The news was released today about the fourth hiring of Chicago White Sox offseason free agent Jonathan Lucroy.
The White Sox, which must compete for the Central Division title and considered one of the best teams in the American League, attacked its window of opportunity and exploited the flexibility of its payroll not with bright stars filling obvious needs, but with the former, the overpriced, and the familiar.
Aggressive again at the start of Winter Meetings, GM Rick Hahn attacked on Day 1 and signed the famous cancer grinder / clubhouse Adam Eaton on a $ 8 million one-year contract, winning a one-bid war and spending roughly double anyone could have predicted for an often injured and irascible right fielder who is coming out of a projected -1.9 bWAR entire season in 2020.
Then it came as close as anyone was crying, Liam Hendriks. Hendriks was a fabulous, but curious addition, given the overall strength of the bullpen and, specifically, Alex Colomé’s 91.3% rescue conversion rate (Hendriks converted 83.0% in the same two-year period). With a cost of just two more years guaranteed and $ 49 million more, the White Sox replaced their excellent and emotionless with an excellent and exciting one. If only Colomé had more clearly supported the causes of animal welfare.
A few days ago, news broke that the White Sox used the open market to attract a veteran southpaw capable of serving anywhere from the brief number 4 to Charlotte Knights’ rehabilitator, Carlos Rodón. Rodón, projected to win $ 4.5 million via MLBTR arbitrage, was not bid in mid-January, and after two weeks of a dead market he was snapped up by the South Siders … for a guaranteed $ 3 million. Discounting his debut season, Rodón averages 14 games per season for the White Sox, so this cunning move ensures that the club has covered fourth (or 5th) in May and June.
Finally, Lucroy arrives today as the fourth odd piece of the offseason, with the White Sox handvacced in the space dust of a fallen star that has put -1.1 bWAR in six seasons since his last All-Star appearance. Lucroy is designed by Marcels to receive an OPS of 0.654 with mediocre defense, if he is able to win the initial reserve job in 2021. Of course, this Lucroy deal presumably offers no money or significant time and is therefore salsa on the plate of an unimaginably unhealthy meal in a Michelin star restaurant.
Calculating what for a week or more was considered a “finished product” of an off-season: five years, $ 71 million in total expenses.
No crucial holes were filled between the right field, the designated hitter, the fourth and fifth starter and the reserve receiver. Another year will pass on the odometers of Lucas Giolito, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jiménez, Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Yoán Moncada, Nick Madrigal and José Abreu without the eminently available reinforcements needed to guarantee a fair fight with the Minnesota Twins for the division crown and playoff qualification. The space in the precious cast is filled by players like Eaton and Rodón, while names like Danny Mendick, Leury García, Zack Collins and Reynaldo López have another year in the cast without any challenge.
Nothing about this off-season mockery obscures this team’s brilliant potential. But here in February, the White Sox could have ensured that the spotlight remained bright on the South Side throughout the season. Instead, with abundant question marks – even in the manager’s chair – we are again forced to cross our fingers and place orders in a nacho helmet. As in 2018-19, when all baseball left the free agency and virtually delivered White Sox Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, this off-season pandemic left the field almost free for White Sox to destroy. Now it seems clear that they are not going to have fun in these fields.
Some indulgent fans have warned that the off-season is not over yet.
How many more of these “movements” must we endure before this happens?