White Sox acquire RF Nomar Mazara from Texas Rangers

Nomar Mazara

Unless there are more moves to come, your starting right fielder for the 2020 Chicago White Sox is Nomar Mazara.

Underwhelming, isn't it?

The Sox acquired the 24-year-old outfielder from the Texas Rangers on Tuesday in exchange for outfield prospect Steele Walker.

Before we talk about Mazara, let's be clear about one thing: While Walker had a good season at Class-A Winston-Salem in 2019, he was expendable. He's a 23-year-old who has never taken a single at-bat above A-ball. So, from that perspective, wouldn't you rather have a 24-year old with four years of MLB experience? That's Mazara.

Mazara batted .268/.318/.469 with 19 home runs and 66 RBIs in 116 games for the Rangers last season. I'm not impressed, but before we get to why, let's check off some of the good points for Mazara:

• He bats left. That's an area of need, and he did bat .288/.344/.500 with 13 home runs against right-handed pitching last season. You can do worse than an .844 OPS against righties.
• He's clearly better than Daniel Palka, Jon Jay or Ryan Cordell. Duh. As I indicated, you can do worse than an .844 OPS against righties, and the Sox did do worse last season when their right fielders posted a collective .565 OPS. Blech.
• Mazara has hit 20 home runs in three of his first four seasons, and he has a 101-RBI season under his belt (2017).
• He's only 24, so there's still a chance that he could improve, and he's under control for two more years.

Now, here's some of the reasons NOT to be excited about this trade:

• In his four seasons, Mazara has posted a career OPS+ of 93. In each individual season, his OPS+ has been 93, 90, 96 and 96. A league-average right fielder has an OPS+ of 100, so Mazara has been 7% below league average for his career. His career OPS is a pedestrian .754.
• Mazara has never posted a WAR of more than 1.1 in any season, according to baseballreference.com. In part, this is because he is a subpar defender with limited range, who takes poor routes in right field.
• He can't hit lefties and needs a platoon partner. He batted .220/.252/.394 against left-handed pitching in 2019.
• He strikes out a lot, just like everyone else who plays for the Sox. Mazara struck out 108 times last season, and that represents a career low.
• He doesn't walk. Mazara also walked a career-low 28 times in 2019, and his career on-base percentage is .318. That fits right in with an endemic problem the Sox have: They don't get on base nearly enough.
   

It seems to me this move is only good if Mazara is placed in a platoon role. There are better outfielders out there in free agency -- Nicholas Castellanos, Marcell Ozuna, Yasiel Puig -- and most of them swing from the right side of plate. Maybe the Sox need to bring one of these guys in to play right field against left-handed pitching and serve as the designated hitter against right-handed pitching. (For the record, Puig is my choice.)

Mazara just doesn't strike me as a good "Plan A" in right field for a team that claims to be taking steps forward toward contention over the next couple of years.

Of course, Mazara is 24, so he could get better, but given the Sox's track record, do you trust that they can unlock whatever untapped potential may be lurking inside this player? 

White Sox have two big lineup holes -- I mean, big lineup holes

Leury Garcia

When Leury Garcia lined the second pitch he saw Tuesday night off the top of the right-field fence for a long single, he narrowly missed hitting the fourth home run of the season for White Sox right fielders.

Yes, you read that right. It is not a misprint.

Major League batters have hit 6,085 home runs coming into Wednesday night's play. If 20 home runs are hit in Wednesday night's games -- a good bet -- a new single-season record will be set.

However, only three of those 6,085 home runs have been hit by Sox right fielders. That's pathetic, given that corner outfield is considered an offensive position.

I don't mean to single out Garcia, who has seven home runs and has seen most of his playing time in center field this season. He is a very small contributor to the lack of power in right field -- Jon Jay, Ryan Cordell, Charlie Tilson and Daniel Palka are the main culprits in this outage.

Here is the season slash line for Sox right fielders: .212/.270/.272 with three home runs and 35 RBIs.

Yikes. Remember when we used to complain that Avisail Garcia wasn't hitting for enough power? His 19 home runs with Tampa Bay would look pretty good on the South Side right now, don't you think?

