The White Sox should consider this former division rival for their rotation

The Chicago White Sox need some help with the starting rotation. We don't know if Dylan Cease is going to be traded (although it sounds more and more likely by the day) which leaves nobody as a lock to be a part of the group in 2024. They are a long way away from having a five-man unit that they trust.

New GM/President Chris Getz should be looking to add a few free agents this off-season to help him fill out the group even if it isn't a primary goal to be competitive in 2024. There are some stars out there to consider, but there are also a few players that might need a change of scenery and are looking for a bounce-back.

One of those is Cal Quantrill. Quantrill started his career with the San Diego Padres but he was sent to the Cleveland Guardians in the deal that sent Mike Clevinger the other way. He was outstanding in his career split between those two teams if you ignore 2023 which...did not go well.

From 2020-2022, he had an ERA of 3.08 while striking out 280 batters in 368 innings of work while walking 2.5 batters per nine innings. Unfortunately, he fell off hard in 2023 as his ERA was 5.24 with noticeable drop-offs in his stuff as well as his counting stats. It is unusual for a Cleveland pitcher to have these kinds of random struggles but it happened.

The Chicago White Sox could use a player like Cal Quantrill in 2024

Make no mistake about it, Quantrill was very bad in 2023. There aren't going to be a lot of teams that are all in on adding someone like him because of stuff he did multiple years ago.

Now, Quantrill is looking for a new team because he was designated for assignment. He makes sense for the White Sox as they could be looking for someone in his position. The Sox love adding players who have had recent struggles and seeing if they could turn into a good cheap option for them.

Quantrill is in the 60th percentile for breaking ball run value. If Ethan Katz can work with him the way that he has worked with other good throwers of breaking balls, he might be able to take advantage of that strength.

His fastball can only go up too. Improving on that issue might help with his junk pitches as well. He has done it in the past and focusing on it in 2024 could lead to him becoming an effective pitcher again.

Some injuries (shoulder issues) impacted his season as well. When you are in and out of the rotation because of injuries, that can impact a player's performance and, assuming the injury isn't a long-term concern, a full offseason should allow him to heal up.

If the White Sox signed him, they'd be hoping to get the healthy version of him that helped the Guardians win the division in 2022 when he went 15-5 that season and had a 3.38 ERA. The season before that, he had a 2.89 ERA in 2021.

2023 wasn't good for him at all, but he did at least finish strong. Over his final six starts of the season, he went 2-1 so there were a few "no decisions" in there but he had a 2.76 ERA. Cleveland didn't make the playoffs.

Quantrill is also just a 28-year-old guy so there might be a lot left in the tank if he can find his confidence again. Being a former top-10 pick shows the pedigree that he has but he must show it in 2024 if picked up.

White Sox fans might consider this a "typical White Sox" move because it is. However, the upside in his arm could take over for how bad he was in 2023 if he gets the aforementioned confidence back. Anything should be on the table for this 61-101 team.