With many needs to address, the White Sox added Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, and others during the 2015-16 offseason. However, the Sox again failed to reach a .500 record, which they last achieved in 2012. They’re the next non-contending club up in MLBTR’s Three Needs series.
1. Put loyalty aside and install the best possible front office and manager. Kenny Williams has been a part of Chicago’s front office since current shortstop Tim Anderson was a toddler, and Rick Hahn joined the organization more than 15 years ago. The current arrangement, with Williams serving as Executive Vice President and Hahn as Senior Vice President/General Manager, has been in place for four years. None of those four Sox teams won more games than they lost. Even if we give the front office a pass for doing tempered rebuilds for a couple of years, they still had two failed winters of making win-now pushes. The team’s short- and long-term prospects don’t seem much different than they were four years ago. It’s time for White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to put aside his loyalty to the Williams/Hahn tandem, and determine whether the White Sox would benefit from fresh voices in the front office. If Reinsdorf does decide to dismiss or reassign one or both of Williams and Hahn, he’d do well to more clearly define the balance of power and autonomy of his executives. In August, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported that Hahn was more in favor of a trade deadline sale than was Reinsdorf, with Hahn later denying any discord.
Manager Robin Ventura has held his position even longer than Hahn, with his fifth season as manager (and his contract) coming to an end. Even if the front office remains unaltered, Ventura may be allowed to leave. First baseman Jose Abreu recently suggested the White Sox lacked the same desire to win as the Royals, which could be the final nail in the coffin for Ventura.
2. Go all-in on an organizational strategy. It appears that Reinsdorf, Williams, and Hahn have already charted a clear offseason course, one Hahn said will be “obvious” after their “first or second transaction.” Those reading the tea leaves generally feel those comments point toward a rebuild. While a true “everything must go” rebuild has rarely been Reinsdorf’s preference, the Sox remain stuck in no man’s land, with just enough talent to win 73-78 games annually. If they believe in the people conducting a full teardown (see point #1), perhaps White Sox fans actually would accept and encourage two or three seasons during which the team has zero chance of contending. If it’s any level of rebuild, the White Sox have to trade Frazier, Melky Cabrera, and Miguel Gonzalez, who are controlled through 2017. It would be logical to unload the well-compensated David Robertson (signed through 2018), and to trade or non-tender Lawrie and Avisail Garcia. James Shields should be released. All of those steps would mark a fairly obvious start to a rebuild, but would fail to bring in any blue-chip talent.
Stopping there while retaining the team’s truly coveted pieces would constitute another half-measure. The White Sox control ace starter Chris Sale through 2019. If 2017 and 2018 are looking bleak, then now’s the time to cash Sale in for a king’s ransom. While wingman Jose Quintana is controlled for one additional year beyond Sale, it makes sense to trade both if they’re trading one. Particularly in a free agent market devoid of starting pitching, Hahn would hold the two best cards. Abreu, controlled through 2019 like Sale, would logically be dealt as well. The team would be building toward a 2020 reboot, with Adam Eaton, Carlos Rodon, and Anderson becoming the new faces of the franchise along with newly acquired young players. A fully rebuilding White Sox team would be best-served to commit at least three more years to Hahn and give him more autonomy, or else hire a new GM.
On the other hand, the White Sox currently have more present talent than your typical rebuilding club, especially in the rotation. Plus, the AL Central doesn’t appear packed with powerhouse teams over the next few years. The danger would be in repeating the 2015-16 offseason, in which the White Sox made some improvements but not enough, and stuck with questionable holdovers in several spots. If Cabrera is retained, he’s better served at designated hitter, in which case the Sox would need to add two outfielders. They also need a catcher, a starting pitcher, and a few relievers. These improvements would have to be made with a subpar cache of prospects for trade bait and a free agent market that matches the team’s needs poorly. And they’d still have to eat $22MM in releasing Shields. I don’t think all of this could or would be done under Williams and Hahn with Reinsdorf’s typical $120MM-range payroll, so something would need to change to make a true “all-in” push viable.
3. If a rebuild is chosen, make the most of playing time opportunities. The Brewers, in full rebuild mode, uncovered Jonathan Villar, Keon Broxton, Junior Guerra, and Zach Davies this year. The White Sox, meanwhile, continue to trot out Garcia as an everyday player. Though he’s only 25, Garcia has now logged over 1,500 plate appearances as a below-average hitter. While I understand every roster needs veterans, a rebuilding Sox club would have no reason to waste playing time on Garcia, Lawrie, Shields, or Cabrera in 2017. Whether or not anyone interesting can be acquired in return for these players, the playing time is valuable for identifying surprising contributors. The Brewers added players with upside who would not have been given a full opportunity on a competitive team, and that could be a blueprint for the White Sox.
