Chicago White Sox: Where Free Agents Go to Die

When it comes to the free-agent market, the Chicago White Sox haven’t had a lot of success in the past ten years. Partially due to Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf being notoriously cheap, Chicago has had the tendency to sign players just exiting their prime. This is a big reason why they’ve never been able to contend consistently under Jerry Reinsdorf’s ownership. In the past ten years, only one free agent has performed well in the long term. I believe the south side of Chicago is where free agents go to die.

More Free Agent Busts the Past Ten Years

Chicago’s past ten off-seasons have produced a lot more duds in free agency than productive long-term players. While free agent signees David Robertson, Melky Cabrera, James McCann, and Zach Duke were productive, they were never viewed as long-term assets. McCann was the only one who stayed with the Sox longer than a season. Out of all the free agents the White Sox have signed in the past ten years, only José Abreu had long-term productivity.

The Ballad of Adam LaRoche

It can be argued that one free agent the White Sox signed in 2015 was the worst signing in franchise history. After a successful four seasons with the Washington Nationals, the Sox signed Adam LaRoche to a 2 year, $25 million deal. LaRoche’s production immediately declined as he only had a slash line of just .207/.293/.340. He also only had 12 home runs and 144 RBI with an OPS of .634. While he wasn’t very productive during the 2015 season, that isn’t the main reason why he was the worst.

During spring training heading into the 2016 season, LaRoche abruptly retired because the team wanted him to limit the amount of time his son was in the clubhouse. LaRoche made it into such a saga that he somehow single handily divided all of baseball almost along religious lines. His own team even threatened to boycott a spring training game before then-manager Robin Ventura made them play.

Jerry Reinsdorf Needs to Spend

Part of this stems from Jerry Reinsdorf’s refusal to pay for high-salaried players. Chicago is just one of just four teams to have never handed a player a contract of over $100 million. The largest contract a free agent has been given was signed by Andrew Benintendi this past offseason. The contract itself is only worth $75 million for five seasons and even the early returns on that deal don’t look promising. Once again, another free agent’s production goes downhill when coming to play on the south side of Chicago.

Free Agents Have Ultimately Died on the South Side

It appears just about every free agent who has signed with the Sox has their career go the way of the dinosaur. Jose Abreu being the only free agent they’ve signed in the past ten years who’s had long-term productivity is appalling. The salaries for players who can be productive in the long term are only getting higher. If Jerry Reinsforf doesn’t want to pay them then he ought to sell the team. Given the current state of the Chicago White Sox, free agents go to die when they sign to play on the south side of Chicago.

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