Thursday notes: Nick Castellanos, Tucker Barnhart, Buster Posey

Nick Castellanos

Cincinnati Reds right fielder Nick Castellanos is now a free agent after exercising the opt-out clause of his contract on Thursday.

Castellanos, 30, batted .309/.362/.576 with a career-high 34 home runs, 38 doubles and 100 RBIs in 2021. He had two years and $34 million remaining on the four-year, $64 million contract he signed with Cincinnati before the 2020 season.

The contract had two opt-out clauses in it, but Castellanos decided to stay put after the 2020 season. This offseason, coming off his first All-Star appearance and perhaps the best year of his career, he's deciding to test the market.

Castellanos will be the best available right fielder in free agency this offseason. The White Sox, of course, have a well-documented hole at that position.

Will they bid? They should, but don't hold your breath. The Sox have yet to show a willingness to shop at the top of the market for anything other than relief pitching, so we'll see if they can do anything to quiet that criticism this winter.

Tigers acquire Barnhart

The Detroit Tigers on Wednesday acquired catcher Tucker Barnhart from the Reds in exchange for infield prospect Nick Quintana.

Barnhart, 30, appeared in 97 games for the Reds in 2021, batting .247/.317/.368 with seven home runs and 48 RBIs. However, the veteran catcher is being acquired for his defensive reputation -- Barnhart is a two-time Gold Glove winner (2017, 2020).

Detroit is building its team around a trio of promising young pitchers -- Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning -- and there's really no question the Tigers needed an upgrade behind the plate. Barnhart's experience should help these pitchers in their development.

Are the Tigers, who finished 77-85 and 16 games behind the Sox in 2021, ready to take a step into contention in 2022? It depends on how active they are in free agency. I'm not prepared to call them a threat in the AL Central yet, but it's reasonable to assume they will improve.

Posey retires

Citing a desire to spend more time with family, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey announced his retirement on Thursday.

The decision comes as a bit of a surprise, as the 34-year-old Posey was still playing good baseball, and the Giants were holding a $22 million contract option on him for 2022.

San Francisco won 107 games in 2021, and Posey was an important part of that success. He had his best offensive season in several years, batting .304/.390/.499 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 113 games.

There's been some debate over whether Posey will eventually be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I would argue in favor of his induction. 

In 12 seasons, he made the All-Star team seven times and won three World Series with the Giants (2010, 2012, 2014). He was the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year and the 2012 NL MVP. He won a batting title, four Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove award. I think that's enough to qualify him.

Happy anniversary, White Sox fans!

 16 years ago today ...

Might as well enjoy it. Never know if it will ever happen again.

Will we hear from the White Sox GM this week?

Anyone else find it odd that White Sox general manager Rick Hahn hasn't yet given his end-of-season address to the media? 

The season ended Oct. 12, and today is Oct. 25. Thirteen days, and we've not heard a word from the front office on what they thought of the ALDS loss to the Houston Astros.

By way of comparison, last year, Hahn addressed the media 10 days after the Sox lost to the Oakland Athletics in the wild card round. And what an address it was, as former manager Rick Renteria and former pitching coach Don Cooper got fired.

Given that major changes were announced, that delay was understandable. But this year, there's little reason to believe any firings are forthcoming. Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess you never know.

Now, to be fair to Hahn, the league office often frowns upon teams that are no longer playing making news while the playoffs are going on. Maybe league etiquette is the cause of the silence to this point.

However, the World Series matchup is set now. Houston is going to play the Atlanta Braves, starting Tuesday night. Monday will be a slow news day for MLB. Will we hear from Hahn? 

Were the 2021 White Sox a success? Or a failure?

Jen and I before Game 3

At least we got to attend two playoff games at Guaranteed Rate Field this October, right? That hadn't happened in 13 years. The 2021 White Sox won the American League Central Division championship, and that's at least something.

But after the Sox lost the American League Division Series to the Houston Astros, 3 games to 1, how do we define this season? Was it a success? Was it a failure? 

There's a case to be made either way, but I'm going to vote "failure." Those who would argue that this was a "success" would correctly point out that 93 wins and a division championship are pretty rare in the totality of Sox history. You go back, two, three, four years ago -- even eight or nine years ago -- and Sox fans could only dream of such success.

However, the problem for me is this: The Sox were outscored 31-18 in the four-game series. They took Game 3, 12-6, but in the other three games, they were outscored 25-5. They were soundly beaten by a far superior Houston team.

