Three Chicago White Sox free agents to bring back in 2021
The Chicago White Sox could bring back some of their own free agents in 2021.
The Chicago White Sox were a great team in 2020. They have been working on a rebuild for a while now and it is all finally starting to come together. There are veterans and young players that are together now that are playing great baseball. This is an organization that believes they are close to winning the World Series. They made it to the playoffs in 2020 so that was a great first step for them in their quest to win it all.
Of course, the last thing that they want to do is take any steps back. They have a great opportunity to take advantage of a wide-open window. Like we see in sports on a regular basis, windows can slam shut quickly and the White Sox want to avoid that. The White Sox need to keep developing their young players and start supplementing them with even more good players around them.
Well, the first key to doing that might be retaining some of the guys on their own roster that are now free agents. There are some pretty good players that played for them in 2020 that could be on the move if the White Sox don’t act on it quickly.
In addition to some of their own free agents, there are good players out there that weren’t a part of the White Sox organization before. Those guys are always harder to recruit because they don’t have any experience playing for them. The guys who are White Sox free agents probably know how good this team is going to be in the not so distant future. These are the three White Sox free agents to consider bringing back:
C. Chicago White Sox. James McCann. 33. player. 128.
The Chicago White Sox were so lucky to have James McCann for two years. He was an all-star catcher in year one and followed it up with an even better second year. He is in line to get himself a loaded contract for a lot of years from whoever sees him as their long term catcher. The White Sox would be wise to bring him back because of all the things he brings that helps the team win.
The White Sox probably are going to deal with losing McCann because they chose to sign Yasmani Grandal to a four-year deal. In any given year, Grandal can be the best catcher in all of Major League Baseball. McCann is amazing but he has never been the number one best catcher in the world but that doesn’t mean he isn’t amazing.
Like Grandal, McCann is great at both sides of the ball. He can hit and play elite defensively. That was proven with his offensive numbers this year and the fact that he was nominated for the Gold Glove. This is the type of player that is going to gain a lot of interest across Major League Baseball. He is a great hitter at a premium position and plays that position very well.
48. player. 128. . RP. Chicago White Sox. Alex Colome
Every contending team needs a closer. You need that guy to come in and lock down a lead in the 9th inning and secure a win. Alex Colome has been that guy for his whole career so far, including playing on some mediocre/below average White Sox teams. He has been great for them and they would like to have him back. He is a free agent now after a strong 2020 campaign. Surely, there will be a lot of teams interested in adding him for a run of their own.
Colome is going to get a pretty nice contract. Out of all the free agents the White Sox have right now, he might be the most important to bring back. The White Sox are about to take a really big step towards being a championship contender in 2021. Having a known closer there to carry the load of saving baseball games is extremely important and Colome can do that.
If the White Sox lost Colome, they wouldn’t be happy but there are other options to be the full-time closer. They could make a trade or add one in free agency which would be nice but they also have Aaron Bummer. It is a deeper bullpen if Aaron Bummer is a setup man but he might be able to close games for them as well if needed. We want them to be as deep of a team as possible and having Colome back would ensure that.
player. 128. . RF. Chicago White Sox. Nomar Mazara. 30
The Chicago White Sox made some contractual decisions on a few different players so far this offseason. They didn’t pick up Edwin Encarnacion’s second-year option and they didn’t tender Nomar Mazara or Carlos Rodon. That doesn’t, however, mean that there is no chance that any of them don’t come back. All of them are more than likely gone but the White Sox might miss on a couple of the replacements they had in mind, causing them to circle back to these guys.
If you had to choose one of the three to bring back, it would have to be Nomar Mazara. Encarnacion is an older player that doesn’t bring anything defensively and Carlos Rodon is always hurt. Mazara didn’t have a good 2020 season at all but that could have a bit to do with the circumstances. He missed some time at the beginning of the COVID-19 shortened season and wasn’t great when he came back.
It does make you wonder what Mazara might do if given the opportunity in a second season that sees them play 162 games. He has been good for 20 home runs in every year of his career and is still in his mid-20s. They are going to be looking for an upgrade over Mazara in right-field but it might be smart to consider him for a bench spot with a chance to try and get a little bit more out of him. Either way, we just have to hope that the White Sox upgrade the right-field position.
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We don’t know if they will even bring any of these guys back but if they think it will make them a better team, they should do it. At the end of the day, the White Sox need to do what makes them a better team going into 2021. Some of their own free agents might be the key to that.