2021 White Sox decision review: Right field

Apr 24, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Adam Eaton (12) is nearly hit by a pitch thrown by Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (44) in thethird t inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

There’s no revisionist history in assessing the White Sox’s decision to jump the right field market by signing Adam Eaton to a one-year, $8 million deal. It could be first-guessed as a bad idea, and with Chuck Garfien trying to soften the backlash with a preemptive podcast defending the deal before it happened, I think even Rick Hahn understood he might’ve been courting disaster.

There is, however, a little revisionist history in what exactly the White Sox should’ve sought from right field. The White Sox ended up with Eaton because they wanted to solve all their shortcomings in one player: left-handed hitter, OBP skills and experience in that specific corner. Even George Springer, the winter’s star outfielder and the clear best choice for the White Sox, couldn’t check all those boxes. Eaton theoretically came the closest, although only if you set aside the fact that he struggled with injuries in three of his four seasons with the Nationals.

Eaton made it four of five in his return to the White Sox. He was among the White Sox who battled persistent leg issues. He took three tumbles in the outfield on April 27, when he was hitting .243/.337/.443 at the time. He hit just .164/.270/.273 the rest of the way, with an injured list stint for a hamstring strain arising late. The White Sox cut him loose the week before the All-Star break, and his subsequent stint with the Angels showed no reason for regrets.

FROM JULY: White Sox couldn’t wait to sign, DFA Adam Eaton

While and after Eaton flopped, the White Sox deployed a number of career infielders to the right field corner, from Jake Lamb to Gavin Sheets to Andrew Vaughn to even Danny Mendick. Granted, the Sox didn’t immediately forfeit all standards. Adam Engel spent at least part of every month on the injured list, and even was replaced midgame in the postseason under suspicious circumstances. Brian Goodwin also could have calmed down the position if he weren’t needed in center field, and if his back didn’t seize up on him at the end of the year.

Thanks to the mix of bad health and bad performances, the White Sox ended up spending more than $2 million on a supposed upgrade over Nomar Mazara from the previous season, only to end up with a far more unsettled situation. Here are your innings leaders for that damned corner:

  1. Adam Eaton, 420
  2. Brian Goodwin, 313.2
  3. Leury García, 235
  4. Andrew Vaughn, 118.1
  5. Gavin Sheets, 82
  6. Adam Engel, 71
  7. Jake Lamb, 66.2
  8. Danny Mendick, 49
  9. Romy González, 18
  10. Luis González, 16.2
  11. Billy Hamilton, 13

If we had a strong sense that right field would look that disheveled even around a predictable Eaton outcome, then we could’ve stumped for Michael Brantley or Kyle Schwarber unapologetically, as opposed to the semi-unapologetic approach that ceded the poor defensive fit, but still preferred adding a bat to push Vaughn outside the immediate picture.

As we assess the other options similar to the way we broke down the previous two positions of note …

… it’s probably fairest to group them into players who would have helped the defensive picture, followed by the guys who wouldn’t have ended up hurting it, seeing what we saw.

THE FIELD

PLAYERDEALPA2B3BHRSB/CSBA/OBP/SLGwRC+bWAR
Eaton1/$8M28810263/0.201/.282/.344-0.7
FREE AGENTSDEALPA2B3BHRSB/CSBA/OBP/SLGwRC+bWAR
Hernández2/$14M585353201/0.250/.337/.4494.9
Schwarber1/$10M471190321/1.266/.374/.5543.2
Duvall1/$5M555172385/0.228/.281/.4913.1
Grossman2/$10M6712332320/5.239/.357/.4152.9
Brantley2/$32M50829381/0.311/.362/.4372.5
Springer6/$150M342191224/1.264/.352/.5552.4
Renfroe1/$3.1M524330311/2.259/.315/.5012.3
Rosario1/$8M4121931411/3.259/.305/.4351.1
Pederson1/$7M481193182/3.238/.310/.422-0.1
Ozuna4/$65M2086070/0.213/.288/.356-0.2
Bradley2/$24M42914367/1.163/.236/.261-0.7
Dahl1/$2.7M22011042/1.210//247/.322-1.0
TRADESDEALPA2B3BHRSB/CSBA/OBP/SLGwRC+bWAR
BenintendiDetails538272178/9.276/.324/.4422.4
FowlerDetails210001/0.250/.286/.250-0.2

REAL RIGHT FIELDERS

We wouldn’t be talking about right field for a 27th consecutive year if the White Sox merely ponied up for Bryce Harper, but obviously a 13-year deal isn’t something that can be expected from a Jerry Reinsdorf team. George Springer represented comparable certainty at half the commitment because of factors that naturally knocked down his price (31 years old, right handed), and the Sox still had no interest in paying retail. Springer validated some of those concerns by missing half the season with quad, knee and ankle injuries. He also showed why Toronto paid him six years and $150 million with a .907 OPS and a 5 WAR pace when he was in the lineup. Had Springer posted the same showing on the South Side, nobody would mind having him around entering Year Two.

