
The White Sox should be decisively better in 2016, however to lump them in with the Royals right now for the Division is just not practical yet. However the team could hit on all cylinders and then add players as the year goes on. Chicago only stands to lose four player to Free Agency after 2016 in John Danks, Adam LaRoche, Al Avila and Dioner Navarro. The latter 2 were brought in on one year deals to provide the Catching tandem in 2015.
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Chicago has finally thrown their hat into the ring for the AL Central Race. They have pulled off a trade to acquire Todd Frazier in as 3 way deal with the Reds and Dodgers.
The end result is they get 2 years from the former Reds, while parting with Trayce Thompson, Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson away from the club. It is a quality versus quantity deal.
This comes on the heels of the club picking up Brett Lawrie for 3 years worth of service for a couple of Minor Leaguers.
Before these deals, the club really only hand secured a tandem of Catchers with Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro for the offense. Now they have much more depth, and are asserting themselves with one of the better lineups in the AL Central.
If Adam LaRoche can bounce back with his usual 25 HRs and 80 RBI power, you could have 3 Infielders and the Designated Hitter all crack 20+ HRs in the 2016 campaign.
Jose Abreu also stands to benefit with bringing in a hitter like Todd Frazier. You could see a lineup that goes Adam Eaton, Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche, Frazier, Lawrie, Avisail Garcia, Avila or Navarro and Tyler Saladino. This looks a lot lengthier than a few days ago.
By the moves they made, they could also trade LaRoche to another club if they were so inclined. There is no reason to think the Avila and Navarro couldn’t see some DH action for their roles in the 2016 club. (more…)