On Friday, there was a lot of news around the league. The Chicago White Sox made some big roster moves that are going to see some changes follow in 2024.
One of the big things that was done out of town came from Toronto. Both the Toronto Blue Jays and Whit Merrifield declined their mutual option for him to return in 2024. If he were to return, he would be making $18 million. Instead, the Blue Jays will be paying him $500,000 to go away.
Now, Toronto's only 2023 Silver Slugger nominee is a free agent. Of course, Merrifield has been an All-Star three times in his career including this past year. He has had a very good career up to this point.
The last year and a half were with Toronto and the six and a half seasons before that were with the Kansas City Royals. Being a long-time Royal, Merrifield has played against the Chicago White Sox a bunch of times in his career.
The Chicago White Sox should be very smart with their signings.
Whit Merryfield will be on a lot of teams wish list, after Toronto declined his option. Chicago White Sox will be a definite club involved in negotiations .History with GM Chris Getz and manager Pedro Grifol could be a factor.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) November 3, 2023
Now, there are rumors out there that the White Sox are interested in him as a free agent. That would truly be a terrible idea for both sides if he were to come to the south side.
For the White Sox, it is a bad idea for a 101-loss team to sign a 34-year-old veteran who won't be getting any better. For Merrifield, he should be looking to sign with a contender so he can compete for the World Series in 2024. That won't be with the White Sox.
The White Sox need someone who can play second base desperately. Merrifield is usually the type of stop-gap that they will sign but they need to stop doing that. He is a good player still but he will decline soon and the White Sox don't need to be signing declining players.
These rumors exist in large part due to the fact that he is a former Kansas City Royals star. That means he has a connection to both Chris Getz and Pedro Grifol. The Royals are not the Yankees or Red Sox who everyone should be modeling their franchise after here.
There is no need to go for Salvador Perez either which has been out there as well. The White Sox need to rebuild again and worry about developing well. Once that happens, they need to be smart with trades and signings.
Running it back in 2024 with a guy like Merrifield added instead of Elvis Andrus or Romy Gonzalez at second base will only breed the same 100-loss team.