3 terrible decisions that killed the Chicago White Sox rebuild

Yasmani Grandal’s contract is a reason why the White Sox rebuild failed

The problem wasn’t that the White Sox handed out a contract north of $70 million. It is infuriating that they are one of only three MLB teams to never hand out a $100 million contract. They are cheap. 

That contract over $70 million during the rebuild went to Yasmani Grandal. They gave a catcher the largest (at the time) contract in the history of the franchise. Grandal was an above-average pitch framer and a very good hitter during his prime but the White Sox overpaid him for what he did in the past. 

Grandal ended up being elite for exactly half of a season. In the second half of 2021, you can argue that he was their best hitter. The team ended up winning the division with a 93-69 record and was one of the best in the league. 

Towards the end, rumors were coming out about Grandal’s negative impact on the clubhouse. If that is the case, it makes the contract even worse. They gave him all of that money for a four-year-long headache. 

At the time of the Grandal signing, they still had James McCann catching for them as well. He was doing great things with the Sox and they didn’t take advantage of it. They could have ridden McCann and used that Grandal money elsewhere but they weren’t smart. 

Grandal had an up-and-down tenure with the White Sox but it was mostly down for that level of owed money. By the end of the 2023 season, he couldn’t get out of there quickly enough.