Will White Sox address right field in meaningful way?

Jermaine Dye 2005 World Series MVP bobblehead

Jermaine Dye was the last legitimate long-term solution to play right field for the White Sox. He was on the South Side of Chicago from 2005 until 2009, so it's been a while since that position has had stability.

Here are the players who have started the most games at that position for the Sox, by year, since 2010:

• 2010: Carlos Quentin
• 2011: Quentin
• 2012: Alex Rios
• 2013: Rios
• 2014: Dayan Viciedo
• 2015: Avisail Garcia
• 2016: Adam Eaton
• 2017: Garcia
• 2018: Garcia
• 2019: Ryan Cordell
• 2020: Nomar Mazara
• 2021: Eaton
• 2022: Gavin Sheets
• 2023: Oscar Colas

Eaton had a good year in right field the first time he was here, in 2016. But he was a shell of his former self when he was brought back in 2021, and he ended up getting designated for assignment the first week of July that year.

Garcia was the Sox's 2017 All-Star representative during his injury-plagued tenure with the team, and even though he was around for parts of six seasons, he never was regarded as a franchise cornerstone.

Since 2018, right field has been a revolving door. Daniel Palka shared the position with Garcia and Cordell for a short time. Mazara was a bust in 2020. Adam Engel was always hanging around on the roster, when healthy, and he saw playing time in right field in 2021 after Eaton fell off the map. Brian Goodwin was with the team in 2021, too.

Once 2022 rolled around, there wasn't a right fielder on the roster, so the Sox put two first basemen out there in Andrew Vaughn and Sheets. That was defensive nightmare, with neither man hitting enough to overcome the shortcomings in the field.

Colas was supposed to be the answer in 2023. Instead, his rookie season was poor. He batted .216/.257/.314 with only five home runs in 75 games. His season WAR finished at -1.5, and he was twice demoted to Triple-A Charlotte.

In fact, Colas finished the season at Charlotte. It was quite an indictment that he wasn't welcome on a 101-loss team that was playing out the string in September. Once again, Sheets was getting playing time in right field instead.

As the offseason began, new GM Chris Getz acknowledged that Colas could use more time at Triple-A.

Getz will find no disagreement here. That said, who is the right fielder for the 2024 season? As we sit here on Jan. 9, Sheets still seems to sit atop the depth chart, with Colas next in line. 

The Sox recently signed Brett Phillips to a minor league contract. Phillips, 29, can no doubt handle the position defensively, but he's bounced around for seven seasons, playing for five different teams, because he cannot hit a lick.

In his career, Phillips is batting .187/.272/.347. 

But hey, he played for the Kansas City Royals from 2018 until 2020, so he knows Sox manager Pedro Grifol! That seems to be a qualification that appeals to the Sox these days. Pedro needs his guys, even if they can't play worth a damn.

I'm not counting Phillips in for the 26-man roster when the season starts. After all, he's on a minor league deal, and he'll have to win a job in spring training. Frankly, I don't see him being better than Colas, and that's saying something, because I'm not a fan of Colas' game.

I assume the Sox aren't going to make the mistake of putting Eloy Jimenez in the outfield again. Sure, he could play right field, but only until he gets hurt again.

Maybe the 2024 right fielder is coming in a trade? If starting pitcher Dylan Cease is dealt, as is rumored, perhaps the centerpiece in such a trade would be a young outfielder to start in right field.

It's just not clear what the answer is here, and it hasn't been clear for years and years. Aren't the Sox sick of having a sinkhole at that position yet? 

White Sox beat Rays despite using makeshift lineup

Yasmani Grandal

The White Sox starting lineup in Wednesday's series finale with the Tampa Bay Rays looked like something you would see in a split squad game during spring training -- a mix of regulars and reserves. It wasn't the sort of lineup one typically sees in a June game:

1. Tim Anderson, SS
2. Brian Goodwin, CF
3. Andrew Vaughn, LF
4. Jose Abreu, 1B
5. Yasmani Grandal, DH
6. Jake Lamb, RF
7. Leury Garcia, 3B
8. Zack Collins, C
9. Danny Mendick 2B

It was especially weird to see Goodwin, Lamb and Collins all in there, because they are all left-handed batters, and the Sox were facing a left-handed pitcher in Tampa Bay's Ryan Yarbrough.

But this is triage kind of situation. Nick Madrigal is out for the season with a torn hamstring. Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert are weeks, if not months, away from being healthy, functional big leaguers. Yoan Moncada is out with a sinus infection. Adam Engel, working his way back from a hamstring injury, still isn't ready to play a day game after a night game. Adam Eaton has some sort of leg soreness that is keeping him out of the lineup, and Yermin Mercedes is in a terrible slump.

