At some point this offseason, the White Sox were going to need to find a pitcher like Ivan Nova.
Nova fits that bill, and at an acceptable cost. He'll make $9.25 million in the third and final year of a contract he signed with Pittsburgh, and the cost of acquisition was Yordi Rosario and $500,000 of international bonus money the Sox couldn't use. Rosario made a successful jump from the Dominican Summer League to the Arizona Rookie League, but it'll take years for him to fill out his profile.
Nova basically takes the James Shields role, both in terms of veteran status and pay. Nova comes in as the most experienced starter on the staff, and he supposedly can provide mentorship value, although I'll consider it another turning point in the rebuild when that's not something the Sox have to import.
Nova has outpitched Shields the last three years:
| 2016-18 | W-L | G | GS | IP | H | HR | BB | K | ERA | FIP |
| Shields | 18-42 | 88 | 87 | 503.1 | 514 | 101 | 213 | 392 | 5.17 | 5.59 |
| Nova | 32-31 | 92 | 86 | 510 | 549 | 78 | 99 | 372 | 4.38 | 4.13 |
And when it comes to the salary, that spot on the roster effectively gets a small cut in pay:
- Shields in 2018: $10 million
- Nova in 2019: $9.25 million
The question is whether the Sox settled for Shields' brand of scraping by with Nova, or whether Nova can separate himself from the back of the rotation. Picture Miguel Gonzalez before the shoulder problems.
In his address to reporters, Rick Hahn left the door open to an extended stay after the season should Nova be a good fit, and said the Sox had an interest in him years ago during his ascent with the Yankees.
There doesn't seem to be a ton of upside in Nova's contact-oriented profile, with the exception that the Sox staff walked everybody last year, and Nova doesn't walk anybody. He's previously dabbled with a cutter/slider with the Yankees, but Francisco Cervelli, Nova's catcher with both organizations, hated it. Instead, he's settled for a changeup as his third pitch, as he's had some success with it as a setup offering.
Don Cooper has a history of helping guys find their cutters or sliders. I'm guessing adding Nova's strike-throwing competence is the primary objective, but he'll probably need another wrinkle to distinguish himself as somebody who adds value, rather than simply doesn't suck.
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While Bryce Harper and Manny Machado continue to move deliberately, we've seen both the White Sox and Phillies start filling holes while keeping their Plan A's intact. Nova joins Alex Colome in the "modest upgrade" department, with Nova giving the rotation what Colome gives the bullpen.
The Phillies are closer to contention, and fittingly have set their sights higher. They traded for Jean Segura earlier in the winter to restore order to their infield defense, and they made their next move on Tuesday by signing Andrew McCutchen to a three-year, $50 million contract on Tuesday. The Phillies needed to improve both outfield corners, and signing McCutchen prevents them from falling behind the market should Harper sign elsewhere.
Harper is supposedly meeting with teams in Las Vegas, and Machado has meetings set up with six clubs. The White Sox are among the teams that are known ...
... although I'd tell Machado and agent Dan Lozano that while one mystery team is acceptable, three mystery teams just simply isn't done.
