Saturday night White Sox media and fans rejoiced as it was announced that the team signed veteran pitcher Dallas Keuchel. The deal is for three years and worth $58 million dollars. The signing surprised many who believed that the White Sox were going to have another inactive offseason following a quiet Winter Meetings. The signing demonstrated that the front office is now ready to compete.
Although the team signed All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal back in November, many did not see this coming, especially after the team missed out on signing pitcher Zach Wheeler. Keuchel was arguably the best pitcher still on the market after Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees, and Stephen Strasburg re-signed with the Nationals. The signing now provides the White Sox with a proven veteran who will be the rotation's number two starter behind Lucas Giolito.
The deal kept Keuchel away from the White Sox rival in the Minnesota Twins, who also have starting pitching needs. The Twins currently have three-fifths of their starting rotation completed right now. With Hyun-Jin Ryu signing with the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday night, the free-agent list for starting pitchers has now shrunk immensely.
It is the first time in recent memory that the White Sox have acquired a prominent starting pitcher via free agency. They have never spent money on free-agent pitchers and have acquired prominent pitchers via trades. All-Star and Cy Young pitchers like Bartolo Colon, Jake Peavy, Jeff Samardzija, and Freddy Garcia were all acquired via trades in which White Sox gave up prospects in return.
When the team has signed free-agent pitchers, they have done so on their terms. Mat Latos and Ervin Santana are recent examples as both pitchers were signed towards the end of the offseason and were signed to one-year deals. Chicago has used these signing more so to fill out their rotation rather than bolster it. Fans were fearful that the team was utilizing the strategy again when they signed Gio Gonzalez to a one-year deal. The Keuchel signing proves that strategy wrong as now the White Sox starting rotation is complete for the first time in nearly seven seasons.
The big free-agent signing are a much-needed relief following the free-agent debacle last season with All-Stars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. For any rebuild to be successful, a front office must gather young prospects and then sign top-tier free agents when available. General manager Rick Hahn was able to acquire a talented core of young prospects from 2016 to 2018, but until now has been unable to sign free agents. Grandal and Keuchel now change that to where the team is poised to compete in 2020.
Signing a top-tier pitcher speaks volumes about the White Sox front office and how they are serious about competing this upcoming season. With one more signing or prominent trade, Hahn and his staff will change how the organization is perceived. It is these types of moves that separates the pretenders from the contenders.
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