So, you end up with a piecemeal lineup like this. And, of course, the Sox won because of their offense. They scored four runs in the fourth inning and three in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. After the bullpen let the lead slip, the Sox scored one in the 10th on a walkoff single by Grandal and won, 8-7.

And, oh yeah, Ryan Burr pitched the top of the 10th inning to earn the win, because closer Liam Hendriks was only available in the event of a save situation, which never materialized.

Just the way they drew it up, right?

White Sox waste a brilliant Carlos Rodon start for the second time in a week

Carlos Rodon

In his past two starts, White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon has pitched 12 innings. He's allowed only one run on three hits in those 12 innings, while striking out 23 and walking nobody.

And he didn't win either of those two games because his teammates stink.

On Wednesday, Rodon worked six innings of one-run ball against the St. Louis Cardinals. He struck out 10 and allowed only one hit.

Unfortunately, that hit was a solo home run by Tommy Edman, who hit a poorly located Rodon changeup into the left-field seats. That gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. St. Louis tacked on three runs late against the Sox bullpen and went on to salvage the finale of the three-game series, 4-0.

The Sox left 13 runners on base and went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. In particular, it was a bad day for Yermin Mercedes, who went 0 for 4. His first two times, he came to the plate with the bases loaded. His second two times, he came to the plate with runners at first and second.

You already know the Sox didn't score in this game, so it's plainly obvious how poorly Mercedes did in those RBI situations. The designated hitter is mired in a 2-for-25 slump.

Shortstop Tim Anderson didn't play Wednesday. He's in a 3-for-30 slump. Adam Eaton left Wednesday's game with a sore hamstring. He is batting .125 since April 27.

Also injured Wednesday ... Michael Kopech. He took a weird fall on the mound as he delivered his final pitch of a scoreless seventh inning. He is day-to-day with hamstring soreness, although honestly, it looked like Kopech wrenched his knee. Regardless, he's the best reliever the Sox have this year, so it would be a huge loss if he were to miss much time.

So, yeah, no good news at the old ballpark today. The only blessing is the Cleveland Indians also lost Wednesday, so the Sox maintain their 1.5-game lead in the AL Central for at least another day.

The Baltimore Orioles come to town next for a four-game series starting Thursday night. Good news: The Orioles are a lowly 17-32 this season. Bad news: They've lost nine in a row, which means they are due to win a couple. The odds of baseball say you can't win 'em all, but you also can't lose 'em all.

White Sox lineup construction idea: Try Andrew Vaughn in the No. 2 spot

Andrew Vaughn

Arguing about lineup construction gets old fast, so I try not to jump down that hole too often. But an idea occurred to me while watching the White Sox snap a three-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Try rookie Andrew Vaughn in the No. 2 spot -- at least against left-handed pitchers.

Vaughn hit the longest home run Aroldis Chapman has ever given up Sunday, and that boosted his season slash line against left-handed pitchers to .290/.436/.645.

On Monday night, St. Louis started left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim. Vaughn, batting seventh in the order, got two hits in three plate appearances against Kim -- a double in the second inning and a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth that turned the game in the Sox's favor.

The Sox were trailing 1-0 at that point, but Vaughn put them up 2-1 by pulling a Kim changeup over the left-field wall. Tim Anderson added a two-run double later than inning to make it 4-1, and the Sox cruised from there. 

Lance Lynn (5-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitched seven innings of one-run ball to earn the win. Michael Kopech struck out three over two innings of scoreless relief.

But back to the No. 2 spot in the batting order. On Monday, it was occupied by Adam Eaton, who has been in a slump for the past month. He's batting .198/.305/.351 for the season. Not good, and the picture is even worse against lefties. Eaton is 2 for 22 against left-handed pitchers. He hasn't been playing much against them, nor should he be.

Other players who have been tried in the No. 2 spot include Nick Madrigal and Leury Garcia. Let's just say those two extremely aggressive hitters are more suited to the bottom of the lineup.

After Monday's game, Vaughn overall season slash line is .230/.326/.416, so that means he does struggle against right-handers. But, he's mashing lefties, and he sees pitches and takes walks. Why not move him up in the lineup when a favorable matchup for him presents itself?

2019-20 version of Lucas Giolito appears at right time for White Sox

Lucas Giolito

The best way for the White Sox to move past all the unnecessary drama created by manager Tony La Russa over the past 24 hours was to win a baseball game Wednesday afternoon in Minnesota.

Lucas Giolito made that happen with by far his best effort of the season. The right-hander, who entered the game with an uncharacteristic 2-4 record and 4.97 ERA, dominated the Twins over a season-high eight innings in a 2-1 victory.

