SoxFest to return in 2025

Get your pitchforks and torches ready, White Sox fans!

SoxFest will return Jan. 24-25, 2025, according to a news release from the team. Sure, the event is almost a full year away, but this will be the first time since 2020 that fans will get to meet with and question team brass.

In the four years since, the team has been making excuses for not holding SoxFest. They've hidden behind the COVID-19 pandemic, even in 2022 when the overwhelming majority of the American public no longer cared about the virus. 

In 2023, they canceled SoxFest, citing "multiple factors," without elaborating on what those factors were. This year? They didn't even bother to make announcement.

One can only assume the Sox weren't eager to face their fans after a 61-101 season in 2023. Early predictions for 2024 are calling for a similar season -- the current Las Vegas over/under for the Sox win total is 63.5.

So why would the team pick now to bring back this event? Well, for starters, 2025 is the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship team. It is also the 125th anniversary of the franchise.

The venue, activities and guests for SoxFest will be announced at a (likely much) later time, but expect to see a lot of the 2005 heroes at this event. I won't be surprised if Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Crede, Aaron Rowand, Bobby Jenks and the rest of the gang are brought back to keep the booing to a minimum.

Less cynically and more optimistically, the Sox have a lot of money coming off the books after the 2024 season. Perhaps next offseason, they might actually make some moves to reshape the roster and give fans hope for the 2025 season. Right now, hope is in short supply for 2024.

Either way, the move to bring back SoxFest is long overdue. Congratulations, team, on finally doing something right.

It feels like I should be doing something baseball-related this weekend

A welcome sign at SoxFest 2019.

The last weekend of January ... it used to be a highlight on the calendar, because it was SoxFest weekend.

Alas, the event isn't being held this year. It hasn't been held since 2020. COVID-19 hasn't been a valid excuse since 2021, but here we are.

I'm not a big autograph guy. In fact, I don't think I've gotten a single autograph in all the years I've attended SoxFest. But still, it's nice to gather in January with fellow Sox fans and talk baseball.

SoxFest was the only time you would ever be somewhere with a crowd of 100% Sox fans. For reasons never explained, it's gone away. And that is sorely disappointing.

Thanks for nothing, Jerry Reinsdorf.

White Sox add John Brebbia to uncertain bullpen mix

Over the weekend, the White Sox agreed to terms with right-handed relief pitcher John Brebbia, according to various reports.

Brebbia, 33, will make $4 million in 2024, with a $6 million mutual option for 2025 that includes a $1.5 million buyout. So, in effect, Brebbia is guaranteed $5.5 million over one season.

The veteran has pitched for the San Francisco Giants in each of the past three seasons. He led the National League in appearances in 2022 with 76, going 6-2 with a 3.18 ERA over 68 innings.

A lat strain limited Brebbia to 40 appearances in 2023, during which he went 3-5 with a 3.99 ERA across 38.1 innings.

If you look at his numbers, you'll notice Brebbia started 11 games in 2022 and 10 games in 2023. That's because the Giants used him as an opener. He's basically a one- or two-inning guy, and he's been used as a setup man throughout a good chunk of his career.

Newly hired White Sox senior pitching adviser Brian Bannister came from the Giants, so he's no doubt familiar with Brebbia. The main qualification for players joining the Sox this offseason seems to be familiarity with team brass, whether that's the manager, the GM or someone else ranking high in the organization.

At this point, hey, Brebbia might be a candidate to close.

Gregory Santos finished last season as the Sox closer, on the rare occasions they needed one, but he got injured at the end of the year, and I haven't heard any updates.

The only other addition to the Sox bullpen this offseason has been situational left-hander Tim Hill, who knows manager Pedro Grifol from his days with the Kansas City Royals.

Right now, here's a best guess at the eight relievers in line for jobs in the Sox bullpen:

1. Santos
2. Brebbia
3. Hill
4. Jimmy Lambert
5. Tanner Banks
6. Matt Foster
7. Jordan Leasure
8. Jesse Scholtens

Other possibilities: Deivi Garcia, Shane Drohan (Rule 5 pick), Lane Ramsey, Sammy Peralta.

Yeah, it's a roll of the dice with spots 5-8. Who really knows?

