Yasmani Grandal Heads To The South Side Of Chicago, Agrees To A 4-Year Contract

By Jordan Long

The Chicago White Sox went 72-89 last season, a 10 game improvement from 2018.  Chicago missed the playoffs for the 11^th straight season and haven’t made the postseason since 2008.  Their last playoff series win came in 2005 when they won the World Series.  They signed catcher Yasmani Grandal who they hope will help end the drought.

                Grandal is an 8-year veteran.  He should be the starting catcher once the 2020 season starts. Grandal spend last year with the Milwaukee Brewers.  He enjoyed a career year with the Brewers at the plate hitting .246 with 77 RBI’s and 28 home runs.  Grandal was a threat to hit the ball in the gap for extra base hits ending with 26 doubles and 2 triples.

                When Grandal was on base, pitchers had to be careful with him.  His speed allowed him to steal bases to be in scoring position.  Grandal stole 5 bases and was caught just once. 

                Once the season ended, the Brewers had a chance to keep him.  The problem was he declined a $16 million option in his contract which meant the Brewers paid him $2.25 million to buy out his contract.  This allowed Grandal to become a free agent. He decided the south side of Chicago is where he wants to continue his career, agreeing to a 4 year, $73 million contract.

                According to ESPN, White Sox’s President Ken Williams said, “He’s such a quality guy. And for him to understand our messaging, our goals, our path, and to say, ‘I want to be a part of that and I’m going to commit to it early so we can move on to the next thing heading into the winter meetings,’ [it] just shows what kind of character we’re talking about.” 

                Grandal is going to help the White Sox offense be one of the top in baseball.  He will collect base hits, drive in runs, and smack home runs which should keep Chicago in games. 

                Grandal’s defense is going to be the difference for the White Sox. He is able to throw batters out trying to advance with 41 infield assists. He can start double plays to end innings or scoring threats. Grandal doesn’t make many errors at catcher with a total of 8 in 137 games last year.

                Chicago with this one move is an improved team.  They need to do more to make the team a threat to win the Wild Card.  This is just a start of hopefully a busy offseason for the White Sox.