He struck out a season-high 11 and allowed only two hits, both to Nelson Cruz, one of which was a home run. Giolito's signature changeup is back in effect. On Wednesday, he threw it 46 times out of 111 pitches, and it led to 13 swings-and-misses by Minnesota batters.

That allowed Giolito to get away with three walks, including two leadoff walks. As the game moved along, he became more efficient with all three of his pitches -- fastball, change and slider. He had 40 pitches through two innings, which made an eight-inning performance seem improbable, but from the fourth inning through the eighth, Giolito used only 58 pitches.

Liam Hendriks, after a rough outing Tuesday, bounced back with a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts to earn his ninth save. Hendriks needed only nine pitches to get three outs, and five of the nine were breaking balls. The Sox closer clearly made an adjustment after surrendering the game-winning hit on a fastball in his previous outing.

The elite run prevention was necessary, since the Sox only managed two runs off Minnesota starter Matt Shoemaker, who had struggled before Wednesday. 

Props to Leury Garcia, who we've criticized a lot on this blog. He was good Wednesday. In the fifth, he doubled and scored on a infield single by Adam Eaton. In the sixth, he delivered a go-ahead RBI single that scored Jake Lamb, who had doubled.

Add it all up, and the Sox finished 10-3 in this 13-game stretch against the Kansas City Royals and the Twins. Any fan should be happy with the team's overall 26-16 record.

I'll admit that I'm more pissed off than I should be. It's just an interesting time for the Sox. They are getting national respect for the play on the field. They are ranked No. 1 in almost every MLB power ranking you can find. But at the same time, they are laughingstocks and a national punching bag, because their 76-year-old manager is lecturing players about unwritten rules, while he himself doesn't know some of the written rules of baseball.

Only the White Sox. But we can hope this team is good enough to drown out the noise and continue to win. Giolito's performance was a good first step in that direction.

Jose Abreu's dash to the plate helps White Sox salvage split with Royals

Well, the White Sox didn't play the most inspiring series against the Kansas City Royals this weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field. They won only two out of the four games, which is good only in the sense that they lost two out of the first three, and come Sunday, a split was the best they could do.

And on Sunday, they were trailing 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. They scored two runs and won, 4-3, capped off by Jose Abreu scoring from third on a wild pitch that wasn't all that wild.

If you haven't seen the video of that play yet, be sure to check it out.

First off, I think Kansas City manager Mike Matheny made some bizarre decisions managing his bullpen this weekend. He used his usual closer, Josh Staumont, to finish off a 6-2 win in Game 1 of a doubleheader Friday. (The Sox won the second game, 3-1). Then he used Staumont in a non-save situation again Saturday, when Kansas City won 5-1.

So, presumably Staumont was unavailable Sunday after needlessly pitching back-to-back days in non-save situations. That left erstwhile veteran Wade Davis to try to close Sunday's game for the Royals, and he failed.

Tim Anderson doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Adam Eaton and scored the tying run on a single by Yoan Moncada.

Abreu was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Yermin Mercedes followed with a single to right field, but Moncada blew through a stop sign by third-base coach Joe McEwing and got thrown out at the plate for the second out.

Fortunately, Abreu took third on the throw, and that ended up mattering. Yasmani Grandal was the next Sox hitter, and of course, opposing teams put on a shift for him when he's batting left-handed.

That means the third baseman is nowhere near the third-base line, and any runner on third can get a pretty good lead in the event that there's a ball in the dirt. From my vantage point -- I was sitting down the third-base line, as you can see in the photo I took before the game started -- Abreu was getting a substantial lead.

And when Davis bounced a breaking ball, Abreu wasted no time breaking for home, even though Kansas City catcher Cam Gallagher did a nice job of blocking the pitch and keeping the ball in the area of the plate. 

Was Abreu safe or out on the bang-bang play at the plate, as Gallagher lunged to try to tag Abreu before he touched the plate? Not sure, but I don't think there was a camera angle that showed anything conclusively. In those cases, the call on the field stands, and the call on the field was safe.

Quite a finish. I've seen plenty of games end on wild pitches, but never one quite like that.

Luis Robert out 12 to 16 weeks ... Now what?

Luis Robert

Get ready to see a lot of Leury Garcia and Billy Hamilton in center field over the next month ... at least.

The White Sox had a successful 6-3 homestand, but I don't think anyone is celebrating. That's because center fielder Luis Robert crumbled in a heap while beating out an infield single in the first inning of Sunday's 5-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians. 

Robert was in tremendous pain, holding the area in front of his right hip while writhing around on the ground in shallow right field. After he was helped to his feet, he couldn't put any weight on his right leg and had to be carried into the dugout. 