White Sox 'in serious talks' about building stadium in South Loop

The White Sox are "in serious talks" to build a new ballpark in the South Loop on the site known as "The 78," according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times.

You can read that report here.

The land in question runs from Roosevelt Road on the north, south to 16th Street. It's bordered by the Chicago River on the west, and Clark Street on the east. 

Picture, if you will, the Chicago skyline as the backdrop for Sox games. The stadium would be easily accessible from downtown. The site is close to the Kennedy and Eisenhower expressways. It's close to the Metra line -- as well as the Red, Orange and Green lines.

These renderings from NBC Sports Chicago are something else. If only we could count on this being true. I would love to see this plan come to fruition, but as always, there's the question, "Who pays for it?"

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker all will have a seat at the table in these negotiations. Do you trust a single one of them to get this done competently? 

Me neither. 

Reinsdorf's track record suggests he's going to want public money for this, and Pritzker's track record suggests he's not going to allow that. When negotiations stall because of that, where does that leave us? That's what I'm wondering when I'm thinking about this proposal.

The Sox have can renew their lease at Guaranteed Rate Field one more time for a period of four years, and that would take them through the 2029 season. Then what? I think the timing is correct to have this discussion, at least in terms of when that lease expires. The political timing and the current state of the economy in Illinois (it's not good) is another matter.

In modern society, a healthy dose of skepticism is often warranted. But when we're talking about the Chicago White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf, and governance in the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, skepticism is ALWAYS warranted.

There's no question this proposal is exciting one for fans. But remember, the Sox were "serious" about "competing for multiple championships" too, and we're still waiting for that to happen. 

I'll be delighted by this stadium if, and only if, shovels go in the ground.

Kendall Graveman trade: Nobody wins

Former White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman will miss the 2024 season after undergoing right shoulder surgery, the Houston Astros announced Tuesday.

Graveman, you may recall, was traded to the Astros last July 28 in exchange for catcher Korey Lee. The right-hander made 23 appearances with Houston after the trade, going 2-2 with a 2.42 ERA in 22.1 innings.

Because of the shoulder injury, Graveman did not make the 2023 playoff roster for the Astros, as they advanced to the American League Championship Series before losing to the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers.

Houston owes Graveman $8 million in 2024 for the last year of his contract. That obviously becomes dead money for the club.

You could say the Sox are fortunate they don't have to pay that money, and that they traded Graveman at the right time.

However, Lee has proven to be no prize. He received a 24-game audition behind the plate at the end of the 2023 season and did nothing with it. The 25-year-old batted .077/.143/.149, with just five hits in 70 plate appearances. 

That caused Sox GM Chris Getz to sign 37-year-old veteran catcher Martin Maldonado as a free agent and trade for 32-year-old veteran catcher Max Stassi. Those moves essentially wallpaper over Lee. Even though those two veterans are mediocre at best and on the downside of their respective careers, Lee will need a big spring training to earn a roster spot.

Don't bank on that. This trade looks to be one that did not help either side. Nobody wins.

3 reasons I'm not renewing my White Sox season tickets

The deadline to register for the White Sox "season ticket holder party" was Wednesday. That meant ticket reps were making another round of calls, checking to see if those of us who have yet to pay would reconsider our plans for 2024.

I'm still saying no to season tickets this year. This is not a decision I made lightly. I'm a longtime ticket holder, and White Sox baseball is important to me. However, there comes a point where this is a bad investment. 

I replied to my ticket rep and offered these three reasons on why we're taking a pass:

1. We've lost confidence in the on-field product. We've been following the offseason moves carefully, but these acquisitions are all fifth infielders, fourth outfielders and back-end starting pitchers. We had hoped the organization would be committed to making sure a season like 2023 never happens again, and we wanted to see some impact players acquired. Unfortunately, that has not happened to this point. We were told that Chris Getz was promoted to GM because he was already familiar with the organization, and that there wasn't a year to waste as far as getting back in contention. So far, we don't feel as though the actions live up to those words.

