Biggest Winners and Losers from the Chicago White Sox's Offseason

The Chicago White Sox had an eventful end to the year that was. Frankly, the current composition of the 25-man roster stands in stark contrast to the one that finished the 2014 campaign thanks to a flurry of moves by general manager Rick Hahn.

But who are the winners and losers of the offseason so far?

Well, it goes without saying that the biggest winner is the fanbase. After all, we’ve sat through 172 losses over the past two seasons. And that two-run stretch of futility followed a disastrous finish to 2012 that saw the club lose the lead in the American League Central with eight games left.

Talk about a bad taste.

Well, that was then, and the White Sox are a remade club thanks to the previously mentioned overhaul by Hahn and plan on putting the recent past behind them.

So let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers to this point in the offseason.

Loser: OF Jordan Danks

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

With the additions of Melky Cabrera and Emilio Bonifacio, Jordan Danks' time with the Chicago White Sox came to an abrupt end. 

Not that he was ever a highly touted prospect, of course. Nor does he possess a ceiling as high as some of the other young talents in the farm system, including Micker Adolfo, Jacob May and Courtney Hawkins. 

It's just that Danks does a lot of things fairly well. He can run and field and has enough power to drive the gaps. At the very least, he is an adequate fourth outfielder given his defensive versatility and left-handed bat.

And prior to the addition of Cabrera and Bonifacio, Danks had a legitimate shot to break spring training with the White Sox and earn regular playing time.

Now, nothing has been finalized regarding Danks' ultimate status with the White Sox as of publication. He could return on a minor league deal, but his skill set is refined enough that we have to assume he will catch on with another club. And besides, the White Sox probably don't want to block him from getting more playing time elsewhere.

Danks ended the 2014 season slashing out at .289/.345/.342 with seven walks and three stolen bases over his final 84 plate appearances, per Baseball-Reference.

Winner: Pitching Coach Don Cooper

Reinhold Matay/Associated Press

Almost every White Sox fan is aware of the issues that pitching coach Don Cooper’s pitching staff dealt with last season.

The rotation was disappointing, posting a 4.26 ERA with a 4.04 FIP, 2.98 walks per nine innings (BB/9) and a cumulative 12.5 fWAR (FanGraphs' version of wins above replacement), according to FanGraphs. And that was with Chris Sale (2.17 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 2.02 BB/9) and Jose Quintana (3.32 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 2.34 BB/9) finishing with an fWAR of 5.4 and 5.3, respectively.

In the bullpen, things were downright terrible. In all, the group finished with a 4.38 ERA and 4.22 FIP and averaged 7.24 strikeouts every nine innings, per FanGraphs. Each of those metrics ranked in the American League’s bottom three.

Well, thanks to the addition of Jeff Samardzija, Dan Jennings, David Robertson and Zach Duke, Cooper has the eighth-best starting rotation, according to ESPN Insider Buster Olney (subscription required), and a relief corps that is now balanced with defined roles.

As Cooper said, “We weren't planning on [Jake] Petricka and [Zach] Putnam getting save opportunities last year but all of those guys pitched in greater situations than we dreamed they would last year. And now we're hoping that experience is really going to pay off for them,” via CSN Chicago’s JJ Stankevitz.  “The bullpen,” he continued, “is starting to tighten up and get better.”

It’s been a while, but it appears Cooper finally has a staff he can count on.

Loser: 1B Andy Wilkins

STEVE NESIUS/Associated Press

Going into the offseason, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn had so many holes on the roster to fill that it was not a foregone conclusion he would be able to add a left-handed slugger to the lineup. It was a daunting task—and one he was up to.

In addition to filling needs across the board with the additions of Zach Duke, Melky Cabrera, David Robertson, Jeff Samardzija and Dan Jennings, he added that lefty power hitter in the form of Adam LaRoche almost immediately, leaving Andy Wilkins on the outside looking in.

Not that a spot on the roster was Wilkins' to lose, of course. After all, he struggled mightily after getting promoted following Adam Dunn’s trade to the Oakland A’s. In all, the first baseman put up a .140/.178/.186 slash line with no home runs and 22 strikeouts in 43 at-bats.

For as woeful as his production was in the majors, Wilkins destroyed Triple-A pitching prior to his promotion to the tune of 30 home runs, 38 doubles and 85 RBI, and he slashed out at .293/.338/.558. Impressive numbers, indeed.

And because of that production, he would have been given every opportunity to seize a roster spot during spring training.

Unfortunately for Wilkins, the addition of LaRoche stymies any hope of opening the season in the big leagues. To be sure, he is still the best power-hitting lefty in the system, but his chance at redemption is going to have to wait.

Not that White Sox fans are complaining.

Winner: 1B Jose Abreu

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

What Jose Abreu lacked in setup and protection in 2014 should not be a problem next season.

See, the No. 2 spot in the batting order reached base at a .279 clip last year, per Baseball-Reference, limiting the number of baserunners that Abreu had the chance to drive in. Sure, Adam Eaton did a whale of a job as the leadoff man, but he can’t get on base twice in the same inning.

Enter Melky Cabrera, who’s put up an on-base percentage of at least .322 in six out of the past eight seasons. And not only does he reach base, but he has enough power to set Abreu up with multiple runners in scoring position in the first inning.

From the fourth spot in the order, White Sox batters compiled a .242/.307/.462 slash line with 169 strikeouts, and that includes Abreu’s .303 batting average and 1.003 OPS in 122 at-bats. In other words, the four-hole was a disaster with Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo getting the lion’s share of the plate appearances.

LaRoche immediately adds presence from the left side of the plate. In sum, he has the ability to reach base and enough power that opposing pitchers will be forced to offer up pitches in the zone to Abreu. Simply put, an inordinate amount of sliders off the plate is not likely in the cards for Abreu next season.

At the end of the day, the additions of Cabrera and LaRoche will not only improve the offensive output as a whole, but Abreu’s production in particular. And as Barry Svrluga from The Washington Post noted, the White Sox now have a club that “looks ready to contend in the AL Central.”

Unless otherwise noted, all traditional, team and advanced statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs.com and Baseball-Reference.com. Transaction information pulled from MLB.com.

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