It was a lot.

Fortunately, Thome did what he could to soften the blow—and Thomas went to Oakland where he destroyed the Twins in the playoffs, the memory of which still brings joy to my petty, petty heart.

Since Rowand was shipped out, however, the White Sox have seemed wholly unable to address center field for any meaningful length of time.  First up was Brian Anderson, who—other than that one random game against Felix Hernandez—just could not hit at all.  When that didn’t work, it prompted all manner of ridiculous and embarrassing scrambling as Jerry Owens, Darin Erstad, Andy Gonzalez, and Luis Terrero were thrown at the problem in 2007.

Sufficiently humiliated, the White Sox sent some, at the time, valuable prospect capital off to Oakland for Nick Swisher.  And while the 2008 squad made the playoffs, Swisher had a low-BABIP season and uh…did not fit in the clubhouse, such that by the end he was being phased out for Dewayne Wise.  Swisher was traded for pennies on the dollar and they were back to the drawing board.*

*The Swisher Saga merits further discussion, so stay tuned for Mark Primiano’s pending treatise on the topic.

2009 saw Brian Anderson back working in a ghastly tandem with Wise where neither hit although they caught stuff most of the time.  This edition also featured the husks of Mark Kotsay and Scott Podsednik getting innings in center. It was so bad the White Sox shocked the league and claimed Alex Rios’ then-ludicrous contract from the Blue Jays off waivers in the hopes of finally solving the problem.

Rios cratered and hit miserably to close out the season, but they thought they’d found their man.  And although the 2010 squad won 88 games—the best mark from 2009 to the present—they were dusted by the Twins.  2010 Rios looked something like what they had hoped for, hitting .284/.334/.457, a massive upgrade on what they’d come to expect from the position.

Then 2011 happened and Rios hit just about as badly as their patchwork of replacement dreck had for years before his arrival.  The Curse of Rowand flexed its muscles once more. Rios’ defense had clearly declined such that he was moved to right, and 2012 saw Alejandro de Aza produce decently on both sides of the ball. He held things down until the acquisition of Adam Eaton.  However, he too quickly looked like he needed to move to a corner.  Unfortunately, that meant center field was manned by a tandem of J.B. Shuck and Austin Jackson as 2016 sank into such despair that the organization finally blew everything up.

All of this brings us to 2018.  As an avid Leury Garcia fan, he has the capability of covering center adequately, although his optimal deployment would be as the Swiss Army Knife he is, backing up multiple positions and getting 200-400 PAs a year.

To my eye, Adam Engel appears to be in the fine tradition of Wise and Anderson—an athlete who can go and get it in center, but can’t hit a lick.  Even though he was a rookie in 2017, Engel is already 26, has been old at every minor league level, and outside of ~50-something PAs in the Arizona Fall League, has barely hit at any stop before arriving in Chicago.  If he can match his career .741 minor league OPS in the majors, then he’s a second division regular, but it looks like that may be more than he can manage while time is running out.

Ryan Cordell is intriguing, but center field is probably more of a once-or-twice a week thing for him rather than a full-time gig. Charlie Tilson looked like a potentially solid option, but that was two years, one catastrophic leg injury, and a cavalcade of subsequent setbacks ago.

That’s not to say the next long-term, star (or solid) center fielder isn’t already in the organization.  Indeed, they have a plethora of potential solutions even if you limit yourself to Guys Named Luis.  Luis Robert and Luis Alexander Basabe could both wind up as assets there, although even if they pan out, they are likely both at least two years away.  Luis Gonzalez has his fans, although his ceiling and ETA are a step back from Luises One and Two.  Tito Polo looks more like a fourth outfielder, but could also be a solution in 2019 or 2020.

The fact remains, however, should the White Sox fancy themselves contenders in 2019 and 2020, they may not have anything ready for a playoff competitor on time.  The 2018-2019 free agent class is much ballyhooed for the likes of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, but it could also be where the White Sox invest in free agency.

Perhaps the White Sox will be positioned to sign a Charlie Blackmon or A.J. Pollock as part of shifting from talent hoarding to actually winning.  And, if so, hopefully whoever it is will be mighty enough to stave off Rowand’s Spectre for a few seasons.

Photo courtesy of Mark J Rebilas-USA Today Sports Images.

-The Brewers’ acquisitions of Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, what that means for them in 2018, and if this kind of model can be expected from the White Sox in a year or two.

-What the White Sox roster is going to look like heading into Spring Training, as well as if they will or should take advantage of the stalled free agent market.