Joc Pederson was a popular choice not just among fans, but even among the White Sox front office, which apparently first sought to sign Pederson, only to move on to Eaton for cheaper when Pederson spurned a $10 million offer. On one hand, Pederson wasn’t worth the money, in the sense that he was limited to facing right-handed pitching and hovered around replacement level for the entire year. On the other hand, he was actually rosterable for an entire season — Eaton’s subterranean floor was my main argument against him — and three homers in the NLDS and NLCS added to his list of big Joctober moments, including a second consecutive World Series ring.

Robbie Grossman was a preferred choice for budget-conscious Offseason Plan Project participants, and he gave Detroit a 20/20 season for a relative pittance. It’s lopsided toward southpaws — he hit .221/.347/.387 against righties — but he turned out to be playable under any circumstances after being leveraged mostly against lefties for his entire career.

Hunter Renfroe is a more classic platoon bat, as he still struggles to reach base against righties (.285 OBP in 2021), but he cleared 30 homers for the second consecutive 162-game season in spite of his issues. Jackie Bradley Jr. would’ve been a defense-first signing under any circumstances, but his bat disappeared with the Brewers, and now he’s back with the Red Sox. It’s hard to see how David Dahl is ever going to happen, and Dexter Fowler blew out his ACL in April as part of a doomed Angels outfield.

Enrique Hernández wasn’t really mentioned as a potential right field solution, partially because he’s right-handed, partially because he plays as much middle infield as he does outfield, and mostly because his value comes from playing everywhere, not anywhere. He ended up having the best season of everybody, with two-thirds of his appearances coming in center field for Boston.

REAL LEFT FIELDERS

Eddie Rosario showed his 32-homer season in 2019 wasn’t a fluke with a power-forward 2020 season, but the Twins non-tendered him instead of paying him $12 million because of some notable weaknesses (hyperaggressive profile, left-field only). He signed with Cleveland for one year and $8 million and gave them nothing (.254/.296/.389), but after the Future Guardians paid him to go to Atlanta, he rediscovered his old form. He hit .271/.330/.573 over 33 regular-season games with the Braves, then contributed to their World Series run with an unforgettable performance that netted him the NLCS MVP. You couldn’t say he’d do the same thing for the White Sox against the Astros, but again, being eminently rosterable was a big plus.

Nobody had Adam Duvall as a right field solution, but nobody could foresee him winning the NL RBI title with a .281 OBP, or winning Gold Glove in right field after spending barely any time there. What a weird season.

Andrew Benintendi would’ve been a fine trade for the White Sox as they approached the end of their rebuilding period given the buy-low nature of such a trade, and so he fit the Royals under similar circumstances. He held down the position at Kauffman Stadium, but not in a remarkable way.

DESIGNATED HITTERS WITH OUTFIELD EXPERIENCE

Once the White Sox signed Eaton, the team’s preferred media outlet informed everybody that Michael Brantley was out of their price range. Brantley joined the parade in showing the White Sox always get what they pay for. He hit .311/.362/.437 despite a knee issue with the Astros in the first year of a two-year, $32 million deal, and he torched the White Sox by going 7-for-19 in the ALDS. Brantley was seen as more of a DH solution than a right field possibility, but the White Sox had vacancies in both places, and thanks to Eloy Jiménez’s injury, Brantley’s left-field experience would’ve mattered, too. The Astros played him in right for only 61 innings.

The same can be said for Kyle Schwarber, who got non-tendered by the Cubs, only to sign for slightly more than his arbitration projection for one year with the Nationals. He turned out to be one of the winter’s biggest bargains, hitting .266/.374/.554 with 32 homers in 113 games, producing for both Washington and Boston around a hamstring injury and a midseason trade. Schwarber played left field for the Nats, then bounced between left, first and DH once he had the option with the Red Sox.

Speaking of the option to DH, the Braves showed in 2020 that wanted a bat-only version of Marcell Ozuna. After nearly winning the Triple Crown for Atlanta over 60 games, the braves re-signed him for four years and $65 million, even though he’d have to return to left field. The encore turned out to be a major disappointment on the field, and a disaster off it, as his season ended in late May due to an arrest on domestic battery and aggravated assault charges. He spent the rest of the year on administrative leave and a suspension. The charges could be dropped if he completes a diversion program.

Nobody had Vaughn and (especially) Sheets logging serious time in right field, so it’s slightly disingenuous to look at a square peg like Schwarber had and say he would’ve been fine at 9 the whole time. Second-guessers can find quarter in the idea that the Eaton signing was such a bad idea on its face that even the unconventional candidates would have been far better uses on the money. As I wrote two Decembers ago, the worst-case scenario for Eaton might’ve been the most realistic one.

Except … you could talk yourself into Mazara and Jay and Encarnación and Alonso just the same. Reflexive pessimism won the day each and every time. Here, reflexive pessimism says Eaton is either going to be unavailable, or he’s going to struggle into the summer, but Hahn will have to consider replacements well ahead of the trade deadline either way. I don’t want to make my analysis so reductive, but it gets old mining for upside, only to have the shaft collapse.

