Minnesota Twins: Are the White Sox a credible threat to the Twins?
By Chris Schad
How the White Sox upgraded their lineup
While the Twins have been engaged with every free agent, the White Sox have also been in contact with plenty of hired guns. The key difference here is that Chicago has been able to seal the deal with several acquisitions and have put talent around their young stars, making them much more appealing in 2020.
With Chicago needing more offensively, they started off by signing catcher Yasmani Grandal to a four-year deal. The 31-year old made the All-Star team for the second time in his career last year while playing for the Milwaukee Brewers and with a full-season career-high .468 slugging percentage, it should add some power to a lineup that ranked 25th in home runs.
The White Sox were not done after adding Grandal behind the plate as they executed a deal that sent Nomar Mazara to Chicago in exchange for prospect Steele Walker. It feels like Mazara has been around for a while, but the outfielder won’t turn 25 until April and already has 79 career home runs to his name. With Jimenez manning the other corner infield spot, the White Sox outfield suddenly looks more powerful.
The final tweak to their lineup came just a couple of days ago when Edwin Encarnacion joined the White Sox on a one-year deal. With fellow veteran Jose Abreu at first base, Encarnacion can fill the role similar to the one Nelson Cruz played on the Twins as a full-time DH. With 414 career home runs and a scorching-hot track record against the Twins, the White Sox have certainly attempted to pull a page out of the Twins’ Bomba Squad playbook.