3 players the White Sox should sign if luxury tax increases
Starlin Castro
If Starlin Castro was brought to the White Sox, he would fit in really well.
The White Sox still needs a second baseman. Most of the big names have already been poached in free agency but there is still a four-time All-Star available for the White Sox to snag. At the age of 31, Starlin Castro has built up a solid resume. However, he comes with some baggage.
He finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2010 when he burst onto the scene with the Chicago Cubs. The next year, he batted .307, with a league-leading 207 hits. He earned his first trip to the All-Star game and finished 23rd in the MVP voting.
He was an All-Star once again in 2012, hitting .283 with 14 home runs, 78 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases. He made one more All-Star team in 2014 before his departure from Chicago in 2016 when he went to the New York Yankees.
He made another All-Star team in 2017 for the Bronx Bombers and had a career-high 86 RBIs. He played two seasons with the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals but was suspended in 2021 for violating the MLB’s domestic violence policy. He was released by the Nationals shortly after.
There is an obvious moral conundrum surrounding Starlin Castro. It is hard to justify signing someone who was suspended for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. However, we saw the White Sox hire Tony La Russa despite having multiple DUIs on his record and the Cubs still traded for Aldrois Chapman despite his checkered past.
Teams have looked the other way before when it comes to these matters. Is Starlin Castro the type of person you want in your clubhouse after what he did? That’s for Rick Hahn to decide. But from strictly a baseball perspective the move makes sense. Castro still has some more baseball left in the tank.
In 103 games with the Nationals, he logged a .280/.238/.387 slash line. He should also come at a discount after his 30-game suspension. He was making $6 million a year with the Nationals, and assuming he signs for around the same price the White Sox would still have $4 million left to fill out the final two roster spots and stay under the new proposed luxury tax.