Thinking White Sox baseball after a rough Chicago sports weekend

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The Blackhawks stink, the Bulls have fired another head coach from Iowa State, and the Bears lost a game they should have won.  That being the case, it seems like a good time to talk baseball.  White Sox base ball in particular.

Addition by subtraction

Recent moves on the part of the White Sox seem to indicate they might actually try to get better in 2019.  The Sox could easily be the second best team in a very weak AL Central division.  Even the 2018 division winning Cleveland Indians could be weaker as they are looking to trade one of their top line starting pitchers.  Two non-tenders and a trade give White Sox fans reason for optimism.

Who will take his spot on the DL?

Avisail Garcia has been a tease all throughout his career.  He looks to have the tools to be a productive offensive player but ultimately disappoints.  In 2017 Garcia hit .330 with an OPS of .885.  He followed that up in 2018 by hitting .236 with an OPS of .771.  Garcia did show more power in 2018 with 19 homers in 356 at bats but a WAR of 0.3 and a projected salary of around $8 million was a bad combination.  Personally, I had grown tired of waiting for Avi’s next pulled hammy.  There are many other better options for the Sox outfield.

Take his at bats, please

Matt Davidson also was axed.  Before the 2018 season Rick Hahn indicated the Sox didn’t sign free agents because they didn’t want to take at bats away from their own guys. I could have done without Davidson’s 434 at bats which produced a .228 batting average and 165 strikeouts.  I don’t know who will replace Davidson, but it almost has to be an upgrade.

His glove will be better soon

One reason the Sox will be better in 2019 is the best player in the organization will finally be on the big league roster.  Eloy Jimenez’s glove should be ready for the bigs about the same time his MLB service clock gives him an extra year of team control.  It will be nice to see another bona fide hitter in the Sox lineup.

I've got no "Beef" with this move

The White Sox also go into the 2019 season with an actual closer after trading catcher, Omar Narvaez to the Seattle Mariners for Alex Colome.  Navarez had a nice season with the bat, but I’m not convinced it’s sustainable.  Colome gives the Sox ad anchor in the bullpen.  As for catching, the Sox still have “Beef” Welington Castillo, who was suspended 80 games last season for PED use.  As long as Castillo doesn’t come back looking like Don Knotts, I don’t look for much of a drop off in the Sox catching this season.

Return of the fungibles?

There were times last season when the Sox pen was fairly good.  That was before the Sox sold off parts of that bullpen.  The good news is many of those parts are available again via free agency. I’d like to see the Sox sign some of those fungible guys.

Xavier Cedeno, Luis Avilan and the higher priced Joakim Soria are all available.  I’d especially like to see the Sox pick up Cedeno and/or Avilan to go with Ian Hamilton and Jace Fry.  The Sox exercised their $4.65 million option on Nate Jones for 2019.  I’m not a fan.  He’s a tease, like the Avisail Garcia of White Sox pitchers.  He shows flashes of talent between stints on the DL and blowing wins for Reynaldo Lopez.  I think it’s time to move on from Jones.

Let's not make this a Bulls rebuild

The Sox have a chance to show a big jump in wins in 2019.  The big question is if they want to.  There are a number of free agents who could help the Sox immediately, as well as some guys who could be had if the Sox want to take on just part of their contracts.  I get the rebuilding process, but it needs to be progressive.  It’s time for the Sox to get better.