Chicago White Sox: Upgrading the DH spot may have to wait
We are less than a month away from spring training. The Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn made it known that he wanted to upgrade three key areas this offseason — right field, the starting rotation and DH.
The Chicago White Sox filled their right field spot by bringing back Adam Eaton. Eaton has seen his batting average drop from just shy of .300 to .279 and to a measly .226 last season. The team is hoping they brought back the Eaton of old, but who knows.
To help strengthen the starting pitching, the Chicago White Sox traded for Lance Lynn. Lynn will be on the final year of his contract, but that did not stop them from trading for the right-hander who finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting in 2020 and fifth the year before that. Not starting pitching, but the team also added arguably the top free-agent closer available, Liam Hendricks as an upgrade over Alex Colomé.
The Chicago White Sox may have to wait a while as DHs wait to hear NL news
The top DH free agent on the market is Nelson Cruz, but the White Sox may have to wait to target him. Cruz is 40 years old but still has been dominant over the last few years. In his 2019 season, he finished with a WAR of 4.3. He finished the year with 41 HR and hit .311 with an OPS of 1.031. Stealing Cruz away from the Twins would be fantastic, but the Twins are not going silently.
Twins upgraded the dollars in their 1-year offer to Nelson Cruz. But multiple NL teams are showing interest and it’s not surprising he’s waiting to see if a universal DH is adopted.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 22, 2021
After Cruz would be Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna is not as old (30), but also has not been as good either. That said, Ozuna still finished with MVP-type numbers in the shortened 2020 season. He hit 18 HR, 56 RBI and finished with a .338 and 1.067 OPS. Ozuna is going to want a longer-term deal though than Cruz and that might scare off the White Sox.
Some other names in the running would be bringing back Edwin Encarnacion or signing one of these other free-agent DHs.
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It would be absolutely amazing if the Chicago White Sox could land either of the top DHs, but the team might need to wait a while before convincing someone to sign. It seems that many of the free agents are waiting to see if the NL will continue using the DH position as it had in 2020. If the DH position becomes universal, this means that another half of the MLB opens up as possible landing spots — this could mean more money, more years and/or a better fit.