During our White Sox roundtable on 670 The Score's "Bernstein and Holmes" on Tuesday, James Fegan briefly halted the discussion about Tim Anderson's option and the future of the middle infield to bring up an option that he deemed too obvious to ignore.
"I think for Tim, it would be like-- for one, you distracted me, because I don't see how either of you haven't resigned yourself to Whit Merrifield being on the White Sox," he told me and Josh.
Right on cue, here's 670 The Score's Bruce Levine delivering the first White Sox rumor of the offseason, which might be too obvious to count as a rumor:
Getz has started that process in the front office with several key hirings recently, including the installation of new assistant general manager Josh Barfield. On the field and in their clubhouse, the White Sox have a lot of work to do this offseason.
So what will that mean? It might start by making an offer for veteran Royals catcher Salvador Perez on the trade market and with a pursuit of second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield in free agency. The White Sox have discussed both of those possibilities at length, sources said.
A sane discussion about this isn't really possible, because it will automatically divide White Sox fans into two incompatible camps.
No. 1: White Sox fans who will treat Pérez and Merrifield as more credible options at catcher and second base/right field than any organizational incumbent, and will wait for the cost before forming a real judgment.
No. 2: White Sox fans who consider former Royals an invasive species.
I'll freely admit I hold them in similar regard to the spotted lanternfly, because when it comes to Kansas City, the White Sox have no idea what they're actually emulating. Rick Hahn stretched the definition of "recent" when he said the ideal Tony La Russa replacement would have recent experience in a dugout of a championship-level team, because Pedro Grifol's World Series ring was hidden under a heap of teams that couldn't achieve escape velocity from last place in baseball's worst division.
It turns out Grifol had nothing to offer as the franchise's 42nd different manager, while Andrew Benintendi was a terrible candidate for a franchise's largest-ever contract. Still, that didn't stop Jerry Reinsdorf from naming Getz the GM without interviewing anybody else, and Getz's first hires included two former Royals. Brian Bannister seems cool and all, but Gene Watson has only found employ with two of baseball's most befuddled franchises, and now here come the White Sox to make it a trend.
That's why all the Perez speculation has been eminently believable since the trade deadline, and that's why it's no surprise to see Merrifield linked as well.
It's actually perfect, because the White Sox have been too right-handed and undisciplined at the plate, so of course they'd want to prioritize a guy who struck out 135 times against 19 walks last year. The Sox developed such a severe allergy to walks because time and time again, they forgave poor strike-zone control because they treasured some tertiary characteristic, and Perez's is "leadership." Meanwhile, Merrifield's been an average-at-best player the last two seasons because he relies on his above-average baserunning and moderate versatility to cover for his fading bat, which isn't a bet you want to make on a 35-year-old.
At least Perez won something. Merrifield showed up after the championship window, and never actually played for a Royals team with a winning record.
But even saying "at least" makes me uncomfortable, because unless we're talking about Bobby Witt Jr., we should make like the Third Amendment and offer no quarter to anybody affiliated with the Royals. There's a heightened risk of enabling, similar to Hahn's trade for Jake Diekman in 2022. That deal made sense from a baseball perspective, and Diekman's subsequent success with the Rays showed that he still had stuff left in the tank, but the context made it an immediate mistake regardless of how well Diekman fared. Hahn couldn't snap out of his fixation on the bullpen to address other problems, even though all of the effort never resulted in a bullpen worth paying for.
If and when the White Sox acquire Perez and/or Merrifield, I'll probably try to offer an ulterior motive, like Getz attempting to further highlight Grifol's floundering by tossing him a pile of security blankets when he needs a life preserver, because maybe then Jerry Reinsdorf will let Getz fire Grifol early. That's so indirect that even a Bond villain would consider it byzantine, especially since all you have to do to show Grifol's weaknesses is present him with one (1) underachieving veteran.
For now, there's more hope in noting that Dayton Moore hasn't yet joined the White Sox. Maybe better sense does occasionally prevail. Unless they're all just waiting to show up in a swarm.
