A Merry Christmas indeed. While you were overdosed on eggnog and watching Christmas movies last night, the White Sox made another solid off-season move in signing Edwin Encarnación. He’s a power-hitting DH that just last season, the Yankees traded for, in hopes that he was the final piece to their Championship contending team on a half-season rental.
Encarnación has had the majority of his success while playing in Toronto where he was a 3-time All-Star and was a perennial 30+ HR hitter while leading the league in RBIs in 2016. Sox fans may be a little more familiar with Encarnación from his days in the AL Central rival Indians’ clubhouse though. While with the Indians for two years, the slugger hit .252/.358/.490 with 70 HRs and 214 RBIs.
The numbers that he has put up in the PAST are fine and dandy, but as it always is in sports, “what have you done for me lately?”
After being traded to the Yankees, he hit .249/.325/.531 with 13 HRs and 37 RBIs in 44 games. Not too bad and this shows he still has some power at 36, soon to be 37, years old.
Merry Christmas, White Sox fans: Slugger Edwin Encarnacion and Chicago are in agreement on a one-year deal for $12 million with a club option for 2021 at $12 million, sources tell ESPN.
White Sox are clearly feeling good about this team. First with the deal was @YancenPujols.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 26, 2019
The deal is reportedly for 1 year, $12 million with a club option for 2021. The perfect deal for the White Sox. He’ll be their everyday DH and probably fill in at 1B when Abreu needs a day off since there aren’t really any other options at 1B at the moment until Andrew Vaughn makes his way through the minors.
He adds some much-needed power to a team that hit just 182 home runs last year which was good enough for 13th… in the AL. For comparison, last year’s main DH’s for the Sox were Yonder Alonso and Wellington Castillo who hit a combined .193/.271/.359 with 19 HRs and 68 RBIs… yeah Encarnación should be an upgrade. Obviously, to get some guys some rest, others will be mixed into that DH spot, but the main guy challenging Encarnación for at-bats I believe will be James McCann. With Yasmani Grandal taking over every day catching duties, the Sox will want to get McCann’s bat in the lineup more than just when Grandal needs a day off. This is a good thing though. You have a viable second option at DH and it gets Encarnación some days off here and there.
I still think the Sox will make some more moves, and they should, but after a disappointing Winter Meetings period, the recent signings of Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Keuchel, and now Edwin Encarnación, things are starting to come together and there’s excitement in Chicago. As the great Hawk Harrelson would say… “Don’t stop now boys!”
With the remaining Free Agents left, who would you like to see the Sox sign? They’ve been linked to Castellanos and Puig? Maybe a trade? Comment below:
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2 Comments
Actually, I’d like to see some bullpen arms added. All teams need this, but this would solidify our middle relief and thus our team as a whole.
Agreed. I hope they’ve got a plan. Was hoping they’d take a swing at Betances, but that ship has sailed. Maybe they’re banking on the starters all coming back healthy and moving someone to the bullpen? They’ve got Colome, Bummer, Fry, and a few guys on the fence, but that bullpen needs to vastly improve.