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Despite making a few high-profile offseason additions, the Chicago White Sox finished in fourth place in the AL Central last year with a record of 76-86, missing the .500 mark for the third straight time. This offseason, the White Sox have made a few more interesting moves, such as adding Brett Lawrie and slugger Todd Frazier, and they should be an interesting team to watch.
Lawrie and Frazier will be joining a lineup that is led by Jose Abreu. In his first two seasons stateside, Abreu has slashed .303/.364/.540 and tallied 66 home runs with 208 RBIs. Frazier and Abreu should certainly provide plenty of thump, and the White Sox also have another player in Adam Eaton who has emerged as a very solid ballplayer. However, there are also quite a few uncertainties in the South Siders’ starting lineup.
Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche, two of last year’s big offseason additions, both posted negative fWARs last season. Right fielder Avisail Garcia is also coming off of a below-replacement level season, though it should be noted he is still only 24 years old and should have plenty of time to reach his potential.
In the rotation, Jeff Samardzija has now moved on after having a rather rough year, but the White Sox still have one of the best pitchers in MLB in Chris Sale. They also have the underrated Jose Quintana and an extremely talented youngster in Carlos Rodon.
Plus, they have the veteran John Danks, and Erik Johnson, who posted a 3.34 ERA through six starts last season, could be a solid candidate to win a spot as well. Chicago also added an interesting bounce-back candidate in Mat Latos, who was a 4.8 fWAR pitcher as recently as 2013.
It is also worthwhile to note that the White Sox have a solid closer in David Robertson, which is usually an important part of the winning formula. In his first year after signing a reported four-year, $46 million deal, Robertson may not have had his best season in 2015, but he was still worth 1.8 fWAR.
Going into next season, the White Sox clearly have the pieces to be a surprise team, but with the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians and defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals, the AL Central could be a tough division. Right now, an 83-79 record, which would be an improvement over the past few years, feels about right for the White Sox.
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