2021 White Sox: Where are they now?

With the White Sox poised to spend yet another season as the punchline of Major League Baseball, it's hard to believe they are only four years removed from being American League Central Division champions.

Yes, the 2021 Sox were a one-ply roster. They were not built for long-term success, regardless of what the talking heads in the organization sold you, and it was no surprise that they did not win a playoff round.

Still, the fall from a 93-69 season has been steep, and most of the players from that postseason-qualifying team are gone. Many of them have fallen on rough times. Here's a look at where key players from that team are heading into the 2025 season:

Yasmani Grandal, C: The 36-year-old batted .228 with nine homers and 27 RBIs last year for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He remains a free agent heading into spring training.

Jose Abreu, 1B: The 38-year-old left the Sox after the 2022 season and signed a three-year, $60 million contract with the Houston Astros. But he didn't make it through the second season. The Astros designated Abreu for assignment in 2024, when he batting .124 with only two homers in 35 games. He hasn't officially retired. He's a free agent, but his career might be over.

Cesar Hernandez, 2B: Hernandez last played in the majors in 2022 with the Washington Nationals.

Tim Anderson, SS: The Sox let their former batting champion go after he slumped to a .245 average with only one homer in 2023. Things did not improve for Anderson in 2024, as he batted .214 with no home runs in 65 games with Miami Marlins. He was designated for assignment midseason. He's signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels this offseason.

Yoan Moncada, 3B: Injuries limited Moncada to only 12 games in the 2024 season. The Sox understandably tired of him and declined his contract option for the 2025 season. Unlike some of his former teammates in Chicago, Moncada has a guaranteed major league contract for this year. He's with the Angels on a one-year prove-it deal worth $5 million.

Eloy Jimenez, LF/DH: The Sox were lucky to find a taker for Jimenez at the trade deadline last season, but his struggles continued with the Baltimore Orioles. He batted just .232 with a homer and seven RBIs in 33 games. The lack of power is notable -- Jimenez totaled only six home runs in 98 games between Chicago and Baltimore. He'll be with the Tampa Bay Rays on a minor league deal this spring.

Luis Robert Jr., CF: Hey, someone who is still with the Sox! For now. Robert is coming off a terrible season that saw his home run total slip from 38 to 14, and his OPS slip from .857 to .657. Ouch. The Sox are hoping he can stay healthy the first half of the season and regain some value, so they can deal him for futures at the trade deadline this summer.

Leury Garcia, Utility: The three-year contract former GM Rick Hahn gave Garcia after the 2021 season is finally off the books. Garcia hasn't played for the Sox since being designated for assignment in spring training 2023, before the second year of his deal even started. As a matter of fact, Garcia hasn't played in the majors since he left the Sox. He was in the Atlanta Braves organization last year. He's currently a free agent. 

Lucas Giolito, SP: Giolito has fallen on hard times since he left the Sox. He had a 6.89 ERA in six starts with the Angels. Then he went to the Cleveland Guardians and a had 7.04 ERA in six starts there. He missed the 2024 season with an arm injury after signing with the Boston Red Sox. He is expected to pitch for Boston in 2025.

Dylan Cease, SP: The Sox traded Cease in spring training 2024, and he made 33 starts for a playoff team, going 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA with the San Diego Padres. He pitched a no-hitter during the 2024 season. He has one year remaining on his contract with San Diego.

Carlos Rodon, SP: Rodon left Chicago in free agency after the 2021 season. He went 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 2022 with the San Francisco Giants, then hit the open market again and cashed in big. He's entering the third year of a six-year contract with the New York Yankees that will pay him $162 million over the life of the deal. He was a 16-game winner with AL champion New York last season.

Lance Lynn, SP: The Sox traded Lynn to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the middle of the 2023 season. He then signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in free agency, where he went 7-4 in 23 starts in 2024. The 37-year-old is looking for a team again this offseason. Despite a decent campaign last year, he remains a free agent.

Dallas Keuchel, SP: The veteran lefty started the 2022 season by going 2-5 with a 7.88 ERA in his first eight starts. The Sox decided to eat his contract, and Keuchel has since been roaming aimlessly around the league. He has since pitched ineffectively for Arizona, Texas, Minnesota and Milwaukee. He's now under contract with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

Liam Hendriks, Closer: Hendriks just turned 36 on Monday, and his story is familiar to fans. He beat cancer in early 2023 and returned to the mound to make five relief appearances with the Sox. Alas, he blew out his arm and needed Tommy John surgery. The Sox bought his contract out after the 2023 season, and he signed a two-year deal with the Boston Red Sox. He didn't pitch in 2024, but is expected back for the second season of his contract this year.

It's remarkable how quickly these guys have all scattered to the wind, isn't it?