This problem is compounded by the fact that Sox designated hitters stink. They've hit .195/.276/.320 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs.

It's pretty tough to compete when you're getting such poor production out of two offense-oriented positions.

The average big league team has hit 203 home runs this season. The Sox have hit 155. Let's say the Sox need to add one, if not two, middle-of-the-order bats for 2020.

Charlotte Knights blow opportunity to go to Triple-A playoffs

If you've been watching White Sox games lately -- and you deserve a medal if you have -- you have probably noticed that the TV broadcast team of Jason Benetti and Steve Stone has been touting the potential benefits of a deep playoff run for the Sox's Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights.

It was hard not to feel as though Benetti and Stone were preparing fans for the inevitable -- the fact that top prospects were not going to be called up for September, and that "going to win a championship together" would be ideal for the better players on that Charlotte roster.

Well, guess what?

Charlotte lost eight of its last nine games and blew a four-game lead in the wild-card race over the last 10 days. So, I guess you might say the Knights had the experience of "choking together," and we can only hope the players involved will deal with the situation better should they receive such an opportunity again.

The losing streak was characterized by a three-game sweep at the hands of the Durham Bulls, the team that ultimately took the playoff spot away from Charlotte. Here's a true story: Manny Banuelos and Carson Fulmer basically blew it for the Knights.

Banuelos made a rehab start Aug. 27 and got shelled for seven earned runs over four innings. He gave up seven hits, including three home runs, as Durham beat Charlotte, 10-6.

The very next day, the Knights took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, only to see Fulmer come on and allow three of the four batters he faced to reach base -- two on walks and one on a hit. Two of those runners ended up scoring as Durham topped Charlotte, 3-2.

If the Knights win either of those two games, they are in the playoffs, Durham is not, and the season continues for two of the Sox's top prospects -- Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal.

Instead, Robert and Madrigal are going home without a September call-up -- money and service time are most important, you know? -- while Fulmer and Banuelos hysterically were the only two men the Sox called to the big leagues on Sept. 1.

Both these two failed pitchers were seen on the mound Monday, giving up runs as the Sox lost, 11-3, to the Cleveland Indians. With the defeat, the South Siders (60-77) tied their season-worst losing streak at seven games. Will these guys ever win a game again? It doesn't seem like it.

For the record, the Sox did make some call-ups on Tuesday now that Charlotte's season is over. Zack Collins is back, as he should be, and Danny Mendick is rightfully getting a shot. With Jon Jay going on the 60-day injured list with a hip problem, Mendick was added to the 40-man roster.

Let's hope both Collins and Mendick get some playing time from manager Rick Renteria. It would be nice to have more information on these two players going into the offseason. Can Collins be on this roster as a catcher in 2020? Is Mendick a viable option as a utility infielder? I don't know, but now is a good time to see what we can learn about these two guys.

Outfielder Daniel Palka and pitcher Dylan Covey also were recalled, in two moves that we need not get excited over. Let's just hope we don't see Covey back in the starting rotation, and let's hope we don't see Palka getting at-bats ahead of Collins.

Why is Yoan Moncada still in Charlotte? Zack Collins? Luis Robert?

White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte at the end of last week. Through three games with the Knights, he was 4 for 12 with a home run.

Then, he didn't play Sunday night, so I figured he was flying to Minnesota to join the team for its three-game series with the Twins starting Monday night.

After all, the Sox lost three out of four over the weekend to the Los Angeles Angels. They could use the help.

But no, Moncada is playing for Charlotte (again) on Monday night. Why? Who knows?

In other news from the farm, Zack Collins was named International League Batter of the Week. The left-handed slugger hit .538 (14 for 26) with eight runs scored, three doubles, four home runs and nine RBIs over seven games this week.

This is terrific news, as Collins has been swinging a hot bat since his demotion to Charlotte. Whatever adjustments he is making are working, and I'm in favor of his return to Chicago. Alas, it hasn't happened yet.

Given the Sox's struggles against even mediocre right-handed pitching of late, perhaps the lineup would look better with Moncada and Collins in it. Manager Rick Renteria continues to resort to Jon Jay batting cleanup against right-handed pitchers. This cannot continue.

