White Sox 2010s All-Decade Team

The 2010s was not a fun decade for the Chicago White Sox. It began with an 88-win 2010 campaign finishing in second place, to the AL Central winning Minnesota Twins. That team won eight of their last ten games to finish the season strong, and if present-day postseason format existed then, the White Sox would have finished one game back of Boston for the final Wild Card spot. 

If fans only knew that would be the peak season this decade. After a drama-filled 2011 season that concluded with the divorce of Ozzie Guillen as the manager, 2012 was a dead cat bounce season. Under Robin Ventura, the team was in first place for most of the season but faded in September to finish with an 85-77 record, the last winning season of the decade. 

It will be interesting to see how future bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and virtual reality White Sox shows will remember the 2010s. Will L’affaire LaRoche be the most memorable moment? Or Chris Sale cutting up the uniforms before a start? Hopefully, it will be similar to how we look back at the late ’80s/early ’90s. A young White Sox team growing together to become a pennant contender. 

In ten years, I hope the 2020’s All-Decade White Sox team is a lot better than this one. Using mostly WAR (Baseball-Reference) and other metrics, these are the best White Sox players during the 2010s. 

Catcher: Tyler Flowers, 2010 - 2015

There is going to be a pretty heated debate between Tyler Flowers and A.J. Pierzynski for the best catcher of the decade. Who you think was better depends on what you value more from a catcher: their glove or their bat? I decided on Flowers because the catcher is the one position in which teams excuse a weak bat for strong defensive skills.

Pierzynski was the best White Sox catcher during the 2000s, and he did finish strong in his last three seasons with the White Sox offensively hitting .278/.316/.432. His bat helped him post good WAR totals:

• FanGraphs: 6.3 WAR
• Baseball Prospectus: 5.9 WARP
• Baseball-Reference: 4.9 WAR

Defensively, Pierzynski lacked in all three phases of pitch blocking, throwing out base stealers, and pitch framing. In 2011, he did post a 6.0 FRAA (Framing Runs Above Average), but then dropped to -7.3 FRAA the following season. 

In a lot of ways, Pierzynski and Flowers were the opposite of each other. Flowers was borderline terrible offensively hitting .224/.288/.377 in his time with the White Sox. His best season came in 2014 when Flowers hit .241/.297/.396 with 15 home runs. His value was framing strikes for his pitchers. 

• 2011: 7.0 FRAA
• 2012: 9.0 FRAA
• 2013: 4.7 FRAA
• 2014: 6.7 FRAA
• 2015: 15.0 FRAA

That defensive ability is just like Pierzynski’s bat in helping carry WAR. 

• FanGraphs: 8.5 WAR
• Baseball Prospectus: 7.0 WARP
• Baseball-Reference: 4.9 WAR

Other positions are more clear cut who was the best, but it is at catcher that's a toss-up.

First Base: Jose Abreu, 2014 - 2019

The highest-paid free agent in franchise history at signing, Jose Abreu has done an excellent job of continuing to carry the torch at first base for the Chicago White Sox. When Paul Konerko retired in 2014, it was a stretch of 24 seasons that the White Sox had dependable middle-of-the-order bats handling first base since hall-of-famer Frank Thomas became an everyday starter in 1991.

That’s been extended to 29 seasons as Abreu won Rookie of the Year, made three All-Star appearances, and won two Silver Sluggers. If both parties can come to terms on a new contract carrying to the next decade, Abreu can continue the streak to 30-plus years and be ready to hand it off to future first baseman, Andrew Vaughn. 

Second Base: Yolmer Sanchez, 2014 - 2019

The 2019 Gold Glover, Yolmer Sanchez, has a career 8.6 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. Three more wins than Gordon Beckham, even though both had very similar slash lines.

Yolmer Sanchez: .244/.299/.357

Gordon Beckham: .237/.297/.357

Shortstop: Alexei Ramirez, 2010 - 2015

In six seasons spanning 942 games, Alexei Ramirez was worth 19.1 WAR. That was during Ramirez’s age 28 to age 33 seasons, and when he transitioned out for Tim Anderson, his career WAR with the White Sox was 23.0 in eight seasons. Setting a nice bar for Anderson to reach in his own career with the White Sox.