Dylan Cease throws no-hitter for San Diego Padres

Perhaps my most enjoyable moment of the 2024 baseball season occurred Thursday afternoon. No, it wasn't anything pertaining to the White Sox losing their 11th consecutive game.  

Actually, I turned the Sox game off to watch former Chicago ace Dylan Cease pursue history. Much to my delight, Cease finished off his first career no-hitter, as the San Diego Padres defeated the Washington Nationals, 3-0.

The 28-year-old right-hander threw a career-high 114 pitches, striking out nine and walking three. Sox fans probably recall that Cease previously came within one out of a no-hitter on Sept. 3, 2022, against the Minnesota Twins.

I was in attendance at that game. Unfortunately, Minnesota's Luis Arraez broke up that bid with a single to right-center. Cease then struck out Kyle Garlick to finish off a one-hit shutout. Even though the Sox won that game resoundingly, I remember being so disappointed leaving the stadium and walking back to my car.

Even though Cease no longer pitches for my favorite team, I was nervous for him when he got to two outs in the ninth. When Washington's CJ Abrams hit a soft liner to right field, I think I yelled at the TV, "Catch it! Catch it!"

Sure enough, San Diego right fielder Bryce Johnson made the play for the final out.

Cease is now 10-8 with a 3.50 ERA for the Padres this season. As usual, he's been durable, making 22 starts to this point. His numbers may not be spectacular, but they are solid. I imagine San Diego is happy it acquired him in a five-player deal with the Sox shortly before this season began.

In recent starts, it seems as though Cease has regained the dominance he had in 2022, when he finished second in the American League in Cy Young voting. 

Over his past three outings, Cease is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Hard to beat that, right? He's thrown 22 innings in that span, and he's given up a grand total of two hits. 

No, that's not a misprint. He's given up only two hits in his past three starts, striking out 30 and walking only four. Just outstanding.

Sarah Langs tweeted Thursday that Cease has six outings this season of six-plus innings with zero or one hit allowed. That's two more than anyone else in a season since 1901, Langs wrote.

When Cease is on, good luck to opposing batters.

It's really sad for Sox fans that they don't get to enjoy his top-level pitching anymore. But hey, how about Drew Thorpe? At least the main guy the Sox got in the Cease deal has pitched well as a rookie, having totaled five consecutive quality starts.

But that's still not as fun as a no-hitter, you know?

Luis Robert Jr. or Garrett Crochet? You can only keep one

The Major League Baseball trade deadline is July 30. For the second straight season, the White Sox will be active sellers. As many as seven or eight players could be somewhere other than Chicago by this time next week.

Of course, the two biggest potential trade chips are left-handed All-Star pitcher Garrett Crochet and center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

We don't have a crystal ball here at The Baseball Kid, so we won't pretend to know what comes next. Both Robert and Crochet could be dealt, or both of them could still be here for the final two months of the season.

But, as a hypothetical exercise, if you could only keep one of Robert and Crochet, and you had to trade the other, who would you keep? 

Conventional wisdom would probably say keep the position player, not the starting pitcher. After all, your center fielder plays every day, and theoretically, he can lift you to victory at any given time. Your ace starter plays only once every five days. Therefore, there's only so much impact he can make.

So, keep Robert, right? After all, he's the only player on the Sox who is competent both offensively and defensively.

I understand that point, but I'm going to go against the grain here. I'd keep Crochet.

Power lefties such as Crochet are hard to come by. He just turned 25 years old. He's already gotten his inevitable Tommy John surgery out of the way, and he looks like a guy who is going to be in Cy Young contention over the next few years.

He's really surprised me in his first full year as a starting pitcher. Despite all the talk of innings limits, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, 21 outings into his season. He leads the American League in strikeouts with 157, and he's second in baseball behind some guy named Dylan Cease (159 Ks). Remember him?

But I digress. The other thing I like about Crochet is he has a WHIP of 0.970 in 111.1 innings. For a starting pitcher to have a WHIP under 1.00, that's really impressive. And he has only 25 walks against those 157 strikeouts. That's a 6.28 strikeout-to-walk ratio. I like pitchers who throw strikes, strike people out and don't put many people on base.

Pitchers like that are cornerstones, not trade chips.

I can hear you know, "Oh, but Jerry Reinsdorf will never sign him."

Let me say this as gently as possible: Screw Jerry. Too many fans are OK with the Sox making bad baseball decisions because Jerry is a cheap old miser who is too evil to die.

Crochet still has two more years of team control. You don't have to sign him or trade him now. So don't force the issue.

What about Robert, you say? Well, he's still a prodigious talent, but the combination of injuries and poor decision-making on the field -- especially his swing decisions at the plate -- has given me pause about whether he's really a player you build around.

Robert finally played a full season -- 145 games -- in 2023, and he had a breakout year, delivering 38 home runs. But that's the only season of his career in which he's topped 100 games.