And then there's Luis Robert, who homered twice Sunday night and homered again in Monday's game for Charlotte. Robert was batting .306 and slugging .639 in 33 games coming into Monday night, and this latest home run is his 12th since his promotion from Double-A Birmingham.

I just don't see what Robert has left to prove in Triple-A. I hope we see him -- and Collins -- in Chicago sooner rather than later. It's time to get ready for 2020, and those two men need to be part of it. 

Sox brass, unfortunately, seems more content to kill time with Jay, Ryan Cordell and Adam Engel all on the big league roster, not to mention Matt Skole, Welington Castillo and Ryan Goins. Well, I guess Goins is making a case to be around in 2020, but the rest of these guys are just filler.

At what point does this rebuild move on from roster filler?

Reason to celebrate: White Sox don't play Oakland again this season

Mike Fiers

The White Sox played six games against the Oakland Athletics this season, and they were outscored 32-8. Yes, that's right: The Sox scored only eight runs in six games against Oakland pitching. In that context, it's a miracle they won one -- and that came Saturday night.

Here's a look back at the weekend series at Guaranteed Rate Field, during which the A's won two out of three games.

Friday, Aug. 9
A's 7, White Sox 0: Friday was one of those days when I looked at the pitching matchup and said, "The Sox have no chance today." They've never hit Mike Fiers well, and I never have high expectations for any Ross Detwiler start.

In fairness to Detwiler (1-3), there's was nothing wrong with his outing -- even though he took the loss. He went 5.2 innings and allowed two earned runs (both on solo home runs) on four hits. Matt Chapman homered in the first inning. Stephen Piscotty homered in the second.

That was plenty for Fiers (11-3), who struck out eight, walked nobody and allowed only three hits over seven shutout innings. The Sox finished the game with four hits, all singles.

The game got out of hand in the eighth inning, when the A's scored five runs off the combination of Jace Fry and Josh Osich. Fry failed to retire a hitter and was charged with four runs after he allowed two walks and two hits, including a home run by Chad Pinder.

Good job, good effort.

Saturday, Aug. 10
White Sox 3, A's 2: It was Eloy Jimenez bobblehead night, and the rookie left fielder marked the occasion by hitting his 19th home run of the season. The Sox scored their other two runs with speed. Leury Garcia stole third base and scored a run when the throw by Oakland catcher Chris Herrmann squirted away into shallow left field. Tim Anderson, while running on a 3-2 pitch, scored from first base on a single by Welington Castillo.

That backed a nice effort from Reynaldo Lopez (7-9), who navigated around six hits allowed and three walks to toss 6.1 shutout innings. Lopez did not have swing-and-miss stuff -- he struck out only three, but he benefited from three double plays.

The Sox bullpen was shaky, as Oakland stranded eight runners over the last three innings. The A's loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, when Jon Jay made a nice running catch in right field to save a potential bases-clearing double off Pinder's bat.

Oakland placed runners on first and second with two out in the eighth, and Anderson made a nice play to his left to throw out Piscotty for the third out.

The Sox led, 3-0, going into the ninth, but the A's scored two unearned runs against Alex Colome, who struck out Khris Davis with two outs and the bases loaded to earn his 23rd save of the season.

Sunday, Aug. 11
A's 2, White Sox 0: The Sox honored newly inducted Hall of Famer Harold Baines with a ceremony before the game (more on that later), and frankly, the team might as well have allowed the 60-year-old Baines to take an at-bat -- he couldn't have done any worse than the current Sox hitters did against Chris Bassitt (8-5) and three Oakland relievers.

The South Siders managed only five hits (four of them singles) and didn't have a man reach third base after the second inning.

Too bad because Lucas Giolito (12-6) struck out a career high 13 and walked only one in six innings pitched. Unfortunately, he had one bad inning where he allowed a two-run homer to Oakland's Matt Olson, and given the way Sox hitters handle Oakland pitching, that was enough to get him beat on this day.

In Giolito's previous outing, he wasn't sharp at all in allowing three runs over six innings to the lowly Detroit Tigers. But, he won that start. On Sunday, I thought he was impressive, but he lost. That's baseball for you; it's a funny game.

And we can only speculate why Oakland has seemingly owned the Sox for decades.

