The Chicago White Sox have been very active all offseason long. They added a new manager, some new players, and have been involved in all sorts of rumors. One of those rumors is Nelson Cruz. There have been people talking about him coming to the White Sox to be their new designated hitter. There have now also been people shutting that rumor down. There are probably a lot of Sox fans out there now who are just wondering what is happening.
What is going on with Nelson Cruz and the rumors connecting him to the Chicago White Sox?
Most of these rumors about Cruz coming to Chicago have come from Hector Gomez. We don’t know if he is going to end up being right or wrong but clearly, he is being fed some information that he is comfortable with putting out there. If he is right, the White Sox will be getting a fantastic designated hitter to come to town. They would also be taking an MVP level hitter away from their arch-rival Minnesota Twins.
Gomez’s most recent tweet connecting the White Sox to Cruz came in response to a bit of information given by Jon Heyman of the MLB Network where he talks about how good of a fit it could be. Heyman believes that the Twins are the White Sox’s biggest competition for Cruz’s services. Gomez then used the phrase “finally signs with the White Sox” which is very interesting. In that same tweet, he goes on to name a full White Sox lineup with Cruz included.
Later in the day on Wednesday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today had some things to say. He claims that there is no truth to the rumor saying that Nelson Cruz is coming to Chicago. It is hard to go against what he says right now when it comes to the White Sox because of recent history. He nailed the Tony La Russa hiring weeks before it was actually announced. It seems like, despite being wrong with other teams at times, Nightengale has an ear in the White Sox organization.
If the White Sox landed Cruz, they would have one of the best lineups they have ever had. The good news is that they can probably make that claim already without Cruz. It would make things even better if they landed him but it wouldn’t end their chances of winning the World Series if they didn’t.
If Nelson Cruz finally signs with the White Sox, this would be one of the most powerful lineups in MLB:
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) January 27, 2021
1. Tim Anderson SS
2. Yoan Moncada 3B
3. Jose Abreu 1B
4. Nelson Cruz DH
5. Eloy Jimenez LF
6. Yasmini Grandal C
7. Louis Robert CF
8. Adam Eaton RF
9. Nick Madrigal 2B https://t.co/iFyziYdcKs
The #WhiteSox have shown no interest, and say they have not even engaged in internal conversations about DH Nelson Cruz.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 28, 2021
Cruz, barring a major surprise, still is expected to return to the #Twins.
The #WhiteSox have little wiggle room in their budget after spending $54 million on closer Liam Hendriks. https://t.co/0lhbr1T3A7
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 28, 2021
The thing that stings the most about Bob’s report is that he would be surprised if he didn’t go back to the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are the one team clearly in the White Sox way of winning the AL Central. If Cruz isn’t on that team, it is a big hit on them but if he is there they have an MVP level bat in the middle of their lineup. The White Sox might finally have the better roster from top to bottom but their losing Cruz would almost confirm it.
If we are guessing which of these guys is going to end up being right, you would have to go with Nightengale. We want Gomez to be right because that would mean the White Sox are getting an elite player but Nightengale’s recent scoop on La Russa makes it hard to go against him right now. If they don’t land Cruz, Andrew Vaughn will take that spot eventually and be great at it. The most important thing out of all of this is the White Sox playing well in 2021 and making a deep run.