White Sox players who did not meet expectations in 2023
Three Chicago White Sox players who did not meet expectations set out for them in 2023.
The Chicago White Sox failed to do much of anything great during the 2023 season. The team failed to reach the playoffs after setting that as a lofty goal for the season. It wasn’t just the whole team that failed, some did their part to contribute to some of the moderate fleeting successes that the White Sox had last year, but others helped contribute to the failure of the White Sox season.
The White Sox cleaned house, for the most part, around the trade deadline last year. They got rid of some of the dead weight that had been holding them back. Still, other players were keeping them down, which they retained and still have on the roster today. They could look at trading away a couple of these guys and get something back for them, but they might be hard to trade-off.
The Sox have probably analyzed the season up, down, and sideways to find their weaknesses and try to fix them. Who were the weak links last season? What did they do that made them a weak link and what is their status heading into the 2024 Major League Baseball season?
Let’s find out as we review three Chicago White Sox players who did not perform up to expectations in 2023.
Eloy Jimenez
Eloy Jimenez is an easy one to put the pin on when it comes to not meeting expectations. Maybe some of it’s not his fault as he has become injury-prone and has missed some time. But, overall, he’s not lived up to the lofty expectations that have been set for him. His presence on the White Sox may be doing more harm than good.
Maybe what Chicago needs to do is trade him away to another team and see what they can get for him. Unfortunately, it will likely not be for much as no one wants an injury prone designated hitter who finds it hard to run to first base off and on.
Chicago should be disappointed in what they are getting out of Jimenez. I know that the fans are. They are expecting a guy who will be a threat to hit a home run every single time he steps up to the plate. What they are getting is a guy who may or may not hit the ball and then hurt himself on the way to first base. Then he’s out for a bit and the White Sox lose out on the power that Jimenez possesses.
In all reality, the White Sox would be better off trying to trade and get something for him that’s going to benefit them in the future. The question is, what would they want in exchange for the often-injured Jimenez? Would they ask for too much? Would they get enough? The bets are good that they have already tried trading Jimenez this offseason but haven’t had any success. Maybe they will keep trying and eventually find someone to take him off their hands. If not, hopefully 2024 season will be a breakout year, and he will perform much better than he did in 2023.
Dylan Cease
As much as he is the ace of the staff, Dylan Cease was a problem for the White Sox in 2023. He was the runner-up for the Cy Young Award the previous year but regressed enough to make it very noticeable.
His ERA was up, his WHIP went up, and he wasn’t the same guy that the White Sox could count on to come in and win games. But there was one thing about Cease that he was good at, in 2023, and that is he was very reliable not having succumbed to any injury issues. Cease could be counted on to make his starts and show up when he had to.
The White Sox have tried to trade Cease this offseason but to no avail. Rumor has it that they are asking a pretty penny for his services and that might be turning some teams off in terms of their desire to get him. Maybe the White Sox want too much. It’s hard to tell because we don’t know what they are asking but they clearly aren’t letting go of Cease that easily. It’s possible he may still be a Whtie Sox when the season opens in 2024.
Andrew Benintendi
The White Sox prize free agent was anything but a real prize in 2023. However, Andrew Benintendi did have his moments. Still, for the money he got from ownership, he should have been much more effective than he was. Granted, he had some injury issues that plagued him a bit but overall, for the value, the White Sox didn’t get their money’s worth with him at the plate.
The White Sox signed Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million contract, so there is still time for him to earn that money. Hopefully, he will continue to improve and be the player that they thought he would be. If he doesn’t pan out in the future, the White Sox are going to look bad. I think that Benintendi will pick it up a lot in 2024 and end up being one of the brightest stars on a team that’s going to need as many of them as they can possibly get.