Chicago White Sox: Three reasons Bryce Harper makes sense right now
The Chicago White Sox have a massive hole in the outfield
Two weeks ago, the White Sox announced that they had non-tendered outfielder Avisail Garcia, leaving an already thin outfield in shambles.
The White Sox need any sort of outfield help that they can get. Sure, Eloy Jimenez will be a starter every day moving forward starting in May, but Adam Engel and Nicky Delmonico aren’t exactly a force to be reckoned with in center field and left field.
Jimenez is really the only prospect that the White Sox will be able to use at the major league level in 2019, anyways. Luis Robert is at least a full season away, and Blake Rutherford and Micker Adolfo haven’t played past High-A either.
Additionally, there’s a serious lack of left-handed hitting in the White Sox lineup. Yoan Moncada and Daniel Palka are the only lefties/switch-hitters that are going to be in the White Sox lineup in the long run, and while both of the two have significant power, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be seeing 25+ homers out of either like we’d be seeing with Harper.
Finally, the White Sox don’t have a true right fielder anywhere on their roster. Delmonico is primarily a left field, as is Jimenez. Engel was a gold-glove finalist in center field, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing him move.
Harper gets on base a lot. The White Sox did not do so as a unit in 2018. They could already have the guys to drive runners in, but it would be hard to tell based off of last season. By adding a premier offensive threat in Harper, the potential for the White Sox entire offense to be uplifted is great.
Not only do the White Sox need Harper defensively, but they could use him smack dab in the middle of their lineup for at least the next five seasons. Harper is a lock to hit 25-40 home runs and to drive in at least 100 runs. That sort of production in a young White Sox lineup could create a domino effect for the White Sox young hitters, the kind of thing that isn’t done just by developing talent.