When the rebuild was first signaled, I thought it was basically Christmas for Carlos Sanchez, Leury Garcia, Rymer Liriano, Tyler Saladino, Garcia, and every graduated but blocked or stalled mid-tier White Sox prospect. But while these are opportunities are to be handed out pretty freely, the Sox sending out the polished but low-ceiling Jason Coats showed they are a least a little bit choosy on how they dole out 2017 plate appearances. While we understand hoping that stalled, older prospects to break out is a long shot, just how much of a longshot is something worth nagging Ethan Spalding into running queries for.

Avisail does not turn 26 until June, and Liriano is just eight days younger. Leury turns 26 in March, as does Matt Davidson. Omar Narvaez and Sanchez are both a year younger. They are all longshots, but Garcia is the one that stretches the parameters the most. To that end, inspired by Garcia, who sits at 1.1 career WARP at this point, here’s the highest career WARP for players who at age 25, had 2 WARP or less.

So, obviously there’s plenty of hope here. A lot of late debuts, or guys that flopped in very brief debuts, went on to be fringe Hall of Famers. But age has always been a factor cited by those still hopeful for Avisail, whereas our cynicism has lay in how much he has already struggled at the major league level over his 1,551 major league plate appearances. So, here’s the same search with the added condition of anyone included has to have reached 1,500 plate appearances by age 25.

There’s a lot less hope here, and not just because Garcia is already on the top-20 by these parameters and is placed right next to Dayan Viciedo by a twist of fate. Cliff Floyd is a decent enough ray of hope, since he debuted early at 20, hit inconsistently while dealing with injuries and his fits of progress on offense were undermined by defensive struggles, but Jose Guillen, a total toolshed who was totally confounding until settling into a nice prime in his late-20, early-30s, seems perfect. Michael Brantley‘s early career offense was bad, but he was hampered by a need to be moved out of center in a way that Avisail never was.

But much of this group is not a good comparison with Garcia because he cannot recoup value by becoming a plus-fielding shortstop like Dick Groat, Omar Vizquel and Alex Gonzalez, or a catcher like Michael Barrett. While there has been some more optimism about Garcia playing an outfield position of recent, his usefulness is pretty clearly defined by whether or not his bat (a career .250 TAv [true average] at this point) ever develops.

So I asked Ethan to query for the highest TAv for players who had a TAv of .250 or below, at age 25, with 1,500 or more plate appearances. Ethan immediately pointed out that this was dumb, and I would wind up someone who went 1-for-2 with a walk after they turned 26 and then stepped into another dimension, never to return. He also pointed out I would get Jean Segura, who could very well could have been a BABIP mirage in 2016. As such, Ethan decided to only include players with 1,000 plate appearances after age 25.

Guillen is still there, and Carlos Gomez and Yadier Molina, two defensive mavens pushed up well before they could contribute anything on offense, represent some of the only names on here who played after women’s suffrage was passed. But Melky Cabrera, another toolsy early debut guy who struggled with inconsistency and conditioning before rounding into form, is so obvious I hate myself for getting through this whole article without addressing him before. Cabrera has some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the game, peaked at 18 home runs in career, and was a full-time centerfielder at age 26, as opposed to a DH at age 25, so they’re still sorta (extremely) different.

The top of the scale is still on the table for even an older prospect who hasn’t gotten a chance yet, even if we have plenty of reasons to doubt Liriano, have only a tinge of hope that Sanchez or Leury would be even light hitters in the big leagues and possess little confidence that Davidson made significant progress in Triple-A, there’s a reason that air of untapped potential is more inviting and intriguing.

Garcia turning into something is still possible, but his struggles are indicative that the ceiling he first entered the league with has significantly lowered, and we can count on one hand similar projects that meaningfully reversed the course of their offensive progress at this stage. Just as striking, is that one team sticking with that project the whole way through, while it’s not providing any current value, is virtually unprecedented. But at this point, with a rebuild pending, the absurdity of the Sox commitment doesn’t matter anymore, it’s jut bizarre.

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Thompson always had a high ceiling, so perhaps it’s no surprise that he and Reed look like they could still have many good years ahead of them.  Sanchez had a couple of elements in his favor. He was always really young for his level coming up in the minors. Even though it feels like he’s been around for an eternity, his 25th birthday is at the end of next June. And, although FRAA hasn’t agreed to date, the general consensus is that he has a plus glove at second base.

