3 free agents the Chicago White Sox must avoid at all costs

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Joey Gallo

One of the biggest critiques of the Chicago White Sox rebuild was the fact that they had too many players that fit the "1B-DH" type.

That includes players like Andrew Vaughn, Jose Abreu, Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets, and Eloy Jimenez amongst others. All of these guys had amazing moments for this team but it was always hard to get the most out of them because of the fact that they all do the same thing well.

It is a very unbalanced franchise right now and it has been for most of the rebuild. They were not good on defense for most of this stretch and this is a big part of it.

Adding someone who fits that mold in free agency is not a good idea. That is why they should stay away from Joey Gallo. He is coming off a decent year with the Minnesota Twins but it wasn't good enough to consider bringing him in.

Gallo would have been a perfect target a few years ago but not now. He started his career with the Texas Rangers in 2015 and he remained there until the 2021 season when he was traded to the New York Yankees ahead of the trade deadline.

From there, he had a short-term stay with the Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Minnesota Twins. Things haven't been amazing for him since those first few years since being traded by the Rangers.

2023 was an interesting season for him as he slashed .177/.301/.440 for an OPS of .741. He hit 21 home runs, had 40 RBIs, and 39 runs scored. His average was low but the production was there when he did make contact. Gallo is a perfect example of why batting average is a bad stat.

His WAR was 0.5 which isn't horrific but it isn't game-changing by any means either. This was also his first halfway decent year since 2021 as he seems to be declining as a player.

The Chicago White Sox should not trust that he gets back to being a good player and they should not be bringing in any "1B/DH/OF" types unless the entire roster has a major overhaul. Gallo has been a good player in his career but this is someone that they should avoid at all costs.

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