Yolmer Sanchez wins Gold Glove for AL second baseman, other White Sox notes

Yolmer Sanchez

Second baseman Yolmer Sanchez became the first White Sox position player in 21 years to win a Gold Glove earlier this week, beating out Houston's Jose Altuve and New York's DJ LeMahieu for the American League award at his position.

The Sox have had their fair share of Gold Gloves won by pitchers -- Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy -- but no South Side position player had won the award since Robin Ventura took top honors at third base in 1998.

This might have been Sanchez's first and last chance to win a Gold Glove. He's a non-tender candidate this offseason because of his weak bat, and even if the Sox do bring him back at a reduced salary, he probably won't be the everyday second baseman anymore -- especially with Nick Madrigal waiting in the wings.

Of course, it's possible Sanchez leaves the Sox, catches on with another rebuilding team, wins a starting job and earns another Gold Glove. But the guess here is this was his one and only hurrah.

Abreu gets qualifying offer

First baseman Jose Abreu received the one-year, $17.8 million qualifying offer from the Sox. He has 10 days to accept it, or become a free agent.

That would be a more-than-fair salary for Abreu, but I'm thinking he would like a multiyear deal. The Sox may very well give one to him, but it probably will be for less AAV.

I'm guessing two years, $25 million. Does that seem fair for a soon-to-be-33-year-old slugger who is productive but one-dimensional?

Martinez staying in Boston

For those who were hoping the Sox could sign J.D. Martinez to be their DH for next season, your hopes are dashed.

Martinez opted in to the three years and $62 million remaining on his contract with the Boston Red Sox.

A smart move by Martinez, in my view. Even though Martinez remains an elite run producer, there probably aren't more than three or four teams looking for a DH this offseason (the Sox, obviously, are one.).

I'm not sure Martinez would able to get better, either in terms of years or in AAV on the open market, with so few likely suitors.

White Sox trade Welington Castillo; Josh Osich also moving on

Welington Castillo

Even when the White Sox trade a hated and despised player, they do it in a strange way that invites criticism.

Take for this example this week's deal with Texas. The Sox sent catcher Welington Castillo and $250,000 in international bonus pool money to the Rangers in exchange for minor leaguer Jonah McReynolds.

What's interesting here is that neither the Sox nor the Rangers had any intent of having Castillo on their 2020 roster. There's an $8 million option on his contract, and who is going to pick that up for an injury-prone catcher coming off a season in which he batted .209?

Nobody.

The option includes a $500,000 buyout. The Sox apparently didn't want to pay that, even though they've got a bottom-third payroll, so they passed that financial obligation along to the Rangers. Why would Texas do that? The Rangers want that international bonus money, plain and simple.

There's precedence for this. You may recall that the Sox traded Nate Jones to Texas at the July trading deadline. Jones will never throw a pitch for the Rangers, who will pay his $1.25 million contract buyout this offseason. In that deal, Texas acquired $1 million in international bonus pool money.

Simplifying all this, essentially the Sox gave Texas $1.25 million in international bonus pool money in order to avoid paying $1.75 million in buyouts to two dead-weight veterans, Jones and Castillo.

Why would the Sox be eager to unload valuable international bonus pool money during a rebuilding cycle, and during a time when their minor league depth has been depleted by injuries? I have no idea. No idea at all.

I'm left to chalk this up to the usual Sox cheapness. Somehow I doubt that $1.75 million is going to make a difference one way or another in signing free agents this offseason.

Osich claimed on waivers by Red Sox

In other Sox news, left-handed reliever Josh Osich was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte and later claimed on waivers by the Boston Red Sox.

Osich went 4-0 with a 4.66 ERA in 57 games for the Sox this season, and somehow, he led the bullpen with 67.2 innings pitched. He had the fewest walks (15) of any Sox reliever, but he also allowed the most home runs (15).

Right-handed batters torched Osich with a .297/.344/.559 split this season. He was effective against lefties, however, limiting them to a .171/.200/.351 split.

It would seem as though Osich would have some utility as a left-handed specialist, but remember, there's a new rule coming in next season that requires relievers to face a minimum of three batters.

Pitchers such as Osich will run the risk of being overexposed to right-handed batters in this new era, and let's face it, he's not good enough to be considered irreplaceable.

Nationals use 4 starters, 2 relievers to beat Astros in World Series

World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg

Five times during the 2019 playoffs, the Washington Nationals faced elimination. In those five games, the Nationals trailed in all of them. However, they never lost.

Washington finished off an improbable run to a World Series championship Wednesday night, rallying to beat the Houston Astros, 6-2, in Game 7.

