UPDATE: And just as I hit "publish," Nomar Mazara is on his way to the White Sox. Another post coming when the cost is certified.
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Before the second full day of the Winter Meetings entered the evening hours, the only action potentially involving the White Sox required you to believe that they could be a mystery team for Gerrit Cole.
(Spoiler: They aren't. Cole just signed with the Yankees for nine years and $324 million.)
For rumors involving the White Sox by name, you'll have to settle for Jim Bowden and Scott Merkin's one-two punch of tepid trepidation.
Nomar Mazara would have been a fine acquisition for a team like last year's White Sox, who had little in the way of corner outfield depth and had 550 plate appearances to give to a 24-year-old player who hasn't unlocked the talent he occasionally shows.
And perhaps if the White Sox acquired Mazara last winter, he would have never victimized Reynaldo López to such a staggering degree in June.
But despite the occasional explosion, Mazara can't hike his OPS above league average, and he can't get over 20 homers. If you want to phrase it euphemistically, the consistency is impressive.
| Year | Age | G | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 21 | 145 | 568 | 137 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 64 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 112 | .266 | .320 | .419 | .739 | 93 |
| 2017 | 22 | 148 | 616 | 140 | 30 | 2 | 20 | 101 | 2 | 2 | 55 | 127 | .253 | .323 | .422 | .745 | 90 |
| 2018 | 23 | 128 | 536 | 126 | 25 | 1 | 20 | 77 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 116 | .258 | .317 | .436 | .753 | 96 |
| 2019 | 24 | 116 | 469 | 115 | 27 | 1 | 19 | 66 | 4 | 1 | 28 | 108 | .268 | .318 | .469 | .786 | 96 |
You can isolate reasons for the Sox's interest. Like most other players in 2019, Mazara hit homers at an increased rate, but he also hit fewer grounders to help himself. His splits also widened, as his OPS against righties (.844) was nearly 200 points higher than it was against lefties (.646), but that makes it easier to forge a useful career than middling splits against both. Hey, maybe the Sox could acquire Mazara for little -- he can't have that much trade value for a $5.7 arb figure -- then sign Avisaíl García and cross their fingers for a manic period from their Codependent Voltron.
The problem is that the White Sox show no special talent for getting more out of a tease. They've run out plenty of their own Mazaras over the years, from García to Dayan Viciedo to Gordon Beckham to Mark Teahen. The White Sox have been short on helpers for a decade, and Mazara wouldn't help if he's feeding into the White Sox's chief problems (below-average defense, too few walks, too many strikeouts for not enough homers) in the quest for a painstaking brand of average.
Basically, a move for Mazara in and of itself is a year too late, and it's no coincidence that the other teams interested in Mazara are where the So were last season.
If this happens to be the outfield transaction that Twitter doesn't spoil for Hahn, there is a way they could benefit from his presence. It would just require the Sox to do something they haven't yet accomplished. "Fingers crossed" is not a strategy, but "acquiring a better right fielder in the coming days or weeks" qualifies as such.
That "better right fielder" is probably not going to be Marcell Ozuna. It seems as though there won't be a second wind for that particular White Sox rumor.
And yes, the Reds' interest has a second source.
