The White Sox can’t seem to escape the rumor mill this winter. A day after inking Edwin Encarnacion to a 1 year deal, the White Sox are rumored to be having ongoing talks with FA outfielder Yasiel Puig.
Puig is probably known more for his wild personality than what he actually does at the plate and in the field. Either way, you can’t argue he wouldn’t be an upgrade. The Sox could potentially use a platoon of Puig and Mazara in right. I’d be shocked if Rick Hahn signed Puig to anything more than 1 year. Especially with George Springer and Mookie Betts hitting free agency themselves in a year (but that’s a discussion for another time).
Puig also provides solid defense in right field thanks to his absolute rocket of an arm. He’s put up higher WAR seasons than Mazara ever has, and showed back in 2014 that he has 5 WAR upside. Even if it’s just a year, this is a deal that could both make the team better, and provide the fans with tons of entertainment. Finally, he wouldn’t be a guy in the Sox lineup with a ton of pressure to produce. He could just fill in nicely in the bottom 3rd of the order but still provide a nice combo of power and speed.
Right now it honestly makes more sense for the Sox to get bullpen help, so as long as they get that first, I’m fine with bringing Puig in as a low risk, high reward move.