2. There have been too many things that we enjoyed taken away. We miss SoxFest. We miss Grinder Bash. We miss having access to the 100 level as 500-level season ticket holders. My girlfriend and her dad miss Father-Daughter Day at the ballpark. The first year post-pandemic, we understood why some of these things went away. But that shouldn't be an issue any longer, and it is disappointing that none of it has come back. These are perks we enjoyed, even when the Sox were disappointing us on the field. This "season ticket holder party," to be honest, did not excite me. I used to take a vacation day on the Friday of SoxFest, because the two- or three-day event was worth my time. However, I'm not going to leave work early to fight Friday traffic for 90 minutes to spend a couple of hours at the Field Museum.

3. Lastly, it's very disturbing that I've read media reports about the team possibly moving to Nashville. I haven't forgotten the feeling that I had when I was 11 years old and this very same chairman threatened to move my beloved baseball team to St. Petersburg, Fla. I've never fully forgiven him for that. He can deny it all he wants, but he's lost the benefit of the doubt with me, after what happened in the 1980s. I'm sure it's just business to him, but for us, the White Sox are a civic treasure. Generations of our families have been coming to 35th and Shields to watch baseball. We've been very loyal, and we've sat through a lot of tough seasons. The fact that we're having to talk about this, again, is insulting. The Sox organization has failed to deliver on big promises, and that is not the fault of fans.

Maybe we'll change our minds in 2025, but some positive changes have to be made before we consider committing to a ticket plan again.

Good interview with former Sox lefty Mark Buehrle

It's a slow news day, so check out Scott Merkin's interview with former Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle. 

Unpopular view: Give Garrett Crochet a chance as a starting pitcher

Amid all the trade rumors surrounding Dylan Cease, White Sox GM Chris Getz made some comments Tuesday about the future of left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet.

I first noticed them while scrolling through tweets from Scott Merkin, MLB.com's White Sox beat writer.

"He believes he can be a starter," Getz said of Crochet, according to Merkin's reporting. "We’ve seen him be a starter in the past. So we are going to go into spring prepared to stretch him out, and we’ll make adjustments along the way if need be.

"He hasn’t started in a couple years. So, it’s going to take a little bit of time to appropriately stretch him out. We are going in with the intention for him to be a starter in 2024."

Interesting. These remarks immediately caught backlash from skeptical fans. Understandably so.

You might recall Crochet missed the entire 2022 season after having Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow, and he's dealt with injuries to his elbow and shoulder both before and after that surgery.

So, it is legitimate to question whether Crochet has the durability to be a starting pitcher.

He's never thrown more than 65 innings in a season, and that happened in 2019, his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee.

In the pandemic year of 2020, Crochet pitched 9.1 innings between Tennessee and the White Sox, who drafted him that summer and fast-tracked him to the majors as a reliever.

Crochet tossed 54.1 innings of relief for the Sox in 2021, before the torn elbow ligament sidelined him in spring training of 2022.

Between his rehab stints in the minor leagues and 13 appearances with the Sox, Crochet tossed 25 innings during the 2023 season.

So, yes, the idea that he can jump to 100-plus innings in 2024 is a reach.

There's also concerns about Crochet's arsenal. Does he have three pitches that allow him to get through a lineup more than once? He's got a fastball and a slider. But is the changeup a credible enough pitch to keep opposing batters honest? And does Crochet have the control to work deep into games? 

It's very possible Crochet will hit the same ceiling Michael Kopech has hit. If you've watched Kopech over the past few years, you know the lack of a third pitch, poor control and injuries have all hindered his development. Crochet could walk the same path.

That said, I'm on board with trying Crochet as a starter, despite the risks and red flags. The Sox spent the No. 11 overall pick in the draft on him in 2020, and I don't think you pick a guy that high to assign him to a middle-relief role for the rest of his career.

You can find middle relievers in the later rounds of the draft, in free agency, on the waiver wire, pretty much anywhere.

But when you spend a first-round pick on a pitcher, you do it with the hope that he'll be a future starter. Crochet wants the opportunity, and he hasn't gotten it yet -- because the Sox were trying to win when he first joined the organization, and there was an immediate role in the big leagues he could fill.

In 2024, the Sox are no longer trying to win. There is time for development, time to see what certain guys can and can't do. For Crochet, he may need to spend some time in the minors to get stretched out to start. That's fine. Let's see if he's capable.

If he's not, the Sox can always downshift and move Crochet back into a relief role.