Bad news was expected, and bad news was made official Monday, with the announcement that Robert will be out 12 to 16 with a hip flexor tear. It is not known yet whether Robert will undergo surgery, or if rest and rehabilitation will be enough. The timeline for return to baseball activities is expected to be the same, regardless of the treatment path chosen. 

This is a terrible break for Robert, who was off to a fine start this season. He was batting .316/.359/.463, and he was showing much improved plate discipline. Robert has had a weakness for breaking balls down and out of the zone in the past, but he's made significant strides in fixing that problem. Namely, he seems to be recognizing pitches better, and not swinging at as many pitches that are out of the zone. 

The injury is also a substantial blow to the Sox's playoff aspirations. They are already without left fielder Eloy Jimenez until at least August, and it doesn't sound as though Adam Engel will be returning anytime soon. 

Engel suffered a pulled hamstring the third week of March and hasn't played yet this season. The latest report indicates Engel is "back at square one" after a setback, and he will not return to baseball activities for three more weeks. 

This means three of the top four outfielders on the Sox roster are unavailable because of injury, and the other guy -- Adam Eaton -- is hobbling around right field on a sore knee. Eaton is in a terrible slump that has seen his slash line dip to .217/.301/.380. That being said, no matter how bad it gets for Eaton, if he can physically get out there, he has to play. The Sox don't have a lot of alternatives. 

In left field, Andrew Vaughn has gone 7 for his last 19 to pull his slash line up to .275/.373/.373, but he is still without a home run and has only one RBI. But despite his expected rookie struggles, he has to play. 

And that leaves Leury Garcia and Billy Hamilton to share center field until Engel gets healthy. 

Garcia: .200/.224/.246 

Hamilton: .176/.263/.176 

Gulp. Yeah, it's hard not to be discouraged knowing these players are going to get more playing time than they should in the weeks and months ahead. 

Back in the offseason, I thought the Sox needed to sign two outfielders to bolster their depth. They signed only Eaton, and now that weakness is coming home to roost.

My first trip to Guaranteed Rate Field in 575 days

For the first time since Sept. 27, 2019, I was at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday night. It was nice to unite with friends. It was great to see live baseball, and much to my pleasant surprise, the White Sox aren't making a big stink out of the COVID-19 protocols.

I had visions of ushers crapping on fans all night about masking and social distancing and whatnot, but fortunately, ballpark security is leaving people alone to enjoy a ballgame. And enjoy it we did, as the Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1, as part of a three-game weekend sweep.

The Sox are finally over .500 now at 12-9, and they'll take a four-game winning streak into Monday's off day. The Detroit Tigers come to town Tuesday to start a three-game series.

A few thoughts on each game this weekend:

Friday, April 23

White Sox 9, Rangers 7: Yermin Mercedes went 4 for 4 with three RBIs to lead a 16-hit attack. The Sox led 5-0 after three innings, and 6-2 after four, only to see the Rangers rally to tie. Mercedes delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh that put the South Siders ahead to stay.

That said, my biggest takeaway from this game is that the Sox need more from starting pitcher Dylan Cease, who lasted only 3.1 innings. He was fortunate to escape a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, and he needed 80 pitches to get the 10 outs he recorded.

The Sox ended up using five relief pitchers, and Liam Hendriks was needed to record a five-out save. This game was a little more dicey than you might like after having a big lead in the early innings.

Saturday, April 24

White Sox 2, Rangers 1: This was a tight pitching battle between Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel and Texas right-hander Kyle Gibson. The Sox got on the board first when Yoan Moncada scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning.

That 1-0 lead held up until the top of the ninth when Hendriks gave up a solo home run to Willie Calhoun. Again, Hendriks was leaned on heavily Friday night, but there is a legitimate concern that the highly paid closer has given up four homers in 8.2 innings this season. 

But let's give some credit to Calhoun on this one. He got on top of a fastball that was up and out of the zone and hit it deep to right-center field. You don't see left-handed batters hit pitches that high too often. Calhoun must have been looking there, and it was good hitting on his part.

As for Hendriks, he doesn't have the feel for his slider than I remember him having when he was dominating in Oakland. His fastball is still good, and he can get by with just that some of the time, but not all of the time. If major-league hitters can just sit on the fastball, eventually they'll catch up to it. I look for Hendriks to be more effective once he can start throwing his breaking ball for strikes.

Despite the blown save, the Sox won on a two-out, RBI double by Nick Madrigal in the bottom of the ninth. The hit scored Luis Robert, who had singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Yasmani Grandal. After an intentional walk to Mercedes and a strikeout of Billy Hamilton, Madrigal delivered.