A strained hip flexor caused him to miss two months here in 2024. He was playing in just his 49th game of the season Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers. In his first 48 games, he put up a pedestrian slash line of .227/.300/.464. 

Sure, he's got 12 homers, and he'll wow you with that power. And when he's focused in the field, he's a Gold Glove center fielder. But with the team out of the pennant race, we've seen some terrible defensive lapses from him, and he's still swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone. When is he going to fix that weakness? Maybe never.

Robert has struck out a remarkable 67 times through his first 48 games. When he's right at the plate, he's something to watch, but when he's off, he's prone to long slumps, and he's basically an automatic out.

On a good team, Robert is somebody who bats sixth and maybe finishes off a rally with an extra-base hit. He can certainly help a team, but for me, he's not THE GUY.

Crochet is trending toward being THE GUY in a starting rotation, and that's why I'd keep him over Robert if I had to choose one.

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.

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.

Reynaldo Lopez, Lance Lynn headed to new teams

Lance Lynn is going back where he started.

Two former White Sox pitchers agreed to terms on new contracts with new teams Monday.

Reynaldo Lopez is headed to the Atlanta Braves on a three-year, $30 million contract. Meanwhile, Lance Lynn is going to the St. Louis Cardinals. He's got a one-year deal worth $11 million, with incentives that could earn him as much as $14 million. The contract also includes an option for 2025 that could increase the value to $25 million.

Lopez, who turns 30 in January, bounced from the White Sox to the Los Angeles Angels to the Cleveland Guardians last season. After a rough start with the Sox, his final season numbers don't look too bad -- 3-7 with a 3.27 ERA in 68 games, with six saves. Lopez fanned 83 batters in 66 innings.

Feel free to insert the joke here about the Braves wishing to re-create the Sox bullpen. Lopez rejoins his former teammate Aaron Bummer, whom the Sox traded to Atlanta late last week.

But in a different twist, it appears the Braves are interested in possibly making Lopez a starter. According to a tweet sent Monday by Ken Rosenthal, Lopez will prepare this offseason as if he will be a member of the rotation, and Atlanta will explore the option in spring training.

Lopez hasn't been a full-time starting pitcher since 2019. That didn't work out for him in Chicago, but if he makes it work in Atlanta, that would justify the investment the Braves have made here. If Lopez is just going to be a seventh-inning reliever or something similar, you can find guys to do that role for less than $10 million AAV.

Lynn, 36, made 32 starts last season -- 21 with the Sox and 11 with the Los Angeles Dodgers -- but that's one of the few positives he can take from his 2023 campaign. He went 13-11, but had an unsightly 5.73 ERA. He had a -0.8 WAR and gave up a league-high 44(!) homers over 183.2 innings. 

The Cardinals know Lynn well. He pitched in St. Louis from 2011-17 and won a World Series there in 2011. No doubt, the club is hoping the veteran has at least one decent year left in his arm.

In other starting pitching news, a major name agreed to a contract over the weekend. Aaron Nola is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies for seven years and $172 million.

What might this mean for White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, whose name has been mentioned in trade rumors? 

There are still some good free agent pitchers out there, including NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, World Series champion Jordan Montgomery and Japanese import Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Nola has set the market for those guys by agreeing on a contract worth $24.5 million AAV.

Meanwhile, Cease is not a free agent. He's arbitration eligible with a suggested salary of $8.8 million. He has two years of team control remaining.

If Lynn can pull in $11 million in free agency coming of a rough year, then Cease is a tremendous value in this marketplace. Sox general manager Chris Getz should keep that in mind, if he is indeed entertaining trade offers for Cease.

A few notable numbers as White Sox play out string

There's no need to report everything that's going on with the White Sox as they play out the string in a miserable 2023 season. But here are a few notable things that have happened recently:

• Mike Clevinger pitched all six innings of Sunday's rain-shortened 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The right-hander gave up two runs on five hits, and he neither struck out nor walked a batter. This is notable because it's the fifth straight start for Clevinger without a walk. He should get one more start before the season ends. The last time a Sox pitcher went six straight starts without a walk? That was LaMarr Hoyt in his 1983 Cy Young-winning season. Clevinger is 9-8 with a 3.40 ERA this year.
• I was talking baseball with some people at a party Saturday afternoon, and a Sox fan who is in his 70s asked me, "How many hit batters do they have this season? My whole life, I've never seen a pitching staff hit so many batters." I guessed, "More than 70," then went about the business of looking it up. Turns out, the Sox had hit 88 batters as of Saturday afternoon. Well, Clevinger hit two Boston batters on Sunday. That makes 90 hit batsmen, and yes, that is a new team record.
• Dylan Cease had perhaps his best outing of the season Saturday in a 1-0 victory over Boston. He went seven innings, allowing no runs on six hits. He struck out 11 and did not issue a walk. During this performance, Cease cleared the 200-strikeout mark for the third straight season. He has 207 strikeouts this year, after posting 226 strikeouts in 2021 and 227 strikeouts in 2022. Cease becomes only the third pitcher in Sox history to compile 200 or more strikeouts in three different years. The others are Chris Sale, who did it four times from 2013-16, and Ed Walsh, who holds the franchise record with five such years (1907-08, 1910-12).
• In that 1-0 victory, the winning run scored in the top of the ninth inning on Luis Robert Jr.'s 38th home run of the season. With six games to play, Robert still has an outside shot at reaching both 40 doubles and 40 home runs for the season -- he has 36 doubles. The All-Star center fielder also collected his 20th stolen base of the year in Sunday's win. Unfortunately, Robert slid awkwardly in the wet dirt and had to leave the game with right knee soreness. Hopefully, he'll be able to return to the lineup Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and continue his pursuit of the 40-homer mark.
• The Sox won two of three in Boston despite only scoring six runs in the three-game series. Man, this offense is sleepy. The Sox are 60-96. They will need a 3-3 homestand to avoid a 100-loss season. 

Lazy, insular White Sox promote Chris Getz to lead baseball operations

Jerry Reinsdorf

For those who know me personally, you're well aware of how profoundly meaningful White Sox baseball is in my life. Being a Sox fan is a central part of my identity.

While I'm aware that there are more important things than baseball, there's no getting around the fact that the White Sox are part of the connective tissue of my existence. Some of the best friendships I have in my life were formed through a shared interest in Sox baseball, and the sense of community that exists within the fan base.

So, having said all that, it was a weird feeling earlier this week when I made the decision to opt out of the auto-renewal for the 2024 season ticket plan. The Sox invoiced us Tuesday, and I immediately filled out the form and effectively said, "No thanks, not now." 

Right now, I can't stomach what the Sox have become, on or off the field. We haven't enjoyed going to the ballpark for the past two years, and I don't have any hope that things are going to change anytime soon. Thus, it is time to reevaluate the decision on how to best spend those disposable dollars that typically go to the White Sox. I've been a season ticket holder for 19 seasons. 

I can't say for certain that I'm out for 2024, but at minimum, I'm delaying the decision until after the holidays, so I can see what direction the team goes this offseason.

The lazy, insular promotion of Chris Getz to lead baseball operations, a decision that owner Jerry Reinsdorf announced Thursday, is NOT a good start.

I commend Reinsdorf for finally moving on from former senior vice president Ken Williams and former GM Rick Hahn, both of whom were fired last week. That decision was welcome and overdue.

But whatever goodwill that came from that decision was lost when Reinsdorf simply promoted Getz, the team's player development director, who has been with the organization for seven years and is part of the problem.

There's a lot of stuff that could be said about this, but I'm going to offer you five takeaways:

1. Reinsdorf didn't conduct a legitimate search. This is the most galling part of the equation. During Thursday's press conference, Reinsdorf admitted that he didn't interview anyone else. This was an opportunity to reshape the future of the organization, and that opportunity has been kicked away because the owner was too lazy to conduct a thorough search.

Reinsdorf's reasoning: He "already knew" the candidates that were on his alleged list and didn't need to interview them. Here's my question for Jerry: "What about the people you DON'T know?" By failing to look outside the walls at 35th and Shields, Reinsdorf most likely missed a chance to meet the person most qualified for this position.

I understand Reinsdorf is 87 years old, and perhaps he doesn't have the energy to conduct such a search. Too bad. If that's true, then sell the team to someone who will care enough to put in the time and effort.

2. Getz wouldn't even have gotten an interview with 29 other franchises. What exactly is on Getz's resume? He's been in charge of player development for seven years. Can you name me one impact player the Sox have drafted and developed? Are there any mid- or late-round picks that have become surprise contributors? Have the Sox had any diamonds in the rough emerge? 

The Sox farm system has been ranked in the bottom half of the league for the past three or four years. There isn't a track record of success here. Are there teams out there that would clamor to add Getz to their organization? I don't believe so. I don't think he'd get an interview from any other team, if they had an opening to lead baseball operations. With the Sox, Getz gets the job without any interview process. This is ludicrous.

3. "Knowing" Sox players should not be considered a strength. Reinsdorf said Thursday, “Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience within our organization to this role. Most importantly, he knows our players, both at the major league level and in our system, knows our staff and is familiar with all aspects of our baseball operations department."

Actually, no, knowing the players is not the most important thing. The Sox are desperate for a fresh set of eyes to come in here and look at some old problems. Getz is not that. I wanted someone who has no personal relationship with any of the players, who won't have a problem getting rid of some entitled guys who are considered sacred cows in the organization.

The Sox don't need continuity. They need change.

