The offseason is almost officially here for all of Major League Baseball. The National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies are set to take on the American League champion Houston Astros in the World Series. When that is over, how will the Chicago White Sox approach the offseason?
Well, there are a bunch of ways that this can go. First off, they need a manager. Tony La Russa is not returning for year three because of health reasons but he should have been gone for baseball reasons too. They need a complete coaching staff upgrade because what they had didn’t work.
It seems as if Rick Hahn is able to execute his own managerial search for his roster this time. Jerry Reinsdorf forced Tony La Russa on everyone and it was a horrid decision. It made Rick Hahn look terrible although he is not exempt from blame either.
He has a chance to redeem himself though. We all know that Tony was a disaster but his next hire better be a gem. He also needs to supplement the core that he built with better players and quit taking the cheap way out.
The Chicago White Sox need to have a smart approach to the 2022-23 off-season.
This team needs help in the outfield, second base, and with their pitching staff. However, it can’t be guys that were good six years ago or middling relievers. That hasn’t worked out for anyone in the past and it isn’t going to start any time soon.
There are a lot of really good players out there on the free-agent market. They don’t need to go sign Aaron Judge in free agency for it to be successful as every team in the league wants him but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.
Judge is a right fielder and that is amongst the biggest needs on this team. Don’t use Oscar Colas as an excuse to stay away from one of the best power hitters in league history. The dude literally just broke the AL single-season home run record. Give him a call.
There are plenty of other trades that can be made as well. If they bring Jose Abreu back, send Andrew Vaughn away for players that can help in other areas. If Abreu walks, use that money wisely. There are lots of examples of this model working around the league including here in the World Series.
If the White Sox doesn’t take this smart approach to the offseason and 2023 is a bust, everyone should be fired. They simply can’t run it back with a few cheap additions to the same team that went 81-81 in 2022. Something big has to be done. We’ll see.