More than two months ago, we took a look at how the White Sox stacked up in the AL Central at each position. The exercise confirmed what most of us already knew: The team's strengths were on the mound and at the infield corners. Since then, the White Sox added Mat Latos, Jimmy Rollins, and Austin Jackson to help boost their chances of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2008. Chicago wasn't the only team that added as the Cleveland Indians signed Juan Uribe and the Minnesota Twins won the Byung-ho Park sweepstakes.
When viewing these rankings in January, the expectations were that Adam LaRoche, Tyler Saladino, Avisail Garcia, and Erik Johnson would receive significant playing time while projected to be worth less than 1.0 fWAR. Luckily that is not the case after Rick Hahn signed the three veterans mentioned above and LaRoche retired. Adding those players to the mix and shifting others around (like Adam Eaton to left field), here is how the Sox stack up against their AL Central counterparts before Opening Day.
Catcher
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Cleveland Indians |
Y. Gomes / R. Perez |
3.2 |
+0.2 |
S. Perez / T. Cruz |
3.0 |
-0.2 |
|
Chicago White Sox |
D. Navarro / A. Avila |
2.3 |
-0.4 |
J. McCann / J. Saltalamacchia |
2.1 |
-0.2 |
|
Minnesota Twins |
K. Suzuki / J. Murphy |
1.8 |
-0.3 |
First Base
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Detroit Tigers |
M. Cabrera/A. Romine |
4.0 |
-0.2 |
Kansas City Royals |
E. Hosmer / C. Cuthbert |
2.5 |
0 |
Chicago White Sox |
J. Abreu / T. Ishikawa |
2.4 |
-0.4 |
Cleveland Indians |
M. Napoli / C. Santana |
2.2 |
+0.6 |
Minnesota Twins |
J. Mauer / Byung-ho Park |
1.9 |
+0.5 |
Second Base
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Cleveland Indians |
J. Kipnis / J. Ramirez |
3.1 |
+0.2 |
Detroit Tigers |
I.Kinsler / M. Aviles |
3.1 |
+0.3 |
Minnesota Twins |
B. Dozier / E. Nunez |
2.8 |
+0.3 |
Chicago White Sox |
B. Lawrie / T.Saladino |
1.7 |
+0.1 |
Kansas City Royals |
O. Infante / C. Colon |
0.5 |
0 |
Shortstop
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Cleveland Indians |
F. Lindor / J. Ramirez |
4.0 |
+0.8 |
Detroit Tigers |
J. Iglesias / M. Aviles |
2.0 |
+0.1 |
Minnesota Twins |
E. Escobar / D. Santana |
1.9 |
+0.3 |
Kansas City Royals |
A. Escobar / C. Colon |
1.7 |
+0.1 |
Chicago White Sox |
J.Rollins / T. Saladino |
1.5 |
+0.7 |
Third Base
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Chicago White Sox |
T. Frazier / B. Lawrie |
3.4 |
0 |
Kansas City Royals |
M. Moustakas / C. Colon |
3.0 |
-0.2 |
Cleveland Indians |
J. Uribe / J. Ramirez |
2.6 |
+1.0 |
Minnesota Twins |
T. Plouffe / E. Nunez |
2.1 |
-0.3 |
Detroit Tigers |
N. Castellanos / M. Aviles |
1.1 |
-0.2 |
Left Field
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Kansas City Royals |
A.Gordon / J. Dyson |
3.6 |
-0.3 |
Detroit Tigers |
J. Upton / C. Maybin |
3.2 |
0 |
Cleveland Indians |
M. Brantley/ R. Davis |
2.6 |
+1.0 |
Minnesota Twins |
E. Rosario / M. Sano |
2.5 |
-1.0 |
Chicago White Sox |
A.Eaton / M. Cabrera |
1.5 |
+0.7 |
Centerfield
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Kansas City Royals |
L. Cain / J. Dyson |
4.1 |
+0.3 |
Minnesota Twins |
B. Buxton / D. Santana |
2.9 |
+1.1 |
Chicago White Sox |
A.Jackson / A. Eaton |
1.8 |
-0.2 |
Cleveland Indians |