The problem was going to be whether he could hit well enough to justify a major league roster spot. Understandably, he needed time to adjust against much older competition, but given enough time he generally adjusted and made it work with a contact-heavy approach. That’s how he’d have to succeed because he doesn’t have much power, nine major league home runs aside.

And yeah, he’s still 24 and he hasn’t had 750 major league PAs yet…but he’s not progressing at all. His strikeout rate spiked last year, his walk rate did not go up accordingly and he often still looks completely overwhelmed by major league pitching.

Sanchez’ ceiling is low. The odds of him reaching that ceiling are low. A team rebuilding at a 2013 Astros level can afford to see if he shows something more, and maybe that’s the White Sox’ future. A team that is trying to win should only roster him as an emergency fill-in infielder and it’s pretty hard to carry a sub-.600 OPS, especially for a maybe-plus second baseman instead of say, an elite shortstop.

Leury Garcia got rushed to the majors because he was fast and because he could play every position on the diamond. He was in the majors at the age of 22 but didn’t get his 500th PA in Triple-A until his age-24 season.  Worse, he was completely getting blown away and stashed as basically a pinch runner, so he wasn’t getting anything close to regular reps. I doubt Leury was ever going to be much of a hitter, but whatever chance he had was totally torched by bad development choices by the Rangers and the White Sox.

After two years of full playing time in Triple-A, however belated, his bat once again looks like it could play a little bit — e.g. in the .650 OPS realm rather than down in the .400s. Given his versatility–he can actually play short and center–he doesn’t need to hit a whole lot and I believe he has earned the opportunity to jump Sanchez on the organizational depth chart.

On a playoff contender he’s a defensive replacement and pinch runner as an expanded roster guy in September, but having a player like this around can give you room to do some clunky roster construction out there, such as a platoon DH. The White Sox might need that flexibility to cover up some kludges for other parts of the lineup.

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• Shields entered the game leading the majors in HR/9 allowed, surrendering over two per nine.  The Rays as a team had somehow hit 213 on the year, or about the rate the 2000 White Sox did.  The top four players in the Rays’ order tonight all have more than 20 homers on the year, two of which are over 30.  So naturally, Shields pitched six innings and didn’t allow a single one.
• It was an emotional evening.  The Rays hung a Jose Fernandez jersey in the dugout in his honor.  In much less tragic news, Alexei Ramirez made his return to U.S. Cellular field and received a warm ovation.  He acknowledged the cheers, doffing his batting helmet, in a lovely moment–a fan even had a “Miss U Alexei” sign prominently in the frame.  I do miss Alexei, even if it seems as though he is rapidly nearing the end of his playing days.
• The White Sox grabbed an early lead when Jose Abreu followed Melky Cabrera‘s 40th double of the season with a single.  Cabrera would come around to score on a sac fly by Justin Morneau.  They added another run when Todd Frazier doubled, a shocking rarity for him this year, stole third, and came around on yet another sac fly, this one by Omar Narvaez.  Leury Garcia scored after a leadoff single, when he came around on another single after advancing on ground outs.  It was a night of run manufacturing.  I prefer dingers…
• …which came in the 7th and 8th from Morneau and Carlos Sanchez, who has randomly started swinging for the fences with a modicum of success.  I mean, by his standards, anyway.
• With an 0-for-5 night, Tim Anderson‘s OPS has dropped beneath .700.  He hasn’t hit for power in some time, and one hopes this is simply the result of him running out of gas a bit at the end of the longest season he’s ever played in his life.  And frankly, he has erased a lot of doubts about his ability to stick at shortstop–doubts which were well-founded–which eases the pressure on his bat tremendously.
• Speaking of which, the White Sox turned four double plays on the night, and Abreu cut down another would-be run at home.  That goes a way toward explaining how the Rays only managed one run on nine hits and four walks.
• The White Sox only need to win six games in a row to make it to .500 at the end of the season for the first time since 2012.

