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Chicago White Sox: 3 free agents in World Series to consider

By Mitchell Kaminski

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 31: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single against Kendall Graveman #31 of the Houston Astros during the eighth inning in Game Five of the World Series at Truist Park on October 31, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 31: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single against Kendall Graveman #31 of the Houston Astros during the eighth inning in Game Five of the World Series at Truist Park on October 31, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Chicago White Sox, Joc Pederson
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Joc Peterson finally playing for the Chicago White Sox would be very cool. 

The White Sox have been admiring Joc Pederson for a while now. Rick Hahn even tried to sign Pederson last offseason but he wound up signing with the White Sox crosstown rival instead.

Since being dealt from the Cubs to Atlanta, Pederson has come up in some big spots for the Braves. He hit seven home runs with the Braves and posted a .325 OPB. During the postseason he has hit three home runs and helped the Braves down his former club in Los Angeles.

Most importantly for the White Sox, he delivers during the postseason. He has a lifetime .262 batting average with 12 home runs, 29 RBIs, and a .830 OPS during playoff baseball. Pederson seems to have a knack for clutch moments.

Before he was crushing October home runs for the Dodgers and Braves, he was named a Post-Season All-Star as a member of the Ogden Raptors in 2011. Four years later, he was named a National League All-Star as a member of the Los Angles Dodgers in 2015.

Five years after that, he helped the Dodgers win a World Series Championship. He was especially good during the NLDS hitting .389 with a .421 OBP to boot.

Like Soler, Pederson would help the White Sox in the power department. He was a member of the Home Run Derby in 2015 and 2019. He ranked 11th in the National League with 36 home runs in 2019. In 2018, he was 19th with 25 home runs and in 2015 he was 14th with 26.

In fact, Pederson has posted double-digit home runs in every full season he has played. The only two seasons he didn’t was in 2014 when he played 18 games with the Dodgers and in the shortened 60-game season in 2020.

As a left-handed bat, he would help balance the White Sox lineup and should only see his production increase with the added lineup protection and short porch Guaranteed Rate Field has in right field.

Pederson can also get on base at a high clip as well. He has ranked inside the top 20 in the National League in “hit by pitch” on four separate occasions. His career OBP is .332. That would place him inside the top 100 on MLB currently.

He is not known for his great defense, which is concerning considering that the White Sox already have Eloy Jimenez in left field. But there is a reason the White Sox has tried to acquire his services on multiple occasions. Time will tell if Rick Hahn can finally seal the deal.

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