This is a failure by the expectations the Sox set for themselves. From the first day of spring training, we were hearing about parades, October glory, and how nothing short of getting to the World Series would be considered acceptable. Well, the Sox fell well short of that. They overpromised and underdelivered.

Since the series ended, I've had several people offer me their "condolences" on the loss. Thing is, I wasn't upset about the outcome of this series, because I knew the Astros were better. In fact, I selected Houston to win in four games, and told my girlfriend Jen, "I just hope they win a game, and hopefully it's one we go to." 

Indeed they did win a game that we attended, so in that regard, no complaints.

All the things that upset me about the Sox were things that happened throughout the season, and dating back to last offseason. I don't think general manager Rick Hahn adequately addressed lineup holes, and sure enough, the Sox ended up with Leury Garcia starting in right field in the playoffs. And they were relying on rookies to man the designated hitter spot.

Those holes remained unfilled at the trading deadline, as Hahn worked to load up his bullpen. Turns out, Craig Kimbrel was a total bust, and the combination of big free-agent acquisition Liam Hendriks and Kimbrel at the back end of the bullpen turned out to be a nonfactor, because the Sox weren't strong enough to have a lead after seven innings in three of four games.

The Sox were sloppy, arrogant and complacent throughout much of the year, as they went unchallenged in the AL Central. Many of us criticized them for not winning on the road, failing to beat good teams, playing poor defense, grounding into too many double plays, not holding base runners on, and issuing too many walks and wild pitches.

The team's defenders assured us it would be different in the playoffs. It was not. We saw all those weaknesses come to the forefront, in fact, and now the Sox have to reevaluate. They were dominated, punched right in the face.

Now, how do they react this offseason? Can they be honest with themselves and admit they have some significant roster holes? Can they admit that details matter, and that they need shore up some of these things that will give them wins on the margins? 

If I'm angry, it's because the front office sent the team into a gunfight with a knife. They didn't have a deep enough roster to beat the Astros. They weren't prepared enough to beat the Astros. The loss itself was inevitable; it was fait accompli.

Carlos Rodon's velocity is absent, but his results were good

Carlos Rodon

What do we make of Carlos Rodon's start Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds? If you look at his pitching line, you can't help but be pleased.

The White Sox left-hander worked five shutout innings in a 6-1 victory. He allowed only one hit, while striking out four and walking two. And he was efficient, needing only 69 pitches to record 15 outs; 43 of those pitches were strikes.

However, this was a depleted Cincinnati lineup. The Reds were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday, and their two best players -- Joey Votto and Nick Castellanos -- received a day off Wednesday.

The big concern from a Sox perspective ... Rodon's velocity just wasn't there. For the season, his fastball has averaged 96 mph, and topped out at 99. In this game, his average fastball velocity was 90.9 mph. He topped out at 92.7 mph.

Velocity comes from the shoulder, and we know Rodon has been dealing with nagging shoulder soreness.

Rodon also threw more changeups that he normally would, and strangely, the velocity on his change (82 mph) was a tick higher than the average velocity on his slider (81 mph). But he did get three swinging strikeouts with his slider. 

You can't argue with Rodon's results. He shut the Reds down with good command, good sequences and changes of speed. The question is whether that's going to be enough in the postseason against a strong Houston Astros lineup.

But assuming Rodon is healthy coming out of this start, he has earned the right to pitch a playoff game. He's 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA this season -- without a doubt his finest campaign as a member of the Sox.

He's made 24 starts, and the Sox are 16-8 in those games. I think we're going to see Rodon on the mound in either Game 3 or Game 4 of the ALDS against the Astros, and we'll see if he can find a way, just as he did Wednesday against the Reds.

Here's how I would align the White Sox rotation for the playoffs

Lucas Giolito

Carlos Rodon will start for the White Sox on Wednesday night against the Cincinnati Reds. Of the four games remaining in the regular season, this is probably the most important one for the Sox -- because it should give us some clue about whether Rodon will be healthy enough to contribute in the playoffs.

His velocity on both his fastball and his slider have been noticeably down, even with nine or 10 days in between starts, as he deals with shoulder fatigue. He hasn't pitched since Sept. 20, so once again, nine days of rest. We'll see what he has.