Team Record: 75-81

1. To that end, Carlos Rodon was the most helpful contributor, shrugging off a pair of bad outings to reel off his best start of the year. Rodon’s fastball was mid-to-high 90s all day with a hard wipeout slider, and he stayed strong through the end, ratcheting up his velocity down the stretch and striking out 11 over a season-high eight shutout innings. The Indians did not collect their first hit on Rodon–one of two singles all day–until the fifth, but it was an inning earlier where it became pretty clear they were out of luck. With a runner on (Rodon walked three on the day), Rodon set up Cleveland masher Mike Napoli with hard fastballs that dotted the edges of each side of the plate before twirling a 88 mph slider that the Indians’ first baseman couldn’t check up on. When he can command both sides of the plate and bust out his best slider on demand, it’s pretty hard on the opposition. Rodon recorded five of his last six outs by strikeout.

2. Sox hitting didn’t exactly overwhelm Indians starter Josh Tomlin, but they met the standard of producing enough to win a shutout. Todd Frazier managed to cause plenty of chaos with…his speed, of course. He led off the fifth with a single and stole second base with his patented walking lead with two outs. With the moment falling on Carlos Sanchez, the second baseman continued to shake off his slow start to the season and went with the pitch to guide a RBI single to left. Frazier stole his second base of the day to help add an insurance run in the ninth, taking off after a leadoff walk and scooting to third after the throw bounced away. Omar Narvaez‘s second hit of the day–and his first to leave the infield–plated Frazier to put the Sox up 3-0.

3. Narvaez also played a part in the Sox bizarre rally in the seventh, led off by Justin Morneau busting it down the line on a grounder to reach on a Michael Martinez throwing error. Avisail Garcia rolled a grounder through the middle of the infield for a single, and Narvaez loaded the bases by tapping an infield single past the reach of Tomlin and too far in front of Martinez to draw a throw. Sanchez didn’t quite match his efforts from the fifth, but his shallow flare to center scored pinch-runner J.B. Shuck on a sacrifice fly. Rajai Davis‘ throw from center beat Shuck, Chris Gimenez‘s tag at the plate beat Shuck, but the ball caromed–seemingly off Shuck’s helmet–down the first base line and Shuck was ruled safe.

4. Snuck into the back of this game was David Robertson striking out the side for a perfect ninth inning, giving Sox pitching 14 strikeouts for the day. Robertson’s ERA is down to 3.50 for the season. He’s allowed one earned run all month.

5.

pic.twitter.com/7teU1f5QBz

— Jose Abreu (@79JoseAbreu) September 25, 2016

Team Record: 74-81

Next game is Monday vs. Tampa Bay at 7:10pm CT on CSN+

Lead Image Credit: Ken Blaze // USA Today Sports Images

1. Carlos Sanchez mostly got jammed by a Bryan Shaw fastball with that one out in the ninth, but his bloop single to right-center split the Cleveland outfielders enough to allow pinch-runner Leury Garcia to race in from second and snap shut a curiously run-starved affair. Garcia came on for Omar Narvaez after the catcher lined a leadoff single to center. The speed-only and blocked in Triple-A Garcia coming on for the fifth Sox catcher used this season is the type of substitution September was built for.

2. Three scoreless relief innings and six innings of one-run ball from Shields carried the Sox to that 1-1 tie in the ninth. Shields looked…kinda, pretty good for real stretches of time? His velocity is all gone and his changeup is not the dominant offering it once was, but his usually looping curveball snapped like a real pitch Thursday, and was unusually stacked with weapons to pull from.

3. He certainly threatened to bring back the old Shields in the third inning. A complete loss of his release point led to two walks, two wild pitches and a hits batsmen, but he somehow held the Indians to one run on a Jose Ramirez sacrifice fly. A bases loaded groundout by Carlos Santana to end the inning set Shields onto a stretch of nine consecutive retired, which included five strikeouts by a man who had not struck out more than six in an entire game since coming to Chicago. A swinging bunt by Santana and a walk to Tyler Naquin put him in a mini-jam in the sixth, but Shields found one more curveball to end his day for his eighth strikeout of the afternoon, and sealed his first homer-free start in his last eight.

4. Not that the Sox offense had a big enough day to merit a second offense hero, but Jose Abreu managed to sneak in a dominant day for himself. A bullet single to center in the first helped the Sox load the bases in vain, but he took it upon himself to lead the scoring in the fourth, whacking a Mike Clevinger fastball for a no-doubt home run to left. He also drew an intentional walk in the eighth, as the Indians wisely ducked him with Melky Cabrera on second, and brought on Shaw to strike out Todd Frazier. Abreu is up to .299/.352/.482 on the season.

