The Chicago White Sox could use one more outfielder. If they add another one, they could make sure of a few things. For one, it would make it where Gavin Sheets and Eloy Jimenez never have to play out there again (they are horrible defenders but great hitters).
With Andrew Benintendi added to the mix for left field, adding one more would give Luis Robert insurance in case he gets hurt for the third year in a row. It would also be a great idea considering Oscar Colas, the likely right fielder, some backup in case he struggles as a rookie.
On Wednesday, we found out that Adam Duvall is out of the mix now as he is headed to the Boston Red Sox. That was tough news to learn about because he would have just been the perfect fourth outfielder for this team. He brings World Series-winning experience along with some other accolades.
Well, Duvall isn't the only good option that is now off the table either. It came out on Wednesday that Tommy Pham is headed to the New York Mets on a one-year deal worth six million dollars. Another team that believes it can win stays adding small parts that can help them.
The Chicago White Sox missed on a pretty good fourth outfielder option.
So Duvall got seven million and Pham got six million. They are each one year deals that carry no risk in case they don't work out. The Chicago White Sox absolutely could have been in on one of them but they choose to do everything as cheap as possible. It is very frustrating.
Pham isn't this stud that would be a gamechanger for the White Sox but he certainly does things that would help them improve. For example, his 17 home runs in 2022 would have tied Andrew Vaughn for the White Sox team lead which is actually remarkable.
Saying they don't need him is simply ignoring how light the White Sox might actually be. Pham spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals before making stops with the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres ahead of splitting 2022 with the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox.
Again, missing on Pham isn't the big issue here. It is more of the fact that the White Sox are just relaxing while other teams make little moves like this to get better. One of Duvall or Pham would have been perfect but that just isn't how the White Sox operate right now.