4. The Sox are foolishly treating manager Pedro Grifol as an untouchable. During his introductory press conference, Getz contradicted himself. He said that no one is untouchable. Moments later, he declared that failing manager Grifol will be back for the 2024 season. Why? The guy is 53-81, and in case you haven't noticed, his team is getting blown out a lot lately. And if you haven't noticed, that means you're not watching, and I don't blame you for that.

The Sox have 28 games left in the season. What if they go 4-24? Reinsdorf spent time Thursday talking about how this has been the worst year during his time as owner of the Sox. Fair enough, but you know it's not over yet, right? The evaluation period isn't over yet. It continues for another month. Yet Getz has already declared Grifol safe, no matter how terrible of a job he does the rest of the way. 

5. Reinsdorf thinks the Sox can contend in 2024, LOL. Reinsdorf said he didn't want to go outside the organization because that person would need a full year to evaluate everything, and then 2024 would be lost. He claimed that Getz is the person best suited to author a quick turnaround and get the team back in contention next year.

All you can do is laugh.

Take a look at the roster, Jerry. Among position players, you have Luis Robert Jr. and a collection of overpaid scrubs. The projected 2024 starting rotation consists of Dylan Cease, who is having a rotten 2023, Michael Kopech, who has taken steps backward this season, and a host of replacement-level arms.

The Sox have almost nothing in place. Good luck fixing this by next March.

Is Mike Clevinger going to pitch for the 2024 White Sox?

Mike Clevinger

This question would have been unthinkable at the start of the season, given Mike Clevinger's off-the-field problems, but is it possible the White Sox will pick up his contract option for the 2024 season? 

Clevinger pitched six innings of one-run ball Wednesday night and earned the victory as the Sox defeated the New York Yankees, 9-2.

For the season, Clevinger has the lowest ERA of any Sox starting pitcher -- 3.55. He's made 15 starts, going 5-5. That doesn't seem spectacular, but when you're pitching for a team that is 47-69, a .500 record isn't that bad.

According to baseballreference.com, Clevinger is worth 2.0 WAR this season, which puts him third on the team behind Luis Robert Jr. and Lucas Giolito. Well, actually, maybe Clevinger is second on the team, now that Giolito has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels.

At this point, you'd have to say Clevinger is one of the few players on the Sox who has met or exceeded expectations in 2023.

The big question with Clevinger remains his health. He's had two stints on the injured list this season, notably being out from June 14 until July 29 with a biceps strain. Can he pitch without hurting himself? It's a legitimate concern.

Also a concern, the Sox have only two starting pitchers under team control for 2024: Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech.

That leaves three spots open, and at this point, you can't count Clevinger out for next season. There's a mutual team option worth $12 million. Would the Sox pick that up? Or would they gamble on finding somebody better on the free agent market?

If the Sox do pick up the option, would Clevinger opt in to stay in Chicago? Or would he bet on himself and elect free agency? Given his "character issues" and injury history, it's unclear to me whether Clevinger would get another $12 million on the open market. 

His best bet might be to stay, if the Sox want him.

White Sox can't sell false hope after getting swept in Minnesota

The White Sox entered this weekend's series against the first-place Minnesota Twins nine games back in the American League Central Division.

The thinking was, if they could sweep, they would be "back in it," only six games out with 61 games to go. Accordingly, they lined up their three best starting pitchers -- Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito -- to pitch the three games against the Twins.

Well, instead of sweeping, they got swept. The Sox leave Minnesota 12 games out of first place, and they can no longer cling to any sort of hope -- false as it was -- in the division race. The 2023 season has been toast for months in my eyes, but after this, nobody can disagree with that assessment anymore.

On Sunday, the Sox took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. Giolito was in line for the win, but Kendall Graveman gave up three runs and blew the whole thing. The Twins went on to win, 5-4, in 12 innings.

The loss leaves the Sox at 41-60. That's really a terrible record for a team that GM Rick Hahn said was "built to go deep into October" at the start of the season. Phooey.

In fact, this year's team isn't much different than the teams Sox fans watched during the three years of intentional losing (2017-19):

• 2017: 39-62 after 101 games
• 2018: 36-65 after 101 games
• 2019: 45-56 after 101 games
• 2023: 41-60 after 101 games 

In other words, the "peak contention window" Sox are not any better than the "tanking for draft position" Sox of past years. That's quite an indictment of the front office and the players alike.

I'm 47 years old. I've been a Sox fan since I attended my first game in 1981. I've seen worse Sox teams than this, but this is probably the worst season I've ever had to endure.

The gap between what the organization says they are and what they actually are has never been more wide. It's a chasm, and that's what makes all this losing so intolerable. They claim that they have what it takes to win, but it's been clear for months that they simply do not.

It's time to clean house, both in the front office and on the field.