-The differences in prospect lists from source to source, including some deep diving into the back-end of the White Sox farm system rankings.

-Jim Thome’s election into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and some thoughts on the ballot as a whole.

Be sure to follow BP South Side on Twitter @BPSouthSide. You can follow Collin @cowhitchurch and Nick @Nick_BPSS.

You know how teams have their guy? Some of them are easy to pick out. Frank Thomas is obviously our guy. Paul Konerko? Mark Buehrle? Maybe shy of Hall of Fame standards, but they’re our guys. Derek Jeter is a Yankee. The newly-elected Trevor Hoffman is a Padre. He’s their guy, even if he bounced around toward the end of his career. Sammy Sosa is a Cub (even if the Cubs don’t want to admit it).

No, Thome, part of the four-player 2018 Hall of Fame class revealed Wednesday, won’t don a White Sox cap on his plaque this July in Cooperstown. That makes sense. Thome spent only 3 1/2 years with the White Sox. Just 20 percent of his career plate appearances came while wearing a White Sox uniform.

Thome isn’t our guy in the same way as Thomas or Buehrle or Konerko. Thome is Cleveland’s guy. A franchise legend. 13 of his 22 seasons were spent in Cleveland. He spent his prime mashing dingers alongside fellow Hall of Fame-caliber players Roberto Alomar, Manny Ramirez, and prime talents like Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Sandy Alomar Jr., David Justice, Matt Williams, and Albert Belle on teams that somehow never won a World Series. He has a statue at Progressive Field, is in their Hall of Fame, and his number will almost undoubtedly one day be retired by the team.

Thome is a Cleveland Indian before he’s a Chicago White Sox. He may even be a Philadelphia Phillie before he’s a White Sox. And yet, when his name was announced as part of this year’s class, it still felt like something worth celebrating. And not just in a sense of “he’s a guy who played for the White Sox so yay because of that.” Thome has always kind of felt a little bit like our guy, too, despite the brevity of his time with the White Sox.

It’s easy to understand why. Thome, a Peoria, Ill., native, embraced Chicago immediately, calling the trade “a blessing” before even suiting up for a game.

“For Jim to be able to tell his dad on the phone that he had been traded to Chicago–Chicago!–that might have been the most special thing about this.” —Andrea Thome to the Chicago Tribune on Nov. 29, 2005

Thome’s 2005 season in Philadelphia was injury-plagued and unproductive. He was an aging slugger, 34 years old, and it wouldn’t have shocked anyone if that year was the beginning of the end in terms of Thome being an asset on the field. After the trade, he rebounded to the tune of .288/.416/.598 with 42 home runs. He made the last of his five All-Star appearances that year and finished seventh in AL MVP voting.

He remained productive throughout his tenure in Chicago, and provided the most recent famous White Sox postseason moment almost 10 years ago.

Moments like this, as well as his walk-off 500th career home run make it easy to understand why Thome is so beloved despite the briefness of his tenure. He’s stayed around the team since retiring and currently serves as special assistant to the VP/general manager. During my brief time around the team in Glendale, Ariz., last spring it was easy to sense the aura of his presence. This was JIM THOME spending time around the next bunch of players hoping to carve out careers even half as successful as his.

One of the greatest players of all time. Not only a great player, but a great guy off the field too! Not a more deserving person out there! Incredibly blessed to have gotten to know him over the last year! #HOFhttps://t.co/5gMYvHJs8m

— Jake Burger (@Burgatron13) January 25, 2018

The appreciation for Thome extended beyond the field, as well. The aforementioned article from 2005 is ripe with vivacity over the opportunity to play for what’s practically his hometown team, with Peoria just a short 2 1/2 hour drive away. He and his wife regularly hosted benefits for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois, and his general warmness that’s been talked about across baseball throughout his career and well into retirement was and continues to be felt throughout the White Sox community.

So when Jim Thome walks across the stage and gives his induction speech this July in Cooperstown, fans in Cleveland will celebrate the inclusion of one of their heroes receiving baseball’s ultimate honor. Fans in Philadelphia and Minnesota will undoubtedly cheer and remember the good moments he spent with their teams. White Sox fans will join in the celebration, because while Jim Thome might not really be our guy, it kind of feels like he is.

Lead Photo Credit: Ron Vesely/Chicago White Sox

• The slam dunk candidates like Jim Thome and Chipper Jones;
• The no chance but fun guys like Johnny Damon;
• Defense-driven careers and weird profiles;
• The candidates who will infuriate Nick for unhealthy reasons!

