Merry Christmas from The Baseball Kid

Early list of 2019 SoxFest attendees released

Dewayne Wise

SoxFest 2019 will take place from Jan. 25 to 27 at the Chicago Hilton, and believe it or not, that's only about a month away.

I've already got my hotel package booked, so I got an email this week with an early list of players scheduled to attend the event. Let's have a look:

Current players:
Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, Nicky Delmonico, Adam Engel, Jace Fry, Lucas Giolito, Leury Garcia, Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez, Yoan Moncada, Daniel Palka, Yolmer Sanchez.

Prospects:
Micker Adolfo, Luis Alexander Basabe, Dylan Cease, Zack Collins, Eloy Jimenez, Nick Madrigal, Luis Robert.

Coaches:
Rick Renteria, Daryl Boston, Nick Capra, Don Cooper, Curt Hasler, Joe McEwing, Greg Sparks, Todd Steverson.

Alumni:
Harold Baines, Carlton Fisk, Ken Harrelson, Carlos May, Bill Melton, Tim Raines, Jim Thome, Dewayne Wise.

Broadcasters:
Jason Benetti, Steve Stone, Ed Farmer Darrin Jackson.

A few thoughts:

1. Props to Giolito for showing up. Usually, when a guy has a bad season he doesn't want anything to do with the fans at SoxFest the following winter.

2. Early favorite for most crowded autograph line: Jimenez. They probably will pare him with someone that few fans will be interested in, such as Delmonico.

3. I'm not sure Baines and Fisk have any stories left to tell that I haven't already heard. Of course, Baines is a team ambassador, and he was just elected to the Hall of Fame, so I'm sure the Sox will try to capitalize on that with a seminar of some sort.

4. Wise is an unusual name to appear on the guest list. I guess 2019 is the 10-year anniversary of Mark Buehrle's perfect game -- and Wise's spectacular catch to preserve that achievement -- but reflecting on that day isn't worth much if Buehrle isn't around to share in it.

5. What, no Ron Kittle?

White Sox make baffling trade for Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso is Manny Machado's brother-in-law.

I've heard at least two dozen people point that out since the White Sox acquired Alonso on Friday from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for minor league outfielder Alex Call.

However, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Do we really think Machado is going to sign with the Sox because his brother-in-law is on the team?

I don't.

I think Machado will sign with the Sox if they offer more money than all the other suitors, and to this point, we have no reason to believe the Sox are going win a bidding war for any free agent -- let alone those at the top of the market.

This Alonso trade is baffling. First off, it's a trade that helps division rival Cleveland. The Indians save at least $9 million in this deal -- Alonso's $8 million salary for 2019, followed by a $9 million club option for 2020 or a $1 million buyout.

Moving Alonso along clears space for Carlos Santana to play first base for Cleveland -- the Indians reacquired Santana earlier this month in a three-team deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners.

The salary savings also might allow the Indians to keep their starting rotation together. Maybe those Corey Kluber trade rumors won't come to fruition now. I think we all can agree it would be great news for AL Central teams not based in Cleveland if Kluber were sent elsewhere.

While I see clear benefits for the Indians here, I see few benefits for the Sox.

Alonso slashed .250/.317/.421 in 574 plate appearances in 2018, which is nothing special for a first baseman. He hit 23 home runs from the left side of the plate. That's nice, but Alonso only had 19 doubles last season.

Personally, I prefer guys who play corner positions and get 500-plus at-bats to provide at least 50 extra-base hits over the course of the season. Alonso failed to do that last season, so I'm unimpressed.

Jose Abreu, in a down season, provided 59 extra-base hits for the Sox in 128 games -- 36 doubles, 22 home runs and one triple.

Oh, yeah, that's right. The Sox still have Abreu as an incumbent first baseman. Both Abreu and Alonso don't play any positions other than first base. Alonso bats left and Abreu bats right, but other than that, aren't these guys redundant on the roster? I think so.

Are the Sox going back to having a set DH? I guess so, and if that's the case, Alonso doesn't provide the power you want from that position, or from the first base position. What is the point of this move?

I'm honestly struggling to figure out what the Sox are doing so far this offseason. The Ivan Nova trade, that one I get, and I'm OK with it.

However, the signing of a subpar catcher such as James McCann and this trade for Alonso are confusing decisions.

Sources: White Sox sign catcher James McCann (puke)

James McCann

The White Sox are going the cheap route again.

The team on Friday agreed to a contract with catcher James McCann, pending a physical, according to MLB.com.

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman reports the deal is worth $2.5 million.

For me, that's about $2.5 million too many. The 28-year-old McCann posted a .220/.267/.314 slash line with eight home runs and 39 RBIs in 118 games in 2018. That season is worse than his career slash of .240/.288/.366. While McCann is competent at controlling the running game, he grades poorly as a receiver and a blocker.

He was non-tendered by the 98-loss Detroit Tigers after the season. What does that tell you?

As we mentioned earlier on this blog, there are several catchers available to be acquired this offseason. The Sox, somehow, managed to sign the least impressive name on the list.

Why not just bring back Alex Avila or see what Dioner Navarro is up to?

White Sox acquire pitcher Ivan Nova from Pittsburgh Pirates

Ivan Nova

The White Sox on Tuesday acquired right-handed pitcher Ivan Nova from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for 19-year-old pitcher Yordi Rosario and $500,000 in international bonus pool money.

Nova, 31, went 9-9 with a 4.19 ERA in 29 starts for the Pirates in 2018. He struck out 114 and walked 35 over 161 innings. He has one year remaining on his contract and is owed $9.2 million for the coming season.

This was a necessary move as the Sox only had three starting pitchers in place -- Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito. Someone has to take the place of James Shields as the "stabilizing rotation veteran," and Nova seems to be as reasonable of an option as any.

There's no long-term commitment here. If Nova does not pitch well, he could be replaced in the rotation by the end of the season if top pitching prospect Dylan Cease continues on a positive track. If Nova does pitch well, great, he could be traded to a contender midseason if the Sox are not in the race, or he could be a reliable veteran presence if they are.

Either way, it's reasonable to believe Nova is a one-year stopgap. He'll hopefully serve a purpose in 2019, and move along by Opening Day 2020 when Michael Kopech returns from his elbow injury, and presumably, when Cease makes the jump to the majors.

The question is, do the Sox make another move to fortify the rotation this offseason? They've got four guys in place now, but they still need a fifth. Right now, they'd be choosing from uninspiring options such as Dylan Covey and Jordan Stephens for the remaining spot.

I'd like to see something else done.

White Sox great Harold Baines elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame

Harold Baines at the plate in 1986

Here's a surprise: Former White Sox outfielder and designated hitter Harold Baines was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Baines received the required 12 out of a possible 16 votes from the Today's Game Era Committee to earn enshrinement. Former Cubs relief pitcher Lee Smith also was voted in by the committee and will join Baines in the 2019 Hall of Fame class.

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting Baines to get elected. He played 22 seasons (1980-2001) in the major leagues, including three stints with the Sox (1980-89, 1996-97 and 2000-01), and he was a good hitter for a long time. However, he played 1,643 games as a designated hitter, and "only" 1,061 games as an outfielder, which I figured would be a huge strike against him for the purists.

Plus, Baines was not a lifetime .300 hitter. He did not hit 500 career home runs, nor did he collect 3,000 career hits. So, he didn't reach any of the "counting statistics" milestones that we normally associate with Hall of Fame-caliber hitters.

Baines was a career .289 hitter, with .356 on-base percentage and a .465 slugging percentage. He totaled 2,866 hits, 384 home runs, 1,628 RBIs, 488 doubles, 49 triples and 1,299 runs scored.

There's nothing wrong with these numbers. That's a helluva career, in fact, but Baines only led the league in a category once in the 22 years he played. He topped the American League in 1984 with a .541 slugging percentage as a member of the Sox. He never won an MVP award, and never finished higher than ninth (1985). He had little or no defensive utility after he hurt his knee, and heck, he never got more than 6.1 percent of the vote on any Hall ballot before this.

Here's the one case I can make for Baines: He probably would have reached that 3,000-hit plateau if work stoppages hadn't cost him games in three seasons of his career -- 1981, 1994 and 1995.

Is that a good case? Ehhh ... probably not. I'm happy for Baines, but really surprised at his election.

Catching options available to the White Sox

Yasmani Grandal

With Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith both having moved on, Welington Castillo is the only catcher on the White Sox's 40-man roster who you would expect to be in the majors when the 2019 season opens.

Seby Zavala most likely will start the season at Triple-A Charlotte, so that means there's a move to be made behind the plate. Will it be someone who will start, relegating Castillo to a backup role? Or is Castillo the starter, with the Sox looking to add a second-stringer to the roster?

I've heard a lot of Sox fans say they want to see the the team sign a "one-year stopgap" at catcher. OK, but isn't that what Castillo is? He is a veteran with one guaranteed year remaining on his contract (there's a team option for 2020) at a value of $7.25 million. For me, that's the stopgap. Where is the long-term solution?

We'll see what the Sox do. There's a lengthy list of free agent catchers available.

At the top of that list is Yasmani Grandal, who might have hurt his market with a struggling performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. But Grandal has a track record of being able to both hit and play his position, and he's clearly a superior player to Castillo and all of the other catchers on the free agent market.

If the Sox are looking for someone who can hit, but is just OK behind the plate, Wilson Ramos is available. Want a glove-first guy? How about Martin Maldonado? He can't hit, but he's a good receiver.

Jonathan Lucroy and Matt Wieters aren't as good as they used to be, but they are available if the Sox want to make it two one-year stopgaps behind the plate.

Caleb Joseph and James McCann were non-tendered by their previous clubs. If the Sox sign either of those guys, it would be cheapening out, so I hope they don't go that route.

A few other guys might be available in a trade: J.T. Realmuto, Francisco Cervelli and Russell Martin.

Realmuto is the top-of-the-line option. He has two years remaining on his contract, and would come at a heavy price in any deal with the Miami Marlins. Cervelli and Martin both have one year remaining on their contracts -- again stopgap options -- and I would say Cervelli still can contribute. He's a lot like Ramos. He can hit, and his catching is neither great nor terrible.

Martin, to me, is about done at age 36. He hit .194 last season, and I'd be inclined to stay away.

Which of these catchers will be joining the Sox in 2019? Or will it be someone I have not mentioned here?

St. Louis Cardinals acquire Paul Goldschmidt from Arizona Diamondbacks in four-player trade

Paul Goldschmidt

The St. Louis Cardinals finished three games out of a wild-card spot and seven games back of the National League Central Division lead in 2018.

How should they make up that difference? Trading for the most complete first baseman in baseball is one way to start.

The Cardinals on Wednesday acquired Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly and infielder Andy Young.

I like this move for St. Louis, especially because they did not give up any of their elite prospects, and none of the players they sent to the Diamondbacks figured prominently in their 2019 plans.

Now, Goldschmidt only has one year remaining on his contract, so it's possible this is a one-year rental. But, what a rental it is. Goldschmidt has hit 33 or more home runs in three of the past four seasons, and he has driven in 110 or more runs in three of the past six seasons. His OPS has been .900 or better in five of his six full seasons in MLB, and it was .899 in the one season that it wasn't.

Since his first full season in 2012, Goldschmidt has posted a .400 on-base percentage and .534 slugging percentage, good for a .934 OPS. This is a topnotch middle-of-the-order run producer.

And, oh yeah, he's a three-time Gold Glove winner at first base. The Cardinals now have a much stronger defensive infield with Goldschmidt and second baseman Kolten Wong on the right side. This trade will move Matt Carpenter back to third base, and while I'm not a huge fan of Carpenter at third and Paul DeJong at shortstop -- at least from a defensive perspective --  St. Louis already is better than it was last season.

Can the Cardinals sign Goldschmidt, 32, beyond this year? It won't be easy, although they've traded for and then signed players to long-term deals in the past -- think Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and Matt Holliday. St. Louis tried a similar strategy with Jason Heyward, although it didn't work. Heyward entered free agency and eventually signed with the Cubs. Although Heyward now wears a Cubs World Series ring, perhaps the Cardinals don't regret seeing Heyward walk -- he's mostly struggled with the bat in three years in Chicago.

But I digress. I'm a little bit surprised the Diamondbacks didn't get any star power for Goldschmidt. What they did get is, well, guys who are potential pieces to the puzzle.

Weaver, 25, struggled to a 7-11 record and a 4.95 ERA in his first full season with the Cardinals. He likely wouldn't have a spot in the St. Louis rotation for 2019, but he will have an opportunity in Arizona -- especially with Patrick Corbin now in Washington.

Kelly, 24, hasn't had much playing time in St. Louis -- 63 games over three seasons -- and his .154 career average in the major leagues fails to impress in a small sample size. He wasn't going to take Yadier Molina's job with the Cardinals, but should get a longer look in Arizona.

Young, 24, projects as a utility guy, although second base is his best position. He hit .289 at two levels in 2018, finishing the year at Double-A Springfield, where he hit .319 in 35 games.

It's possible that a couple of these guys will help Arizona, but I don't see a future All-Star in the group. St. Louis did well in this trade.

Now, can the Cardinals add the bullpen piece they need to become serious challengers to the Milwaukee Brewers and Cubs? How about Zach Britton or Andrew Miller? 

Sources: White Sox send Jim Thome to meet with Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper

Are the White Sox competent enough to land one of the offseason's biggest free agents, outfielder Bryce Harper?

As a Sox fan who does not believe in the current owner and front office, the guess here is no. Harper already has turned down $300 million over 10 years from his current team, the Washington Nationals. So, what makes us believe that the Sox -- a team that has never signed a player to a nine-figure contract -- are going to go the extra mile and offer Harper, say, $400 million over 10 years?

I expect Harper to sign somewhere else, and come SoxFest, we will hear general manager Rick Hahn talking about how the Sox didn't value Harper at the same level as Harper's agent did. Sox brass will say, "Hey, we tried," and expect fans to give them points for making the effort.

To me, making an effort isn't good enough. I'm sick of losing, and I want this front office to get the team into contention now, this offseason, not in 2021.

