While it didn't rise to the level of their need for starting pitchers or home-run power from home-run positions, Rick Hahn did mention that he wanted to improve the bullpen before the winter ended.
Well, it dragged into the new year without a resolution, but the White Sox finally struck a deal with a right-hander by handing a contract to Steve Stone.
As for the guys who can still actually pitch? The White Sox haven't been able to find a deal to their liking. Former Sox reliever Daniel Hudson came off the board, remaining with the Washington Nationals for two years and $11 million.
The Hudson news means that all of the relievers on FanGraphs' top 50 list are off the board. To find an available reliever with a track record, you have to scour the MLB Trade Rumors' top 50 list. Combine them, and you get the big board below:
| FG Rank | Pitcher | Team | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Will Smith | Braves | 3/$40M |
| 22 | Dellin Betances | Mets | 1/$10.5M |
| 23 | Will Harris | Nationals | 3/$24M |
| 24 | Drew Pomeranz | Padres | 4/$34M |
| 35 | Chris Martin | Braves | 2/$14M |
| 47 | Daniel Hudson | Nationals | 2/$11M |
| n/a | Craig Stammen | Padres | 2/$10M |
| n/a | Pedro Strop | ||
| n/a | Steve Cishek |
The list of best available relievers off the board isn't inspiring -- Brandon Kintzler? Addison Reed? Juan Nicasio? Collin McHugh? -- but then again, the list of taken relievers didn't really electrify, either. The Braves got the jump on the market with Smith and Martin, after which only a few other relievers stood out. Betances is the most volatile option, which is why he earned the second highest average annual value. Pomeranz was the only one looking like his effectiveness was peaking -- he'd been a starter before the Brewers unlocked his relief potential for half a season -- and he parlayed that into the only four-year deal.
Elsewhere, you're looking at a lot of guys in their 30s who don't hit the radar gun or miss bats like they used to. Washington's signings of Harris and Hudson both fit that bill.
The White Sox are in a tricky position because they fared OK in terms of the number of effective relievers, but lack a guy who can pile up the strikeouts. Alex Colomé, Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Jimmy Cordero all had nice years in terms of run prevention, but all had strikeout rates under 25 percent. Jace Fry beat that number, but his walk rate challenged it as well. Hudson would've fit right into this bunch, which would have given Rick Renteria another option to shuffle in and out of eighth-inning situations, but he wouldn't have reordered the White Sox bullpen on his own.
The same can be said for all the other available options. If you're looking for change agents outside of sheer scrap-heap luck, that means the White Sox are down to hoping that Ian Hamilton or Tyler Johnson make the leap, or that Kelvin Herrera is finally healthy for the first time in three years. If neither of those options excites you, well, that's why Bruce Levine has raised the idea of trading James McCann.
While McCann is a strong backup option as these players can mix and match between positions -- Grandal can play first base or fill in at designated hitter on days he's not behind the plate -- it seems that McCann will be the odd man out for the majority of games. That means he could be traded for bullpen help if the right deal materializes.
But then again, I don't know if one year of McCann is enough to get a reliever who is a cut above the pool we're already discussing.
It's an unsettling situation with no easy solutions. The White Sox aren't likely to duplicate the kind of success with late-inning leads they enjoyed last year, and simple situational regression could cost them three or four wins. Yet their bullpen wasn't horrible to the extent of Atlanta's or Washington's to the point of inspiring the fear-based arms intradivision arms race of proven options. I'm guessing the Sox will sign a Cishek-tier reliever because doing something is better than doing nothing, but maybe the best option is doing something bigger later.