Will White Sox address right field in meaningful way?

Jermaine Dye 2005 World Series MVP bobblehead

Jermaine Dye was the last legitimate long-term solution to play right field for the White Sox. He was on the South Side of Chicago from 2005 until 2009, so it's been a while since that position has had stability.

Here are the players who have started the most games at that position for the Sox, by year, since 2010:

• 2010: Carlos Quentin
• 2011: Quentin
• 2012: Alex Rios
• 2013: Rios
• 2014: Dayan Viciedo
• 2015: Avisail Garcia
• 2016: Adam Eaton
• 2017: Garcia
• 2018: Garcia
• 2019: Ryan Cordell
• 2020: Nomar Mazara
• 2021: Eaton
• 2022: Gavin Sheets
• 2023: Oscar Colas

Eaton had a good year in right field the first time he was here, in 2016. But he was a shell of his former self when he was brought back in 2021, and he ended up getting designated for assignment the first week of July that year.

Garcia was the Sox's 2017 All-Star representative during his injury-plagued tenure with the team, and even though he was around for parts of six seasons, he never was regarded as a franchise cornerstone.

Since 2018, right field has been a revolving door. Daniel Palka shared the position with Garcia and Cordell for a short time. Mazara was a bust in 2020. Adam Engel was always hanging around on the roster, when healthy, and he saw playing time in right field in 2021 after Eaton fell off the map. Brian Goodwin was with the team in 2021, too.

Once 2022 rolled around, there wasn't a right fielder on the roster, so the Sox put two first basemen out there in Andrew Vaughn and Sheets. That was defensive nightmare, with neither man hitting enough to overcome the shortcomings in the field.

Colas was supposed to be the answer in 2023. Instead, his rookie season was poor. He batted .216/.257/.314 with only five home runs in 75 games. His season WAR finished at -1.5, and he was twice demoted to Triple-A Charlotte.

In fact, Colas finished the season at Charlotte. It was quite an indictment that he wasn't welcome on a 101-loss team that was playing out the string in September. Once again, Sheets was getting playing time in right field instead.

As the offseason began, new GM Chris Getz acknowledged that Colas could use more time at Triple-A.

Getz will find no disagreement here. That said, who is the right fielder for the 2024 season? As we sit here on Jan. 9, Sheets still seems to sit atop the depth chart, with Colas next in line. 

The Sox recently signed Brett Phillips to a minor league contract. Phillips, 29, can no doubt handle the position defensively, but he's bounced around for seven seasons, playing for five different teams, because he cannot hit a lick.

In his career, Phillips is batting .187/.272/.347. 

But hey, he played for the Kansas City Royals from 2018 until 2020, so he knows Sox manager Pedro Grifol! That seems to be a qualification that appeals to the Sox these days. Pedro needs his guys, even if they can't play worth a damn.

I'm not counting Phillips in for the 26-man roster when the season starts. After all, he's on a minor league deal, and he'll have to win a job in spring training. Frankly, I don't see him being better than Colas, and that's saying something, because I'm not a fan of Colas' game.

I assume the Sox aren't going to make the mistake of putting Eloy Jimenez in the outfield again. Sure, he could play right field, but only until he gets hurt again.

Maybe the 2024 right fielder is coming in a trade? If starting pitcher Dylan Cease is dealt, as is rumored, perhaps the centerpiece in such a trade would be a young outfielder to start in right field.

It's just not clear what the answer is here, and it hasn't been clear for years and years. Aren't the Sox sick of having a sinkhole at that position yet? 

My favorite Earl Weaver ejection of all time

Just because I haven't watched it in a few months, I decided today to take a break from complaining about White Sox management to watch Earl Weaver go ballistic over a balk call during a 1980 game between the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers.

The umpire involved is Joliet, Ill., native Bill Haller, who passed away just a couple of years ago.

What's especially funny to me is, if you look at the scoreboard out in left field, there's one out in the top of the first inning in a scoreless game. The action has barely started, and Weaver is getting launched by the umpiring crew. Quick ejection, not that he didn't earn it.

Warning, this is not suitable for work, but enjoy:

Pedro Grifol's latest goofy comments

Goofy

Did you catch the article Daryl Van Schouwen wrote in the Sun-Times last weekend? 