Of course, there's a real possibility that Harper would not come to the South Side of Chicago even if ownership meets his high price. Other clubs such as the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly are in the mix, and all can offer something that the Sox cannot: proof of recent success and the presence of a win-now roster.

Will a major free agent want to join the Sox, knowing they are coming off a 100-loss season and have lost 195 games over the past two years? Not sure. If I'm Bryce Harper, and obviously I am not, why would I take a leap of faith that all these Sox prospects are going to pan out? Would I be willing to wait until 2021 to have a legitimate chance to win the World Series? I doubt it.

The Sox, for their part, sent Hall of Famer Jim Thome to Las Vegas to meet in person with Harper, and to try to sell him on coming to the South Side, according to a report from Yahoo's Jeff Passan.

Thome is, of course, one of the nicest men in the game of baseball, and if there is anyone who could pitch a player on the Sox, it probably would be Thome. But I'm not convinced that even he can woo Harper to the Sox.

Some of the latest MLB transactions ...

Robinson Cano

Catching up on a few things ... the Seattle Mariners are selling everyone, I guess. Here are three transactions that have happened in the past few days:

• The Mariners traded former All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano and All-Star closer Edwin Diaz to the New York Mets in exchange for outfielder Jay Bruce, relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak and prospects Gerson Bautista, Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn.
• The Mariners traded All-Star infielder Jean Segura and relievers Juan Nicasio and James Pazos to the Philadelphia Phillies for first baseman Carlos Santana and shortstop J.P. Crawford.
• The Washington Nationals have signed left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million contract.

The last move is too bad, because Corbin was one of the players who was on my wish list as a White Sox fan. Of course, if the Sox signed him, he'd probably blow out his elbow next season anyway.

White Sox non-tender Avisail Garcia, Matt Davidson; sign Leury Garcia

Avisail Garcia

The White Sox must be confident that they can sign a corner outfielder as a free agent this offseason.

How else to explain their decision Friday to non-tender right fielder Avisail Garcia? Infielder Matt Davidson also was non-tendered, and utility player Leury Garcia was signed to a one-year, $1.55 million contract.

First, Avisail Garcia: In principle, I agree with the decision to move on from him. Yes, he was a 2017 All-Star, but that .330 batting average and full season of health from that year was the exception in his career, not the norm.

Avisail Garcia in 2018 reverted back to what we've seen him be throughout most of his Sox career -- injury-plagued and inconsistent. While he hit a career-high 19 home runs, injuries limited him to 93 games, and his .236/.281/.438 slash line was not up to par. In particular, the batting average and on-base percentage were poor, well below his career norms.

But let's take a longer term view of Avisail Garcia's career. He's been with the Sox for five years, so we have a good sample size:

2014: .244/.305/.413
2015: .257/.309/.365
2016: .245/.307.385
2017: .330./380/.506
2018: .236/.281/.438

I think it's time to cue up our friend, Cookie Monster:

That's right, Cookie. One of these things is not like the other things. And, in this case, that thing is Avisail Garcia's 2017 season. We can wish for him to be that guy all we want, but I think he's much closer to the player we saw from 2014-16 and again in 2018.

It's OK to move on from Avisail for just that reason: Four years of mediocrity or worse trumps one career year. The key is, you have to replace him. So, Rick Hahn, spend some money and replace him, please.

We know Eloy Jimenez is going to get his chance in left field for the Sox in 2019. He hit a grand slam in his first game in the Dominican Winter League this week. That's one corner outfielder. Who is the other one? It won't be Avisail Garcia, and I'm hear to tell you it isn't going to be Daniel Palka (he's a DH) or Nicky Delmonico, either.

As for Davidson, he's had two full years with the Sox and hit 20 home runs or more in both, but he's also a career .226 hitter. Sure, he improved his on-base percentage from .260 to .319 in 2018. He's to be commended for that, but that's still not good enough from a bat-only player. Davidson came up as a third baseman, but he rarely plays there anymore. He's been mostly a designated hitter and a first baseman, and guys who do that either need to bat higher than .230, or hit 30-plus homers. I don't think Davidson is that guy. Let's move on.

Leury Garcia, hey, his ability to play center field might be saving him. Jose Rondon, 24, is a younger, cheaper and possibly more effective option than the 27-year-old Leury Garcia as a backup infielder. However, we've not seen Rondon play outfield, and we have seen Leury Garcia fill in at all three outfield spots -- including center field.

That sort of utility, the ability to play six positions, keeps guys around in this era when teams are carrying 13 pitchers and only 12 position players. Now, I would argue that Leury Garcia plays none of those six positions particularly well, but the Sox don't seem to care about that. They want roster flexibility, and this is a player who provides it.

I'm assuming a prospect eventually will come up from the minors and unseat the Adam Engel-Leury Garcia combination in center field, and I'm not expecting that position to be addressed in free agency this offseason.