White Sox activate Jon Jay, designate Odrisamer Despaigne for assignment

Jon Jay

Jonah Keri of the The Athletic released his weekly power rankings Monday. The White Sox are accurately ranked No. 23, and in his comments, Keri offered the opinion that perhaps the Sox need to move on from Ivan Nova.

"Carrying a pitcher with a 5.91 ERA, a flaccid strikeout rate and more than 1.7 homers allowed per nine innings is what you do when you’re fully tanking, not when you’re trying to win games," Keri wrote. "Whether it’s mining the farm system or going outside the organization, the Sox should try to find a better option for their rotation."

I cannot disagree, but here's the problem with that statement: There are two spots in the Sox's rotation that are even bigger question marks than the spot occupied by Nova.

The Sox cleaned out some of the trash Monday when they designated Odrisamer Despaigne for assignment. The 32-year-old right-hander made three starts for the Sox and went 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched.

Despaigne allowed 31 (!) base runners in those 13.1 innings -- 24 hits and seven walks. He recorded only seven strikeouts. In his most recent outing, he was handed a 4-0 lead against the Texas Rangers and promptly gave it all back in three innings as part of a 6-5 loss.

In that game, it took Despaigne 39 pitches to get through the first inning. He threw 68 pitches for the outing and got only two swinging strikes. He doesn't have the stuff to get people out, so good riddance.

The Sox replaced him on the 25-man roster with veteran outfielder Jon Jay, who hasn't played yet this season. In 16 games on a rehab assignment, Jay went 21 for 63 (.333) with a couple of doubles and seven RBIs. That's an extraordinarily long rehab stint, and I was wondering whether the Sox were trying to trade one of Jay, Charlie Tilson or Ryan Cordell.

Instead, all three of those men are on the roster, which makes for a crowded outfield. Meanwhile, there are only three starting pitchers on the 25-man -- Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Nova.

What a strange situation. When will upper management do something, anything to fix this problem with starting pitching?

It's literally Giolito and pray for rain at this point, and there's no way Giolito can keep up the ridiculous hot streak he's been on over the past couple of months.

Despaigne clearly was not the answer, and never had a chance of being the answer. If Rick Hahn does not want to call up Dylan Cease, he better be working the phones for a trade.

Eloy Jimenez is on White Sox Opening Day roster (and so is Ryan Cordell)

As expected, top prospect Eloy Jimenez will be on the White Sox's Opening Day roster. He is scheduled to start in left field Thursday when the team begins the season against the Kansas City Royals.

Because Jimenez previously had been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte before signing a six-year, $43 million contract extension, someone had to be placed on the injured list for Jimenez to be recalled.

That someone is Jon Jay, who is sidelined by a hip injury.

As we noted in our previous blog, the Sox are carrying 12 pitchers to start the season -- four starters and eight relievers. Fifth starter Ervin Santana is on a minor-league deal. He isn't needed until April 10, so he won't be added to the 40-man roster, let alone the 25-man roster, until then.

That means the Sox are carrying 13 position players. Daniel Palka and Jose Rondon are safely on the team (for now), and surprisingly, Ryan Cordell is coming north with the Sox.

Cordell is likely to be optioned back to Triple-A Charlotte the moment Santana is needed. When Jay comes back, Palka, Rondon and possibly Adam Engel could be in danger of losing their roster spot.

Here are the 13 position players:

Catchers: Welington Castillo, James McCann
Infielders: Jose Abreu, Yonder Alonso, Yolmer Sanchez, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Rondon
Outfielders: Jimenez, Engel, Palka, Cordell, Leury Garcia

The thing I'll be watching on Opening Day: pitcher Carlos Rodon's performance. Rodon is "finally healthy," so they say, but I don't know if his velocity has ever come back since he had shoulder surgery late in 2017.

Rodon averaged only 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 20 starts last season. In previous seasons, he had never been below 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings. In 2018, he didn't have his best fastball, and his slider was spotty at best.

What kind of stuff will he feature this year? We get our first look Thursday.

Eloy Jimenez's spring training slump provides cover for White Sox front office

Eloy Jimenez

Eloy Jimenez would have been called up to the big leagues last season if it weren't for service time manipulation.