T.Naquin / R. Davis |
1.7 |
+0.3 |
Detroit Tigers |
A.Gose / C. Maybin |
1.2 |
-0.3 |
Right Field
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference in Jan. |
Detroit Tigers |
JD Martinez / T. Collins |
3.3 |
+0.7 |
Minnesota Twins |
M.Sano / O. Arcia |
2.8 |
+1.6 |
Cleveland Indians |
L. Chisenhall / M. Bryd |
1.5 |
-0.4 |
Kansas City Royals |
J. Dyson / P. Orlando |
1.3 |
+0.3 |
Chicago White Sox |
M. Cabrera/A. Garcia |
0.7 |
+0.4 |
Starting Pitching
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Cleveland Indians |
Kluber/Carrasco/Salazar/Anderson/Tomlin |
17.1 |
+0.2 |
Chicago White Sox |
Sale/Quintana/Rodon/Latos/Danks |
16.2 |
+1.7 |
Minnesota Twins |
Hughes/Santana/Gibson/Nolasco/Milone |
11.0 |
+0.4 |
Detroit Tigers |
Verlander/Zimmermann/Sanchez/Norris/Pelfrey |
11.0 |
+1.1 |
Kansas City Royals |
Kennedy/Ventura/Volquez/Medlen/Duffy |
8.5 |
-1.1 |
Relief Pitching
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Chicago White Sox |
Robertson/Jones/Duke/Putnam/Petricka |
4.0 |
+0.4 |
Kansas City Royals |
Davis/Soria/Herrera/Hochevar/Duffy |
3.1 |
+0.4 |
Cleveland Indians |
Allen/Shaw/McAllister/Manship/Bauer |
3.0 |
-0.1 |
Minnesota Twins |
Perkins/Jepsen/May/Fien/Tonkin |
2.5 |
-0.2 |
Detroit Tigers |
KRod / Lowe / Wilson/ Wilson/Rondon |
1.6 |
-0.2 |
Designated Hitter
Team |
Players |
WAR |
Difference from Jan. |
Minnesota Twins |
Byung-ho Park / M. Sano |
1.9 |
+0.4 |
Detroit Tigers |
V. Martinez / Cabrera |
1.3 |
0 |
Cleveland Indians |
C. Santana / M.Napoli |
1.4 |
+0.1 |
Kansas City Royals |
K.Morales / T. Snider |
1.1 |
+0.4 |
Chicago White Sox |
A.Garcia / J. Abreu |
0.7 |
0 |
Observations
- If Melky Cabrera is the Chicago White Sox fulcrum in 2016, then Cleveland's Michael Brantley is the AL Central's fulcrum. Thought not to be ready for game action til June, Brantley played in five games this spring and hit a home run. Even if not 100 percent healthy, Brantley in the lineup reduces the offensive workload that Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, and Carlos Santana have to carry. Adding the veteran Uribe helps at third base, but the Indians are projected 2.8 wins higher than in January by only making one move. That leads to a healthy Brantley having very positive repercussions.
- The Royals leaped the White Sox in first base rankings, as FanGraphs loved Adam LaRoche more than Travis Ishikawa.
- They're still weakest in the division, but adding Rollins is enough of a preseason boost to instill hope that the Sox can receive the similar production at shortstop with everyone outside of Cleveland.
- Thank you again, Los Angeles Dodgers, for Todd Frazier.
- The biggest benefit of signing Austin Jackson is the boost Sox will receive moving Adam Eaton to a corner outfield position. Jackson's defense helps shorten the gap in value in center and Eaton's offense improves the forecast in left, with Melky Cabrera moving to right field.
- The biggest change since January was the White Sox signing Latos. FanGraphs is projecting a 1.7 fWAR season for Latos, but after his spring training struggles, Hahn is reportedly in the market to find additional depth.
Sources: White Sox aggressively pursuing Miguel Gonzalez, who was released by Orioles. Marlins, A's, Blue Jays also in.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) March 31, 2016