Covering the other portion of Major League Baseball's rule changes and how they might affect the White Sox, we can start by setting aside the concept of the two-way player, because it doesn't figure to reach our shores anytime soon.
The two-way player designation is only necessary because 1) Major League Baseball is instituting a 13-pitcher maximum, and 2) Shohei Ohtani exists. If he's healthy enough to play but unable to pitch, he shouldn't cost the Angels a spot on their pitching staff, so now MLB formally acknowledges it.
Players who qualify as “Two-Way Players” may appear as pitchers during a game without counting toward a Clubs’ pitcher limitations. A player will qualify as a “Two-Way Player” only if he accrues both: (i) at least 20 Major League innings pitched; and (ii) at least 20 Major League games started (as a position player or designated hitter) with at least three plate appearances in each of those games, in either the current Championship Season or the prior Championship Season (for 2020 only, this will include 2019 as well as 2018). The Club must designate that player as a “Two-Way Player” in advance of that game. Once a Club designates a qualified “Two-Way Player” that designation will remain in effect, and cannot change, for the remainder of that Championship Season and Postseason.
This is irrelevant for just about every other team. Matt Davidson was as close as the White Sox got, and he pitched a grand total of three innings. I mean, the Sox have historically struggled to find the other definition of two-way players -- somebody who can hit and play defense -- so asking for low-leverage reliever or fifth-starter capabilities on top of that seems unreasonable. This merely accounts for Ohtani, with even Michael Lorenzen on the outside looking in.
The Angels have the only roster for which a Venn diagram would be useful. For the 29 other teams, they're looking at a freshly expanded 26-man roster with a 13-pitcher maximum.
The 26th man
Roster expansion was floated multiple times before finally sticking, so I've taken a couple shots in the past at figuring out which players would have been the best use of the spot in previous seasons. We can further fine-tune our findings now that we know teams are prohibited from using that extra spot for a ninth reliever.
With rebuilding teams, the challenge of fielding a functional 25 man roster makes discussions over the 26th man largely irrelevant. Thanks for the White Sox's active winter in free agency, they can confine their bench players to actual bench duties.
A White Sox team that carries Nick Madrigal on the Opening Day roster likely has three bench spots spoken for:
This trio covers the vast majority of baseball duties, but there are some gaps in their games. It's basically all right-handed, because even the switch-hitting García struggles with his left-handed swing. The two non-catchers are on the smaller side, which isn't ideal for emergency first-base duties, nor if you need a homer in a hurry.
This is all why Zack Collins staked a claim to the 26th spot on this roster in so many hearts since he proved capable of making at least some adjustments to MLB pitching in September.
The catch is catching. Quixotic or not, the White Sox think they can mold Collins into a functioning backstop, and they'd have room for him behind the plate as soon as next season, and sooner if injury strikes. As it crouches, Collins catches well enough to allow Rick Renteria to fearlessly flex McCann and Yasmani Grandal into pinch situations, but it's suboptimal if he's a heartbeat away from primary duties.
I imagine the White Sox will want to start him in Charlotte and let him devote serious time to the craft. It should probably only take a month or two to determine if he's made any headway. If there are no signs of progress and the MLB roster needs him, it may be time to let him try to achieve his inner Schwarber.
In the meantime, the Sox can take the 26th man spot in a few different directions:
Veteran infielder: The idea of a left-handed utilityman has made a lot of sense throughout the entire winter, but with Brad Miller signing with the Cardinals and Brock Holt landing with the Brewers, that guy doesn't really exist anymore. All the other unsigned infielders of note are right-handed save Ben Zobrist, who seems to be done.
This idea is worth following up on when MLB Trade Rumors compiles the out-of-options list.
Defense first: It's entirely possible that the White Sox wanted to land a veteran along the lines of a Miller or a Holt, but their bench might've been a difficult sell. If all is well, Rick Renteria is going to want to play Madrigal, Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada as much as possible. A credible major leaguer with multiple suitors probably wants the job with a bit more daylight.
Look around the diamond, and all you see are trusted veterans or very young guys who need to learn how to shore up weaknesses. The only one who doesn't neatly fall into either category is Nomar Mazara, but the staff's enthusiasm suggests that even he'll play against lefties early in order to see if progress is worth pursuing.
In the median case, Mazara needs help against left-handed pitchers, and both corners could use a defensive assistant to close out late leads. Enter Adam Engel, who hit .313/.360/.482 against lefties last year. He'd be incredibly useful to this roster if he somehow sustained that. He'd be mildly useful even if he didn't, and that sounds acceptable for the last man on the bench.
Thump first: If the White Sox want somebody who can tie a game with one swing while giving their sitting catcher a true day off, then maybe Renteria would like to take Yermin Mercedes for a test drive. Mercedes is right-handed, but he hasn't had any major difficulties against same-sided pitching, at least when it comes to home run frequency. He's nominally a catcher, but he does the job well enough to offer the flexibility we discussed with Collins. Hell, he might be the team's second-best framer.
It's not an ideal first gig, but given that Mercedes is 27 and just clawed his way onto a 40-man roster for the first time, I doubt he'd object. All he needs is a couple of good swings to win over White Sox fans, because he plays the game with a lot of joy.
Nicky Delmonico: So the White Sox could use a left-handed bat who can come off the bench and play first base? Let us head down to the cellar to see if we can unearth a bottle of 2017 Delmonico.
It was a good year for those grapes, because Delmonico hit .262/.373/.482 over 43 games. The problem is the .213/.290/.357 he's posted in the 109 games since. The White Sox brought him back to see how much of that drop-off was due to the shoulder he had surgically repaired.
I'm guessing the answer will be "not as much as we'd hoped." But there's a reason why Josh and I both came up with his name on Monday's show when Thomas asked us about off-the-roster sleepers. Daniel Palka covers a lot of the same ground here with more recent success, but his downfall was steeper, and without a clear physical cause.
Position players pitching
We can touch upon this briefly:
Any player may appear as a pitcher following the 9th inning of an extra inning game, or in any game in which his team is losing or winning by more than six runs when the player enters as a pitcher.
If you thought the Jose Rondón Game was an embarrassment, the league agreed.
Previously: New rules: White Sox prepared for three-batter minimum