5. Nate Jones coming on and striking out two in a scoreless eighth is pretty typical these days, but the Sox relief corps managed to piece together a scoreless seventh with two hard outs off Chris Beck and three pitches from Dan Jennings, and David Robertson sweated out a nervous ninth inning after a walk, a hit, two stolen bases and a throwing error from Narvaez put runners on second and third before he too found a snapping curveball to finish off Coco Crisp. He picked up the win because that’s how baseball works.

Team Record: 70-75

Next game is Friday at Kansas City at 7:15pm CT on CSN

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1. Pinch-runner Carlos Sanchez was beaten by a strong throw home from left fielder Christian Yelich, as he tried to score the tying run in the top of the ninth after Tyler Saladino singled with two outs. The throw to catcher Jeff Mathis dragged him a bit up the third base line a bit, which prompted a necessary review of whether he was blocking the plate, and nearly immediately resulted in Sanchez being ruled out despite some indication that the ball came loose in Mathis’ glove.

The play at the plate covered up a roiling last-second rally the Sox cooked up against Francisco Rodney. Down 5-3 with one out, Tim Anderson turned and burned on an inside fastball for his sixth home run of the season. Omar Narvaez followed it by immediately lining a single to left, and was lifted for Sanchez. Pinch-hitter Justin Morneau complicated things by fouling off a high Rodney changeup before striking out, but Adam Eaton drilled a single to right and setup Saladino to be the hero, which he was the difference in speed between Anderson and Sanchez from being.

2. The Sox found themselves in the deficit after Chris Sale‘s mediocre outing declined to downright bad in the seventh. A No. 4 starter that stumbles his way into the seventh with a mediocre slider and shaky fastball command probably would have gotten pulled and thanked for surviving with only three runs allowed, but Sale batted for himself in the top of the seventh.

When Adeiny Hechavarria reached to leadoff the inning on a bang-bang play on an infield single, it smacked of bad luck, but nicking Ichiro Suzuki on the hand on a 2-2 count was a fair bit worse. Tasked with his third jam of the game, Sale floated another slider across the plate that Martin Prado hammered to right to put the Marlins ahead 4-3. Sale was replaced by Jacob Turner with two outs to face Marcell Ozuna, who had crushed Sale all game. While Turner got a weak grounder out of the showdown, Jose Abreu couldn’t scoop the low throw from Todd Frazier, allowing a fifth run to score…which…became important later.

3. Sale found himself in a jam in the second inning, with runners on second and third with no one out, but powered up against the bottom of the order to strike out Robert Andino and Mathis before escaping the inning unscathed. That was the last great flourish from him.

He allowed Andino, Mathis and Hechavarria to single consecutively off of him to lead off the fifth. With the bases loaded and no one out, Sale was at least granted a reprieve by starting pitcher Tom Koehler, but split the plate on 1-2 with a fastball that Koehler lined back to the mound, where it struck Sale’s foot on a short hop and kicked over Anderson’s head while two runs scored to tie the game at 2-2. Suzuki did Sale another favor by dropping a bunt, but Sale fell asleep and failed to cover home while Hechavarria circled around third and scored to put the Marlins ahead.

4. For a solid five minutes, the Sox looked like they would walk away easily with a sweep. Eaton ripped the first pitch of the game off the right field foul pole, two batters later Melky Cabrera similarly ripped a pitch into the right-center, and came around to score when Abreu reached down and poked an RBI single to right. Four batters in and they were staked to a 2-0 lead with Chris Sale on the hill. Things seemed alright.

5. Any happiness for the Marlins’ playoff push produced by this game was probably stomped out by the report that Giancarlo Stanton will likely miss the rest of the season.

Team Record: 56-61

Next game is Tuesday at Cleveland on CSN at 6:10pm CT

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1. Carlos Sanchez was already having a bad game, in the middle of a bad year, having misjudged or just dropped two soft pop-ups in short center on defense, so naturally his brief respite from a nightmarish 2016–an RBI double off the edge of Nolan Reimold‘s glove in right that plated the Sox third run of the inning, and brought them within 7-5 with the tying runs in scoring position–was short-lived. Having improbably rallied off Darren O’Day with the bottom of the order, Adam Eaton represented the White Sox best arming up to take control of the game, and yet he still chopped an easy grounder to first, which drew Sanchez off base, which in turn prompted a confused and slow Dioner Navarro to drift toward home. A not-so quick throw to third from Chris Davis was still quick enough to nab the glacial Navarro as he dove back to the base and ended the threat with a double play.

