Winter Meetings Day 3: Some thoughts on the signings

Aaron Judge

Some thoughts on the signings that occurred on the third and final day of the Winter Meetings:

Aaron Judge, N.Y. Yankees, nine years, $360 million. The reigning American League MVP chose to stay in New York, turning down offers from San Diego and San Francisco, according to reports. I saw one report that said the Padres were willing to go 10 years, $400 million, but ultimately, Judge wanted to remain a Yankee. He did carry New York to the ALCS last season. It's worth noting that Judge turns 31 years old in April. I'm sure he's got some high-level baseball left in him, but nine years? The back end of that deal is likely to be ugly, so Judge needs to help deliver at least one World Series to New York in the next four or five years. Otherwise, he could be subject to boos as a struggling, overpaid 38-year-old seven years from now. If he's a World Series champ, he'll get diplomatic immunity from the Yankees fans.

Willson Contreras, St. Louis, five years, $87.5 million. Remember the Cubs' last home game before the trade deadline? There were hugs and tears as it was presumed the veteran catcher would be traded. He was not traded. He finished the year in Chicago, and during the last home game of the season at Wrigley Field, there was yet another round of emotional, over-the-top, syrupy Cubbie goo as the faithful said goodbye to a longtime favorite. I'm guessing Contreras will get a very different reception next time he visits Wrigley, now that he'll be wearing a St. Louis Cardinals uniform. Contreras replaces Yadier Molina, who finally retired at the end of the 2022 season. This was a necessary move to fill a need by the Cardinals.

Kenley Jansen, Boston, two years, $32 million. This move created a ripple for White Sox fans, because there has been a lot of speculation that Liam Hendriks is a candidate to be traded. Now that Jansen -- an experienced, accomplished closer -- is off the free agent market, the thought is that other teams looking for a closer might be calling the Sox to ask about Hendriks. If the Sox move the veteran right-hander, his 2024 option automatically vests, and the acquiring team would owe him $29 million over the next two seasons. That's actually pretty good value in this market, so the Sox should be able to get a good return, should they be willing to part with Hendriks. The question is, if the Sox are serious about winning in 2023, why would they trade their closer? Perhaps they would fill a hole on their roster with such a trade, but they'd also be creating a hole. Can you tell I'm not on the Reynaldo Lopez for closer bandwagon?

Jose Quintana, N.Y. Mets, two years, $26 million. Good for Quintana. I've always been a fan. The veteran lefty had two seasons of injury struggles in 2020 and 2021, but he bounced back to post a 2.93 ERA in 165.2 combined innings with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals last season. That earns him one more decent payday entering his age-34 season. I'll be interested to see who ends up providing the greater value: Quintana with the Mets or Mike Clevinger with the White Sox? 

Jameson Taillon, Cubs, four years, $68 million. I remember when only pitchers at the top of the market received contracts such as this. Now, it's the going rate for a mid-rotation starter. If you can make 30 starts and post an ERA around 4.00, you can get yourself $16 million or $17 million a season. Taillon went 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA last season with the Yankees. That was a nice year for him, and now he's cashing in. The Cubs needed to add at least one starting pitcher this offseason, so there's the fit.

Lucas Giolito, Yasmani Grandal rejoin the active for White Sox

White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito appears to be on track to start Opening Day against the Kansas City Royals.

Giolito, who had been sidelined by a minor ribcage strain, pitched for the first time in a Cactus League game Friday, working the first inning in a 6-3 win over the Cubs. He threw 15 pitches and faced four batters. His only blemish was a HBP to Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber.

He also struck out Sox nemesis Willson Contreras looking on a 3-2 changeup. After the outing, Giolito went to the bullpen to "get his work in" in a more controlled environment, throwing another 20 pitches or so.

Friday was March 6, and if you count off the days -- and you assume that Giolito has four days' rest in between outings -- that lines him up perfectly to make the start against Kansas City on March 26.

Also of note Friday, catcher Yasmani Grandal made his first Cactus League appearance of the spring. Grandal, who has missed time with a calf injury, made three plate appearances. He struck out twice and walked once.

Grandal did not play Saturday, but he was back in the lineup Sunday against the San Diego Padres, catching right-hander Reynaldo Lopez is a split-squad game. Grandal went 1 for 3 with an RBI double and a run scored in a 6-0 Sox win.

On Monday, Grandal served as the designated hitter and had his best game of the spring, going 2 for 3 with a double, a solo home run and two runs scored in a 3-3 tie with the Cincinnati Reds.

We'll know Grandal is ready if he catches back-to-back days. That hasn't happened yet.