Let's just be honest about it. The White Sox aren't *that* concerned with his outfield defense. They are concerned about what their payroll will look like seven years from now, and they want to delay Jimenez's free agency for as long as possible.

For that reason, he will start this season at Triple-A Charlotte, even if he were hitting .997 in the Cactus League.

While I believe Jimenez, the No. 3 prospect in baseball, should be starting at a corner outfield spot for the Sox on Opening Day, the reality is we won't see him until about mid-April at the earliest. After that, the Sox can call him up without losing a year of team control.

And make no mistake, some in the front office have to be breathing a sigh of relief that Jimenez is 3 for 23 with eight strikeouts and only one home run so far this spring. If this continues for another week or two, Sox brass will be able to point to this slump as a good reason to keep Jimenez in the minors for a little while longer.

They won't be completely wrong. As a rule, I'm in favor of calling players to the majors for the first time when they are playing well, not when they are struggling.

However, I don't think Jimenez is your typical prospect. I don't think this slump will lessen his confidence. He didn't seem concerned in this latest interview, and I think he believes that he's a big-leaguer right now, today. That's half the battle right there.

Regardless of what anyone says, Jimenez is without question the best corner outfield option on the Sox's 40-man roster. No way Jon Jay, Daniel Palka or Nicky Delmonico should be playing ahead of him.

His cold spring hasn't cooled my opinion on him. I want to see him in the major leagues, and I think it pretty much stinks that he's being held back because of silly service time rules that hopefully will be changed in the next collective bargaining agreement.

White Sox remind everyone that they are cheap, timid and stupid

Manny Machado

Remember when White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the team and its fans are allowed to have nice things?

Turns out we're not, surprise surprise. As expected on this blog, the Sox failed to sign Manny Machado. The superstar infielder agreed to terms Tuesday on a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres, according to reports.

That's right, the Padres. Not the New York Yankees. Not the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not the Boston Red Sox. Not the Philadelphia Phillies. Not the Cubs.

The Padres, who haven't had a winning season since 2010 and are one of the few clubs with a longer postseason drought than the Sox. (San Diego last made the playoffs in 2006.)

According to reports, the Sox weren't willing to go above eight years and $250 million in guaranteed money. In fact, senior vice president Ken Williams said the Sox weren't willing to go to the $300 million mark to sign this player.

"That level wasn't feasible to us because we still have to project putting together a total winning roster and keeping the young players that will ultimately earn into greater dollars themselves," Williams said, according to a tweet from MLB.com's Scott Merkin.

Here's the big problem with that: This free agency sweepstakes was ALWAYS going to end with Machado getting $300 million in guaranteed money. If the Sox weren't willing to go to that point, why did they waste the past three months in this fruitless pursuit?

The Sox have spent the past two seasons losing games and dumping payroll, all to achieve precious "flexibility" to pursue marquee free agents this offseason. Thus far, they have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with that payroll flexibility, and there's no indication they will.

Once again, this regime came this far, only to pull up two years and $50 million short.

Only the White Sox would spend 90-plus days chasing a free agent that they never were willing to go the extra mile for to sign. Only the White Sox would tell fans at SoxFest that they would be "disappointed" if they didn't "convert" on Machado and then get outbid by another also-ran team.

And, oh yeah, the Sox brought in two players who don't fit their roster in an attempt to lure Machado to the team. Fans, you don't get Machado himself, but you do get Machado's brother-in-law (Yonder Alonso) and his BFF (Jon Jay). I'm sure the at-bats from those two unneeded veterans will sell tickets this summer, won't they?

I dare the Sox to shut me up by using the Machado money to sign Bryce Harper. That's the only thing that could lessen my anger at this point.

Until then it's the same ol' Sox: cheap, timid and stupid.

5 takeways from SoxFest 2019

After months of anticipation (I booked my hotel package in September), SoxFest 2019 has come and gone in the blink of an eye.

A few thoughts and opinions from the three-day event at the Chicago Hilton.

1. 5 Hall-of-Fame members on one stage: Easily the coolest moment of the weekend for me came Friday night when the White Sox had a seminar featuring five Hall-of-Famers and a Cy Young award winner on the same stage.

