The Chicago White Sox, as you are probably getting tired of hearing, were so mediocre in 2022 and nobody knows how it is going to affect them this year.
There are some new faces coming to the organization and they are hoping that they can help the team bounce back to playing better. It will take an everyday effort from everyone.
When it comes to playing well this year, there is cautious optimism from some and others believe that they are going to be equally mediocre or worse.
As spring training inches closer and closer, there is a lot to worry about. These are the three biggest red flags heading into the year:
The Chicago White Sox have a lot to worry about coming into 2023.
1. The manager
Tony La Russa is no longer the manager of the Chicago White Sox. That could solve all of their problems, right? Wrong. It very well may solve some of thier problems because he was horrible in 2022 but there is a lot more work that needs to be done.
They didn't exactly go out and hire the best manager in history either. Pedro Grifol could very well develop into a Hall of Fame manager or he could be equally as bad as La Russa was for them last year. Right now, we have no idea what to expect from a first-year manager and that is a red flag.
2. Health
Health has been the biggest red flag for this team for a few years now. There are players like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Tim Anderson amongst others who need to find a way to stay mostly healthy this year.
Asking an entire roster not to deal with adversity is impossible and unrealistic but they can try their best not to lose as many man-games from impact players as they have in the past couple of years. The fact that this feels unlikely is a major red flag.
3. Big-money players
The Chicago White Sox don't ever spend a lot on free agency but they do actually spend a fair amount on their roster. Unfortunately for them, they don't get the best production out of their most expensive guys.
Yasmani Grandal was the highest-paid player in the history of the franchise until this past off-season ad he was terrible in 2022. Yoan Moncada makes a disgusting amount of money as well and was terrible.
The players on the team that make the most money haven't earned it which is a major red flag that needs to get corrected soon. Hopefully, Andrew Benintendi can live up to the contract that he got this year.