Zach Britton quickly disposed of any efforts of a comeback in the ninth, despite Justin Morneau‘s angry protests that the game-ending groundout was fouled off his foot.

2. The comeback was set up by the seemingly tension-free situation of O’Day coming on in the eighth to protect a 7-2 lead, and instead allowing a ripped leadoff single to Jose Abreu, before O’Day walked Morneau and Todd Frazier to load the bases with no one out. The seemingly red hot Avisail Garcia was only able to chop a routine grounder to short, which the Orioles turned into a fielder’s choice, before Jonathan Schoop tossed a bounced feed to the right of first base that went down as Baltimore’s fourth error of the game, but the first that produced a Sox run. Two runners crossed to push the Sox to 7-4, leading up to Sanchez’s big, but not big enough hit.

3. Strangely enough, this long path to a comeback was built out of Robin Ventura conceding that a 4-2 deficit with the Orioles’ best relievers at the ready didn’t merit using Nate Jones (though he did warm him up multiple times). Tommy Kahnle came on instead and gave up hits to four of the five Orioles’ he faced–including a solo bomb to Pedro Alvarez–and was credited with three earned before Michael Ynoa could clean things up for him.

4. Coming off a dream-like month of July, Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez certainly didn’t have his best stuff Friday night. He hung a second inning curve for Alvarez’s first of two solo moonshots on the night, and struck out just one batter over six innings. Still, his night would have been a lot cleaner if not for Manny Machado following a cutter off the outer edge and drilling it for a two-run double to the right-center gap in the third, and Tyler Saladino‘s attempt a jump throw from the hole careening up the left field line and allowing Machado to jog home easily from third. Bad execution battled bad ideas to a gruesome draw all night for both clubs, but Saladino’s botched jump throw probably was trumped by Navarro trying to bunt for a base hit in the bottom half of the inning.

5. After going over 30 games without a home run, Abreu wasn’t willing to suffer even one night off Friday, slamming a Yovani Gallardo fastball well out to left in the fourth. He collected three hits on the evening, and Garcia slapped an RBI double, so it was a decent night for dreaming on scuffling hitters.

Team Record: 52-57

Next game is Saturday vs. Baltimore at 6:10pm CT on WGN

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1. The White Sox could use some more pitching;

2. A left-handed bat would be very nice; and

3. You get more value out of a player by adding them sooner rather than waiting all the way to the deadline; and

4. You can’t buy unless someone is out there willing to sell.

Several teams that looked like they would be sellers got off to good starts, which makes it harder to buy, although they have subsequently come back down to earth — the Brewers, for example.  However, the American League seems to consist entirely of teams that have non-crazy playoff aspirations, other than the A’s or the Twins.*  Meanwhile, teams like the Rockies, Phillies, and Marlins are performing better than pre-season expectations and would have a tough sell to their fanbases and clubhouses if they punted assets at this juncture.

*The Angels and Astros are at the bottom of the AL West, but the former are desperately scrounging about for supplements to the roster, and Houston is probably still too good for people to shovel dirt on them just yet. 

So Hahn’s remark about not having a dance partner is visible front and center, and not just in the smoky backrooms of MLB front offices.

But the White Sox don’t need a major piece to improve the roster.  The easiest places to get better are the areas of biggest weakness–it’s simply a lower bar to clear.  And right now, even if we give Avisail Garcia the benefit of the doubt, the bench is an unmitigated disaster.

Alex Avila is basically the backup catcher, so unless something crazy happens and they add like, Jonathan Lucroy, he’s not going anywhere.  Regardless, his TAv this year is .212.  Jerry Sands is at .208. Carlos Sanchez was just demoted because he was hitting about as badly as you possibly can and Tyler Saladino‘s presence made him completely redundant.  The former had a .129 TAv (!!!!!) and the latter is somehow putting him to shame at .226.

You don’t exactly need an NL cellar dweller to completely crash out on the season and scoop up all of your prospects to improve on that.  So while it is nice to fantasize about trades for Ryan Braun, Lucroy, and Jonathan Villar to plug every hole on offense and turn the team into a Mad Max: Fury Road-style war rig, you could still make improvements right now.  The 2015 Mets, for example, helped their team out a lot by replacing the Eric Campbells of their roster with Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe well before they added Yoenis Cespedes.