The White Sox are the sixth team covered in this year’s Three Needs series, joining the D-backs, Twins, Rays, Angels and Brewers.
The only way I can see the White Sox’s course as being “obvious’ after 1 or 2 transactions is if one of them involves Sale….
I’d be happy if they get past step one. For that to happen I’m afraid we’d need to see the team sold first.
4. Hire a new Ball Boy. After some surprising final cuts during Spring Training left an open roster spot, Chris Sale has needed somebody to keep him company in the clubhouse.
Harsh.
Not inaccurate, but harsh.
This list needs to start with #1 and end with #1.
honestly i’d keep Hahn. He seems to do pretty well for himself when he does make deals, even if the purpose for those deals isn’t always clear.
Kenny Williams needed to be fired half a decade ago, though.
other than that, fire sale the bejesus out of that roster. it’s going no where.
Spot on.
#1 and #2 have been needed for some time now, and to ignore either will slide the Sox even further and take them longer to build up to a contender. I like Hahn, but if we can change out the front office and bring in capable baseball people and remove the yes men, that may be needed.
I’m not a fan of moving Sale, since the fans need at least one good player to cheer for, but if they ever entertained moving him, this is the offseason to do it, and bring in the most young talent in return.
With the questions about their bullpen, is there a good reason to have not claimed Bryan Morris off of waivers? Was durable in 2013-5. Seems better than a few ChiSox relievers. If they brought him in for a week, and he was a “piece of work”, the could non-tender him in November.
Number 1 really needs to be that they need to get rid of their announcer, I think his name is hawk or something but he is terrible.
Lol this guy gets it.
the saddest part about Hawk Harrelson is the guy who moonlights for him at home, Jason Benetti, is really pretty good
I’m not really willing to judge Hahn. Even if the denial is legitimate, it seems like he’s had his hands tied in what he’s really allowed to do with the club.
First, Ventura can not come back. Second, it has to be a full rebuild or an increase in payroll to 190 Million. You either trade them all and go young, or keep your good players and hit the free agent market hard. Catcher, 2B, LF, CF and bullpen. I just don’t see Reinsdorf increasing payroll much.
Well #1 is obvious. The Sox need a new front office. Williams has been there too long and, Hahn, well, he can do no more than the obvious. Team building is an art, and Hahn doesn’t have it. He’s a fine assistant GM, but as a GM, he does no more than the stodgy and obvious.
As for letting the young guys play…that’s a laugh, as the Sox have played starters all September. Another example of Hahn’s limited skills and abilities.
This seems ridiculous to people, I know. But the white sox do NOT need to rebuild. Getting rid of Ventura and Cashing in Sale’s value will fill practically every hole they have.
their needs are for 2017 are:
1) Lefty hitting DH (Could be Morneau)
2) serviceable catcher
3) Either a CF or a RF if you want to move eaton back to center
4) at least 1 maybe 2 strong 7th-8th inning RP.
They have the rotation to contend, easily top 5 in the AL. The lineup has 4-5 quality Hitters, and the bullpen has a great Set-up and Closer. A trade for Sale weakens the rotation a little but could fill 3/4 of those holes mentioned. It all starts with the manager though.
Not to mention the fact that they have Fulmer, Adams, and Burdi all close to major league ready. With Collins not far behind, I could see him being called up in august and be a Schwarber type of hitter for the sox.
You could swap out a few specific references to certain players and use your post to describe KW’s outlook every offseason.
I can see that, but really, aside from manager and those 4 holes, what else do they need? there are playoff teams with much more glaring needs that the white sox, but are managed so much better, Namely, the orioles, detroit, and even the mets
That’s fanatical inaccurate.
All healthy there are three teams alone in the central better than the White Soxs. The Soxs have neither a deep system which to draw from or a proven ability to flex superior financial muscle. Not to mention this is going to be a terrible FA market. Maybe if you were talking two years from now but definitely not next year.
Fanatically inaccurate in what sense specifically? Most teams success starts and ends with a good manager. That alone changes the outlook the white sox will have on next year. I cite the Playoff teams of this year as an example, not last years mets.
