When charting Major League Baseball's offseason calendar after the World Series, it seemed weird that the collective bargaining agreement expired before teams had to decide whether to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players on their 40-man rosters. That's a lot of time for dozens of players to dangle in limbo.
It took until this week, but the league and the MLB Players Association ironed out that wrinkle, moving up the non-tender deadline from Dec. 2 to Nov. 30 at 8 p.m., or about 28 hours before the expiration of the CBA and a likely lockout afterward.
The White Sox acted as though they expected this to take place. Upon the start of free agency after the World Series, the White Sox effectively made all their non-tender decisions by outrighting Brian Goodwin, Evan Marshall, Jimmy Cordero and Jace Fry. None of those four players was all that expensive, but thanks to injuries to Marshall and Cordero, none of them had any trade value either, so there wasn't really a point for the team or the players in dragging their feet.
The series of moves left Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and Adam Engel as the only players who require a decision to tender them 2022 contracts, and all of them are no-brainers in the opposite direction.
What the proactive decision-making affords is the possibility of pouncing on a non-tendered player before any transaction freeze caused by a lockout. The White Sox only have 35 players on their 40-man roster, or 36 if you count the impending Kendall Graveman signing, even after protecting Jason Bilous and Bennett Sousa from the Rule 5 draft.
Should the White Sox actually connect on any of the high-profile targets to whom they're tied ...
... or should they see an opportunity created by another team's 40-man roster crunch, there's quite a bit of room before cutting or waiving reenters the picture. If there's further fat to trim, the White Sox probably have a couple players already in mind.
* * * * * * * * *
One of the first places to look for 40-man excess is the outfield, where Micker Adolfo is out of options and Blake Rutherford hasn't shown the kind of impact contact needed to elevate his profile. The complication is that Adolfo is too good to cut, and Rutherford isn't being squeezed out of an outfield spot from below.
However, one look at Baseball America's minor league transactions shows somebody who might have the capability of squeezing out Rutherford laterally.
Chicago White SoxSigned: RHP Luke Shilling | SS Jagger Rusconi | OF Luis Alexander Basabe
They got Basabe back Basabe back Basabe back
They got Basabe back Basabe back Basabe back
Basabe had another injury-shortened year, this one disrupted in spring training by a wrist injury. He didn't surface until July, when he reported to Double-A Richmond and hit just .206/.349/.338 over 22 games. Basabe's 25 now, so it doesn't look like it's going to happen for him after a briefly intriguing cup of coffee with San Francisco in 2020, but at least the Sox will get one last crack after 40-man/option pressures caused him to be moved to the Giants for cash considerations.
* * * * * * * * *
Regarding Bilous and Sousa, James Fegan talked to Chris Getz about the decision to protect those two arms from the Rule 5 draft, and only those two arms. Sousa's easier to explain, as the White Sox were a little short on lefties behind Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet, so Anderson Severino and Sousa give them two in-house options who might've had takers elsewhere.
Bilous has more road between him and the 26-man roster, so his position in the White Sox's plans isn't quite as intuitive. Getz expressed a rosier view, saying that Bilous' second-half struggles were more due to fatigue than a reckoning with Double-A hitters, and it doesn't yet sound like the bullpen is a destination.
“Jason Bilous, we feel, is coming,” Getz said. “Coming off of 2020 with not pitching, there were some second-half struggles. But what we saw the first half was very encouraging. We feel like he’s got the potential to be a starting piece for us.”
As for the players the White Sox opted not to protect, Baseball America's initial Rule 5 preview doesn't include Carlos Pérez, Kade McClure or anybody else. It does include an old farmhand from New York's Capital Region:
Justin Yurchak, 1B, Dodgers: In 2021, Yurchak led the minors with a .365 batting average. For his career, he’s a .321 hitter with a .412 on-base percentage. Hitting is Yurchak’s only plus tool, but it is the most important one, which is why he’s a name to consider despite the fact that it may be hard to fit him on a 26-man roster. He’s either a regular/platoon first baseman/DH/left fielder or he’s a pinch hitter.
Yurchak doesn’t have a lot of defensive value and he doesn’t have much power—his career high in home runs is 13 and he only hit seven this year. But he sure can hit.
* * * * * * * * *
We're keeping it simple over here this Thanksgiving. We ordered a couple pounds of smoked turkey breast from a local barbecue place, which we'll supplement with sides and dessert of our own creation while breaking out the holiday decorations.
Here's hoping all stateside Sox Machinists have a happy Thanksgiving, or are at least making double time and a half. If Thanksgiving Day doesn't apply to you, then have a wonderful Thursday. As always, I'm thankful for you. (Yes, you.)
(Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire)