The Nationals trailed, 2-0, after six innings, but they came back with three runs in the seventh inning, one in the eighth and two in the ninth to stun the crowd in Houston and win the series, four games to three.

Most people will remember this series because the road team won all seven games -- that's never happened before in any sport. But hopefully, history will look back on this series as the one that brought good starting pitching back into fashion.

The Nationals won this series with basically six pitchers: World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson. The first four men on that list are starters; the last two are relievers.

Washington pitched 36 innings in this series, and 32.2 of them were handled by the six men listed above.

Strasburg earned his MVP with a brilliant, clutch performance in Game 6. He went 8.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in a 7-2 Washington victory.

On the morning of Game 7, it was unclear who would pitch for the Nationals. But Scherzer answered the bell, three days after being scratched from his Game 5 start and taking a cortisone shot for back and neck muscle spasms.

Scherzer was far from his best, allowing 11 base runners (seven hits, four walks) over five innings, but only two of them scored. The Astros were ahead, 2-0, but they could have been ahead 6-0. Instead, they left 10 men on base and went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. It was a gutsy outing by the Washington pitcher.

Worth noting: Houston also got brilliant starting pitching in Game 7. Zack Greinke allowed no runs on one hit through six innings, before he ran into mild trouble in the seventh inning.

Anthony Rendon homered with one out to make it 2-1, and Juan Soto followed with a walk. Greinke had only thrown 80 pitches, but you know, the analytics say you shouldn't let a starting pitcher face a lineup the third time through.

So even though Greinke had good stuff, Houston manager A.J. Hinch went to the bullpen. And then Hinch spent the rest of the game desperately trying to find a reliever who had stuff as good as Greinke's was.

Howie Kendrick greeted Will Harris with a two-run homer that put the Nationals ahead to stay at 3-2.

Soto's RBI single in the eighth made it 4-2 and added a run to Houston closer Roberto Osuna's tab. Then Washington scored two more in the ninth off Joe Smith and Jose Urquidy, with Adam Eaton delivering a two-run single to make it 6-2.

The Astros used five relievers, and the game got out of hand on their watch. So much for the era of "super relievers," huh? Maybe it is better to stick with an accomplished starter over a bunch of decent but not great relievers, no?

Meanwhile, the Nationals relieved Scherzer with another starting pitcher, Corbin, who worked three scoreless innings and earned the win in this clinching game. Hudson came on in his familiar relief role and worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts, no doubt setting off a wild celebration in the nation's capital.

Our congratulations go out to the Nationals and their fans. This was a surprising championship, but a well-earned one. Washington beat both the 106-win Dodgers and the 107-win Astros on its path to the title. You have to respect that performance. 

Happy Halloween from The Baseball Kid

White Sox drop four players from 40-man roster

The offseason purge started for the White Sox on Monday. The team announced that pitcher Manny Banuelos, outfielder Ryan Cordell and infielders Ryan Goins and Matt Skole have been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte.

The four players will become minor-league free agents after the World Series is over. The moves drop the Sox's 40-man roster to 35 players.

All four of these moves were no-brainers, as October "outrightings" tend to be. For me, the end of the Banuelos Era couldn't come soon enough. At SoxFest 2019, in response to my question about starting rotation depth, general manager Rick Hahn famously told fans that scouts had "pounded the table," urging him to trade for Banuelos. The argument was that the left-hander had reclaimed the health and form that once had him ranked among the top prospects in the game.

The reality said otherwise. Banuelos has been a combination of injured and bad his whole career, and he was injured and bad for the Sox. He went 3-4 with a 6.93 ERA in 16 games (8 starts), and he was plagued with shoulder trouble throughout much of the season.

Cordell batted .221/.290/.355 with seven home runs in 24 RBIs in 97 games. His defense was decent, but not spectacular, and there's nothing about his offensive profile that says, "Keep me."

Goins, a 31-year-old journeyman, batted .250/.333/.347 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 52 games. His playing time dried up in September, because there is a younger, cheaper option as a utility infielder on the roster -- Danny Mendick. And once Mendick joined the Sox late in the season, there were few at-bats for Goins.

Skole, a 30-year-old journeyman, batted .208/.275/.236 with no homers and six RBIs in 27 games. He only received an opportunity because numerous other left-handed bats failed the Sox. When all was said and done, Skole added his name to a list of failed left-handed hitters that included Yonder Alonso, Jon Jay, A.J. Reed and Daniel Palka.

