A year ago, the Chicago White Sox expectation was a playoff berth at minimum, if not winning the American League Central title. With the departure of long time captain Jose Abreu, the Sox look for a new clubhouse leader and the same expectation, a playoff berth and a run to the World Series.
Taking Blame
Former White Sox manager Tony La Russa came out shortly after the Sox failed to make the playoffs and expressed the teams disappointing season. Tony put the blame on himself, the front office and Rick Hahn blamed themselves and the players blamed themselves for the underperforming season. No matter who takes the blame, this is a business and players move, coaches move, and every fan moves on. La Russa stepped down as the Sox manager at the seasons end, as many expected he would. The biggest offseason headline was indeed, “Will Jose Abreu return?” Every fan kept hope and every teammate wanted him back as that great leader and baseball player he is, but all things pointed towards his departure. But can you blame him? He gave the city of Chicago everything, an MVP, the leadership, and 9 productive seasons to go with it. But he deserved the chance to chase a title, right? He stuck with the Sox through the thick and thin years, the rebuild years, the few great years, the dog days, all of it. He deserved better and he got better as he signed a contract with the MLB hated Houston Astros. Moving on from Abreu comes at a cost, though, a cost that the White Sox have not had to deal with in some time, finding a top first baseman in the MLB to play for the Sox. Andrew Vaughn, one of the few bright spots of last season, will have to fill big shoes. You are replacing and having to replicate production from the likes of Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, and Jose Abreu. Now, there is a new coach, Pedro Grifol, who was previously the hitting coach and bench coach for the Kansas City Royals.
New Acquistions
A new year comes with departures, but they also come with new faces, trying to improve the team. The White Sox didn’t set the world on fire, but they did add some important pieces to their team. Andrew Benintendi signed a five year, $75 million dollar deal in December, filling that much needed outfield spot with Luis Robert and Gavin Sheets, or is it? The right field position is up for grabs, but we will get into that later. Beni hit .304 as his batting average with five homers and 51 RBIs (runs batted in) last season. His defense doesn’t go unnoticed either, diving for balls in the outfield, something that Eloy Jimenez or Vaughn struggled to do even consistently. Mike Clevinger also joined the group, signing a one-year, twelve million dollar prove-it-year kind of deal. He recently has had some off the field issues of domestic violence, so it remains to be seen if he will even pitch a game this season. Then, most likely to wrap their offseason up, they signed Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, and Reynaldo Lopez, to avoid arbitration. Cease was a Cy Young candidate last year and Giolito and Kopech struggled, as many did last season. The glaring issue is they did not try to fill the biggest need of the team, the second base position. Every Sox fan is crying for Nick Madrigal back, someone who we traded for Craig Kimbrel in a trade in 2021.
What Went Wrong
Injuries, lack of leadership from La Russa, whatever you want to say probably would be right. The locker look dead, there was no spark until La Russa had a medical condition and Miguel Cairo took over as coach for some time. The team looked energized, and sparked, they almost looked like the 2021 White Sox. You know, the team that had the ultra most confidence, the team that beat the breaks off the AL Central, the team that beat the Yankees in an electrical and memorable Field of Dreams game, the team that wasn’t injured, or the team that fed off their momentum. Yeah, that team. Sometimes we forget the 2021 White Sox were a joy to watch because we were so blinded by the failure of the 2022 Chicago White Sox. Going on, though, injuries did take part in the failure. Eloy Jiminez seemed to be always injured, Tim Anderson was injured for a good amount of time, and Yasmani Grandal missed time, basically, the whole starting rotation aside from Cease missed time. I can keep going but basically, every player missed time. Not only that but everyone seemingly underperformed. Giolito had a career-worst season in a White Sox uniform, Moncada had a terrible year, Eloy never figured it out, Lance Lynn struggled coming back from injury, Grandal couldn’t get his average above .200, and all underperforming led to a disappointing season for the Sox. They couldn’t hit, and when they did they couldn’t pitch. It went both ways. But there is hope, on paper, at least.
Why 2023 will be Different
The Chicago White Sox have some optimism here, they hold a debatable top five rotation in the MLB, with Cease, Giolito, Lynn, Kopech, and Clevinger. If anything may to go wrong, they have Lopez as a spot starter, Davis Martin as a spot starter who showed promise last year, Jared Kelley and Noah Shultz (It may be too early though) in the minors to eat innings. In the bullpen, flamethrower Garrett Crochet will be back after having Tommy John surgery. He was a set-up man the Chicago White Sox were missing and a piece they will be happy to have back, especially with Liam Hendricks having a medical cancerous condition. The seven-to-nine innings setup of Kendall Graveman to Crochet to Liam or Jake Diekman will be hard to hit off of. They could also entice the idea of Aaron Bummer in that inning stretch too, and Lopez. All in all, the bullpen has been a problem, but this bullpen is looking mighty nice. Now, hitting-wise, they bring back everyone aside from Abreu, Adam Engel, and utility man, Danny Mendick. Robert, Eloy, Anderson, and Vaughn will be counted on to run this engine, with them being young stars and who the organization bought into. Moncada and Grandal are declining but should have the urge to prove it to the White Sox. Players that are entering contract years are Grandal, Moncada, and Lopez, with Lynn and Anderson up in 2025. So for Moncada and Grandal, as disappointing as they were, this is showing up or shut up time, another reason this offense is about to explode this year. Oh, and did I mention Oscar Colas? You’ll get to meet him on opening day, most likely. He has been relayed as having more pure-hitting power than Eloy and Robert, which is hard to envision. 2023 is the year, all or nothing. Buckle up, Sox Nation!
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