You trade sale which will almost guaranteed bring the White Sox 2 impact hitters or more. That means they continue with a rotation of Quintana, Rodon, Shields, Gonzalez(who has been league average) and Carson Fulmer.
The farm system already has quality pitchers to contribute, and will soon have a potentially* high quality bat in Zach Collins.
Wait a minute. Last years mets what?
I mean like last years Mets arent a comparable for the holes the white sox have to fill cuz the mets were a completely stacked pitching staff with a good offense. This years mets have 1 ace and a few average SPs due to injuries and they are still making the playoffs. Same with the Orioles and Detroit who have some big holes but are talented enough to play through them.
It is a shame what occurred to the Mets because the team proved itself last year. Even though the Mets have talented players, so do the White Sox; however, the difference between both teams is that the Mets have a desire to win, and the White Sox do not. If it did, then the team would be more consistent. There are days the offense is on fire and days when the offense is colder than a Chicago winter, which can be brutally cold. The first step Hanh has to make is not renew Ventura’s contract.
The sox are like the Bizarro Twins. Where the Twins stagnated because of loyalty to Terry Ryan, the Sox have violently writhed around due to loyalty go Kenny Williams. Opposite approaches, same result. Some success – lots of division titles for the Twins and the 05 WS – but even more wasted opportunities and unmet expectations.
The writers points are all valid. However, he failed to point out none of it will happen. The main problem with this team starts and ends with Reinsdorf. He is reason this team is “mired in mediocrity”. Reinsdorf controls the purse strings and does not spend on marquee free agents. The last one Sox signed that was not past his prime was Albert Belle. Reinsdorf also loaths to spend money in the draft. This team needs a complete overhaul from front office, on field manager/coaching and the minor league system. All of this will require spending money, which will not happen under Reinsdorf”s watch. He would rather make bush league marketing deals that net him enough profit for his ownership group, Until he dies and or the team is sold nothing will change on the Southside.
Teams who can’t acquire or attract top talent via free agency must do so via the draft and trades. The White Sox refuse to committ to either of these methods. They would rather waste money on marginal to below average free agents to fill their starting lineup. This is the fundamental flaw with their organization. You cannot win this way, and you certainly aren’t going to motivate the fan base to watch them. A complete rebuild from top to bottom is long overdue. Replace Williams, Hahn, and Ventura with baseball minds who value analytics. Then restock the minor league system and do a better job of developing prospects (Sox are terrible at this).
The sox need to let Tyler Saladino play. In sparing playing time due to injuries, he has played quite well and in my opinion carved out a role for himself.
There’s never been a better time for a full scale rebuild on the Southside. The Sox as abusiness rarely would be willing to punt fan interest to the Cubs. But over the next few seasons there’s no denying that the gap between the Cubs and Sox will be at its widest.
I also feel from a baseball perspective the timing is solid. Detroit is aging and facing a rebuild. KC will soon be seeing their team hitting free agency. Cleveland always seems to play with luck, and Minnesota sparks and misfires. A rebuild could leave the Sox primed in a few seasons at an opportune time in the Central.
Yes Ventura needs to go. Only loyalty has kept him employed this long. Hahn seems to be caught in the middle. Kenny Williams also needs to bow out. It’s time to push this org into the future.
I just don’t see the Sox as having the means to acquire the talent they need to truly contend in 2017. The free agent market is dismal this season and their own farm system is very weak (so they can’t really do much to trade from it and keep the best of the major league roster intact).
If the team truly wants to move forward towards being a contender they need to make the hard choice and deal the few high end pieces they have. Sale and Quintana especially could net some truly high end pieces.
I’m afraid though that they will continue to be lukewarm because I just don’t see them stepping back to go forward because it is too hard compared to maintaining the statis quo (which is basically what they’ve been doing for years).
Agreed. They need to sell, because every season that passes, those guys lose more and more trade value.
Sale and Quintana, especially with the free agent market, would command two of the largest prospect hauls in recent history. Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu also have immense trade value. And on top of that, Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, David Robertson (w/ cash), and Melky Cabrera (w/ cash) could also get solid returns.
By trading those players, and a few years of drafting high, they’d probably create the strongest farm system we’ve ever seen.
It’s either a few years of 90 loss seasons before becoming an MLB powerhouse, or another decade or two of missing the playoffs and finishing in the middle of the pack.
The White Sox should sign Brock Lesner