If Sox want DH, it might be a bit, as free agents wait on NL originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
"Our team is on the floor."
That was White Sox general manager Rick Hahn channeling "Hoosiers" coach Norman Dale when asked whether he anticipated any more moves by his front office this winter. Hahn said the White Sox are happy with their current group, one that's added Lance Lynn, Adam Eaton and Liam Hendriks this offseason, and indeed, it looks like one of the finest rosters in the American League, even as the South Siders' signing of Hendriks has broken the free-agency logjam a bit and other teams are beginning to make some additions.
But remember that Hahn has said in the past that the White Sox best operate when they're moving under the radar, saying as recently as last month that he always feels there's another move he can make to further improve even a team that looks capable of competing for a championship in 2021.
RELATED: TA's got jokes, bragging rights on new Sox teammate Lynn
That brings us to the designated hitter spot.
Hahn's publicly stated beginning-of-the-offseason shopping list included upgrades in right field, at DH and in the starting rotation. Two of those three items have been crossed off his to-do list. DH, though, remains a bit of a mystery.
Hahn made sure to clarify at one point this offseason that upgrading at DH doesn't necessarily mean adding from outside the organization, and there's a candidate for the role in the White Sox minor league system. Andrew Vaughn was the No. 3 pick in the draft two summers ago because of his advanced bat that had impressed at the collegiate level. It's impressed ever since he joined the White Sox organization, too, with Lucas Giolito describing the 1-2 first-round-pick punch of Vaughn and Nick Madrigal as "a pain in my ass" after they found success against big league pitching during "Summer Camp" last year.
But Vaughn has never played a game above A-ball, and with the White Sox making dependability a priority this winter ahead of a season with World Series aspirations, the idea of thrusting the inexperienced Vaughn into an everyday role certainly raises questions.
And so plenty of fans are holding out hope that an outside addition at DH could still be coming, and certainly the White Sox have not yet missed the boat during this slow-moving offseason. Even as activity has picked up of late, the DH market — which contains a couple huge names in Nelson Cruz and Marcell Ozuna — has gone nowhere, for one big reason: There's still no telling whether or not the DH will return to the National League for the 2021 season.
Adding the DH to the NL in 2020 was part of the negotiations between Major League Baseball and the players' union that allowed the pandemic-shortened campaign to happen in the first place. If it's going to return for 2021, it will have to be negotiated again, and there's been no news on when that might happen. That's left free agents like Cruz and Ozuna playing an even longer waiting game than all the other free agents who would like to have jobs right now. And they'll likely keep waiting until the rules are finalized.
After all, why accept a contract before knowing whether there will be a host of other potential employers who might be willing to pay more?
It makes perfect sense, but it makes for a screwy timeline, with spring training scheduled to begin in less than a month.
Plenty of White Sox fans are wishing for Cruz, and the benefit to such an addition would be twofold.
Obviously the White Sox would be installing another elite power bat in the middle of a lineup that was already the AL's most powerful in 2020. Cruz, despite his advanced age of 40, has put up MVP-caliber numbers in each of the last two seasons, with a combined 57 home runs and 141 RBIs in 173 games in 2019 and 2020. Add that to the White Sox collection of hitters that includes José Abreu, Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert and Yasmani Grandal, and you're talking about a lineup few teams could match.
But adding Cruz to the White Sox lineup would also mean taking him away from the division-rival Minnesota Twins. He's been the heart and soul of that lineup for the past two seasons, driving the bus as the Twins won back-to-back AL Central titles. He's tormented White Sox pitching, too, slashing a jaw-dropping .433/.521/.917 with eight homers and 24 RBIs in 16 games in 2019, then following that up with a .368/.442/.711 slash line, three homers and 10 RBIs in 10 games last season.
The balance of power in the Central might have already swayed with the White Sox moves to this point, but Cruz switching sides would push it all the way over the edge.
How realistic is such a move? Again, that remains nearly impossible to say due to the timing of when Cruz might sign any deal. MLB Network's Jon Heyman tweeted Friday that the Twins have recently increased their one-year offer to bring Cruz back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes but that Cruz is also waiting to hear whether he'll be able have any NL suitors.
Meanwhile, Dominican baseball reporter Héctor Gomez has been getting White Sox fans excited by teasing the possibility of Cruz ending up on the South Side.
But of course, Cruz isn't the only free-agent DH out there. Ozuna put up MVP-caliber numbers for the Atlanta Braves last season, almost winning the Triple Crown with 18 home runs, 56 RBIs and a .338 batting average. But after betting on himself an offseason ago and signing a one-year contract with the Braves, it makes plenty of sense that the 30-year-old Ozuna would want to cash in now, and Gomez tweeted Friday that Ozuna is searching for at least a four-year deal in free agency.
Ozuna, though a decade younger than Cruz, profiles more as a DH than an everyday outfielder — he played mostly DH with the Braves in 2020 — so it would not be surprising to see him wait for a potential expansion of his market, too.
It all makes it hard to say if and when the White Sox might be adding another big name this winter. Hahn has pointed to Vaughn as a legitimate option, though it would be out of step with the rest of the White Sox offseason moves, which have added been-there, done-that experience to a team with a championship in its sights.
The only thing that seems somewhat certain? It might still be a while before guys like Cruz and Ozuna decide on where to play next season.
Click here to subscribe to the White Sox Talk Podcast for free.
