Chicago White Sox: 3 players they must ditch before next season
The Chicago White Sox has a very bright future. There are a lot of elite players at every position. Of all of these elite players, most of them are very young and should be with the team for the better part of a decade. 2021 might seem stressful but it is literally just the beginning. There are so many great times ahead with this core.
Rick Hahn has done a great job of building this team. He traded Chris Sale in 2016 to start a rebuild and it has come together as good as any rebuild they have ever had. It literally looks like the greatest era of Chicago White Sox baseball ever is on the horizon.
With all of that in mind, there is a long way to go. They have a lot of depth but they are still working towards getting that depth to its max potential. Here in 2021, there are still a good amount of players that are iffy. The White Sox have done a lot of winning with spare parts in 2021 because of injuries but that needs to be corrected going forward.
This team has a legit chance to win the pennant and have a chance in the World Series. However, 2022 and beyond have a lot of potential as well. There are some players on the current roster that might not be there next year.
The Chicago White Sox have some players that they need to ditch before next year.
Some are for good reasons and some are for bad. The White Sox need to make some changes this offseason if they want to go from a World Series contender to a World Series favorite. These are three players that they need to lose before the 2022 season begins:
128. . SP. Chicago White Sox. Dallas Keuchel. 60. player
Dallas Keuchel has been a major disappointment for the Chicago White Sox in 2021.
The Chicago White Sox made a big splash when they added Dallas Keuchel after the 2019 season ended. He was one of the first people to believe in what the White Sox were doing but he also needed a job. In 2020, he was brilliant. In fact, he was one of the best pitchers in the American League before the playoffs rolled around. He was bad in his one playoff game and it sort of cost the White Sox their season.
Now, here in 2021, things haven’t gotten better from there. He has been mostly bad this season as he tries to make the playoff roster. We aren’t even talking about him making the playoff rotation right now. It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that he won’t be doing that as Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, and Carlos Rodon will be handling that.
Keuchel may not even be a bullpen piece at this point. As of right now, there is no reason to consider having him in 2022. It is unclear how they would get rid of him if that decision were made but it might need to be done. It is sad to see but this team’s window to win is wide open and they need to do what they can to keep it that way.
12. player. 128. . 2B. Chicago White Sox. Cesar Hernandez
It might not be a good idea to bring Cesar Hernandez back for the 2022 season.
The Chicago White Sox didn’t give up much to get Cesar Hernandez so nobody is mad about the trade but he hasn’t been good enough at the plate. He has played magnificent defense which is a win but his offense has left a lot to be desired. He was one of the Cleveland Indian’s best hitters before the trade but that hasn’t translated to Chicago.
He is better than Danny Mendick so it is still a trade that they won. The defense between the two is still comparable but Hernandez is certainly still better offensively. The reason they need to ditch him before 2022 comes around isn’t necessarily because he is terrible, it is more because there are some clear upgrades out there.
One of the most talked-about upgrades that will be out there is Marcus Semien. He is a former White Sox player that they let get away in a terrible trade. Nobody wanted him this last offseason despite being a superstar in Oakland. Now, with Toronto on a one-year deal, he has been brilliant once again. If they can get him back to his original team, they will be much better off than if they picked up Cesar’s option.
Chicago White Sox. Mike Wright Jr. . 48. player. 128. . RP
The Chicago White Sox needs to have elite bullpen arms in order to win big.
The Chicago White Sox has a lot of really good relievers. We don’t know if Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez, or Garrett Crochet will be starters next season but it is certainly possible. However, you would think that at least two of them remain in the bullpen. With Craig Kimbrel, Liam Hendriks, and Aaron Bummer there as well, they really should only be using top-of-the-line relievers.
Mike Wright Jr. is a nice player but the White Sox don’t need nice players. They need elite players and Wright isn’t an elite player. There is a reason that he has been on multiple teams before this season where he landed in Chicago. He might be able to develop his craft a little bit better with someone else but not on a World Series team right now.
We can only hope that the White Sox are using their best relievers down the stretch and into the playoffs this year so next year needs to be even better. They will be a much healthier and more put-together team in 2022 which is scary based on how good they’ve been this year. Hopefully, Wright Jr. finds a home but it can’t be with the White Sox next year.
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The White Sox are so deep that we are able to talk about who doesn’t deserve to make it through the offseason and they will be players that are decent at times. This team should only be looking at the best of the best at this point so cutting bait with some “just okay” players is a good idea.