Obviously, it goes without saying that the Sox need Grandal healthy and ready to start the season. The "big offseason" doesn't look as good if the big free-agent acquisition opens the season on the injured list.

Lucas Giolito finally loses a game. Here's why it's not a concern.

White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito suffered his first loss since April 6 on Wednesday, giving up six earned runs over 4.1 innings against the Cubs.

The Cubs won, 7-3, and ended Giolito's run of nine wins in a row.

Here's why it's not a concern: First off, hey, everybody has got to have a bad game sometime. Nobody in the history of baseball has gone undefeated. Giolito (10-2) is still among the best pitchers in the American League, despite the screeching from a few village idiots who believe that he "hasn't beaten good teams." Two victories over the New York Yankees (46-27) and a complete-game shutout against the Houston Astros (48-27) say otherwise.

Secondly, Giolito's line in this game was weird: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 9 Ks, 3 BBs, 3 HRs.

Nine strikeouts out of the 13 outs recorded. Cubs batters swung and missed 21 times at the 88 pitches Giolito threw. That tells us the good stuff was still there. There were a few too many mistakes. That's all, and that's going to happen.

Of note: All three Cubs home runs came on changeups -- the grand slam by Willson Contreras in the first inning, the solo shot by Contreras in the third and the solo home run by David Bote in the fourth. All were on pitches thigh-high or lower.

Giolito's best weapon is his high fastball. He's been able to get the high strike called for almost all his starts this season. Not in this start. For whatever reason, home plate umpire Cory Blaser wasn't giving anything above the thigh.

Cubs batters still swung (and missed) at the high fastball at times, but they didn't have to swing at it -- it wasn't being called for a strike. In this game, Cubs batters could afford to sit on changeups down, and the strategy paid off in three home runs.

That's something to keep an eye on in Giolito's next start Monday against the Boston Red Sox. Are opposing batters sitting change, and can Giolito make the adjustment?

It's almost a certainty the home plate umpire will be more friendly next game, too. Right now, I'm inclined to think this was just a blip and a bad game for the guy who has been far and away the best Sox starter this season.

What is going on with Dusty Baker and the Washington Nationals?

Dusty Baker

Does Dusty Baker know that playoff baseball is different than regular-season baseball? Does he have any urgency to win whatsoever?

Baker and the Washington Nationals received a huge break Tuesday when Game 4 of their NLDS against the Cubs was postponed because of rain here in the Chicago area.

The Cubs lead the series, 2-1, and the Nationals are facing elimination in Game 4. The unexpected day off was a gift for Washington, because now it can start ace right-hander Stephen Strasburg on regular rest in this critical game.

Or so we thought.

After the postponement Tuesday, Baker instead announced he would be sticking with Tanner Roark for Game 4. That's the same Tanner Roark who has a 4.67 ERA pitching in the weak National League East this season.

Seriously, Dusty? That's the guy you want to pitch with your season on the line? Should this even be a debate?

Baker also claimed that Strasburg was battling illness, because there is a lot of mold in the air in Chicago at this time of year, and apparently the air conditioning wasn't working right at the Nationals' hotel or some such thing.

Talk about lame excuses.

I can attest that the mold count is a problem in Chicago right now. I suffer from a mold allergy, and I've struggled with it off and on for the past month or so. But you know what I do? I take some allergy medicine and go to work. It's kind of an annoying thing, but it's hardly debilitating. It doesn't prevent a person from doing his job.

Early Wednesday, Baker reversed course and announced that Strasburg will start Game 4. Duh. I assume someone from the Washington front office stepped in and knocked some sense into him. Even if Strasburg fails, this is an obvious move, and it should have been announced Tuesday to give Strasburg additional time to prepare himself mentally for the start.

But Baker isn't very good at strategy, and often fails to make the obvious move. Take Game 3, for example. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Cubs had the go-ahead run on second base with two outs and Anthony Rizzo at the plate.

Baker had a number of options there. He had a solid reliever on the mound in Brandon Kintzler. He could have walked Rizzo and taken his chances with Willson Contreras, the Cubs' on-deck hitter. He could have brought in his best left-handed reliever, Sean Doolittle, to deal with Rizzo. Or, he could have walked Rizzo and brought in his best right-handed reliever, Ryan Madson, to deal with Contreras.

Instead, Baker opts to bring in 36-year-old journeyman lefty Oliver Perez, he of the 4.64 ERA. Rizzo singles on the first pitch from Perez, and the Cubs win Game 3, 2-1.

Nice move, Dusty, nice move. I guess he was saving Doolittle for the ninth inning, huh? Maybe you do that in the regular season, but certainly not in the playoffs.