Sunday, April 25

White Sox 8, Rangers 4: So, are we excited about Michael Kopech yet? Yeah, I think it's fair to be happy about what we're seeing from the rookie right-hander.

Lucas Giolito has a cut on the middle finger of his throwing hand, so Kopech made a spot start Sunday in his place. He was dazzling, striking out 10 with no walks over five innings of one-run ball. Those 10 strikeouts occurred over his first four innings, too. Kopech might have tired a bit in the fifth, but he got through the inning to earn a well-deserved win.

Crazy thing is, Kopech really didn't need his secondary pitches. His fastball command was impeccable, and even when he did miss with the fastball, it was a "good" miss, in a place where the Texas batters couldn't hurt him. The only run he allowed was on a hanging slider, which David Dahl hit out of the park in the second inning.

Kopech threw 87 pitches, 60 of them for strikes. Fifty-five of the 87 pitches were fastballs, 11 swings and misses, 14 called strikes and 13 foul balls. The Texas batters could not square him up at all.

The Sox scored eight runs in the first three innings, highlighted by Jose Abreu's fifth home run of the season, a two-run triple by Madrigal and an RBI triple by Adam Eaton.

Jonathan Stiever made his season debut for the Sox in the sixth, and it was a bad one. He gave up four straight hits and did not retire a batter. He ended up being charged with three runs. Garrett Crochet had two inherited runners score on his watch, but he settled down to provide three scoreless innings of relief. Jose Ruiz worked a scoreless ninth, giving the back of the Sox bullpen a needed rest.

 

Shane Bieber is just a little bit better than Lucas Giolito

Shane Bieber

The heavyweight pitching matchup lived up to the hype. Neither Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber nor White Sox ace Lucas Giolito gave up a run Tuesday night.

These two high-end pitchers have matched up three times since the start of the 2020 season. All three times, Cleveland has won, and Bieber came away with a 2-0, 10-inning victory in this latest showdown.

Here are the final lines for both pitchers:

Bieber: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 11 Ks, 1 BB, 113 pitches, 85 strikes

Giolito: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 2 BBs, 107 pitches, 75 strikes

Nothing against Giolito, who is a strong pitcher for the Sox, and he was excellent in this game. However, while Giolito is a top-10 pitcher in the American League, Bieber might be the very best.

The Cleveland right-hander was absolutely dominant through eight innings. He allowed only three men to reach base, and not a single Sox base runner reached second until the bottom of the ninth. And, he was efficient with his pitches -- I believe he only had 67 pitches through six innings. That's how you hang around through the ninth.

Bieber was not vulnerable until the ninth. With the score still 0-0, Adam Eaton singled with one out, and Jose Abreu walked with two outs. That put runners on first and second for Yoan Moncada, who had a chance to win the game, but he struck out swinging, flailing helplessly at Bieber's knuckle curve.

That ended Bieber's night, and when Cleveland scored two in the 10th, he got the win.

As for Giolito, he was strong through seven, but with his pitch count elevated, he walked Roberto Perez to lead off the top of the eighth, and his night was over.

Evan Marshall was effective for the second straight night, stranding that inherited runner and retiring all three men he faced in the eighth. Liam Hendriks also did his job for the Sox, working a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

But when extra innings began, the Sox had already used two of their best relievers, because Giolito didn't go as deep in the game as Bieber.

Garrett Crochet (0-2) came out to work the 10th, and with his diminished velocity, he was bad. He couldn't field his position. We all know the man-on-second-to-start-the-inning rule was in effect, and Crochet flubbed a comebacker off the bat of Josh Naylor. Just like that, Cleveland had runners on the corners, and there was real trouble coming.

After Yu Chang flew out to shallow right, Roberto Perez had an RBI infield single, and Amed Rosario added an RBI double to make it 2-0 Cleveland.

It could have been worse. The Indians had runners at second and third with only one out when Matt Foster relieved Crochet. The Sox right-hander stranded those runners to give his team a fighting chance.

Moncada started the inning as the automatic runner at second base, and he would not score. Nick Williams, batting in the fifth spot for some reason, struck out against James Karinchak. Yasmani Grandal grounded out, and Jake Lamb flew out to the wall in right field, narrowly missing a game-tying homer, to end the game.

Tough loss for the Sox, who are 5-6, but have yet to have a starting pitcher suffer a loss. In the 60-game 2020 season, the Sox bullpen took 10 losses. In the first 11 games of 2021, the Sox bullpen has lost six times.

I'm thinking maybe they should use a more veteran guy when they get to extra innings. Crochet has been called on in that situation twice. The rookie has lost twice.

At least the White Sox didn't lose Monday ...

Adam Eaton

As fans, we have to get used to the idea that these early spring games are not going to be nine-inning affairs. Major League Baseball is shortening games to limit contact and prevent COVID-19 infections during a time where results don't matter.