The Sox (90-68) beat the Reds, 7-1, Tuesday night behind two home runs from Luis Robert and six innings of one-run ball from Reynaldo Lopez (4-3). This marks the first time the Sox have reached 90 wins since 2006, and it's certainly nice to win. But right now, most of the discussion is looking ahead toward the first round of the playoffs.

How will manager Tony La Russa set up his starting rotation, knowing that Rodon likely isn't going to be fully operational?

Well, here's one man's suggestion, that man being me:

Game 1: Lucas Giolito

Game 2: Lance Lynn

Game 3: Dylan Cease

Game 4: Rodon, if healthy, otherwise start Michael Kopech. Regardless of who starts, send Giolito to the bullpen, and have him ready to work in relief on three days' rest.

Game 5: Lynn

The off days in this series are as such that the Game 2 starter could work on regular rest in Game 5, should the series take that long. 

Why am I choosing Giolito for Game 1 starter? It's actually nothing against Lynn. I trust Giolito and Lynn equally. It's just that we know Lynn is dealing with a balky right knee, and he's admitted that he won't be 100% for the rest of this season.

Giolito is the younger and healthier of the two pitchers, so I'm more inclined to give him the short-rest, Game 4 relief assignment.

Give Lynn his usual increment of rest, and you'll likely get more out of him.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping Rodon can go. He's pitched very well against the Houston Astros this season. The Astros will be the Sox's AL Division Series opponent. 

In fact, Rodon's start on July 18 vs. Houston was one of the best pitching performances we've seen from a Sox pitcher in 2021. In two games against the Astros, Rodon has worked 14 innings, and allowed only one run on four hits -- with 18 strikeouts. Of course, he was healthy then.

Dallas Keuchel and Lopez are the other guys in consideration to make a start if Rodon can't go. But Keuchel, for me, just hasn't pitched well enough, despite his veteran experience. His season ERA is 5.13. I can't trust him. 

I'd actually trust Lopez over Keuchel, but Kopech is the better option to get you through a lineup one time, or maybe twice. 

My plan for Game 4 would be to use Giolito as the first man out of the bullpen, behind either Rodon or Kopech, and you hope that gets you through the sixth inning. Then you go to your usual complement of high-leverage relievers from the seventh inning on.

The White Sox are AL Central champs for the first time since 2008

Tim Anderson

The White Sox are American League Central Division champions for the first time since 2008. Even though they have been in first place since May 7, and even though this outcome has been looked upon as an inevitability for weeks, it's not something we should take for granted.

I turned 45 years old this summer. I attended my first Sox game at old Comiskey Park in August 1981, just over 40 years ago. I've been a Sox fan for a long time, and this is only the sixth season in my lifetime in which the Sox have won their division.

It's never happened two years in a row. It hasn't happened in 13 years, and you should never assume it will happen again next year, or the year after that -- despite the general optimism around the team and the talk of "competing for multiple championships."

Tomorrow is not promised, so enjoy the accomplishments of today.

The Sox clinched the division with a 7-2 victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader Thursday against the second-place Cleveland Indians.

Give Tim Anderson a lot of credit. He hit a solo home run three pitches into the game to give the Sox a lead, and he added a 3-run homer in the second inning that turned a 3-0 Sox lead into a 6-0 advantage.

Anderson, along with Jose Abreu, is the leader of this team, and he pretty much decided that the division race would end today. Anderson's second home run of the afternoon was part of a six-run outburst in the second inning that also included homers from Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez.

Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez had a 7-0 lead to work with by the time he took the mound in the second inning. He gave up a solo home run in the third, and another in the fourth, so manager Tony La Russa gave him a quick hook after 3.1 innings of work.

This was a seven-inning game, of course, and La Russa obviously sensed an opportunity to knock the Indians out. Even with a five-run lead, he used his high-leverage relievers -- Garrett Crochet, Aaron Bummer, Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks -- and Cleveland managed only two hits over the final 3.2 innings and didn't score another run. 

I like the way La Russa managed the game. He wasn't going to let this one get away. He wasn't going to let clinching wait for another day.

The Sox lost the second game of the doubleheader, 5-3, as the lineup was full of bench players. Michael Kopech got the start and looked sharp through two scoreless innings. The Indians scored their five runs off the lesser relievers in the Sox bullpen -- Mike Wright, Matt Foster and Jose Ruiz.

No doubt, if the game had meant something, it probably would have been managed differently. But for once, the Sox and their fans can afford to not care about a loss.

The Sox are 86-67. The marathon is over. The playoff sprint will begin soon enough.