Man, I don't know how I'm going to get through another season of White Sox manager Pedro Grifol's goofy comments in the press.

The article points out that the Sox have about 10 options for their starting rotation in 2024, which is accurate. I don't know about the quality of those options, but I can find 10 names. In fact, I performed that exercise earlier in the week.

Here's what Grifol had to say in the article:

"We broke training camp with six starters [last year], only one for depth. This year, with all those kids finishing up at Triple-A and the trades [at the Aug. 1 deadline and offseason], we’re looking at 11, 12, maybe 14 starters deep who have the capability of pitching in the big leagues this year if we need it.

‘‘As far as the depth for starting pitching, I’m really happy. And we’re not done by any means. I’m OK with where we’re at.’’

OK, he's happy with the pitching depth. But then later in the article, he offers this:

‘‘I put our team down on paper, and our lineup is pretty good. We’re missing TA [Tim Anderson], and a healthy, good TA is hard to come by. But other than that, if we’re healthy, our lineup is pretty good. We just have to continue to address the pitching.’’ 

Wait a minute ... I thought he was happy with the pitching. Or maybe he's just happy with the depth, but is saying it without saying it that they need another steady veteran to fortify things. If so, I won't disagree.

But the part about the lineup being "pretty good," that's pure fantasy. He put the team down on paper, huh? Well, let's do that ourselves. Here's the projected position-by-position lineup as it currently stands, with each player's OPS+ from last year:

• C: Martin Maldonado, 66 OPS+
• 1B: Andrew Vaughn, 101 OPS+
• 2B: Nicky Lopez, 89 OPS+
• SS: Paul DeJong, 66 OPS+
• 3B: Yoan Moncada, 97 OPS+
• LF: Andrew Benintendi, 87 OPS+
• CF: Luis Robert Jr., 128 OPS+
• RF: Gavin Sheets, 63 OPS+
• DH: Eloy Jimenez, 104 OPS+

Keep in mind, 100 is the league average for OPS+. So, when we say Maldonado and DeJong have a 66 OPS+, that means they are 34% BELOW THE LEAGUE AVERAGE! They stink with the bat!

The projected 2024 Sox lineup has a grand total of three batters that clear the bar of being league average. Robert Jr. is comfortably over 100. Vaughn and Jimenez narrowly make that cut, and Moncada narrowly misses it.

So, one good hitter, three average ones and five guys who stink. Is that "pretty good," Pedro? 

The manager is pretty goofy. Heck, the Sox might not be any worse off if they had Goofy as their manager. Do you suppose Goofy could guide the team to a 61-101 record?

Lucas Giolito, Chris Sale joining new teams

Lucas Giolito

Erase the idea of Lucas Giolito coming back to the White Sox on a one-year prove-it deal. The 29-year-old right-hander did better than that on the open market, securing a two-year contract worth $38.5 million from the Boston Red Sox.

Giolito will earn $18 million in 2024, with an option to get out of the deal next winter. He will receive a $1 million buyout if he opts out. His 2025 salary will be $19 million if he opts in.

If he opts in, that activates a conditional option covering 2026. If Giolito throws fewer than 140 innings in 2025, the Red Sox have a $14 million team option for 2026. If Giolito tops 140 innings, there's a $19 million mutual option. Buyouts in either case would total $1.5 million.

Giolito had a bizarre 2023 campaign. The White Sox traded him to the Los Angeles Angels in late July. Eventually, the Angels placed him on waivers, where he was claimed by Cleveland. He finished his season with the Guardians. Here's how he fared with each of the three teams:

• White Sox: 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA over 20 starts; 134 Ks in 121 IP.
• Angels: 1-5 with a 6.89 ERA over 6 starts; 34 Ks in 32.2 IP.
• Guardians: 1-4 with a 7.04 ERA over 6 starts; 39 Ks in 30.2 IP.

Would you believe it if I told you Giolito allowed 41 home runs over 184.1 innings last season? Forty-one!

But here's the funny thing: He allowed 20 of those homers over his 21 starts with Chicago. That home run rate is certainly higher than one might like, but that's nothing until you consider that Giolito allowed 21(!) homers in his combined 12 starts with the Angels and Guardians.

