White Sox: 3 players who may have played their last game

Each winter, Major League general managers across the league have to make difficult decisions on who to keep and who to let walk. Sometimes you have a player that simply did not work out as planned and you have to cut ties. This is just life for the Chicago White Sox and MLB.

Each season there is constant turnover on an MLB roster. A team rarely looks the same from year to year with players leaving in free agency along with coming and going via trades. The Chicago White Sox are in an interesting position because most of their important players are locked up for the foreseeable future.

Tim Anderson, Aaron Bummer, Yasmani Grandal, Liam Hendriks, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and Luis Robert are all signed until 2023 and beyond. However, there is a small group of players who will not be back next season.

Rick Hahn has made it clear that the championship window is open and the White Sox plan on contending for years to come. Part of being successful over a long period is about knowing which players to move on from before you overpay or their production declines.

The Chicago White Sox has some players that might not suit up ever again.

The White Sox has a handful of players whose contracts expire after 2021. This list includes Carlos Rodon, Leury Garcia, Billy Hamilton, Evan Marshall, Ryan Tepera, and Jimmy Cordero. Some of them will not be back next year. Most of these guys will still contribute in some way until the end of the season.

However, there is an even smaller group of players that are in the organization and have likely played their last game in a White Sox uniform. Here are three players that have probably played their last game in a White Sox uniform:

Yermin Mercedes

Yermin Mercedes may not get to play with the Chicago White Sox again this year.

Yermin Mercedes was the feel-good story of the season. He went from minor league nomad to big league star. He opened the season a perfect 8 for 8 at the plate then took home AL Rookie of the Month honors in April. This was thanks in large part to his .415 batting average.

He also had some huge moments with the White Sox. During the home opener, he electrified the crowd by launching a 485-foot bomb which turned out to be the third-longest home run hit in Guaranteed Rate Field history. Later in the season, he hit a walk-off single to complete a wild 9-8 victory over the Tigers.

His decline was rapid. He hit just .155 during his last 30 games before being sent down to Triple-A Charlotte. While in Charlotte, he caused a stir on two separate occasions. First, he made a strange announcement on Instagram saying that quit baseball. In the post, he apologized to his teammates, journalists, and the organization.

After further investigation, it was discovered that he had taken a large chunk of the apology from the lyrics of a song. The announcement completely blindsided the organization and his family. Nobody was able to get in contact with him.

He later returned to the team and went about his business as usual. A few weeks later, he had another interesting Instagram post with the Japanese flag on it leading many to believe he was thinking about playing overseas.

Many people have noted that Mercedes has maturity issues. There were rumors that he was rubbing some people the wrong way in the White Sox locker room. This may be a reason he was not called up during the September roster expansion.

Mercedes cannot play defense which is one of the reasons he was sent down in the first place. With Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn having the DH spot locked down, we may have seen the last of Mercedes in a White Sox uniform, especially considering he is signed through 2021.

Tim Beckham

Tim Beckham may not get the chance to play for the Chicago White Sox at all.

Tim Beckham has only taken at-bats for the White Sox during Spring Training but it is safe to say he will not be putting on a White Sox uniform after this year. Beckham has played spent six seasons in the big leagues. For most of those years, he spent half of the season in the minor leagues.

Beckham has bounced around the league as well, making stops in Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Seattle. Since 2014 he has played for a combined seven different teams if you include his Minor League stops with the GCL Rays, Charlotte, Durham, Charlotte once again, back to Durham, Bowie, and Norfolk.

Beckham was signed as a Minor League free agent on October 29th with the hopes that he could provide the White Sox with some infield depth. In 2019, he hit .237 in 88 games with Seattle. His versatility was intriguing. That season he played 39 games at shortstop, 12 in left field, nine at third base, eight at second base, and four at first.

He did not crack the roster out of spring training. He put together a nice season in Triple-A Charlotte. Beckham hit .279 with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs, and a .875 OPS. Despite the solid production, he was not called up when Nick Madrigal got hurt.

He also wasn’t selected for September call-ups. This is the last year of his Minor League contract so it is a safe bet another team will take a flyer on him. Beckham probably wore a White Sox uniform for the final time in Glendale Arizona.