One could argue that the White Sox didn't really need to sign another reliever or utility man. At least the White Sox added a good one of each.
The White Sox joined the flurry of activity after the lockout this evening, reportedly landing right-handed reliever Joe Kelly for two years, and Josh Harrison for one year and a club option.
Kelly, 33, is entering his 11th season of an up-and-down career, but it was mostly up during his two years with the Dodgers, over which he posted a 2.67 ERA with 59 strikeouts over 54 innings. He rediscovered his sinker with the Dodgers, allowing him to post ground-ball rates well over 50 percent in each of his three years with Los Angeles. It's paired with a curveball that gets him swings and misses.
He slots in alongside fellow signee Kendal Graveman as trustworthy right-handed options behind Liam Hendriks, and adds to the relief corps' pile of red ass as well.
They have now found replacements for Ryan Tepera and what Craig Kimbrel was supposed to be. Kimbrel himself is still around, and Tony La Russa said today that he figures Kimbrel will stick around.
As for Harrison, the 34-year-old staved off an early decline with 1½ quality seasons in a utility role with the Nationals, hitting .291/.363/.431 over 123 games between 2020 and 2021. He played mostly second base and third base, but he also stood in all three outfield positions when needed. After the Nationals collapsed, they flipped him to Oakland, although he didn't add much to the A's postseason push (.254/.296/.341).
When Harrison's right, he puts together enough non-homers, walks and HBPs for an above-average OBP, and plays decent defense at multiple positions. When he's off, he makes a lot of soft contact that turns into outs. That makes him a less frenetic, righty-righty version of Leury García, which hopefully gives La Russa a chance to avoid over-relying on either one.
