These seven teams are making the Chicago White Sox look bad

The Chicago White Sox continue to not do much in the offseason to upgrade a roster that was probably the most disappointing team in baseball last season.

General manager Rick Hahn so far has hired Pedro Grifol to manage the club and added pitcher Mike Clevinger to the starting rotation. Otherwise, it feels like Hahn has spent more time working on updating his Christmas wish list (and checking it twice) than updating the roster to retake the AL Central.

The Chicago White Sox have needs in left field, second base, and catcher. The Southsiders could use a left-handed starting pitcher and some left-handed power hitters. They probably should get a veteran in right field.

Although, it appears the club’s second-best prospect, Oscar Colas, could be the starter in right field. The White Sox need more power from the left side of the plate and Colas provides that.

Just do not expect Rick Hahn to dive deep into the free-agent pool to address the Sox’ needs. Hahn has already shopped in the bargain-bin section for a starting pitcher when he added Clevinger. It appears with self-imposed payroll restrictions, Hahn will have to go down the trade route to address any needs.

The problem is the trade market has been slow-moving.

That is right folks, teams are using a logical approach to write checks to upgrade their roster instead of giving up players to get better.

Spending this offseason is what the Chicago White Sox should be doing.

In a perfect world, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf wakes up and realizes the only way he is getting another World Series ring before he dies is to open up his wallet. He allows Hahn to go out and bring back pitcher Carlos Rodon. He authorizes Hahn to sign Aaron Judge along with Trea Turner to massive deals (because you can move Tim Anderson to second base considering the free-agent market at that position is not great).

He is okay with Hahn designating Yasmani Grandal and Joe Kelly for assignment while bringing back Jose Abreu.

Instead, Reinsdorf fears the luxury tax more than making any changes in the front office so that dream scenario never happened.

Abreu is now with the Houston Astros and the White Sox sat out the winter meetings’ spending spree.

In reality, Jerry Reinsdorf is forcing Rick Hahn to attack a pivotal offseason with one hand tied behind his back. Although, Hahn has shown he is not going to march into Jerry’s office and make demands. There is no greater evidence when Hahn went along with Reinsdorf hiring Tony La Russa back in 2020 when Hahn reportedly wanted to hire AJ Hinch.

Most general managers would quit if any owner forced such a bad idea to happen. Hahn acted like a hostage and two seasons during a contention window have now been wasted.

Hahn now hopes for the teams to miss out on Dansby Swanson or Carlos Rodon and come calling in hopes to acquire Tim Anderson or Lucas Giolito.

The Chicago White Sox offseason has been frustrating to the Southside faithful. While patience can be a virtue, the Sox have had to watch seven teams make moves to improve their playoff chances.

It has been frustrating to see these teams get better while the Sox appear stuck in neutral.

The Philadelphia Phillies kept adding superstars to compete for championships

The Phillies struggled at the start of the 2022 season. They fired manager Joe Girardi in June and then later they snuck into the playoffs. The Phillies got hot at the right time and rode a hot streak to a World Series appearance.

The Phillies used free agency to build up their roster to get near a championship. They were not afraid to sign Bryce Harper to a monster deal a couple of years ago. The Sox could have gotten Harper but decided they did not want to pay the GDP of a small nation to bring him to the Southside.

That is the difference between the Sox and the Phillies. The Phillies are not afraid to spend big to win big.

Philadelphia did not stop after signing Harper. They have brought in pitcher Zach Wheeler, catcher J.T. Realmuto, and outfielders Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber on huge money deals in the following offseasons. A massive payroll did not stop the Phillies from adding Trea Turner this offseason.

The Phillies went through a playoff drought like the White Sox. Philadelphia went out and enhanced their roster through free agency and almost won the World Series. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades but it is closer than the Sox have gotten.

The San Diego Padres are showing market size should not prevent an organization from spending big.

The Chicago White Sox operate like a small-market team despite playing in baseball’s third-biggest media market. The Padres are in a small market and they operate like they play in a top-5 media market.