Indeed, this is the rare player who got WORSE when he left the White Sox. He couldn't keep the ball in the yard with the Angels or Guardians. What does that mean for him pitching with Boston and the short porch in left field at Fenway Park? We shall see.

What we do know is Giolito will not be teammates with former Sox ace Chris Sale, who was traded from Boston to Atlanta for infielder Vaughn Grissom. Sale waived his no-trade clause, and Boston included $17 million in the deal to help the Braves cope with Sale's $27.5 million salary for this upcoming season.

Around here, we're not too interested in the composition of the Atlanta rotation, but I do think this move means the Braves are OUT on any potential deal for Sox right-hander Dylan Cease. Atlanta just wasn't going to give up multiple prospects to fortify its pitching staff, and it didn't have to do that in order to acquire Sale.

If you're still thinking Cease will be on the move this offseason, potential suitors might include the Red Sox, as well as the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees or Cincinnati Reds.

What does the White Sox starting pitching staff look like entering 2024?

Dylan Cease

Please hold your nose as we delve into the state of the White Sox starting pitching staff as the calendar turns to a new year.

The most recent Sox pitching addition? That would be 29-year-old right-hander Chris Flexen, who recently agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.75 million, with an extra $1 million available if he hits certain performance bonuses.

Once upon a time, two years ago, Flexen was a productive pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He went 14-6 with a 3.61 ERA over 31 starts in 179.2 innings in 2021. He backed that up by going 8-9 with a 3.73 ERA over 33 games (22 starts) in 137.2 innings in 2022.

We'd take either of those two years from him right now, wouldn't we, Sox fans?

Well, don't count on it because Flexen had a disastrous 2023. He pitched in 17 games with the Mariners and got DFA'd in late June after going 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA. He bounced from the New York Mets to the Colorado Rockies, and while in Denver, he started 12 games and went 2-4 with 6.37 ERA.

The only blessing? Flexen once again was durable enough to clear 100 innings -- he pitched 102.1 innings between the Mariners and the Rockies -- and that's not nothing.

However, he allowed more earned runs (78) than he had strikeouts (74), and opponents slugged .740 against his four-seam fastball. Flexen surrendered 25 home runs in 2023.

There's a reason he's available for cheap on a one-year deal, friends. Maybe Sox pitching guru Brian Bannister and pitching coach Ethan Katz have a recipe for Flexen to regain his 2021-22 form, but this signing is nothing but a huge question mark.

So, here's how the five-man rotation sets up, as we sit here on the evening of Jan. 2:

1. Dylan Cease
2. Erick Fedde
   
3. Michael Soroka
4. Flexen
5. Touki Toussaint or Michael Kopech
   

There's still a real possibility Cease gets traded, perhaps sooner rather than later, but he's here for now. After finishing second in the Cy Young voting in 2022, Cease's ERA spiked from 2.20 to 4.58 in 2023. The underlying metrics suggest Cease isn't as good as he was in 2022, but he isn't as bad as he was in 2023, either. 

If you look at Cease's 2021 numbers -- 13-7 with a 3.91 ERA in 165.2 innings, with a 1.249 WHIP and a 12.3 K/9 -- that seems like a reasonable expectation. Maybe with a slightly lower K rate, but you get the point.

Fedde might be the "big free agent acquisition" for the offseason. As we noted earlier on this blog, he had a big season in the Korean League last year.

Soroka, of course, came over from the Atlanta Braves in the Aaron Bummer deal. He was great in 2019, but injuries have limited him every year since. Will he be healthy? And if he is, what are the Sox getting? Who knows?

Kopech is both wild and an injury risk, and he's probably down to his last chance to stick in the starting rotation after a disastrous 2023 that saw him go 5-12 with a 5.43 ERA. Toussaint and Flexen are reclamation projects at this stage of their careers. The Sox were lucky to coax 83.1 innings out of Toussaint last season.

As in any baseball season, a team needs more than five or six starters to get through 162 games. Here are some other guys the Sox might use in 2024:

• Jared Shuster
• Jesse Scholtens
• Nick Nastrini
• Jake Eder
• Cristian Mena
• Davis Martin

Shuster is a change-of-scenery lefty who came over from the Braves with Soroka in the Bummer deal. Scholtens got 85 innings with the Sox last year, and there were diminishing returns as the season moved along. Nastrini is a prospect acquired from the Dodgers midseason last year. Eder is a lefty prospect who came from the Marlins in the Jake Burger trade. 