It took the White Sox and Los Angeles Angels two hours and 16 minutes to play five innings Monday, and honestly, that was probably enough for the second game of Cactus League ball. Did these two teams need to stand out there for four hours in what was a poorly pitched affair? Probably not.

Anyway, Monday's game ended in a 4-4 tie. The Angels got one run in the first and three more in the third to take a 4-0 lead. The Sox rallied with four runs in the fourth to force the tie.

I didn't see a single pitch, because the game was over before I got off work, which prevented me from using my free subscription to MLB.tv for the first time. Oh well. 

The good

Some of the good news, based on the box score:

1. Adam Eaton. The new (old) Sox right fielder was 1 for 1 with an RBI in three plate appearances. He was hit by a pitch in the first inning, singled in the third and tied the game at 4 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

2. Luis Robert. The center fielder batted leadoff and went 1 for 3. The hit was an RBI double as part of the four-run fourth inning.

3. Leury Garcia. He had a single and a walk in two plate appearances, and he added a stolen base.

The bad

Some of the bad news, based on the box score:

1. Ryan Burr. The right-hander missed all of 2020 with Tommy John surgery, and he probably doesn't figure in the Sox's Opening Day roster plans anyway. But he got shelled for three runs on three hits in the Angels' three-run third.

2. Eloy Jimenez. He was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and didn't get the ball out of the infield. Not that we're really worried about Jimenez. He'll be fine, but other than Burr, he was probably the only guy who had a rough day.

For better or for worse, Liam Hendriks is the big White Sox offseason acquisition

Liam Hendriks

Forgive me if this offseason is giving me flashbacks to 2014-15 as a White Sox fan. The players general manager Rick Hahn has acquired this year remind me a little of the guys he brought in that winter.

Here in 2020-21, we've got Lance Lynn starring as Jeff Samardzija, and Adam Eaton as Melky Cabrera. And ... introducing Liam Hendriks as David Robertson!

OK, I think Lynn is a better pitcher than Samardzija. And for all his limitations, Eaton is at least a more economical roster addition than Cabrera was. And Hendriks, the latest White Sox signee, is similar to Robertson in the sense that he was the best free-agent relief pitcher on the market.

Hendriks, a 31-year-old right-hander, was signed Monday to a three-year, $54 million contract. He will earn $13 million in each of the next three seasons. The deal includes a $15 million club option for 2024, with a $15 million buyout -- hence the $54 million in guaranteed money.

I don't want to make the same argument twice, so I'll refer everyone back to my previous comments on Hendriks. Hey, the guy has been an elite relief pitcher the past two seasons. It's reasonable to believe he makes the Sox better. He brings swing-and-miss stuff to the closer's role --13.1 strikeouts per nine innings in both 2019 and 2020 -- and that's an element the Sox bullpen has been lacking.

On paper, Hendriks is a better closer than Alex Colome, and I would never argue otherwise. Thing is, at $54 million, it's likely that Hendriks will be the biggest free-agent addition this offseason, and my concern overall has been whether closer is the appropriate position to spend money on. I felt as though starting pitching and right field were bigger needs. 

The Sox filled those two spots with cheaper acquisitions in Lynn and Eaton.

Am I the only one who finds it fascinating that the Sox are willing to shop at the top of the market for relief pitching, while being unwilling to do so at any other position?

They ponied up for Robertson back in 2014-15, and now they made Hendriks their top target. However, they seem uninterested in George Springer, the best outfielder on the market, and uninterested in Trevor Bauer, the best starting pitcher on the market. It's frustrating and baffling to see the Sox not pursue those guys.

But, let me say this for the Sox: Who else in the American League is doing ANYTHING this offseason? Nobody, really. 

Aside from the San Diego Padres and New York Mets, two National League clubs, the Sox are the only team that appears to actively be trying to get better. 

Even though I wish they were doing more, they are at least doing something, so there's that.

White Sox sign Adam Engel to one-year deal, avoiding arbitration

Adam Engel

One minor announcement for the White Sox today: The team signed outfielder Adam Engel to a one-year, $1.35 million contract, avoiding arbitration.

Engel had a career-best season in a part-time role in 2020. He batted .295/.333/.477 in 36 games. He totaled five doubles, three home runs, one triple, 12 RBIs and 11 runs scored in 93 plate appearances. Engel, a plus defender, played all three outfield positions and started 23 games last season.

Over the past two seasons, the right-handed-hitting Engel has carved a niche as a platoon player. Since the beginning of 2019, he has batted .310/.355/.466 against left-handed pitching. He homered off Oakland left-hander Jesus Luzardo in Game 1 of the 2020 playoffs.