San Diego outbid the Sox in 2019 for Manny Machado. The Padres tried to get Aaron Judge this offseason and when they missed out, they signed Xander Bogaerts to a monster contract.

The small-market Padres were willing to compete with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for superstar talent. They beat the Red Sox for Bogaerts.

The Padres also traded for Juan Soto and Josh Hader before last season’s trade deadline. The Padres realized if they want to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers, they have to spend like them.

San Diego could use having limited financial resources as an excuse to not spend like many small-market clubs do. Instead, the Padres have realized they do not hand out the World Series trophy to the team with the best balance sheet.

The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants are also spending big to replace losing key players.

The New York Mets lost to the Padres in the playoffs and then lost ace pitcher Jacob deGrom to the Texas Rangers in free agency.

The Mets went ahead and replaced deGrom with Justin Verlander–the current AL Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer.

Verlander may be getting up there in years, but he is still a dominant pitcher. He is the type of pitcher that could have helped put the Sox rotation over the top. Instead, he will be paired with Max Scherzer to be the highest paid pitching duo in the league.

The Mets also re-signed outfielder Brandon Nimmo to a huge deal.

The Mets made sure they kept a prized player in their outfield. The Chicago White Sox let a legend in Jose Abreu go to the Houston Astros.

The Mets do have the richest owner in sports. Steve Cohen is showing that owning a professional sports franchise is a vanity purchase. There are only so many billionaires in the world, and you do not win the World Series based on profit margins. Instead, Cohen is spending to get a ring.

The Giants missed the playoffs last season. They also compete in a tough NL West division. They are set to lose Rodon in free agency. They still tried to lure Aaron Judge away from the New York Yankees. When he returned to New York, the Giants turned around and signed Carlos Correa to a 13-year deal.

Sometimes to get the best players, you got to make more than just a financial commitment. You also need to make a time commitment.

Although, the Giants did the Sox a favor by getting Correa out of the division and signing him before the Chicago Cubs did. Maybe the Giants are making the Cubs look more foolish than the White Sox.

The Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves & Milwaukee Brewers are using the trade market to address their needs.

The Chicago White Sox seem to be waiting for teams to miss out on their free-agent targets before pulling off a trade. The Mariners, Braves, and Brewers are not sitting around.

The Mariners finally made the playoffs last season after a long drought. Seattle has pulled off two trades to make sure they get back to the postseason in 2023. In November, they acquired slugger Teoscar Hernandez from the Toronto Blue Jays. It only cost the Mariners a relief pitcher and pitching prospect.

Seattle then traded for veteran infielder Kolten Wong. Those are two veterans that will help the Mariners compete with the Houston Astros in the AL West.

They sent the Brewers Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro back in the Wong deal. Speaking of the Brewers, they have used the trade market to cut some payroll but got some upgrades at positions of need.

Milwaukee traded outfielder Hunter Renfroe in November to the Los Angeles Angels for three pitchers. The Brewers got some bullpen help and a flame-throwing prospect in the deal. The Crew needed players that still had more years under team control, and they got that in Winker and Toro.

The Brewers also needed some more quality bats in their lineup. They accomplished that when they received All-Star William Contreras in a three-team deal with the Atlanta Braves and Oakland A’s.

The Brewers only had to give up a prospect in the trade. Milwaukee got a relief pitcher in the move as the Brewers rebuild their bullpen.

Speaking of the Braves, they got catcher Sean Murphy in the deal. Atlanta had to give up six players, but they got one of the best catchers in the game. Murphy gets added to a young core that can contend for a few seasons.

Plus, the Chicago White Sox were reportedly interested in acquiring Murphy. The Braves pulled off the trade because they had depth at catcher.

The Brewers got a young, good-hitting catcher. The Braves got a top-rated catcher. The White Sox hope Yasmani Grandal can have a bounce-back season. You can see why White Sox fans are frustrated.