The estimable Matt Cassidy of FutureSox pointed out to me on Twitter that Danny Hayes (of the Knights not CSN) and Jason Coats are players that he thinks could be useful internal options, and Matt Davidson is having his best year in Charlotte yet.  But, much like how Miguel Gonzalez–a freely acquired outside asset–looks like he may outperform Jacob Turner and Erik Johnson, the White Sox should be aggressively digging through the bargain bin.

Even if you want to keep Avila, Saladino, and Sands on board that should still leave a fourth spot on the bench that you can devote to the best bat you can find without compromising your backup at any given position.

The White Sox are in first place, but it is a tenuous hold, there is a long way to go, and AL Central rivals are seeing key players go down with injuries at an impressive rate.  There is an opportunity here, the margins are the easiest and cheapest places to add and hoo boy is the bar a low one to clear when it comes to improving the bench.

Well, there’s no respite from that today.

1. Well, here’s a brief one. Jose Abreu hitting a ball to Mars Monday afternoon prompted me to check in on how normal things are progressing for him:

.404/.436/.750 with four home runs in 52 at-bats.

Seems pretty normal for him.

In fact, it’s incredibly normal for him. Abreu has a career .401/.420/.584 line in Spring ball. He’s been successful enough to laugh off the reports of having a slider-speed bat, but lazy Spring sequencing and below average fastballs sure do agree with him.

2. But the White Sox back of the roster situation is seriously very open. They had a limited reason for competition before Adam LaRoche vanished and pushed everyone up a slot. Now Avisail Garcia is steaming toward more full-time at-bats, Austin Jackson is likely a starting center fielder rather than a swingman, and whether or not Abreu is going to be able to DH with regularity is a real question.

J.B. Shuck, who was revered for his pinch-hitting last year, wisely or not, and gives the Sox a viable three-position defender off the bench as well as a pinch-runner option, would seem safe.

From there, Carlos Sanchez is probably the best player competing for a job, but has the least use if the Sox are committed to carrying Tyler Saladino for his ability to cover shortstop. Travis Ishikawa is a left-handed first baseman who most immediately replaces all of what LaRoche was supposed to give to the roster, but doesn’t really have any career history of being any good for for any reasonable stretch of time. Keeping someone on board just so they can hit .258/.326/.401 vs. righties seems pretty underwhelming.

Jerry Sands has an even more limited scope (lefty-mashing), but can at least give a more legitimate claim to be a specialist at it (.292/.339/.506) for his career. It’s not much, but he could protect the Sox if Melky Cabrera has another awful year hitting right-handed. On the other hand, if Melky is fine, then it gets really hard to see what Sands does that isn’t duplicated elsewhere. He could probably be better in a lefty masher OF/DH role than Garcia, but good luck arguing that point at 35th & Shields.

3. Really, the situation screams for a major league quality left-handed hitter, but the Sox really had tremendous fortune in waiting for every viable option going off the board before they had the cause to act.

David Murphy just got his release from the Red Sox, and has been a platoon option throughout his career, but hasn’t really killed righties beyond Ishikawa levels since 2012. In a similar boat is old friend Carlos Quentin, who just got granted his release from the Minnesota Twins, and also appears set to retire if he can’t find a major league deal.

Quentin’s numbers look pristine from a career standpoint — he always hit against pitchers from either side when he was healthy — and he hit an encouraging .250/.333/.500 in 42 PAs in Spring, suggesting he wasn’t completely overcome by injury, but the specter that he’s just done physically and is not a good option to help out for a major league season hangs over the sentimental notion of a reunion.

However, the alternative of “do nothing and pick between various bad internal options” is not enough to distract from those naive dreams.

4. Still also in the same boat is Nick Swisher, who seems like he’s on his way out after the Braves were willing to eat his $15 million deal to release him and clear out playing time for young players who will be a part of their rebuild. Swisher, 35, has been in negative WARP territory the last two seasons, and after posting an incredible nine straight seasons with 20 or more home runs from 2005 through 2014, has had a .122 ISO since. Worse yet, he was transitioning to first base when all this offensive collapse started and went through surgery on both knees. He’s getting an awfully late start on finding a fit with another organization, and will probably need to be willing to go to the minors to keep playing.

