Chicago White Sox: Best off-season in all of baseball
The Chicago White Sox are quietly having the best off-season in all of baseball to this point by signing multiple stand-out free agents.
The Chicago White Sox have signed multiple free agents this off-season. Now they haven’t gone out and signed the highest-profile free agents, such as Anthony Rendon or Gerrit Cole, but their shrewd spending puts them in a better position to contend.
They have signed four different free agents and extended an important piece of their franchise. Overall I think they have improved the most. Let’s take a look at their signings this off-season.
Arguably the biggest thing they needed to do was extend the face of their franchise, Jose Abreu. They extended him through 2022 on a three-year, $50 million deal. The 2014 Rookie of the Year led the American League in RBI’s this past season with 123 and has been an All-Star each of the past two seasons.
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Abreu has a career slash line of .293/.349/.513 with 179 home runs and 611 RBI’s. He’s only had one season in his six-year career where he has recorded less than 100 RBI’s. They made sure he wouldn’t reach free agency.
The other important signing was starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel. He received a 3-year, $55.5 million deal with a team option for a fourth year. Keuchel pitched well for both his past teams, the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves.
The 2015 AL Cy Young has a career ERA of 3.67 and will bring a veteran presence to a ball club starving for veteran leadership. They also signed veteran lefty Gio Gonzalez, who also brings a great veteran presence. Gonzalez has a career ERA of 3.68 over his 12-year career.
Their other prize signing was catcher Yasmani Grandal. The White Sox signed him to a 4-year, $73 million deal. There were multiple teams seeking Grandal’s services. He’s one of the elite catchers in the league and probably played a big part in recruiting Keuchel and Gonzalez.
Grandal is a career .241 hitter with 141 home runs and 416 RBI’s. That is pretty average, but where Grandal excels is behind the dish. He has the reputation of one of the best pitch-framers behind the dish.
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All in all the White Sox are having the best off-season because of all of their acquisitions and the way they have been able to spread their cap space around to different players. Watch out for the White Sox because they will be making noise in 2020.