MLB Season Preview - Chicago White Sox

2016 Record: 78-84	Manager: Rick Renteria (2016)
4th in Division	General Manager: Rick Hahn (2012)
Failed to make the playoffs	AAA Affiliate: Charlotte Knights AA Affiliate: Birmingham Barons

News

• Traded OF Adam Eaton to Washington for pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning
• Traded pitcher Chris Sale to Boston for pitchers Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz, infielder Yoan Moncada, and outfielder Alexander Basabe

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
C	Alex Avila	Detroit Tigers	1 year, $2 million
OF	Austin Jackson	Cleveland Indians	1 year, $1.5 million
1B	Justin Morneau	Free Agent

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
C	Geovany Soto	Los Angeles Angels	1 year, $2 million
OF	Cody Asche	Philadelphia Phillies
OF	Peter Bourjos	Philadelphia Phillies	1 year, $1.35 million
SP	Derek Holland	Texas Rangers	1 year, $6 million

Top Prospects

• INF Yoan Moncada - MLB.com (2), BA (2), BP (5)
• RHP Lucas Giolito - MLB.com (11), BA (25), BP (10)
• RHP Michael Kopech - MLB.com (16), BA (32), BP (36)
• RHP Reyaldo Lopez - MLB.com (46), BA (31), BP (30)
• RHP Carson Fulmer - MLB.com (71)
• C Zack Collins - MLB.com (81), BA (56), BP (89)
• RHP Alec Hansen - BP (97)

Projected Lineup

Order	POS	Number	Bats	Name	Age
1	CF	22	L	Charlie Tilson	24
2	SS	7	R	Tim Anderson	23
3	1B	79	R	Jose Abreu	30
4	LF	53	S	Melky Cabrera	32
5	3B	21	R	Todd Frazier	31
6	DH	25	L	Cody Asche	26
7	C	18	R	Geovany Soto	34
8	2B	20	R	Tyler Saladino	27
9	RF	26	R	Avisail Garcia	25
Bench	C	38	L	Omar Narvaez	25
Bench	IF	5	S	Yolmer Sanchez	24
Bench	OF	44	R	Peter Bourjos	29
Bench	OF	32	R	Rymer Liriano	25

Projected Pitching Staff

Role	POS	Number	Throws	Name	Age
1	SP	62	L	Jose Quintana	28
2	SP	58	R	Miguel Gonzalez	32
3	SP	55	L	Carlos Rodon	24
4	SP	33	R	James Shields	35
5	SP	45	L	Derek Holland	30
LR	RP	68	R	Dylan Covey	25
MID	RP	66	R	Michael Ynoa	25
MID	RP	48	R	Tommy Kahnle	27
MID	RP	57	R	Zach Putnam	29
SU	RP	43	L	Dan Jennings	29
SU	RP	65	R	Nate Jones	31
CL	RP	30	R	David Robertson	31

Most Important Players

• All of their young prospects - Since the White Sox aren't even trying to be competitive in 2017, most of their current major league players won't even be on the roster when the team is trying to make the playoffs in the future.  The prospects they acquired in trades this offseason, Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito, and Reynaldo Lopez, plus the prospects already in the system, Tim Anderson, Carson Fulmer, and Zack Collins, are all the most important players for the franchise.  How these prospects develop while in the minors, or in the majors if they are called up, this season will be vital to the performance of the team in the future.  

Breakout Candidate

• SS Tim Anderson - Anderson is one of the few young players that will start the season with the big league club.  He appeared in 99 games with Chicago last season, batting .283, hitting 9 home runs with 30 RBIs, and stole 10 bases.  He also played quality defense at shortstop, creating 6 defensive runs saved.  If he has one area that he needs to get better at, it is controlling the strike zone and making contact, considering he struck out 117 times last season with just 13 walks.  If he can improve in these areas, Anderson will greatly increase his on-base percentage and become a better all-around hitter.

Regression Candidate

• LF Melky Cabrera - Unless Cabrera got involved with steroids again last season, it seems like 2016 was a fluke.  He batted .296 and drove in 86 runs, all while striking out just 69 times in 151 games.  It seems that he isn't that quality of hitter and will probably regress back to his career norms.  Regardless, he is still a fairly good major league hitter, but no one else on the White Sox really fits this category.

Bounceback Candidate

• 3B Todd Frazier - Frazier still exhibited quite a bit of power in 2016, hitting a career high in home runs (40) and drove in a career high in runs (98), but batted just .225, the lowest of his career.  I believe that Frazier's power is absolutely real, considering what he has done previously, but he is still a better contact hitter than he showed in 2016.  Perhaps the move from the N.L. Central to A.L. Central has a lot to do with this since 2016 was his first year in the American League.  I think that he will bounce back from this down year and become a great major league hitter again and become an attractive trade target by the trade deadline.

Season Outlook

• The White Sox front office has finally made the decision to go all-in on a tank and rebuild of the roster.  They traded away their best pitcher (Chris Sale) and batter (Adam Eaton) and got quite a haul of prospects in return.  Their farm system moved all the way from one of the worst farm systems to a top-five system.  They have Yoan Moncada, considered to be one of the best overall prospects in baseball, and Lucas Giolito, one of the best pitching prospects.  They are now set up for the future with the numerous upper level pitching prospects that they have, which will anchor their rotation for years to come.  They need to continue selling off roster players, including Jose Quintana, in order to entirely overhaul their roster.  When they do trade Quintana, and perhaps David Robertson, they need to focus on getting hitting prospects in return.  For this season, they will certainly be a really bad team and anybody having a good season who isn't part of the team's future, is almost guaranteed to be moved at the trade deadline.  I think there is a really good chance that Todd Frazier will be moved to open up spots for players like Moncada.

Predictions

• The White Sox will be competing for the number one draft pick in 2018 as one of the worst teams in the league.  They really need to move Quintana out in order to not win too many games and, if they do move him, I think that 70 wins is a pretty high projection and may be out of reach.  Losing 100 games in 2017 seems like a real possibility and they should bring up the rear in the division.

*All stats and information came from baseball-reference.com, mlb.com, espn.com, spotrac.com, fangraphs.com, baseballprospectus.com, baseballamerica.com, and rosterresource.com