“This is an elite add at a premium position today. That's a real good thing. And now it's on to the next one.”
Rick Hahn made no bones about it: Yasmani Grandal is just the beginning.
All by himself, the new White Sox catcher — who was added on the richest deal in club history Thursday — does not automatically make the South Siders contenders to win the 2020 World Series. But even before the surprise announcement that Grandal was the newest member of an increasingly formidable White Sox core, this was setting up to be an important, busy winter for Hahn and his front office.
Grandal does not address any of Hahn’s stated positional needs — OK, maybe he’ll factor into a rotation at DH, but that’s a long way from being settled — meaning the general manager is still on the hunt for a right fielder, a pair of starting pitchers and maybe an even more powerful bat at that DH spot. That’s a lot left to do.
But the White Sox started what could end up being a transformative offseason with a bang, and the idea that they won’t spend, or that their pledges of aggressiveness were for show, was demolished in the process.
Hahn said last week that there would be no told-you-so victory lap when the White Sox upended such a narrative, and he left it up to everyone else to draw their own conclusions from the Grandal signing, sticking to the theme he established at the GM meetings that the White Sox actions this winter will speak louder than their words.
“I think our focus should just be on making this team better,” Hahn said Thursday. “We know we have more work to do. I can say it sends this type of message out there, and it's, frankly, going to ring hollow if we don't reinforce that with further acquisitions.”
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So get ready. There will be more days like Thursday.
The White Sox are in the market for starting pitching, a position that generally carries a sizable price tag, meaning Grandal’s record-setting contract might not be a record for long. I don’t want to say the bank account is wide open and the White Sox are telling Gerrit Cole to come on down, you’re the next contestant on “The Price Is Right.” But the White Sox are rumored to be one of the most aggressive teams in pursuit of Zack Wheeler, and there’s speculation he could receive a $100 million contract. Earlier rumors this offseason connected them to Cole and Stephen Strasburg, too.
Hahn said last week that the White Sox could search for top-of-the-rotation pitchers or guys who could slot in behind Lucas Giolito in the middle of the rotation. And now they’ve got a brand-new catcher who could make pitching on the South Side all the more attractive. Hahn revealed Thursday that he and Grandal have already been texting about available pitchers. An outfielder or DH might now look at the White Sox, with Grandal aboard, and see something brewing. Is Grandal's decision to sign up proof of Scott Boras' proclamation last week that players look at the White Sox differently than they have in the past?
Perhaps more importantly, does the Grandal signing increase the likelihood of the White Sox landing another premium free agent?
“I’m not quite sure how it will be perceived by other free agents,” Hahn said. “Our intention is to — similar to what we did with Yaz — is to state our case directly and obviously show them that our words are true in terms of what action we intend to take.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to converting on deals. So we can certainly lay out a vision for free-agent players. There certainly is a level of excitement of what we had done, even prior to this signing today, but until we actually convert on some of these targets, the words are just that.”
Grandal thinks the White Sox are an attractive destination. He bought into the vision for the future, but there wasn’t as great a need to pitch that vision after a 2019 season that saw a whole host of core pieces break out.
“I hope they want to come here,” Grandal said Thursday about other free agents. “If you just look at the team and the core, there's a lot of young talent. The way that I looked at it, this team can be a dark horse in the next year or so.
“I think they got a taste of it last year, I think they kind of found themselves. I'm talking about more on the offensive side, obviously (Yoan) Moncada and (Tim) Anderson, and (Jose) Abreu leading the way, as well. (Eloy) Jimenez. You've got young guys that can swing the bat, that can play baseball.”
So that’s the sales pitch. It worked on Grandal. Now Grandal gets to be part of the pitch. The White Sox will make it to others this winter, as they’ve still got plenty of work to do before the 2020 roster is complete, chiefly in the starting rotation, in right field and at designated hitter, where Hahn has not closed the door on making an addition, even with Grandal in the fold.
“Those are the areas that still need to be addressed,” Hahn said. “And hopefully we're going to be able to do that as quickly and as effectively as we were able to add Yasmani today.”
As the Hawkeroo would say: Don’t stop now, boys. The White Sox have no intention of stopping now.
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