Lucas Giolito struggles through poor start against Mets

Lucas Giolito

On Tuesday afternoon, I saw a Twitter poll asking whether Lucas Giolito's start against the New York Mets would be his last as a member of the White Sox.

It's a reasonable question. After all, the Sox entered Tuesday's action 15 games below .500 and eight games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division. Giolito is in the last year of his contract, and he would have value for a contending team.

I voted "no" in the poll. My opinion was the minority one. At the time I voted, 64% of respondents said "yes."

But here's why I think Giolito will hang around for one more start and perhaps two: The Sox play at Minnesota this weekend, and the team very clearly set their post All-Star break rotation with that series in mind. Lance Lynn will pitch Friday. Dylan Cease is scheduled to work Saturday, and Giolito's next turn is Sunday. 

These three games against the Twins represent the last gasp of the season. If the Sox were to somehow sweep that series and get within, say, five games of the division lead, management would probably delay their sell-off for another week -- at least until the four-game set against the Cleveland Guardians from July 27-30 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Guardians are another team the Sox need to catch, and Giolito would be scheduled to work the third game of that four-game set -- if there are no changes to the rotation.

You might be saying this is all pie in the sky. You might be saying that the Sox suck, and they are out of it. And I agree with you 100%. But you have to think along with team brass here. They still believe they assembled a "talented" roster, and I expect them to fight to the death.

By the time that Cleveland series is over, the Sox still have time to trade key players before the deadline, if they indeed are buried in the division race. And let's be honest: Not much gets done in MLB until right before the deadline. Teams are trying to broker the best deal possible, and they often don't move until the last possible minute.

Back to Tuesday's start ... Giolito was awful. He had his worst start in a long time, allowing eight earned runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He struck out five, walked five and allowed three home runs in a 11-10 loss.

Those same Sox fans on Twitter are having a meltdown in the wake of this poor performance, believing Giolito has "cratered" his trade value.

With all due respect, that is pure idiocy.

Giolito had allowed two earned runs or less in six of his previous seven starts. He's had a good season overall. 

Not to mention, he's been in the American League for six-plus seasons. He's a veteran pitcher, with a huge career sample size and a well-established track record. GMs and scouts know exactly what Giolito can do -- and what he cannot do. 

Fans allow their emotions to get involved when they see a poor result, but that's not the way to look at the situation. Those who work in baseball are not going to change their assessment of a player based upon one game. They are going to take a bigger-picture view of that player's performance.

Giolito is almost certainly going to be dealt by the end of the month. A contender will want him. And the Sox should get a respectable return, at least as far as rental players go.

White Sox bats arrive in late innings at Cleveland

Dylan Cease

Remember when the White Sox were 15-0 against left-handed starters in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season? 

Unfortunately, you can't count on that as an offensive strength for the Sox anymore. Entering Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Guardians, the South Siders were 2-7 this season when facing a left-handed pitcher.

Make it 3-7.

It didn't look good early, but the Sox bats arrived in the late innings to beat Cleveland and lefty Logan Allen, 4-2.

Through four innings, the Sox managed only one hit and trailed, 1-0. But catcher Yasmani Grandal hit his fourth home run of the season -- on an 0-2 pitch, no less -- to tie the game at 1.

Cleveland retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Josh Naylor, but the 2-1 advantage would be short-lived.

The first five Sox batters reached base against Allen in the top of the seventh. Andrew Vaughn reached on an infield single and advanced to third on a double by Andrew Benintendi.

Vaughn scored when Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez booted a grounder off Grandal's bat. Clint Frazier walked to loaded the bases, with still no outs, and Romy Gonzalez delivered a two-run double to put the Sox ahead, 4-2.

The line stopped moving there, however. Enyel De Los Santos relieved for Cleveland, and he struck out Tim Anderson, Jake Burger and Luis Robert Jr. in succession to strand runners on second and third.

That was a missed opportunity to blow the game wide open, but it turned out that was all the runs the Sox needed.

Dylan Cease (3-3) picked up his first win since April 10 with six innings of two-run ball. The Sox ace was once again lacking his swing-and-miss stuff, as he struck out only three. But he walked only two and limited the Guardians to five hits.

Keynan Middleton, Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman each worked a scoreless inning of relief. Graveman -- who earned his fourth save of 2023 -- allowed a walk and a hit, but a well-timed double play kept the Guardians off the board. 

The Sox are 20-30. The Guardians are 21-27.

White Sox blow opportunity to sweep Guardians

I concluded Thursday's blog by noting that the White Sox need to sweep some divisional opponents to get back in the AL Central race. Taking two out of three games isn't enough.

The Sox had an opportunity to sweep the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field, but they kicked away that chance, losing 3-1.

They lost despite having ace Dylan Cease on the mound. They lost despite Cleveland being without its two best run producers in Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor. They lost despite loading the bases with no outs in the second inning -- a golden scoring chance that the Sox let go by the boards.