While his power diminished each season after his rookie campaign, Ramirez did a bit of everything for the White Sox as he hit .271/.306/.390 with 73 home runs and 108 stolen bases during the decade. 

Third Base: Yoan Moncada, 2017 - 2019

Not a lot of competition at third base this decade. Even though he joined the White Sox in 2017, Yoan Moncada had the sixth-highest position player WAR for the 2010s at 8.3. His 4.6 WAR campaign during 2019 was the highest for a White Sox third baseman since Joe Crede posted a 4.8 WAR in 2008, and his 141 OPS+ is the best for a starting White Sox third baseman ever. 

Outfield:
Adam Eaton, 2014 - 2016
Alex Rios, 2010 - 2013
Alejandro De Aza, 2010 - 2014

Trading for Adam Eaton was one of Rick Hahn’s better moves. Even though it was just three seasons, Eaton put up a 15.3 WAR while hitting .290/.362/.422 giving the White Sox an excellent option to bat leadoff. In 2016, Eaton moved from primary center fielder to right fielder, and that gave him a boost in production with a 6.1 WAR season. That would be the best position player single-season WAR for the White Sox during the decade. 

Alex Rios was only worth 7.4 WAR from 2010 to 2013, but that was the second-highest total for White Sox outfielders. Hitting .274/.316/.439 in 558 games, Rios didn’t live up to expectations when Kenny Williams claimed him off waivers in August of 2009. 

A surprise to make the All-Decade team is Alejandro De Aza, who edged Avisail Garcia for the last outfielder spot. In 479 games, De Aza was worth 5.8 WAR to Garcia’s 5.3 WAR in 585 games. In 2011, De Aza just played 54 games but hit .329/.400/.520 on his way to a 2.5 WAR season. That gave the White Sox confidence to make him a starter in 2012, which saw his production slip hitting .281/.349/.410 for a 2.3 WAR season. 

Designated Hitter: Paul Konerko, 2010 - 2014 

One would think being an American League team playing their home games in a ballpark primed for dingers wouldn’t have a problem finding quality hitters to DH. 

That hasn’t been the case for the White Sox. Adam Dunn hit 106 home runs from 2011 to 2014 but had a slash line of .201/.321/.410. Adam LaRoche wasn’t better. Daniel Palka had a fun 2018 season but collapsed in 2019. Matt Davidson had a sub .300 OBP in 242 games with the White Sox. Then the distant memory of Mark Kotsay getting time at DH during the 2010 season. Fun times. 

Paul Konerko for the decade did hit .283/.359/.475 with 113 home runs and was worth 7.1 WAR. The rest of White Sox DH options were worth a cumulative -5.4 WAR. 

Starting Pitcher: Chris Sale, 2010 - 2016

Chris Sale was the fifth-best starting pitcher of the 2010’s trailing only Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Cole Hamels in WAR. In seven seasons with the White Sox, Sale pitched 1111.0 innings with a 3.00 ERA and a 3.06 FIP. The Condor struck out 1,244 batters to just 260 walks, and his 30.2 WAR with the White Sox ranks him tied for eighth overall in franchise history. 

White Sox fans will always love Mark Buehrle more, but Sale had far better pitch arsenal and was a rare ace that teams covet to lead their starting rotations. Shipping him to Boston was necessary to kick off the rebuild, and luckily it netted Moncada. Yet, a dark cloud will always hang over this decade on how the White Sox couldn’t build a winning team around such a great talent. 

Reliever: Nate Jones, 2012 - 2019

Nate Jones had the highest WAR for White Sox relievers this decade at 6.3 WAR. The fireballer pitched the most innings for White Sox relievers in the 2010s (291.1 innings) despite missing significant time with injuries. In 284 games, Jones had a 3.12 ERA and a 3.38 FIP striking out 318 batters to 110 walks.