Mena is a 21-year-old righty who pitched as high as Triple-A Charlotte in 2023. Some have forgotten about Martin, who made nine starts in 2022. He missed 2023 with elbow surgery, but could contribute to the Sox late in 2024.

Add all this up, and two things are true: 1) The Sox have options, but many of them are suspect, and 2) This type of rotation projection gets you picked to finish last, even in the sad-sack American League Central.

White Sox make offseason changes at catcher

Martin Maldonado

When the offseason began, it looked as though the White Sox were poised to play younger players at catcher in 2024.

Both 25-year-old Korey Lee and 27-year-old Carlos Perez had spots on the 40-man roster. Both have some major league experience, and the conventional thinking was at least one of them would be with the team when the season starts in March.

Now, perhaps not.

The Sox are adding 37-year-old catcher Martin Maldonado on a one-year deal, according to reports. The contract is worth $4 million, and reportedly contains a vesting option for the 2025 season.

Earlier in December, the Sox acquired 32-year-old veteran catcher Max Stassi from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for cash and a player to be named later.

Maldonado comes to the Sox from Houston. He was the starting catcher for the Astros from 2019 to 2023, and he was part of two American League pennant winners (2019, 2022) and one World Series champion.

He has a reputation as a terrific defensive catcher, although his framing statistics fell off a cliff in 2023. He's still a good blocker and thrower, but he's a notoriously weak hitter.

Here are his offensive numbers from the past three seasons:

• 2021: .172/.272/.300, 12 home runs, 36 RBIs
• 2022: .186/.248/.352, 15 home runs, 45 RBIs
• 2023: .191/.258/.348, 15 home runs, 36 RBIs

In short, expect Maldonado to bat ninth, hit the occasional home run and otherwise be terrible with a bat in his hands. The Sox will be counting on him to provide veteran leadership and game-planning to help what figures to be a young pitching staff.

Stassi did not play during the 2023 season because of a hip injury and a family health emergency -- his son was born three months premature in April. 

When he was last seen on a major league field in 2022, Stassi struggled with the Los Angeles Angels. He batted .180/.267/.303 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs in 102 games.

But, in 2020 and 2021, Stassi was serviceable for the Angels. If you combine his numbers over those two seasons, they pencil out to a .250/.333/.452 batting line with 20 homers over 118 games. His defensive metrics all were strong, so that's a useful profile if he can regain that form.

Perez was recently designated for assignment, so we can eliminate him from the 2024 catching mix. Maldonado will certainly be on the team, if healthy, so that leaves Lee and Stassi competing for a roster spot.

Lee got 24 games in with the Sox last year, after coming over from the Astros in the Kendall Graveman trade, but he didn't do much with the opportunity. His defense was OK, but it certainly wasn't enough to overcome a .077/.143/.138 slash line in 70 plate appearances.

Also notable on the organizational depth chart is 24-year-old Adam Hackenburg, who has a good defensive reputation and ascended to Triple-A Charlotte by the end of 2023.

Hackenburg also had his best season at the plate. He batted .271/.366/.388 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 101 games split between Charlotte and Double-A Birmingham.

The intrigue here comes with whether Maldonado and/or Stassi can improve the Sox's game preparation. The 2023 season began with manager Pedro Grifol and field coordinator Mike Tosar boasting about how the team would be "elite" in that area.

After 101 losses, the season ended with Grifol lamenting how the Sox were actually subpar in that area. Interestingly, he didn't make those remarks until after the previous catching duo (Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala) had been shown the exit. 

If Grandal and Zavala were poor in that area, Grifol should have stepped in and addressed it during the season. Perhaps he tried and failed. From the outside, how are we to know? 

But, it is 100% fair to not trust Grifol to deliver on his promise of "elite preparation" after what we saw last year. So, perhaps it falls to Maldonado to clean up the mess. That won't be easy for a player in his first (and maybe his only) year with the organization, but that's the task at hand.

Happy 2024 from The Baseball Kid