3 free agents who could break the Chicago White Sox contract record

Yasmani Grandal owns the richest contract in Chicago White Sox franchise history. He signed a four-year deal worth $73 million. It surpassed Jose Abreu’s six-year deal for $68 million that he signed before his rookie season in 2014 when he was coming over from Cuba.

The White Sox are not known for shelling out large amounts of cash for free agents. Even Grandal’s $73 million deal is a bargain considering they are paying one of the best catchers in baseball just over $18 million a season. If you look at Grandal’s numbers the past two seasons he has been well worth the investment.

Some call the White Sox smart with money. Others call them frugal. But for whatever reason, they do not like spending huge amounts of money on free agents. Which is one of the reasons they missed out on big-ticket names like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.

One could argue that this strategy has worked out. Because they did not drop over $330 million on Bryce Harper, they were able to spread their money out and add players like Lance Lynn. They are also not tied to a player for the next 13 seasons. If you look at Albert Pujols with the Angels you can see a perfect example of how these long contracts wind up looking at the end. It can be ugly.

The Chicago White Sox could learn to spend some more money this offseason.

However, the Chicago White Sox has a team ready to compete right now. As the roster is currently constructed they are the favorites to win the American League Central once again. But the goal is to be the last team standing at the end of the year and division titles simply are not going to cut it in 2022. The White Sox need reinforcements and this year’s free-agent class has been signing deals for record numbers.

Corey Seager signed a deal worth $325 million, Marcus Semien inked a deal worth $175 million, while Max Scherzer, Javier Baez, Robbie Ray, and Kevin Gausman all inked deals north of $100 million.

If the White Sox want to compete with the big boys they are going to have to pay up. With most of the good second baseman already off the board, the most likely place the White Sox will spend serious money is in pitching help and or an outfielder. Leury Garica had a higher WAR last season than all the remaining free-agent second baseman.

With this in mind here are three players that could become the highest-paid player in franchise history.