I wish I could have gotten a little closer for a better picture, but you can see Harold Baines, Jim Thome, moderator Steve Stone, Frank Thomas, Tim Raines and Carlton Fisk in the picture above.

I wonder how many organizations in baseball could put together a star-studded panel such as this for their fans. That's more of a rhetorical question than anything. ... I'm sure there are a few other teams that could, but credit the Sox for getting all these guys in the same room.

It had been a couple years since I had seen Thome at SoxFest, even though he works for the organization. A recorded message was shown last year at SoxFest, with Thome thanking Chicago fans for their support on the occasion of his election to the Hall. It was good to see the man in person this time.

2. The Machado pursuit is real: Not surprisingly, GM Rick Hahn fielded a lot of questions about the team's pursuit of superstar free agent Manny Machado. Hahn can't speak specifically about negotiations, of course, but in a rare moment of candor, he said he would be personally disappointed if the Sox fail to bring Machado into the fold.

I remain skeptical, and I'll award Hahn no points unless he gets Machado to sign on the dotted line. Trying isn't enough, but it's quite clear that the Sox are really trying. Hahn went out of his way to detail the organization's top-to-bottom effort to get Machado on the South Side of Chicago. Everyone is involved from the front office to players to community relations staff.

At a seminar Sunday, players were asked whether they were involved in the Machado recruitment. Michael Kopech answered first and said he was not. But right after that, Yoan Moncada raised his microphone to his mouth and immediately began speaking rapid-fire Spanish. Through an interpreter, the second baseman noted that he and teammate Yonder Alonso had face-timed Machado right before the start of SoxFest opening ceremonies Friday, and they basically told him that he needs to get up here and join the Sox.

The saga continues.

3. Fifth starter? The Sox don't have one: Are you ready for Manny Banuelos to be a member of the 2019 starting rotation? I asked Hahn about it Friday night. I said the Sox have four starters: Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Ivan Nova. I don't see a fifth. Who might it be?

Hahn did not rule out an acquisition from outside the organization. Thank goodness, because I think they need one. He said right now the competition for the job would be between Banuelos and Dylan Covey, who failed in the role last season.

It was quite clear from Hahn's answer that Banuelos, who was a top-30 prospect seven years ago before injuries curtailed his career, has the inside track. Apparently, some scout "pounded the table" and told Hahn that Banuelos could help the Sox win right now, so they acquired him in a swap of minor-leaguers with the Los Angeles Dodgers three months ago.

Personally, I think it will take a lot more than Banuelos to cover the 204.2 innings that James Shields pitched as a member of the Sox's rotation last season.

4. Moncada's struggles: On Saturday, I asked manager Rick Renteria about Moncada. The "Jason from Wheeling" in the first sentence of this Chicago Tribune story? Yep, that was me.

I want Moncada to continue taking his walks. I don't want him to swing wildly at bad pitches, but he needs to be more aggressive. He needs to put the ball in play more often. He makes hard contact, so there's every reason to believe his production will go up if his strikeouts come down.

Renteria told me that Moncada was working with him and hitting coach Todd Steverson in Arizona a few weeks after the season ended. They are making a physical adjustment in the way Moncada grips the bat. Previously, his grip apparently limited his plate coverage, making it difficult for him to get to pitches on the outer half as both a left-handed and right-handed hitter. Renteria also wants Moncada to accept the idea that a productive out every now and then isn't the worst thing. They've been going over situations to try to improve his mental approach to hitting.

I also asked whether Moncada might be moved down in the lineup, with the arrival of veteran outfielder Jon Jay. It sounds as though the answer to that is no, because Moncada wants to bat leadoff and told Renteria so. But, the manager did acknowledge that Jay's presence on the roster gives him another option for the top spot in the batting order.

5. Don't worry about Madrigal: There's a Baseball America article out that made note of Nick Madrigal's struggles in hitting the ball to the pull side of the field during his professional debut last season.

I wasn't real concerned about it, given the small sample size, and when Madrigal was asked about it, he didn't express concern either. But since it's being talked about, I decided to ask player development director Chris Getz and amateur scouting director Nick Hostetler about it during a Sunday seminar.

