Detroit Tigers
The Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers are going to have some good battles.
The Tigers have pushed all their chips to the center of the table by going out and adding Eduardo Rodrigez to a five-year, $77 million contract and Javier Baez to a six-year deal worth $140 million.
The Tigers have a solid roster but they lack bullpen arms. Last season, they had an ugly assortment of options. Former White Sox pitcher Derek Holland owned a 5.07 ERA. Erasmo Ramirez had a 5.74 ERA, followed by Matt Manning who had a 5.80 had a 5.74 ERA.
Daniel Norris posted a 5.89 ERA, Buck Farmer had a 6.37 ERA and Bryan Garcia lead the pack with a 7.55 mark. Overall, it wasn’t pretty.
If the Tigers want to be serious contenders, they need a closer. If the White Sox want to be serious contenders they need a second baseman. Therefore Jonathan Schoop for Craig Kimbrel seems like a plausible trade.
Schoop was a borderline All-Star last season who was on the White Sox radar at the deadline. Schoop has been around the block a few times. The nine-year veteran was an All-Star in 2017 while he was with the Baltimore Orioles.
He has good power, hitting 35 home runs in 2017 to go with five seasons over 20. He is coming off a productive year that saw him hit 22 home runs, 84 RBIs, and bat .278. He is very reliable as well. He has played over 100 games in six of his nine seasons. One of the years he did not appear in 100 games was his rookie season when he only got 15 at-bats.
Schoop can also put the ball in play which is what the White Sox need. His career batting average is .262. He would be a great addition to the White Sox lineup and the most reliable second base option on this list.