3 things the White Sox must prioritize this off-season
With one of the toughest White Sox seasons in recent years, it never hurts to look ahead to a brighter future
With the recent firings of general manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams, the Chicago White Sox will have a new regime to navigate this offseason.
At this point, the team needs a complete rebuild which will take some time.
However, there are still a few areas that need to be addressed this offseason.
The Chicago White Sox have some issues with their team right now.
The White Sox need a solidified ace
Before this current season began, the only issue there seemed to be with the White Sox starting pitching rotation was the lack of a left-handed starter.
Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn seemed primed for bounce-back campaigns, Michael Kopech had the potential for a breakout season, and Dylan Cease seemed to be one of the best-starting pitchers to have in all of baseball coming off of his impressive Cy Young Finalist 2022 season.
Fast forward to today, and none of what was previously mentioned has panned out. Giolito and Lynn are no longer members of the White Sox, Kopech has not been able to develop into the solid starter that was expected, and Dylan Cease has been far from one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Cease currently sports a 4.81 ERA and is in the top 3 of all qualified pitchers for allowing the most walks this season.
Despite being in a rebuild, any team that can have a pitcher take the mound every five days and put the team in a realistic position to win would capitalize on that opportunity.
Additionally, a solidified ace usually has a lot of experience and knowledge to bring with them that can translate into a great clubhouse leader. After losing Jose Abreu, it seems the team has missed the clubhouse leader and positive presence that he was.
The 2023 free agent class has plenty of starting pitchers with both experience and success so hopefully, the new front office feels strongly about one and pursues the opportunity.
More pitching depth!
The Chicago White Sox need to continue adding some pitching depth.
As important as landing a solidified ace is, filling out the rest of the rotation is also a necessity. As stated previously, the White Sox came into this season with what seemed to be a rotation that had plenty of depth.
The main reason why rotation depth should be prioritized is due to the division they play in. The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians are the top two teams currently in the AL Central.
The similarity between these teams is their deep starting rotation.
With the Minnesota Twins having Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray, Bailey Ober, Kenta Maeda, and Joe Ryan and the Guardians having Shane Bieber, Triston Mckenzie, and now Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee, it is safe to say these are two of the deepest rotations in all of baseball.
If the Sox go into future series versus the Twins and Guardians with the second-best pitcher every game of the series, it is going to be very difficult to win those series and make any progress toward getting better and actually rebuilding.
A closer or set up man
The Chicago White Sox need a man pitching in the back of their bullpen.
The central theme of this article seems to be on full display now, the White Sox needs to prioritize all aspects of pitching this offseason. In regard to the bullpen, a solid closer or setup man seems to be a good place to start.
Unfortunately, it seems that Liam Hendriks may have played his last game in a White Sox uniform. The team reported a few weeks ago that he has successfully undergone Tommy John surgery and has the possibility of missing the entire 2024 regular season.
After 2024, Hendriks will be a free agent and will most likely try to sign with a contender as he will probably have 1 or 2 more good years left in him.
The Sox also have another quality reliever on the injured list in Garrett Crochet. Unlike Hendriks, Crochet will be able to play in 2024 and has plenty of good years left.
It seems the team will build their bullpen around Crochet but the lingering question will be whether or not he is ready to be the closer in 2024.
If he is, the Sox should invest in a proven setup man to provide as much security as possible for innings 8 and 9. If the team prefers Crochet to set up, the White Sox should then look into a closer that still has some years left in him.
Virtually no one expects to be a contender come next season but if the White Sox can acquire these pieces, this can put the team in the right direction and most importantly, start to see our win total climb each season.
A team like the Miami Marlins can be a great example for the White Sox. Miami has focused heavily on all aspects of their pitching whether that be through the draft or making trades for solidified arms such as Jesus Luzardo, Dylan Floro, and David Robertson.
Miami has boasted one of the best starting and relief units in all of baseball but lacked a little bit of hitting power which resulted in them acquiring Josh Bell and (unfortunately) Jake Burger.
Even lacking some hitting depth, the Marlins have been able to drastically improve after being one of the bottom teams in the league a few years ago and are now contending for a wild card spot due to solid all-around pitching.
It will be interesting to see first and foremost, who Jerry Reinsdorf brings in to run baseball operations and then how they attack this first offseason. Let's hope they can focus on pitching and start the process of solidifying the weakest area of our team.
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