Constructing the 2024 White Sox roster is a little bit like driving to Denver from the east. All the routes are boring no matter how you attack them, and although excitement builds when you can see the Rocky Mountains, it still takes a couple more hours of nothing for them to actually arrive.
With the winter meetings in the rear-view mirror, Chris Getz has actually has turned over a fair amount of 40-man roster spots. He traded for Nicky Lopez and signed Paul DeJong to give the Sox a veteran keystone combo that isn't so proven that it can't be usurped by one or more of the White Sox's infield prospects. He added Mike Soroka and Jared Shuster to the rotation mix in the Aaron Bummer trade, then signed Erick Fedde for two years and selected Shane Drohan in the Rule 5 draft.
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Even if you're pessimistic about every single listed move and consider it change for change's sake, they at least alter the complexion of spring training competitions and provide a layer of veterans that insulate Colson Montgomery and Co. from emergencies at the MLB level, both of which have value.
And then you realize everything that's left on Getz's to-do list.
The Sox still could use at least one more starting pitcher to give Pedro Grifol and Ethan Katz the semblance of a five-man plan, and that's with Dylan Cease still in the organization. The bullpen is now the opposite of overbuilt, as Gregory Santos and Garrett Crochet are the best of what's left. The catching tandem of Korey Lee and Carlos Pérez inspires little confidence, and right field remains forever a sinkhole.
It seems like the Sox could find a passable veteran catcher on a one-year deal to pair alongside Lee or Pérez, with the idea that Adam Hackenberg and Edgar Quero could provide strength in numbers by the end of the year, and the bullpen seems like a good project for Brian Bannister. None of those areas figure to be destined for success in 2024, but Getz won't be guilty of running it back.
When it comes to the outfield ... well, all you have to do is read Getz's assessment of his outfielders to sense the lack of any kind of clear way forward.
“I think the best thing for (Colás) is to be at Charlotte,” Getz said. “Do I see him being down there the whole season? Hopefully not. We know what he’s capable of doing.
“We’ve had Gavin Sheets out there and he’s shown production offensively. We’ve asked a lot of him to play outfield and he looks to be capable, but it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to go out there and find ways to improve our defense as a whole. We’re fortunate to have Luis Robert. Benintendi is a sound defender, we think he can get even better out there. Just to find a team of outfielders is something we’re set out to do.”
"We're fortunate to have Luis Robert" is the only sentence that doesn't wobble when you lean on it, because he's the only outfielder who bolstered his standing in 2024. Every other collection of subjects and verbs invites doubt, befitting of their proper noun.
Oscar Colás didn't earn any major-league credibility in any aspect of the game, and his contentious existence carried into the offseason when he changed his mind on winter ball, so resetting his status looks like a correct-enough call. I like that Getz didn't stop at "sound defender" with Benintendi, because his defense was truly a disappointment, so I think it's meaningful that Getz didn't bypass a chance to gloss over the issue.
What Getz said about Gavin Sheets requires monitoring.
It's entirely possible that this is merely Getz saying that Sheets can't be blamed for playing as much as he did. Sheets tried to earn his keep, and keep came cheap for the 2023 White Sox, because all he had to do was 1) play the outfield better than Andrew Vaughn, 2) stay healthier than Eloy Jiménez, and 3) bear down with runners in scoring position.
I don't think the last point should be underestimated. Sheets drew more walks than strikeouts with runners in scoring position last year, and went 6-for-8 with an HBP and a sac fly with the bases loaded. For all his faults, I didn't hate it when rallies got to him, at least with a righty on the mound, and everything that couldn't be hated about the 2023 White Sox was probably overappreciated.
The problem is all his faults. Everybody knows that he has the 0-60 time of a street sweeper in right field, but he's also resembled a rosterable hitter in just one of the four halves over the last two seasons:
- First half 2022: .224/.288/.371
- Second half 2022: .264/.304/.461
- First half 2023: .220/.298/.374
- Second half 2023: .178/.223/.271
Combine the way he's performed on both sides of the ball, and his value has tumbled from 0.2 WAR in his rookie season to -0.4 bWAR in 2022, to -1.5 bWAR in 2023.
Sheets is responsible for his performance, but he's not responsible for Rick Hahn ignoring the warning signs the year before, resulting in a situation where Sheets played nearly as much in a position he remained unqualified for despite the rapidly diminishing returns.
That history is why Getz's description of Sheets is potentially fraught. The hope is that Getz is merely being polite about a player who doesn't deserve disrespect, but if Getz were to stick with Sheets as a frequently overmatched outfielder for a fourth straight year, it'd sound exactly the same, from "he's shown production offensively" to "he looks to be capable [defensively]."
All it takes is one trade and one signing to put Sheets outside the outfield for good, which is why I recommend remaining in wait-and-see mode. We're still collecting data about Getz's habits, whether we're discussing actions or rhetoric. That Getz didn't reference Eloy Jiménez as a possibility suggests that the standards are indeed rising.