They lost because Tim Anderson couldn't execute a routine play at shortstop. With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Guardians placed runners on second and third with one out.

Cease induced a weak grounder off the bat of rookie infielder Brayan Rocchio. Had Anderson fielded it cleanly, he had Will Brennan -- the Cleveland runner on third -- dead in the water at home plate. Instead, the dribbler clanked off Anderson's glove for an error. Brennan scored to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead. The Guardians added another run in that inning and closed out the game from there.

The Sox are 16-29. The Guardians are 20-23. This game was the difference between being three games behind Cleveland and five games behind. 

The Sox are five games behind. This is not how you get back in the race.

2023 Dylan Cease doesn't look like 2022 Dylan Cease

The White Sox had a 3-1 lead after three innings with their Opening Day starter on the mound Monday night against the last-place Kansas City Royals.

The Sox also got blown to bits Monday night by the last-place Royals, as Kansas City rallied for an easy 12-5 victory.

The Royals (10-26) are now 4-16 at home. I'm guessing their home record is that bad because they haven't had an opportunity to host the equally sad Sox (12-24) until now.

Dylan Cease had another poor outing in this game. He lasted five-plus innings, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits. He struck out six and walked one.

Gavin Sheets hit a home run to tie the score at 4-4 in the top of the sixth, but Cease failed to retire a batter in the bottom of the inning. He left with the bases loaded and no outs. 

By the time the sixth inning was over, the Royals led 12-4. I'll spare you the details of the eight-run inning, which featured horrendous pitching from relievers Aaron Bummer and Jimmy Lambert. 

Bummer, a lefty who is allegedly good at retiring left-handed batters, gave up three hits -- all to lefties. Absolutely ridiculous.

Bigger picture, one of the tragedies of the 2022 season is that Cease's career year went to waste. He had a 2.20 ERA and finished second in the Cy Young voting last year, going 14-8 for a team that finished 81-81.

He's not the same guy through eight starts this season, not even close. He's 2-2 with a 5.58 ERA. Only two of his outings have been quality starts. His last four outings have been four innings, four innings, five innings and five innings, respectively.

It's just not good enough, for Cease or the team as a whole. There's 126 games left. I'm not sure that's a good thing right now. 

That's all I got tonight.

Liam Hendriks speaks; Keynan Middleton(!) closes out a victory for the White Sox

White Sox closer Liam Hendriks met the media Wednesday and made his first public comments since announcing his diagnosis with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in January.

Hendriks, wearing a shirt that read "struckout cancer," is in remission, and all systems are go for him to head out on a rehab assignment later this week. He'll join Triple-A Charlotte in Gwinnett, and Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Hendriks will need four or five appearances with the Knights, according to a report from MLB.com's Scott Merkin.

There hasn't been a lot of positive news this season, but there's no question Hendriks' improving health is the feel-good story of the year for the Sox. If he returns to pitch effectively so soon after treatment, it would be remarkable. 

People around the game of baseball, not just in Chicago, are pulling for him.

Meanwhile, on the field, the Sox have won three in a row. They secured their first series win of 2023 with a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

And get this ... the Sox bullpen was excellent, with four relievers combining to throw four shutout innings after starter Dylan Cease labored to get through five innings. 

Keynan Middleton, who started the season in Triple-A, earned his first MLB save in two years. He faced four batters in the ninth inning, striking out three and walking one. The final strikeout came against All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa, who came to the plate representing the tying run.

Middleton has been a pleasant surprise. In 11 appearances since his recall, he's posted a 2.89 ERA, and now he's being trusted in higher-leverage situations. He might stick in the bullpen, even after Hendriks returns.

Gregory Santos (1-0) got four outs and earned his first major league win. He deserved it, because he pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the top of the seventh, while the score was tied 4-4. And it wasn't just any jam either -- he had to face Correa, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach, the 3-4-5 batters in the Minnesota order.

Correa grounded to shortstop, and Tim Anderson threw home to get the force at the plate. Buxton bounced back to the mound. Santos knocked the ball down with his pitching hand, gathered the ball quickly and threw home for the force and the second out. Then Larnach struck out swinging on a 3-2 slider.

The Sox grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Eloy Jimenez. Pinch runner Billy Hamilton scored from second base on an infield grounder in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Sox an insurance run that they ended up not needing.

Luis Robert Jr. hit his sixth home run of the season, a 3-run shot in the first inning. In his second game back from the injured list, Anderson went 3 for 4 with three singles, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

The Sox are 10-21 and will look for a three-game sweep Thursday afternoon. Lucas Giolito starts for the South Siders. Minnesota will counter with Pablo Lopez.

White Sox bullpen locks up 4-3 win in Minnesota

Dylan Cease

There is no such thing as a "big game" in April, but it felt as though the White Sox needed a win Monday against the Minnesota Twins.

