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

Trevor Story 

Trevor Story would bring so much power to the Chicago White Sox lineup.

With all the good second baseman gone, the White Sox could get creative and sign Trevor Stroy and see if he will shift over to second base. Story would like to stay at shortstop but ultimately he is going to go where the money goes.

Manny Machado wanted to play shortstop too but once the Padres had Frenando Tatis Jr. he quickly moved over to third base. The difference would be that second base is not Stroy’s natural position.

However, Story is athletic enough that he could make the move work. After playing on some mediocre Rockies teams the past couple of years, he is also probably hungry to play for a contender. Why not become the missing piece in Chicago?

To land Story, the White Sox would likely need to spend over $100 million on a five or six-year deal. Likely around $125 million. At the age of 29, Story still has plenty of good years left so the contract would not be horrible to take on. Story is a two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner. In 2018 he drove in 108 runs and hit 37 home runs while batting .291. He finished 8th in the MVP voting that season.

What Trevor Story provides to an offense is pop. He has hit 20+ home runs in five of his six years in the big leagues. The only year he did not hit 20 was during the shortened 60-game 2020 season.

However, he managed to hit 11 that season while also leading the league with four triples and 15 stolen bases. Speed is something the White Sox have lacked. They do not have many base stealers outside of Tim Anderson. Stroy swipes bags at a prolific rate. He stole 27 in 2018,23 in 2019 and 20 in 2021.

Strikeouts are a concern but he still manages to hit for average despite the high strikeout rate. He is a lifetime .272 hitter with 158 home runs, 450 RBIs, and 100 stolen bases. He has benefitted from playing in Colorado but playing in another hitter-friendly park like Guaranteed Rate Field and having a healthy amount of lineup protection should offset that.