If we’re looking for silver lining, had right field been shored up with a Springer, perhaps the White Sox don’t attempt to expand the versatility of a Vaughn or Sheets. That’s something the White Sox have been loath to do with any position players with offensive upside, so perhaps necessity finally opened up their imaginations in a way that could benefit them in years to come. I used “silver lining” instead of a different cliché, because the White Sox should be discouraged from acquiring lemons.

(Photo by Matt Marton/USA TODAY Sports)

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asinwreck

The Adam Eaton photo Jim selected for this article is the franchise’s equivalent of Charlie Brown on the ground after Lucy pulled the football. Who will be the 2022 bargain-bin bust lying in the batter’s box? We know there will be one, because like Charlie Brown, Rick Hahn repeats his mistakes.

Wayne

Joc Pederson for his 3rd WS title in a row?

Malkatraz

Just trade for him late in the season as a good luck charm.

BenwithVen

not RF, but my bet is Jonathan Villar

Qubort

I don’t think they’ll stop by the bargain-bin at all this year and they’ll just send out Sheets/Vaughn/Engel as option A.

As Cirensica

Yup. This is where I’ll put my money.

As Cirensica

because the White Sox should be discouraged from acquiring lemons.

Unless it is a Chet.

joewho112

Ted, there is an idea for a quiz. Innings lead by position. I don’t think I would have guesses Eaton lead the team but it makes sense

Ted Mulvey

Thanks for the idea!

Drdoctor

Knowing that I preferred David Dahl to Adam Eaton, am proud to have somehow been an advocate of possibly the only worse choice!

Trooper Galactus

For the price difference between the two they could have signed Duvall or Renfroe also.

Augusto Barojas

The signing of Eaton was the poster child of exemplifying why they have been to the World Series once in the past 50 years.

Trooper Galactus

*60 years

As Cirensica

50, 60…so shameful either one.

Joliet Orange Sox

I can complain about Jerry Reinsdorf all day long but I think this specific critique is unfair. First, the critique makes it seem like it has been over 60 years since the Sox made the World Series when they in fact won a World Series in 2005 so it is only a 16-year drought which very different than a 60-year drought.

Second, I hold Jerry blameless for the Sox struggles pre-1981. Veeck, the Allyns, then Veeck again had issues that were not Jerry’s fault and are complicated. For many of those pre-Jerry years the game was so different that comparing today’s problems to the past is not just apples to oranges but more like apples to elephants. Prior to divisions, the draft, and free agency, the way to win the American League was to be the Yankees and it was not as simple as that they spent the most money.

I have trouble connnecting the dots between the Eaton signing and the Sox winning 98 games in 1964 but finishing a game back of the Yankees in the AL pennant race. The Eaton signing in no way exemplifies why that happened.

I think there are plenty of more specific and timely criticisms of the Sox organization to be made without just lumping all the frustrations into one generic critique that I think doesn’t apply to many of last 60 years.

Augusto Barojas

Obviously Jerry is not the reason for anything before he owned them. So replace my original statement with 40 years instead of 50. The point is still valid.

It is said that love of money is the root of all evil. It is also the root of why the Sox will never see another World Series until Reinsdorf no longer owns them.

jhomeslice

When considering that Grandal will wind up the highest paid player of their entire “rebuild”, I think it is fair to call it a half-ass effort. At best.

burning-phoneix

Pitcherlist had an interesting article where they made a WAR for owners called “Wins Below Replacement Ownership” (As all of them are negative on average).

Jerry Reinsdorf clocks in at -7.1 WBRO, while seemingly bad, is actually above average for an owner. Hal Steinbrenner is the absolute worst owner with -17.8 WBRO average per season.

Trooper Galactus

How does an owner at the top of spending come in as the worst? Does he meddle with roster construction in a way that Jerry doesn’t? I guess there’s also Jerry being a bit of an unseen actor behind the scenes as opposed to an active public face like some owners.

burning-phoneix

IIRC, they calculate it as part of revenue spent on payroll. While Jerry Reinsdorf does spend in the bottom 25% when comparing payroll to revenue (31% btw in 2019), Steinbrenner actually spends only 29.9% of the Yankees revenue on payroll. So despite spending more than Jerry Reinsdorf on average, Hal Steinbrenner is actually spending less when taking the Yankees humongous revenue into account.

dwjm3

Steinbrenner should be raising payroll that is for sure. The Yankees revenues are pretty close to 800 million now and yet their payroll has stayed flat at around 200 million. I wouldn’t put him below Jerry in any ranking though as he at least doesn’t seem to meddle in baseball decision making the way Jerry does.

Jerry taking hiring power of the coach away from the front office last offseason was just beyond the pale.

To Err is Herrmann

I am just surprised the White Sox didn’t sign J.B. Shuck, who until recently was still playing AAA ball. It is not surprising/beyond disappointing that on the cusp of vying for Series contention, and after all that hard work rebuilding a new core, the Hose would go dumpster diving. If Jerry does it again this year, I might be moved to write him a terse letter explaining my displeasure.

GrinnellSteve

I”ll sign on to your terse letter. I remain peeved.