Honestly, is there a manager out there who is a worse tactician than Dusty Baker? My goodness ...

Not sure what to make of Carlos Rodon's crazy day ...

Carlos Rodon

White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon on Tuesday became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out 11 batters in a start that lasted only four innings.

Congratulations to Rodon on becoming an answer to a trivia question.

His performance in a 7-2 loss to the Cubs was baffling. He obviously possessed enough stuff to generate plenty of swings and misses. Normally, when a guy strikes out 11, you're looking at a dominant outing, if not a victory.

Not so here.

Rodon faced 22 hitters -- only eight of which put the ball in play. (He also walked three.) But seven of those eight balls in play resulted in Cubs hits, and four of those seven hits went for extra bases. The biggest of those was a three-run home run by Cubs catcher Willson Contreras in the bottom of the first inning. The North Siders led from that point forward.

It's almost as if Rodon has become a three-outcome pitcher: It's either a strikeout, a walk or a cannon shot. Weird.

The other thing about Rodon's day: He collected his first major league hit: a two-out, two-run double in the top of the second inning off John Lackey. The Sox were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position in the loss, and Rodon's hit was the "1."

It could have been a different game. The Sox hitters blew chance after chance after chance.

Bases loaded in the fifth after Lackey hit three batters in the inning. No runs.

Second and third with nobody out in the sixth inning. No runs.

First and third with nobody out in the eighth inning. No runs.

There was nothing doing in the clutch for the Sox in this game. Maybe they would have lost anyway because, well, they did give up seven runs. But things would have been far more interesting with even average offensive execution.

As for Rodon, he's the one remaining starting pitcher who is supposed to be a piece of the future. He's got to start being more efficient with his pitches. It shouldn't be taking him 30 pitches to get through the first inning. He shouldn't be piling up 98 pitches to get through four innings.

The Sox need him to be a six- or seven-inning pitcher, not a four- or five-inning pitcher like some of the retread veterans in the rotation. If he needs to pitch to contact more, so be it.

I read this morning that Rodon is averaging 4.24 pitches per hitter. That's up from 3.90 in 2016. (League average is 3.88).

In fairness to Rodon, he hasn't pitched much this year. He's been hurt. This was only his fifth start of the season. Hopefully, the lack of command is a sign of rust.

The Sox are clearly bottoming out right now in their rebuilding phase, and it would be nice to see a few signs of progress from some younger players who are expected to become cornerstones. Rodon is one of those guys. The team needs more from him, both now and in the future.

Surprisingly, Miguel Gonzalez baffles Cubs in crosstown opener

I apologize for previously including Miguel Gonzalez on my list of washed-up White Sox veterans.

Unlike starting rotation mates James Shields, Mike Pelfrey and Derek Holland, Gonzalez occasionally comes up with a well-pitched ballgame against a good team.

The right-hander came off the disabled list July 18 and fired six innings of one-run ball in a 1-0 loss to Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he backed that up with another strong outing Monday -- pitching 7.1 innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 victory over the Cubs in the first game of the 2017 Crosstown Classic at Wrigley Field.

With the win, the Sox (39-57) broke a nine-game losing streak and collected their first victory since the All-Star break. Gonzalez (5-9) also became the first Sox pitcher in 30 games to have an outing of seven innings or more.

It wasn't easy.

The key moment came in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Sox leading 2-1. The Cubs loaded the bases with two outs for Anthony Rizzo, and with the Sox bullpen depleted because of trades, manager Rick Renteria had little choice but to stick with Gonzalez.

With the wind blowing in at Wrigley, Rizzo flew out to the warning track in center field to end the threat.

The conditions did not stop the Sox from hitting a pair of home runs. Rookie center fielder Adam Engel's drive in the top of the sixth inning off Cubs reliever Justin Grimm (1-1) got into the left-center field bleachers to give the Sox the lead for good at 2-1.

Matt Davidson added a 476-foot solo shot off Koji Uehara in the top of the eighth inning to complete the scoring. That one was going to be a home run on any day, at any park, in any conditions.

Sox reliever Anthony Swarzak picked up his first save in 226 career relief appearances. He retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the ninth before Kris Bryant reached on an infield single and Rizzo walked. Willson Contreras came to the plate representing the winning run, but Swarzak overmatched him with two blazing fastballs right on the black of the outside corner, the second of which was strike three called.

Contreras didn't think they were strikes, arguing with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez and breaking his bat in frustration after the out was recorded. Alas, they were strikes. Those pitches looked good to me, and good to K zone on the Comcast SportsNet Chicago broadcast, too.

Hey Willson, now it's your turn to cry.