The Sox soon will have to add pitchers Michael Kopech, Carlos Rodon and Ryan Burr back to the 40-man roster when they come off the 60-day disabled list. But Jose Abreu, Ross Detwiler, Ivan Nova and Hector Santiago are impending free agents, and Welington Castillo's contract option is almost certainly going to be declined.

There's a possibility Abreu will re-sign with the Sox quickly, but even if he does, that puts the Sox at 34 men on the roster.

That's comfortable for now, and it will allow them to add pitchers Dane Dunning, Jimmy Lambert and Zack Burdi, along with outfielder Blake Rutherford, to the 40-man roster. All those men must be added to protect them from Rule 5 draft status, and one would think the Sox will do that.

Astros on brink of World Series championship after three wins over Nationals

Joe Ross

Most people didn't see it coming when the Washington Nationals won the first two games of the World Series on the road against the Houston Astros.

The Nationals looked the part of a team of destiny. They entered Game 3 having won 18 of their past 20 games. Well, that hot streak is over, because the Astros won Games 3, 4 and 5 in Washington, D.C.

After Sunday night's 7-1 Houston victory in Game 5, the Astros hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Houston dominated the three games in Washington, winning by a combined score of 19-3. The Nationals never took the lead in any of the three games.

In Sunday's pivotal Game 5, Washington was in trouble before it set foot on the field. The marquee starting pitching matchup between Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole never materialized, as Scherzer was scratched because of neck spasms and back tightness.

When Scherzer doesn't pitch, you know he's legitimately hurt, too. The man had made 30 or more starts in 10 consecutive seasons coming into this year. Joe Ross got the emergency start for Washington, and while he didn't embarrass himself, you know he's just not like Scherzer. Few are.

Ross went five innings and allowed four runs, giving up a pair of two-run homers -- one to Yordan Alvarez and the other to Carlos Correa.

Meanwhile, Cole went seven strong innings. He allowed only one run -- a solo home run by Juan Soto -- on three hits, with nine strikeouts and two walks. Cole is 4-1 in his five postseason starts, and if this was the free-agent-to-be's last start in an Astros uniform, his legacy in Houston is secure.

Game 6 is Tuesday night in Houston, and Washington will turn to postseason ace Stephen Strasburg to try to force Game 7. Who better to pitch this game? Strasburg has made four starts in these playoffs and won them all, with a 1.93 ERA.

For his career, Strasburg is now 5-2 with a 1.34 ERA in the playoffs.

However, his opposition is formidable in Justin Verlander, who is looking to add to his Hall of Fame-caliber resume with a World Series-clinching win. And Verlander will be looking to atone for his loss to Strasburg in Game 2.

The Astros are now just a win away from becoming the fourth team in MLB history to rally to win a series after dropping the first two games at home. They also are looking to become the first team to win a home game in this series.

Yolmer Sanchez, Lucas Giolito finalists for Gold Glove award

Yolmer Sanchez

One bit of White Sox news from this week that I neglected to mention: Second baseman Yolmer Sanchez and pitcher Lucas Giolito are finalists for the Gold Glove award in the American League.

Sanchez was expected to be a finalist, and he may even win the award. With 12 defensive runs saved this season, he has the edge over fellow finalists DJ LeMahieu (5 defensive runs saved) of the New York Yankees and Jose Altuve (-2 defensive runs saved) of the Houston Astros.

I'm thinking Altuve is a finalist for this award because he's a terrific hitter on a great team. What does that have to do with the Gold Glove, a defensive honor? Absolutely nothing, but we've see guys win Gold Gloves because of name recognition and offensive prowess before.

LeMahieu is a terrific overall player, but he made only 66 starts at second base. Because of his versatility, the Yankees used him all over the diamond. He played first base in the playoffs, so from that perspective, I'd be a little surprised if he gets an award for his defense at second base.

So, yes, I think Sanchez has a very good chance.

I'd be a little more surprised if Giolito wins the award. I didn't expect him to be a finalist, but hey, the guy who usually wins the Gold Glove for pitchers in the AL (Dallas Keuchel) pitches in the National League now. Somebody else has to win.

Giolito joins Seattle's Mike Leake and Minnesota's Jose Berrios as finalists. I don't necessarily think of Giolito as being great at defending his position, but if I had to make a case for him, there is this: Only six base runners attempted to steal against him in 2019, and three of them got thrown out. By way of comparison, 26 of 30 base runners were successful in attempting to steal against Giolito in 2018.

He really cleaned his game up when it came to holding runners close and not allowing guys to just take another 90 feet at will. Giolito improved in several facets in 2019, and that is one. We'll see if it translates into Gold Glove votes.