Give White Sox one more year before they start shopping for 'finishing pieces'
Last off-season, the hot stove almost boiled over with a White Sox rumor.
Even though they were only a year into their rebuild, the Sox reportedly made the best trade offer for Manny Machado, who was being shopped by the Orioles.
A deal never happened and Baltimore hung on to Machado until July, sending him to the Dodgers. The all-star shortstop/third baseman is a free agent at season's end.
Adding Machado to a White Sox team in serious transition didn't make much sense last winter, but general manager Rick Hahn didn't totally dismiss pulling off such a move.
“Sometimes you need to be creative,” Hahn said. “Sometimes you need to perhaps take a risk.”
Fast forward to this off-season, and Hahn has the same mindset when it comes to adding veteran talent to a young roster.
“We have, as part of this process, purposely put ourselves in a position where we have a great deal of economic flexibility moving forward,” Hahn said. “And we've made no secret that when the time comes for, as we've described, more finishing pieces, we knew those were going to have to come via free agency. While we are not yet in a position realistically to be adding so called finishing pieces, we are in a position where we need to be opportunistic with regards to the free-agent market.”
Does that mean the White Sox take another run at Machado this winter? Bryce Harper? Clayton Kershaw, if he opts out of his contract?
A lot of big names will be available, even if the Sox are not positioned to be contenders until 2020 at the earliest. That's where the risk factor comes into play again.
“You can't always control when certain players become available,” Hahn said. “You can say in 2020 or 2021 we expect to be this and we know we are going to need X. You can't look at the projected free agent and say that player will be available, much less that player will be a White Sox when the time comes.
“If we see long-term pieces that make sense, in addition to augmenting the pitching or filling certain needs for 2019, I think we have the flexibility to pursue them and we are going to be opportunistic and respond to the market accordingly.”
The guess here is the Sox are still a year away from making any major splashes on the free-agent or trade fronts. The guess is they make a push for a player like Nolan Arenado after the 2019 season.
As for this winter, the White Sox should be fairly quiet as they look ahead to adding Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease and other top prospects next season.
But they'll likely bring in an outside starter to replace Michael Kopech, who is out until 2020 following Tommy John surgery.
The Sox brought Miguel Gonzalez back last off-season, and they signed Derek Holland after the 2016 season.
Both veterans were added to eat innings and give minor-league starters like Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Kopech and Cease time to develop.
There is a lengthy list of veteran free-agent starters the White Sox can pursue with one-year contract offers this winter, including Gio Gonzalez, Adam Wainwright and Trevor Cahill. It is also possible — slightly possible — the Sox bring back James Shields for another year after declining his $16 million option for 2019.
“From a pitching standpoint, we are going to have some additions,” Hahn said. “We are going to need some alternatives both in the rotation and the bullpen.”
Hahn has done a good job adding veteran relief pitchers like Anthony Swarzak, Joakim Soria, Xavier Cedeno and Luis Avilan the last two years and then flipping them for prospects.
The White Sox's GM is likely to add another established reliever or two this winter while continuing to monitor young bullpen arms like Jace Fry, Ian Hamilton, Jose Ruiz and Caleb Frare.