Call to the pen
Fansided

Chicago White Sox: What Grandal deal means for off-season plans

By Ben Fadden

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: Milwaukee Brewers catcher Yasmani Grandal (10) comes into the dugout for the Wild Card game against the Washington Nationals on October 1, 2019, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: Milwaukee Brewers catcher Yasmani Grandal (10) comes into the dugout for the Wild Card game against the Washington Nationals on October 1, 2019, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Yasmani Grandal signed a $73 million deal with the Chicago White Sox, so here’s what that means for the rest of their winter.

Yasmani Grandal was easily the best catcher on the free-agent market this winter, and the Chicago White Sox showed him the money.

What that tells me is Rick Hahn and the rest of the front office is ready to contend. The Grandal signing signals their intent to go for it next season.

And I don’t fault them for that. They compete in the league’s worst division, the American League Central, and the Indians might be without Francisco Lindor next year so they aren’t going to be great and the Twins don’t have a strong rotation past Jose Berríos and Jake Odorizzi.

More from Call to the Pen

So, that opens the door for a very young and sneaky White Sox team to win the Central in 2020.

People are blaming Yasmani Grandal for signing with a team that isn’t going to contend in the near future, but if you just look at what the team could look like next year, your opinion might change.

Here is what the White Sox lineup could look like in May of 2020:

  1. Nick Madrigal 2B
  2. Tim Anderson SS
  3. Jose Abreu 1B
  4. Yoan Moncada 3B
  5. Yasmani Grandal C
  6. Eloy Jiménez LF
  7. Luis Robert CF
  8. James McCann DH
  9. Leury Garcia RF

That is a very good lineup that would give a lot of starters problems in the AL Central, especially when Chicago is playing the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers every year.

That is just the lineup.

The rotation is very young as well with arms like Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech.

But back to what the Grandal signing means for the rest of the winter.

It means that ownership is all in and it is the off-season that features numerous frontline starters like Zack Wheeler and like Hyun-Jin Ryu in addition to of course Gerrit Cole.

Next. Astros: how many draft picks will be taken away?. dark

The Grandal signing was the first step in what should be a very busy offseason for the Chicago White Sox.

Home/Chicago White Sox