The White Sox couldn't entice Zack Wheeler into coming to the South Side of Chicago, as the free agent pitcher reportedly turned down a slightly bigger offer to sign with the Phillies instead. Rick Hahn will now shift his focus to the next tier of free agent starting pitchers, as the White Sox continue their quest of adding multiple starters to their rotation.
But before we look at the trio of lefties the White Sox are now looking at, a quick aside.
I've seen lots of "not mad just disappointed" takes from White Sox fans after Hahn failed to reel in Wheeler. He was clearly their number one pitching target, but at the end offering $2 million more than the Phillies wasn't enough to close the deal.
This isn't a novel thought or anything, but shouldn't White Sox fans be a little more upset that not only did they fail to get Manny Machado last year, they also kind of bowed out on the Bryce Harper pursuit and now this offseason they failed to get Wheeler and they're not even going after Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg either. Not to mention, they're not in on Anthony Rendon.
Yeah, signing Yasmani Grandal was a good signing, but didn't they just go through a rebuild to reach a point where they could actually aim for the top of free agency? Now, the best case scenario is signing the fourth-best starting pitcher in this free agent market.
There's no reason they shouldn't be going after Cole or Strasburg, but the White Sox aren't. Maybe fans have been beaten down to lower their expectations from the start.
Anyway, the White Sox can't just mope around after missing out on Wheeler or they'll find themselves with even fewer, less attractive options in free agency. Cole Hamels also signed on Wednesday, but three left-handers are still available and that's the current group of pitchers the White Sox are interested in.
Madison Bumgarner, Dallas Keuchel and Hyun-jin Ryu.
Right now Bumgarner is getting a lot of buzz and many expect him to get a similar deal to Wheeler's five-year, $118 million contract with the Phillies. MLB Trade Rumors and FanGraphs both projected Bumgarner and Wheeler in the same price range, but that was around $18 million-$20 million per season. Wheeler's market exploded and he's getting $23.6 million per year.
Bumgarner was projected to receive at most $75 million over four years, but just like Wheeler, Bumgarner's market has taken off and the veteran left-hander might get $100 million after all.
Meanwhile, Dodgers free agent Ryu, who finished second in NL Cy Young voting, is getting a lot of interest from the Blue Jays.
Ryu, who will be 33-years-old next season, came over from Korea in 2013 and has been great (when healthy) with the Dodgers. He has a 2.98 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 740.1 MLB innings, with a low walk rate and in 2019 had a ground ball rate above 50%.
However, Ryu's market hasn't materialized most likely because of his history of injuries. After making 30 starts in 2013, Ryu was limited to 26 the following season and spent time on the injured list. Ryu missed all of 2015, first shutdown because of back tightness and then a shoulder issue that led to season-ending surgery. He returned to make one start in July 2016, but experienced elbow discomfort and went back on the injured list. A few months later Ryu underwent elbow surgery. Ryu returned in 2017, made 25 total appearances (one out of the bullpen) and threw only 126.2 innings. The lefty missed more time in 2018 with a groin injury, but came back and pitched in the World Series.
In 2019, Ryu made 29 starts and posted a 2.32 ERA in 182.2 innings. When healthy he's been great. But obviously there's a health risk.
As for Keuchel? The Blue Jays are showing interest in him, but there's not much more else on him so far this offseason. I mean, he'd be fine. A better alternative to Cole Hamels. but a significant drop off from Wheeler.