Swisher is inextricably linked with White Sox clubhouse discord and a truly disastrously shortsighted trade to run him out of town, which in turn made the cost of the first trade sting, but if he can be removed of his history as a mismanaged talent and rambunctious demeanor, this man was one of the most consistent and multi-talented corner outfielder of the past decade.

5. Chance the Rapper was in the United Center Monday night for another Bulls disaster piece, but also as part of a Bulls-Sox Night promotion. Chance donned his typical Sox hat, played stadium hype man, and looked really thrilled to meet Scott Podsednik; who hit a walk-off home run in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series when Chance was 12.

Baseball crowds are shading older, and the sport is struggling to connect with African-Americans. It’s a problem almost entirely of MLB’s own doing and at some levels, possibly by choice, but it’s a problem nonetheless. The list of MLB teams that have a young and popular black rapper who is willing and enthusiastic about identifying with their franchise and the region, who is deeply invested in community improvement and outreach, and who has the ability to be family friendly (Dude has a single about going to church with his grandmother) while maintaining creative credibility, is probably just the White Sox. Whatever level they are currently using Chance at, they should look into doubling it.

Lead Photo Credit: Rick Scuteri // USA Today Sports Images

In the timeline of Sox acquisitions this winter, Brett Lawrie was an early grab. Acquired for two minor league arms, Lawrie was initially thought to be ticketed for the hot corner, where the White Sox had been in perpetual need. Once Todd Frazier entered the fold, Lawrie was pushed to second base, which had been his secondary position.

Considering the gaps elsewhere on the field, one could argue that second base was not high on the immediate need list entering the offseason. Carlos Sanchez represented a clear defensive improvement over what was seen from Micah Johnson to start the 2015 season and even managed to raise his OPS more than .200 points in the second half (a .285/.314/.419 line from July 1-Aug. 30), suggesting that perhaps he might have the ability to hit after all.

More likely what we saw was a low standard being surpassed. A regular viewer of the White Sox, who would be understandably prone to grasping at straws, could very easily fall victim to this sleight of hand. The better of his two halves still fails to bring his bat up to league average performance and his Fielding Runs Above Average mark of negative-2.2 on the year sheds some serious doubt that his glove is enough to make up the difference in offensive production.

Brett Lawrie now finds himself with the potentially low pressure task of simply raising that low standard a bit more. If he comes in true to his career norms, his bat is roughly average season after season according to his TAv, which constitutes a definite improvement on the offensive side, especially when factoring in position. His offensive upside was once thought to be quite high, but having failed to reach that potential to this point, seeing him elevate to new levels of production would be out of character for his new employer. Regardless, a player entering what should be his prime years and coming off of a 1.9 WARP season definitely looks a lot better than a limited ceiling player like Sanchez, who just surprised his way into a negative-0.8 WARP showing.

Defensively, this is a man lacking outstanding numbers at his main position, moving to one not only less familiar but more difficult could prove problematic. The White Sox were an awful defensive team in 2015, and Brett Lawrie taking ownership of second base full time is not a harbinger of change. A team that lacks plus defenders can’t necessarily afford to punt a traditionally defense-first position in the interests of raising their offensive floor. Brett Lawrie: second baseman is a bit of an experiment.

It also seems worth acknowledging Lawrie’s off-field baggage and subsequent clubhouse influence. Rumors of a poor-chemistry Oakland Athletics clubhouse were accompanied by rumors of him being a large source of that discontent. Whether or not that holds any truth, the White Sox are making a habit of collecting players that carry reputations of being problems to teammates on teams left behind. Adam Eaton was accused of being selfish in Arizona, apparently the owner of an attitude that irked his teammates. From where I stand, his reputation on the South side does not resemble that. More recently, Mat Latos was added to the mix after having torched bridges upon departure from multiple organizations. If Lawrie is looking for a place to get comfortable and realize some of the potential he carried while a top prospect within the Blue Jays organization, perhaps he’s found some kindred spirits to help him along.

Two years of team-controlled arbitration salary for what looks to be an overall positional improvement in exchange for two minor leaguers who were not going to see major league time within the White Sox “window” once again shows Rick Hahn’s ability to work within the financial restraints laid upon him.