The White Sox aren’t done trying to add more offense to their roster. They’ve replenished the starting rotation with Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez and they began the offseason with the big signing of Yasmani Grandal. Jose Abreu is back and Nomar Mazara is penciled in as the every-day right fielder. However, the White Sox want more.
They’ve been linked to right-handed slugger Edwin Encarnacion, but he might be their back up plan to add another middle-of-the-order hitter.
Since the start of free agency the White Sox have been in on Nick Castellanos and that hasn’t changed as we approach the new year. Even after signing Keuchel to $55.5 million guaranteed, they remain interested in the Scott Boras client.
Morosi has been consistent on reporting the White Sox interest in Castellanos throughout offseason.
Last week in The Athletic, Sahadev Sharma wrote about Castellanos and reported that although financial restraints make the move unlikely, the Cubs and the right fielder remain interested in a reunion. Sharma also brought up the Giants and Rangers as two other teams in on Castellanos.
Via The Athletic.
Castellanos’ market is solid, but according to sources with knowledge of his priorities, he’s looking for a situation where “culture” and “environment” are more than just buzzwords.
Money matters, but all things being (nearly) equal, Castellanos is searching for a team ready to embrace him as a potential leader and one that is committed to building a winning culture. In his discussions with various organizations, Castellanos sees the Giants, Rangers and Cubs as three teams who value him for more than just his offense and that treat “clubhouse culture” as more than just T-shirts and talking points.
So, we’ll see. Right now the White Sox are focused on the offense with Castellanos and Encarnacion seemingly being their top two targets. Castellanos could bring manager Rick Renteria a bit more flexibility in the lineup, as the right-handed hitter could not only DH but be plugged into right field to hit against lefties, platooning with Mazara.