In 2021, Engel is expected to platoon in right field with left-handed-hitting Adam Eaton, who was signed to a one-year contract earlier this offseason.

The biggest free agent linked to the White Sox is ... Liam Hendriks?

Liam Hendriks

The White Sox are 92-1 when leading after eight innings over the past two seasons. That is good evidence that the bullpen is NOT the greatest area of need on the South Side of Chicago.

Yet, the biggest free agent who has been linked to the Sox is a closer, Liam Hendriks.

Granted, the Sox's incumbent closer, Alex Colome, also is a free agent. As of this writing, it remains unclear who will be tasked with closing games for the Sox in 2021.

We'll also acknowledge that Hendriks is a more dominant relief pitcher than Colome. Based on recent track records, it would be foolish to argue that Hendriks would not help the Sox. Let's take a look at the numbers from these two pitchers over the past two years:

Colome in 2019: 4-5, 2.80 ERA, 30 saves, 61 IP, 55 Ks, 23 BBs, 1.066 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9

Hendriks in 2019: 4-4, 1.80 ERA, 25 saves, 85 IP, 124 Ks, 21 BBs, 0.965 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9

Colome in 2020: 2-0, 0.81 ERA, 12 saves, 22.1 IP, 16 Ks, 8 BBs, 0.940 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9

Hendriks in 2020: 3-1, 1.78 ERA, 14 saves, 25.1 IP, 37 Ks, 3 BBs, 0.671 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, 1.1 BB/9

There's no getting around it. Hendriks was the best reliever in the American League in 2020. And he's better than Colome. He strikes out more batters. He walks fewer batters. In general, fewer batters reach base against him. That's exactly what you want in a closer.

Here's the problem: To sign Hendriks, it's probably going to take a four-year deal, worth somewhere between $50 million and $60 million. That sort of outlay would probably be the biggest the Sox would make in this most unusual of offseasons.

The question isn't whether Hendriks is good. The question is whether he's the best use of (apparently) scarce resources.

Closer has not been a problem for the Sox. If need be, they could probably retain Colome on a two-year commitment for a lot less -- maybe two years, $20 million. And even if Colome leaves, you still have two left-handers (Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet) and three right-handers (Codi Heuer, Evan Marshall and Matt Foster) who can be used in high-leverage situations.

Meanwhile, the Sox had a right fielder last season (Nomar Mazara) who posted an OPS+ of 64. League-average is 100, so that means Mazara was 36% below league average.

They also had a DH (Edwin Encarnacion) who posted an OPS+ of 70, or 30% below league average.

These are glaring, massive holes that are begging to be solved through free agency. Colome is not as good as Hendriks, but he's also not below league average. The closer spot simply is not a liability, while right field and DH are.

The Sox have already strangely plugged right field with Adam Eaton, who had a 76 OPS+ last season -- he should fit right in, LOL.

To the Sox's credit, they plugged a hole in the starting rotation by trading for Lance Lynn, who is both good and reasonably priced. Lynn will earn $8 million in 2021.

That means there still should be room with the payroll to make a significant addition on a multi-year deal. Should that money be spent on an upgrade at closer? Not in my world. A better use of money would be adding an impact bat who can help you each and every day. 

You don't need a $15 million closer to win a World Series.

White Sox GM Rick Hahn shouldn't be counting on guys on 1-year deals

Adam Eaton

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of White Sox GM Rick Hahn. I think he's replacement level, and I've never understood the irrational love he receives from some segments of the fan base.

I don't think his track record in free agent signings is good, and a lot of that stems from the massive failures we've seen the Sox have over the past six or seven years shopping at the bottom of the market.

And by the bottom of the market, I mean guys who are signing one-year deals. The latest Sox signing, Adam Eaton, comes on a one-year deal and is being sold to fans as a right field solution for a "World Series or bust" season.

Color me skeptical. Kudos to Jim Margalus over at Sox Machine for putting together a list of previous Hahn one-year contracts. It's every bit as bad as you think it is. Let's take a look at some of these names, and the WAR of those players:

2014:

• Felipe Paulino, 0 WAR
• Scott Downs, -0.5 WAR
• Ronald Belisario, -1.5 WAR

2015:

• Geovany Soto, 1.0 WAR
• Emilio Bonifacio, -0.8 WAR
• Gordon Beckham, 0.7 WAR

2016:

• Dioner Navarro, -0.7 WAR
• Alex Avila, 0.3 WAR
• Austin Jackson, -0.1 WAR
• Jimmy Rollins, -0.1 WAR
• Mat Latos, 0.4 WAR 

2017:

• Derek Holland, -1.6 WAR

2018:

• Miguel Gonzalez, -0.7 WAR
• Hector Santiago, 0.7 WAR 

2019:

• Jon Jay, -0.8 WAR
• James McCann, 1.0 WAR
• Ervin Santana, -0.4 WAR

2020:

• Gio Gonzalez, -0.3 WAR
• Edwin Encarnacion, -0.5 WAR
• Steve Cishek, -0.2 WAR

As Margalus notes, that's a total of -4.1 WAR for players that the Sox invested a total of $78.25 million in. Take out the two successes -- McCann and to a lesser extent Soto -- and it's $74.25 million invested for a -6.1 WAR.

