3 difficult decisions the White Sox will need to make this offseason
Here are three difficult decisions the Chicago White Sox will face during the offseason.
The Chicago White Sox are in a bit of a funk it seems. It started last year when they lost just over 100 games and cleaned house. The house cleaning may have been a little hard to swallow at first, but it’s made a little more sense as time goes on. Now, the White Sox face some tough decisions with their current roster that they must attend to.
While there are a lot of decisions that need to be made by the White Sox this offseason, there are three significant ones that they will have to deal with that are more important than the others. The offseason is where many big decisions need to be made and if the White Sox are going to be contenders, at all, in 2024, they need to figure things out and get going.
To trade or not trade Dylan Cease
If you have been keeping up on things this offseason, you will have seen that the White Sox are looking to trade Dylan Cease. This has been talked about for weeks, essentially ever since the end of the season, but no movement has been made. Why is that? Some point the finger at the White Sox and say that they are asking too much for him. Whatever the case, trading Cease may or may not work out and whether they trade him or not is a difficult decision.
What would the White Sox do if they traded their ace pitcher? They clearly wouldn’t have a star in that group unless someone steps up and surprises us. Doesn’t every pitching rotation need an ace? Who could step in and be their ace right now? Now I know that there is a lot with contracts to consider with this as well. Currently, he has an arbitrated contract and is in the second year of that contract. The White Sox have control over him until 2026 with this arbitrated deal.
What should the Sox do? Keep Cease or trade him? It would all be determined by what they get in return for him. Of course, the White Sox would want to get the maximum amount in return but after a down year, just how much can the White Sox get? That’s hard to figure out, just like the possibility of trading Cease is. It’s a tough decision that the White Sox must make to protect their future and get back what they need in return.
Choosing a catcher
The latest news from the White Sox is that they have signed former Houston Astros catcher Martin Maldonado to a one-year deal. The 13-year veteran is coming in to help replace what the Sox are losing after not bringing back Yasmani Grandal who had been with the team for four years. Now, the White Sox have some decisions, tough ones, on who they are going to feature at catcher this year.
You can almost bet that they will have Maldonado as part of the catching “rotation”. The acquisition may also leave some wondering why they have replaced an aging catcher with another aging catcher. But for the money they spent, unless something drastic happens, you can be assured that Maldonado will be a part of the catching group this year. Max Stassi is likely to be the other catcher involved in the group this year. The ten-year veteran gives the White Sox another option but not a young one.
It’s time the White Sox developed some younger talent at the catcher position. This might be where a guy like Korey Lee, who is only 25 years old, comes into play and sticks with the team in some capacity. I can see him starting in the minors and then making his way up to the big leagues should Stassi or Maldonado get injured. Either way, the White Sox have some decisions to make with their catching corps this offseason to ensure that they are putting the right players in the right places and building for the future.
To keep or not to keep Pedro Grifol
Folks, there is still time for the White Sox to let Pedro Grifol walk and bring in another manager. But it’s more likely they will retain Grifol for another season and see what he can do. Will he be able to resurrect this team and turn them into a winner or will he fail and end up on the chopping block at the end of the 2024 season anyway? Some out there believe, including this writer, that Grifol doesn’t have what it takes to become an effective Major League Baseball manager.
So, where is the difficult decision in all of this? Well, general manager Chris Getz must decide if he wants to go through 2024 with Grifol as the team’s leader or not. Yes, we might be almost into January and maybe making a managerial decision isn’t in the cards right now but still, Getz might have someone in mind or will want to take the team in another direction that doesn’t include Grifol. I think that the White Sox battle with this decision each day until they realize that Grifol is not the right manager.
I suspect that he will remain for the offseason and into and through spring training. Whether he makes it through the 2024 season or not, that will remain to be seen.