The White Sox wasted no time checking off their top two offseason needs, trading for right-hander Lance Lynn and signing right fielder Adam Eaton in the first two days of baseball’s “virtual winter meetings” this week.
The 2021 Opening Day roster for a team ready to use its 2020 playoff experience as a steppingstone to championship pastures isn’t set.
There is still work to be done.
Alex Colome is a free agent so no one knows who the closer will be, although right-hander Liam Hendriks, who stifled the Sox in their wild card series loss to the Athletics, is reportedly on the target list. If so, general manager Rick Hahn was playing it coy, as he’s been know to this time of year.
“I certainly understand the logic behind wanting that sort of security [having a lockdown ninth inning guy] or safety net so to speak, or known quantity at least,” Hahn said Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s a must. I think having enough quality arms down there and a manager like Tony [La Russa], who knows how to mix and match a bullpen, certainly could be very effective.
Hahn said he feels “really good” about left-handers Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet, and righties Codi Heuer, Evan Marshall and Matt Foster et al, but the bullpen “is an area we’ll explore here over the coming weeks.”
Free agent catcher James McCann is headed elsewhere, leaving a big hole at the backup spot behind Yasmani Grandal. Hahn said Zack Collins, Yermin Mercedes and Seby Zavala are “different animals in terms of the profiles they bring to the position.”
Translation: If you have three possible backups, you probably don’t have one.
If a catcher isn’t signed or traded for, “we’ll have to sort of adjust on the fly during the course of the season based on how it plays out from amongst those three options,” Hahn said.
Designated hitter remains open, with valued first base prospect Andrew Vaughn poised to take over soon for Edwin Encarnacion. But Vaughn hasn’t played above Class A.
The Sox are known to have interest in Michael Brantley, a left-handed hitter who could DH or play left field with the defensively challenged but offensively feared Eloy Jimenez getting at-bats as the DH.
And the starting rotation still has question marks behind Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lynn. Dylan Cease (4.01 ERA, 44 strikeouts, 34 walks in 58 1/3 innings in 2020) struggled to command elite stuff and wasn’t trusted to start Game 3 of the wild card, and while new pitching coach Ethan Katz has a plan to fix him, Cease remains an intriguing wait-and-see unknown until proven otherwise.
Michael Kopech’s arm and upside are even more fascinating, but he is a bigger mystery than Cease after opting out of the 2020 season and missing 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Kopech has thrown 14 1/3 major league innings and can’t be counted on until he’s actually throwing more.
To insulate themselves, the Sox could add a back-end Gio Gonzalez-type starter, and free agent left-hander Jose Quintana — whom the Sox parted with to pry Jimenez and Cease from the Cubs — would be quite the fun storyline complement acquisition to Eaton. Both Eaton and Quintana were dealt in two of Sox’ three rebuilding-block trades.
“We’re in good shape in the front three,” Hahn said. “We have high hopes for Dylan Cease to continue to develop and look forward to him working with Ethan. Michael Kopech coming back will be a nice shot in the arm and Reynaldo López still has a world of talent. That said, whether it’s over the course of the next few weeks or over the course of the summer, we’ll still be on the lookout for ways to improve the pitching staff.
“There’s always something else we can do.”
NOTE: The White Sox invited four current minor league organizations to be the club’s affiliates in Major League Baseball’s new player development structure: Class AAA Charlotte, AA Birmingham, advanced A Winston-Salem and low A Kannapolis. Each club will consider the details of the license invitation before responding to the Sox and MLB.
Director of player development Chris Getz characterized the Sox’ relationship with each affiliate as “strong and productive.”
The Sox will continue to operate their Arizona Rookie League club in Glendale, Arizona.
* Thursday is the last day of the “meetings,” which conclude with the Rule 5 draft.