All of this and more.

I’m going to level with you: it’s late November and there is basically nothing to write about until the hot stove actually fires up and I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a slow winter for the White Sox. As such, I’ve decided to look at the septet of former White Sox up for election this year and assess their candidacies.

Orlando Hudson

No one would blame you for forgetting Hudson played for the White Sox. In a pure case of “Kenny always gets his man,” Hudson was brought in for free because someone with a little more anything than Brent Morel needed to be manning the hot corner in 2012 (depressingly the last Sox season that mattered) and Hudson became available before Kevin Youkilis. Hudson’s 51 games on the South Side were unremarkable (TAv: .203, WARP: -0.2) and he found himself out of baseball the next year. O-Dog had a nice career, but I don’t think he’ll garner enough support to get a second year on such a top heavy ballot.

Carlos Lee

Lee is the only candidate on the list that one could make an argument for wearing a White Sox hat if he was inducted (which he absolutely will not be). Just over half his career value came from the six years he spent in Chicago (14 of his 27.6 WARP). El Caballo saw the playoffs in the second year of his career and would spend the rest of his baseball life unsuccessfully chasing that dragon. His counting stats place him on the edge of the Hall of Very Good (2,273 hits, 358 home runs), but nowhere close to the Hall of Fame.

Sammy Sosa

Sosa hit 609 homeruns over 18 seasons and is in legitimate danger of falling off the ballot this year (he received 8.6 percent of the necessary votes last winter). The hypocritical backlash against the prominent stars of the steroid seasons by the writers who showered them with adulation during the act remains strong and if Joe Morgan has his way will continue. His limited 2.5 year stretch with the White Sox near the start of his career was unremarkable.

Omar Vizquel

Old Man Vizquel is going to be one of those somehow strangely polarizing candidates despite being what should be a pretty easy case. I can see the people who argue against Edgar Martinez even though I disagree with them (he was a DH; his counting stats lack that certain something). Same with Larry Walker (same argument plus Coors) and Scott Rolen (idiots who somehow ignore his amazing defense). Omar is none of those. He was a very good defensive shortstop who could not hit. He’s not Diet Ozzie Smith, he’s Kroger brand diet Ozzie Smith. He had a great career, he does not belong in the Hall of Fame. Hell, he’s not even top five most deserving from the hilariously-stacked 1995 Indians team. As a Sox fan, Vizquel represents an unforgivable failure to add an actual third baseman or DH to the 2010 roster that might have been able to make the playoffs if they weren’t betting on a 43-year-old slap hitter to play third.

Andruw Jones

I had completely forgotten that Jones and Vizquel’s White Sox tenures overlapped. Those late 2000s/early 2010s teams were so damn weird. Andruw Jones belongs in the Hall of Fame and anyone who argues otherwise is wrong. One of the best defensive center fielders of his generation who hit more than 400 home runs should be a shoo-in, but voters remember the shell he became after turning 30 (only 3.8 of his career 61.5 WARP came over his last six seasons). Jones’ one year with the White Sox was an unmitigated success for a player who signed for less than $1 million (19 home runs, .827 OPS). Jones will fall off the ballot eventually, becoming one of those deserving players who gets overlooked.

Manny Ramirez

Ramirez is yet another player who should have been a first ballot guy but the voters are going to clog up the pipes by making him sweat it out. One of the few right-handed hitters you could make an argument was better than Frank Thomas did absolutely nothing in his half-season with the Sox. In 88 plate appearances of the autumnal stretch of 2010 (that’s right, Jones, Ramirez, and Vizquel all played together), Ramirez managed two extra base hits, only one of which was a home run. That would be his last home run, as he only played five more MLB games before retiring instead of facing a 100 game suspension for testing positive for PEDs. Ramirez will end up in the Hall at some point but whether it’s due to being voted in or Veterans Committee’d is yet to be seen.

Jim Thome

Jim Jam Thome will make it in his first and only year on the ballot. The Gentleman Masher is eighth all time in home runs and first in career hearts warmed by being the cuddliest ol’ bear you ever did see. I don’t think Cleveland fans deserve him wearing their hat for the years they treated him like detritus after he left for Philadelphia, but there’s no chance of him wearing another cap on his plaque. Thome’s four years in Chicago were fantastic (the fact that he ranks 13th in franchise history for home runs despite only playing 529 games for the Sox is amazing).

Lead Photo Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports