected from Nomar Mazara in 2020.
The Chicago White Sox went into the 2019-20 offseason with needs just like every team in Major League Baseball. Some of the needs were addressed but not all of them worked out on the field the way that they had hoped. At the 2019 Winter Meetings, the White Sox made a trade with the Texas Rangers to acquire Nomar Mazara. He was coming in to address the need for a right fielder. He was very okay at times but he wasn’t the answer that they needed at that position.
He missed some time at the start of the shortened COVID-19 season and he was never able to get back on track. He was a negative WAR player (-0.3) so you know he wasn’t good enough to be an impactful player with the White Sox. It was a short sample size but the White Sox have a window that is opening and they don’t have time to experiment anymore.
In 42 games this season, he slashed .228/.295/.294 with an OPS of .589. He only managed to have one home run, 15 RBIs, and 13 runs scored over 149 plate appearances. He was worse at the plate than some people realized. His defense in right field wasn’t bad by any means but it wasn’t good enough to warrant keeping him in the lineup with that bad of offensive production.
Final Grade: F
At first, it felt like Nomar Mazara might be in the D range but when you dive deeper into his season it is hard to give him anything other than an F. It was certainly a down year because of the coronavirus but the numbers are the numbers. Before this year, he was a talented player that never reached his potential but was still good for 20 home runs a season. It didn’t work out in 2020 and that is why the grade is what it is.
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2021 outlook:
The White Sox decided to non-tender Mazara’s contract for 2021. He is going to be a free agent who goes to another team. There is a small chance that the White Sox don’t find an immediate upgrade in right-field and try Mazara out again but it doesn’t seem likely. They would be better off using Adam Engel instead and they know that. It didn’t work in Chicago during a pandemic but that doesn’t mean things can’t get better for him with another team. Hopefully, he is able to have some success down the line.