Offseason 2021- Three moves for the Chicago White Sox to consider heading into the 2022 Season

The Chicago White Sox during Spring Training were showing signs of an early contender for the American League Central Championship as well as a hopeful world series run. During Spring Training, White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn was even quoted saying, “​​As we sit here today, the goal is to win a World Series championship.” With the win or bust mindset, the White Sox put together one tough season, prolonged with injuries to major pieces like Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, and filled with acquisitions and trades for players like Brian Goodwin and Ryan Tepera. With anything of course, moves were made in an attempt to win with an emphasis on now. Since the team unfortunately fell short of the goal, the team must move into the postseason looking to make some new, potentially blockbuster moves. Three potential moves that I could see happening are:

1) Trade for a Proven Right Fielder

The White Sox have been a team trying to fill different voids over the years. They brought in a major role player in Lance Lynn last December when they traded for him from the Texas Rangers and Dylan Cease is appearing to grow into his role as a starter as his years in the majors continue to grow. While the starting rotation seems to be filling itself out, one key piece to fill out the starting lineup would be that of an everyday right fielder. This of course, would need to be a proven bat and defender. One possible move could be to trade for Toronto Blue Jays Teoscar Hernandez. Hernandez had a batting average last season of .296, with 163 hits, 32 home runs, and 116 runs batted in. While this might be a huge trade to be made, Toronto is in need of something the White Sox have, and that is in another proven closer. While Jordan Romano proved to be consistent for the Blue Jays with a 2.14 ERA in 63 innings pitched, their entire bullpen combined for a 4.08 ERA, earning the 16th best bullpen out of 30 teams. They could definitely use a boost, as the White Sox have a proven relief arm in Kimbrel, pending of course that they pick up his option for 2022. While he seemed to struggle on the South Side, he still owns a career ERA of 2.18, and when throwing on the Cubs in 2021 he posted an astonishing .49 ERA.

2) Sign a second baseman

While the White Sox were again trying to make this season the one, they traded away Nick Madrigal in the Kimbrel trade on the day of the deadline. While the team did fill the spot in the second half of the season with Cesar Hernandez, they are not anticipated to pick up his option for the 2022 season. That being said, the team will need to fill another everyday role at second base. Another proven second base option could be a free agency push for Chris Taylor. While Taylor had a great postseason run with the Dodgers, posting a .351 average and hitting 4 home runs, his entire 2021 season line also included a .254 average with 129 hits, 20 home runs, and 73 runs batted in. While he enters free agency this year, there is presumably going to be a large push for his skills, whether it be in the outfield or in the middle infield. The White Sox do have some leeway with spending, so look for them to make a big splash here.

3) Pursue Bullpen help

At the deadline, the team acquired arms from their north side neighbors in that of Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel. While Kimbrel may not have turned out exactly as they had hoped, Tepera proved to be a man on a mission, especially with his three appearances against the Astros in the postseason, only allowing two hits and one run over his 4.2 innings of work. His entire season he posted a 2.79 ERA over 65 games, and could be looking for a shorter term deal on a world series contender for the next few years. On top of Tepera, the White Sox could look for more proven help from Trevor Rosenthal. While Rosenthal missed the entire 2021 season with a hip labrum tear, he is another proven bullpen arm with a career 3.36 ERA over 373 appearances in his 8 year career. Coming back from this injury, there will be plenty of question marks over his abilities this offseason and how he may be able to bounce back for not only this year but years to come. Pending an in depth physical, he could be a missing link to the White Sox bullpen, at probably a lesser cost, with not only his abilities on the mound but his knowledge of the game for many of the younger guys on the team. If these two can come into a White Sox bullpen already featuring Liam Hendriks and Garrett Crochet, this would allow Michael Kopech to move back into his former role as a White Sox starter.