They were coming off a lackluster series in Pittsburgh, during which they lost two of three games. Ace Dylan Cease was Monday's starting pitcher, and he was facing a short-handed Twins lineup. Byron Buxton took a scheduled day off, while Carlos Correa and Joey Gallo were out of the lineup with minor ailments.

Well, it wasn't pretty, but the Sox won, 4-3, behind four scoreless innings from a combination of four relief pitchers.

Cease (2-0) earned the win, but his outing was limited to five innings because poor infield defense cost him three runs and about 15 to 20 extra pitches. Hanser Alberto made two miscues -- one an error and one not (because you can't assume a double play) -- that cost the Sox a run in each of the third and fourth innings.

Elvis Andrus and Gavin Sheets both made errors in the bottom of the fifth that cost Cease a third run. 

Cease's final line: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 6 Ks, 2 BBs.

But for all his shortcomings on defense, Alberto delivered the decision blow of the game -- a 3-run homer off Minnesota starter Kenta Maeda (0-2) that capped a four-run fourth inning. Andrew Benintendi and Sheets singled. Yasmani Grandal singled, scoring Benintendi, and setting up Alberto's blast on a hanging slider.

Cease exited the game after 99 pitches. Jimmy Lambert worked a scoreless sixth, and Kendall Graveman worked around a single to deliver a scoreless seventh.

Aaron Bummer got two outs in the eighth, and left with the tying run on third base. Reynaldo Lopez struck out Michael A. Taylor to end that threat, then worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save of the season.

The Sox are 5-6.

White Sox designate pitcher Jose Ruiz for assignment

The White Sox on Friday designated relief pitcher Jose Ruiz for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Jesse Scholtens from Triple-A Charlotte.

Ruiz, who has made 177 relief appearances with the Sox from 2018 to present, was off to a terrible start this season. He's been in four games, allowing nine runs, eight hits, four walks, two HBPs and three home runs over 3.2 innings pitched.

The season ERA for Ruiz? 22.09, which is higher than the 21.60 ERA posted by utility infielder Hanser Alberto in his two pitching appearances.

That will get you designated for assignment.

Scholtens, who just turned 29 on Thursday, has never pitched in the majors before. He was a ninth-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2016. Up until this year, he had been in the Padres organization.

He made one start with Charlotte this week, giving up four earned runs in four innings. He's stretched out as a starter, so that means he can work in long relief for the Sox. That's a role that is needed right now.

Through seven games, the Sox have received only one quality start -- Dylan Cease on opening night. With starters failing to go any deeper than five innings in games, the Sox bullpen has been taxed early. They need a guy who can give them multiple innings in relief.

Scholtens is getting the opportunity. We'll see what he does with it.

Eloy Jimenez to injured list; White Sox top Giants

Eloy Jimenez

Remember 15 or 20 years ago when White Sox fans would (rightfully) mock Cubs fans, who started every season by saying, "If Prior and Wood are healthy ..."?

Mark Prior and Kerry Wood were never healthy, and as a result, the Cubs of that era never lived up to the massive amount of hype they received in the local press.

Well, Sox fans, I hate to tell you this, but we are exactly like the Cubs fans of the Prior-Wood time frame right now. All we do is talk about how awesome our team would be if "they could just stay healthy," when the fact of the matter is the Sox are never healthy.

They haven't been healthy in three years, and there's no reason to believe players who are always getting hurt will stop getting hurt. 

Eloy Jimenez is the first core player to be sidelined this year. The 26-year-old designated hitter was injured running the bases during the seventh inning of Monday's loss to the San Francisco Giants. He is expected to be out 2-3 weeks with a hamstring strain, but with Jimenez's injury history, you have to be concerned that this will linger for longer than that.

Injuries limited Jimenez to only 55 games in 2021, and 84 games in 2022. The guy is a prodigious offensive talent, but sad to say, you can't trust him to be ready to play. He's made of glass. Always injured. 

The Sox recalled infielder Jake Burger from Triple-A Charlotte to take Jimenez's place on the roster. I would expect Burger to form the right-handed half of a designated hitter platoon while Jimenez is on the shelf. I would expect Gavin Sheets to be the left-handed half of the platoon.

Speaking of which, Sheets got the start at DH on Wednesday, and he went 2 for 4 with two singles and three RBIs to help the Sox to a 7-3 win over the Giants.

Dylan Cease (1-0) struggled with his command, walking five over five innings pitched. But he also struck out eight and limited the Giants to one hit -- a solo home run by J.D. Davis.

Luis Robert Jr. also had a good game for the Sox, going 3 for 4 with an RBI double, two singles and two runs scored.

The Sox are 3-3. After last season's 81-81 campaign, that's pretty much on brand, right?