CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox figure to be chasing down more than fish tacos and craft beer when they venture to the annual winter meetings in San Diego this week.
The well-known treats of San Diego will take a back seat to roster construction, of course, as the White Sox appear to be venturing into the middle portion of their rebuilding process.
The club has not solidly been included in rumors for high-ticket free agents like Jon Lester and Max Scherzer, other than the recognition that Scherzer certainly would fill a main need as a right-handed starter. It’s a development that seems to reveal where the White Sox stand as they try to compile a roster worthy of reaching the playoffs once again.
In the second half of the disappointing 2013 season, the front office shed high-price players like Jake Peavy and Alex Rios to take a strain off finances. Before the 2014 season, the White Sox added younger core pieces like Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton, not to mention extending Jose Quintana to a team-friendly five-year, $26.5 million contract.
Moves this offseason for reliever Zach Duke and first baseman/designated hitter Adam LaRoche seem to signal that the White Sox are in the process of building the internal bones of the roster with proven talent that comes at mid-range prices. The hope is to whittle down the roster holes to a select few and then attack those aggressively over the next year.
If all goes according to that plan, perhaps that could set up the White Sox to add a high-price free agent next offseason, not only because it would be a better risk at that point, but it would make the desirable free agent more willing to come to a team that looks like a contender.
If the White Sox do not end up aggressively chasing a big-ticket free agent, one of the reasons would be an unwillingness to burn one of that player’s high-priced seasons while still trying to get the roster up to speed.
If the above timetable is anywhere near correct, the White Sox have plenty of work to do not only next week, but over the remainder of the offseason. Here are the club’s current needs in order of highest priority to lowest.
High priority: Bullpen
Injury and poor performance left the White Sox with one of the worst bullpens in baseball this past season. Matt Lindstrom’s contract has ended, Ronald Belisario won’t be back and Nate Jones doesn’t figure to be back at least until the middle of 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Duke signing figures to only be a start for the White Sox front office. The farm system can only do so much to help the issue, but there is a thought that 2014 first-round draft pick Carlos Rodon could join the bullpen as a second left-hander to Duke and be entrusted with the middle innings until he can prove that he is worthy of more responsibility. Eventually, Rodon will be a starter, but getting his feet wet as a reliever is possible.
Jake Petricka, Daniel Webb and Zach Putnam all showed promise in 2014, and while Petricka and Putnam handled some closer chances, landing a reliever with some saves in his past figures to be a priority.
Over the long term, the White Sox are going to have to bridge the gap until top prospect Francellis Montas is ready to take over at closer. Montas is a starter now and advanced as high as Double-A Birmingham in 2014, but his high-90s velocity has closer written all over him.
Middle priority: Left field
Dayan Viciedo isn’t getting any better as he continues to regress from his peak season in 2012 when he hit 25 home runs with 78 RBIs while slugging .444. Over five seasons, Viciedo has 66 home runs and 211 RBIs. When the White Sox signed him way back in 2008, the club had to be hoping that that by now Viciedo would be putting up those kind of numbers every two years.
Perhaps this is an area where they White Sox can pull off a trade similar to the three-team Eaton deal from last year’s winter meetings. Ideally, the White Sox can find a bat ready to take off with a few years of team control ahead of him, although that is essentially the wish of all clubs.
Not that the Los Angeles Dodgers are shopping a guy like outfielder Scott Van Slyke, but targeting somebody in his situation makes sense as a player with a huge upside that has teammates both younger and older ahead of him on his team’s depth chart.
Lower priority: Right-handed starter
Some could argue that a right-handed starter is a bigger priority than a left fielder. The White Sox need a righty starter to balance their left-handed dominated rotation, which is why they were in recent Jeff Samardzija rumors.
But this can also be an area where the White Sox are willing to spend big next winter on a co-ace along with Chris Sale or a solid No. 2 guy to slide between Sale and Jose Quintana in the rotation.
Regardless of where to categorize this need, it is a vital one moving forward.
Right-handers in the system include the quickly-developing Chris Bassitt and Erik Johnson, who failed to meet expectations in both the major leagues and at Triple-A last year.
Further down the line are guys like Chris Beck, Tyler Danis and spencer Adams, but they don’t figure to be ready for a few years.
The White Sox’s issue in this area, though, is that they don’t need a right-handed No. 5 starter, they need one that can slide between Sale and Quintana, or at least be worthy of a No. 3 starting spot.
Other needs
A power hitting option could help balance the bench.
A backup shortstop worthy of taking over for Alexei Ramirez in case of emergency would be an ideal insurance policy.
Areas of need in the minor leagues: First base, shortstop (to go along with Tim Anderson), starting pitcher (other than Rodon) and power arms (other than Montas) that can be aimed toward the bullpen in Chicago.