Hostetler noted that Madrigal suffered a broken wrist during his season at Oregon State last year, and that he had seen the 2018 top draft pick the day before the injury. And, Madrigal had turned on a fastball and cranked it over the left-field bullpen. So, maybe that wrist wasn't 100 percent at the end of 2018, and maybe that was sapping him of pull-side power.

Getz made note of Madrigal's consistent approach and elite bat-to-ball skills, and it's expected that he'll make adjustments to the inside pitch as we go along.

Jon Jay signing official; Charlie Tilson DFA; White Sox avoid arbitration with four players

Once upon a time, White Sox fans thought Charlie Tilson could at least be a serviceable fourth outfielder, if not a starting player.

Well, forget about that.

Tilson's Sox career has been defined by injuries, and he did nothing with an opportunity he received during the 2018 season. He accumulated a -0.9 WAR while batting .264/.331/.292 with no home runs and 11 RBIs in 41 games.

Now, he's been designated for assignment to make room on 40-man roster for Jon Jay, whose signing to a one-year, $4 million deal became official Thursday.

In other news, the Sox on Friday avoided arbitration with all four of their arbitration-eligible players. They agreed to one-year contracts with first baseman Jose Abreu ($16 million), starting pitcher Carlos Rodon ($4.2 million), relief pitcher Alex Colome ($7.325 million) and infielder Yolmer Sanchez ($4.625 million).

These new deals bring the Sox's 2019 payroll to $80,166,668, per Spotrac. That means there still is plenty of room to sign a premier free agent, as far as I'm concerned.

White Sox sign outfielder Jon Jay, pitcher Kelvin Herrera

Jon Jay

This is starting to feel like a college recruitment, isn't it?

The White Sox are giving perks to the friends and family of Manny Machado, in hopes of luring the superstar free agent infielder to the South Side of Chicago.

They already traded for Machado's brother-in-law, Yonder Alonso. Now, reports indicate the Sox have agreed to a one-year, $4 million contract with Jon Jay, who just happens to be Machado's close friend and offseason workout partner.

The Sox will try to portray that as a "baseball move," and it is fair to say the team needs outfielders. With Avisail Garcia non-tendered and Eloy Jimenez likely to start the season at Triple-A Charlotte because of service time manipulation, the incumbent major league outfield includes Daniel Palka, Adam Engel, Nicky Delmonico and Leury Garcia.

So, in that context, perhaps Jay can help. The 34-year-old has a career .352 on-base percentage, swings left-handed and can competently handle both left field and center field. (I don't think his throwing arm is strong enough for right field.)

Jay split the 2018 season between the Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks. He batted .307/.363/.374 in 59 games with the Royals, enticing the Diamondbacks to trade for him. It didn't work out for Arizona, as Jay slumped to a .235/.304/.325 slash line in 84 games.

Let's hope the Sox get the Kansas City version of Jay, or something similar.

In a separate move that likely has nothing to do with Machado, the Sox signed 29-year-old reliever Kelvin Herrera to a two-year contract worth $18 million. Minor league pitcher Ian Clarkin was designated for assignment to make room for Herrera on the 40-man roster.

Herrera, of course, had his best years with the Royals, and he possesses a World Series ring from the 2015 season. The rebuilding Kansas City club traded him to the Washington Nationals in the middle of the 2018 season, and he struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness.

In 27 games with the Royals in 2018, Herrera went1-1 with a 1.05 ERA. In 21 games with the Nationals, he went 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA.

Once again, let's hope the Sox get the Kansas City version of Herrera, or something similar.

If the moon, the stars and the sun align, the Sox could have a pretty decent late-inning bullpen to start the season. Herrera joins Alex Colome and Nate Jones as veterans with plenty of high-leverage experience.

Alas, Jones and Herrera are injury risks, so who knows if manager Rick Renteria will have the luxury of stacking up these guys in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings?

Regardless, it's a good idea for the Sox to add veteran bullpen help to the roster. That pushes Juan Minaya, Ian Hamilton, Ryan Burr and Jose Ruiz down the leverage ladder. Those younger, inexperienced relievers should get late-inning opportunities only on merit now, as opposed to necessity, and that's the way you would prefer it.