So, you can understand the skepticism whenever the Sox sign a one-year stopgap. I'm a fair man, so let me say this: There's a lot of below-average or bad players on this list who were brought on with low expectations. Some of these signings were made to fill gaps in rebuilding seasons.

You can make an argument -- and a good argument -- that a lot of these players were available on one-year deals for a reason. 

That being said, I can retort by saying that Eaton is available on a one-year deal for a reason. He's 32 years old. He's often injured. He's been injured three of the past four seasons, in fact, and he's coming off a down year. His best years were from 2014 to 2016 with the Sox, and he hasn't been the same player since.

These kinds of "take a flyer" signings were fine during a tanking period, but this isn't rebuilding anymore. By the Sox's own words, this is time to win a championship.

So why is the front office still aiming low in free agency? Just asking.

C'mon, Hahn. C'mon, Jerry Reinsdorf. Step up, prove me wrong and sign a difference-making free agent. There are good fits out there.

White Sox trade for pitcher Lance Lynn (OK), sign outfielder Adam Eaton (huh?)

Lance Lynn

We asked for some offseason moves, and now we have two. The White Sox on Tuesday acquired veteran right-handed pitcher Lance Lynn from the Texas Rangers in exchange for right-hander Dane Dunning. 

They also agreed to terms with right fielder Adam Eaton on a one-year, $7 million contract.

Let's start with the Lynn move. The 33-year-old had two good seasons in Texas back-to-back. In 2019, he went 16-11 with a 3.67 ERA and finished fifth in the American League Cy Young Award voting. 

He followed that up in the shortened season of 2020 by going 6-3 with a 3.32 ERA, good enough to finish sixth in the Cy Young voting.

Over those two seasons, Lynn has missed plenty of bats with his fastball-cutter-heavy approach. He struck out 246 batters in 208.1 innings in 2019, and 89 batters in 84 innings this past season. 

Lynn joins Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel at the top of the Sox's starting rotation. In 2020, Keuchel finished fifth in the Cy Young voting, while Giolito was seventh. This means the Sox have three of the top seven American League pitchers in 2020 on their roster for 2021.

And even with the departure of Dunning, there is some depth. Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez will be expected to vie for the remaining two rotation spots. Don't be surprised if the Sox add another veteran starter to provide additional competition. (Jose Quintana? Adam Wainwright? James Paxton?)

I like Dunning and thought he showed promised during his seven starts with the Sox in 2020, during which he went 2-0 with a 3.97 ERA. However, he projects as a back-of-the-rotation pitcher over the long haul. Your farm system should be able to churn out pitchers like Dunning regularly, so there shouldn't be a lot of harm in using him as a trade piece for a more established pitcher.

One drawback to this deal: Lynn only has one year left on his contract. He'll make $8 million in 2021, a bargain if he continues to produce in the same manner we saw in Texas. That adds urgency for the Sox next season. If Lynn is your "finishing piece" for the rotation, then you have to do everything possible to win right now.

And since Lynn doesn't make a ton of money, you figured there would be room left in the payroll to sign a high-end right fielder, right?

Well, too bad, we'll get Eaton whether we like it or not. The 32-year-old is coming off a rough, injury-plagued season with the Washington Nationals, in which he batted .226/.285/.384 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 41 games.

His career slash line is .282/.360/.416, so I'm sure the Sox are hoping he'll bounce back to something resembling that. However, "hope for the best" is not a great strategy in a win-now season. And I'm not really convinced the Sox needed to pony up $7 million to sign this player.

For me, Eaton isn't a guy you sign on Dec. 8. He's the guy you sign when you've whiffed on all your other targets. In short, he's a fallback option. 

Even if the Sox aren't in the bidding for George Springer, I'd still have Michael Brantley, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Eddie Rosario ahead of Eaton on my board -- and maybe the Sox will still sign one of those guys. 

It's just a weird business strategy to make a secondary free agent signing your first offseason move. It's early in the offseason at this point, so maybe as time goes along, we'll see how Eaton fits into the big picture.

I'm OK with the Lynn move, but not overly impressed with settling for Eaton right now.