PREAMBLE
Scrappers call Chicago home, and Chicagoans champion scrappers. Sharing that name are an affectionate song Steve Albini put on his final album and a 2010 documentary of Brian Ashby, Ben Kolak and Courtney Prokopas that Roger Ebert began his rave review by noting "In the alley, I see them at least once a week, the men with their grocery carts, collecting tin cans and other treasures. Some will accumulate a heap as tall as themselves. I learn from the documentary 'Scrappers' that the same trade happens in Chicago on a larger scale, with men trolling the city for scrap metal and emptying their trucks at scrap metal yards. For this valuable work, they could make a living, until the economy collapsed."
If this reminds you of White Sox activities under Late Stage Reinsdorf, you are not alone. Once again, we will take our grocery cart into the alley and see if anything of use comes up amid the rust and debris.
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: Derek Shomon
- Pitching coach: Zach Bove
I liked the process that hired Shomon, and also that he gets to work in the city where his kid receives medical treatment. Regarding Bove, again, the hiring process seemed refreshingly normal.
Antoan Richardson is the only recent 1B coach I can think of who produced meaningful results, and he just went to the Braves. Maybe a Ron Washington type to help with the defense?
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Tender
- Steven Wilson: Non-tender
- Derek Hill: Non-tender
With Benintendi gone (see the trade section) and placating the guy I'm trading Benintendi for not a priority, Tauchman's ability to be an oft-injured OBP machine shouldn't mess up the roster too much.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Exercise $20 million option
- Martín Perez: Buy out for $1.5 million
The Sox said they'd do it, they did it, and it's done. We're not spending much money anyway, and maybe he can do enough to bring something good back in July or next winter.
FREE AGENTS
Sign Erik Fedde 1/$3 million.
Sign Adrian Houser 1/$5 million.
We are recyclers. Getz is looking for short-term fixes with veterans to shore up the rotation before integrating the prospects. The organization clearly has no interest in actually competing, so vets like Jose Quintana who want to play deep into October won't want to sign up for a summer in Bridgeport. Why not reunite with a couple guys who flourished in Chicago? Ethan Katz is gone, but Brian Bannister's program remains and may be alluring to two pitchers seeking to re-reclaim their careers.
Sign Josh Bell 1/$6 million
A switch-hitting slugger gets some lefty at-bats in a corner position. I see a world where Bell, Castallanos, Robert, and Montgomery all hit at least 25 homers and the Sox approach 80 wins. I see another world where injuries sap the strength of all four and we see our fourth consecutive 100-loss season. But this is a move to potentially provide fans some enjoyment as we see whether Curtis Mead, Miguel Vargas, and/or Bryan Ramos develop into anything.
Sign Ryan Helsley 1/$15 million
A closer who had a bad year. Would he trust in Bannister's team to resurrect his value? If so, he gets high leverage innings and maybe makes it possible for Grant Taylor to focus on 2-inning stints that may help him stretch out for a 2027 rotation spot. I gave him a higher AAV than I've seen elsewhere to see if he'd take that over two years. Maybe he does well enough that our scrap enterprise sells him in July.
TRADES
Davis Martin to Nationals for Robert Hassell III
Washington has a new front office, and I would not be surprised to see them move some of their young players they may not evaluate positively. Hassell could be one of those candidates. He is 24 and had a .572 OPS last year. He's also a promising defensive centerfielder and lefty hitter, so if Ryan Fuller's team sees an opportunity to help him, the White Sox might have their post-Robert centerfielder in place.
This might be an opportunity to move Davis Martin for a piece that will stick around for a while. I could see him being attractive enough that Paul Toboni (whose previous employer did so well with a pitcher Getz traded) might be willing to do this deal.
Andrew Benintendi for Nick Castallanos.
Castallanos is toast. He also is going into his walk year and is only an aesthetic threat in the outfield, not a medical one. This trade lops off one year of a sunk cost and rids Dave Dombrowski of a clubhouse headache with the promise that Benintendi could be a more servicable DH in Philadelphia than for a roster that needs to get both Teel and Quero regular at-bats.
I recommend the Sox promptly release Castallanos, but I don't think that is possible under current ownership. That is also the reason I didn't just suggest the Sox release Benintendi with two years remaining on his contract. If the Sox do roster him, they aren't having the DH slot being held hostage by a balky Achilles heel, and they are less likely to worry about benching him than the guy they signed for five years.
Lenyn Sosa to Padres for Yuki Matsui
The Padres may be getting sold, and may be concerned about adding payroll. Why not give them a source of cheap home runs and get a more expensive reliever in exchange? Sosa replaces Luis Arraez, and Matsui provides a veteran Will Venable can turn to who may be more reliable than the lefties he summoned in 2025.
SUMMARY
Rotation: Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Yoendrys Gomez, Adrian Houser, Erik Fedde
Bullpen: Mike Vasil, Jonathan Cannon, Tyler Gilbert, Jordan Leasure, Wikelman Gonzalez, Yuki Matsui, Grant Taylor, Ryan Helsley
Lineup:
C Kyle Teel
DH Edgar Quero
CF Luis Robert Jr.
SS Colson Montgomery
1B Josh Bell
3B Miguel Vargas
LF Mike Tauchman
2B Chase Meidroth
RF Robert Hassell III
Bench:
C Korey Lee
3B/1B/2B Curtis Mead
SS/2B/3B/CF/RF/LF Brooks Baldwin
LF/DH/RF/Sulking Benchwarmer Nick Castellanos
I'd be more inclined to keep Bryan Ramos up to spell the various corner bats along with Mead. If Jerry's on board with eating the Castellanos contract, we will do that instead. Plus there may be another pitcher from the Rule 5 draft, but it's too early to tell which candidates might be available.
It's not a good team regardless of the options. Nothing the White Sox have done since promoting Getz indicates the organization is actually interested in competing during Jerry Reinsdorf's remaining dotage. But this roster keeps faith with Getz's stated ambition to use veterans to help ease the prospects into more substantial roles. The upside bet is seeing if Hassell can develop, as he could be the centerfield solution once Robert leaves between six and 24 months from now.
One can squint and imagine a bunch of the pitchers, Sam Antonacci, and Braden Montgomery coming up by the end of the season to make this an actually good roster. More likely some of the scrap gets thrown back onto the pile and we glean for more bits of value amongst the rubble in a failing business.
Ebert compared the 2010 documentary Scrappers to Agnes Varda's wonderful film The Gleaners and I. I agree with him enough to coopt her anglicized title for this plan while recommending readers seek out both the film and the song on Shellac's 2024 album To All Trains. Both will likely be more meaningful experiences than watching the 2026 Chicago White Sox.
