Chicago White Sox: The Manny Machado Effect
By Josh Ejnes
The Chicago White Sox have been a big player in free agency discussions this offseason, and now it seems their main target is Manny Machado. Here’s how adding him to the roster could affect them.
The Chicago White Sox have formally offered a long-term contract to free agent infielder Manny Machado, and there couldn’t be a better fit for the team. Throughout the offseason the Sox have been splitting their focus between Machado and fellow free agent Bryce Harper, but this move shows that Manny is their number one target.
Harper is a great player, and whatever team he ends up on will be lucky to have him, but Machado would be a much better get for the Sox. The team is coming out of a tough rebuild, and in the next year or two quite a few of their top prospects should be major league ready. This group mostly consists of outfielders, like Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, and starting pitchers, like Michael Kopech and Dylan Cease. The biggest question mark going forward for the Sox is the left side of their infield.
At the beginning of last season, shortstop was the position the Sox seemed lost at. Tim Anderson got a lot of flack after a disappointing 2017, but he was able to turn things around, particularly on defense; his defensive runs saved improved from -8 to an even 0, and his fielding percentage is nearing league average. These aren’t great fielding numbers, but they still demonstrate some clear improvement from a player going into his third full season. He’s also demonstrated above-average power for a shortstop and has the ceiling of a 30-30 guy. If Machado is brought on, it’s not likely that Anderson would be the guy he replaced.
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The real issue for the team last year was at third base, where Yolmer Sanchez put together a lovable but not entirely effective season. In 2018 Sanchez slashed .242/.306/.372, below average offensive numbers at his position.
On the defensive side of things he was great. Fangraphs ranked Yolmer as the 6th best third baseman in the league defensively in the 2018 season, and having him on the field definitely helped make up for some of Anderson’s less than stellar defensive moments.
Still, with such subpar offensive numbers Yolmer profiles as more of a defensive utility specialist than an everyday third baseman. Bringing in Machado, who is no defensive slouch himself at third (this is an understatement), would allow Yolmer to slide into this role, and give the Sox infield more depth all around.
The most interesting effect on personnel that the addition of Machado would bring isn’t one that would be immediate. Nick Madrigal is the Sox’s top infield prospect; he’s expected to end up playing second or short when he hits the big leagues.
Next. Next moves for those snubbed by Harper. dark
A crowded infield wouldn’t be an issue this season but in two or three years the team will need to find a way to fit him with Anderson and Yoan Moncada, who both seem like they’ll be starters for quite a while. It’s possible that you could move Anderson to third and slide Madrigal in at short, but that’s not likely to happen if you’ve got Manny Machado on a long-term contract. This means that if Machado is added we could see Moncada, Madrigal or Anderson moved sometime in the next few seasons.