The White Sox' resolution at second base has been one of the more prominent offseason topics this winter.
Who will start at the position?
"I think there's been nothing but rage about Romy Gonzalez this offseason from the coaches that have worked with him," Rick Hahn said. "They even had a player who went down and came back and came in my office in the offseason and said, 'Don't you dare trade that guy.'"
Gonzalez, 26, has played in 42 career games between two partial seasons with the White Sox. Filling the gaps when needed, Gonzalez shows face to help with defensive duties at second, while sporting a career .241/.261/.350 slash line in the majors.
He quickly rose the ranks in 2021, playing in both Double-A and Triple-A systems with the White Sox. During the 2021 season in between his MLB debut, he slashed .283/.364/.532 from the plate.
Defensively, Gonzalez statistically performs as a replacement-level player, on par for his current status as a minor league player who occasionally plays up in the big leagues. His career defensive runs saved at second base is -1, which is on-brand for a predominantly minor league player.
Nevertheless, rookie manager Pedro Grifol sees synonymously with the preachings Hahn and the White Soxhave given as it pertains to Gonzalez's outlook at second base. They are designating the job, however, as a "competition."
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"There's some good competition there," Grifol said about second base. "Romy had a good offseason. He looks really good. Obviously, Sosa is a pretty good player. Leury Garcia's got some experience there.
"I'm looking forward to the competition at second base, but I can tell you that Romy's been here for about a week and he really looks good right now. He's strong and he's getting some good work in defensively."
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Sosa – another name to mention when addressing second base – has way less experience at the major league level than Gonzalez. About 25 percent as much, playing in 11 games up with the White Sox in the majors last year.
He's worked his way up in the minors since joining the White Sox in 2017 at age 17. Last season, he played the majority of his games between Double and Triple-A. He slashed .315/.369/.511 in the minors in 2022.
There are plenty of names in the mix, including utility man Garcia and Zach Remillard – a 28-year-old prospect in the White Sox' farm system. He played 131 games with Triple-A last season.
Not to mention, Hahn proclaims he is constantly working the phones for options, still addressing the question mark surrounding second base. On Thursday, Hahn said "there's still conversations ongoing elsewhere."
For now, Gonzalez is the likely frontrunner to hold down the post at second base.