Piecing It Together

If you look around the league, bullpens are remarkably volatile from year to year. Even on an individual basis, reliever performance tends to vary wildly from one year to the next except for guys named Rivera, Hoffman, or Eckersley. As a result, the idea of spending exorbitantly on the bullpen has often been looked at as a fool's errand by many within and outside the game.

Yet, the White Sox thought they were the team that could buck this trend. In the end, they proved to be as naive as those who tried before them. With Chris Getz assuming the role of general manager and, seemingly, lead decision-maker within the organization, the hope is that this thought process will change.

Most successful organizations look to put together a bullpen through some combination of failed organizational starters from varying levels, journeymen needing a change of scenery or approach, and secondary or tertiary trade pieces. The last resort for most teams when it comes to assembling a corps of relievers is the free-agent market. While it's unreasonable to think that a team won't spend on any relievers, allowing that particular corner of the market to be your main emphasis consistently is a great way to set your owner's money ablaze.

While we have seen record-setting contracts in recent years for relievers, these deals are almost widely panned from the minute the ink dries on the contract and they rarely, if ever, work out well. For this reason, teams need to trust their developmental and scouting staffs so that they can find maximum output for minimum resources financially speaking.

That brings us to the 2024 White Sox. As the season begins, there's little to no hope surrounding our favorite team. One storyline that some of us who are warped in the head may choose to follow is this particular team's collection of pensmen. We don't know yet how this group will fare, but the very fact that the organization has departed from high-priced, veteran free-agent hurlers is a step in the right direction.

I've sung the praises of Brian Bannister since he joined the organization back in September, and I'm truly hopeful that his influence and constant search for innovation will help turn the Sox' fortunes on the mound around soon. He along with Ethan Katz and the team's pitching development team are tasked with trying to get the most out of a makeshift group that has been patched together every which way possible.

As Sox On Tap contributor Beznik Zekiri highlighted above, somewhat facetiously, many of the pitchers expected to play a significant role for the 2024 team had productive springs. There are several examples of individuals issuing too many walks, which you all know is a major pet peeve of mine, but that will assuredly be a continued area of focus over the next six months.

The Arms

What I find fascinating about the group of relievers highlighted above is the variety of different ways they ended up in the bullpen at 35th/Shields.

Bryan Shaw is the senior-most member of the group who came to the team last season on a minor-league deal and has found a way to stick around, thanks in large part to his rubber arm being able to step on the mound every day. For a team in need of covering outs, his presence will be an important one, although we don't know for how long.

Tim Hill comes to the Sox on a low-cost, one-year deal from the free-agent scrap heap. Hill is coming off the worst season of his career with the San Diego Padres in 2023, but the hope is that the aforementioned Bannister and Katz can make a tweak or two that return the southpaw to functionality in 2024. Deivi Garcia, a waiver claim last August, returns to the team in 2024 after showcasing some of the high-octane stuff that made him a once highly touted prospect in the New York Yankees system.

John Brebbia joined the South Siders this winter on a free-agent deal that will see him earn a respectable $6 million. That dollar amount is still a far cry from recent reliever deals this team has previously consummated. None of these externally acquired pitchers will raise alarm bells, however, as they were done so for modest terms.

Tanner Banks appears to be the lone option to be developed solely through the White Sox farm system. We've seen Banks throughout the last two seasons with the team, and he's not going to be counted on to be a high-leverage option. Still, for someone who was an 18th-round pick, his mere presence on the roster can be viewed as, at least, a modest developmental win.

That brings us to the remaining three pensmen: Michael Kopech, Jordan Leasure, and Steven Wilson. All three came to the organization as supplemental pieces in trades that sent All-Star caliber starters elsewhere. Kopech famously was the second piece of the return that came from the Boston Red Sox in the disastrous Chris Sale deal.

Kopech had been groomed to be a starter until a few short weeks ago when the Sox shifted him back to the bullpen full-time. He had success in this role back in 2021, and the hope is that a return to shorter outings allowing the big righty to max out for just a few pitches will be the thing to resurrect his career.

This is the type of move that has happened with many pitchers over the last few decades. Who knows, maybe this change will alleviate some of the internal pressure Kopech has placed on himself and allow him to become a functional high-leverage reliever, which some scouts felt was his ultimate fate.

Leasure was the secondary piece to came from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deal that sent Lance Lynn to the West Coast last July.  Some have pegged Leasure as a future closer, and his performance this spring certainly did lend credence to this belief.  If the White Sox can successfully scout a minor-league pitcher who they can develop into a potential ninth-inning option or high-leverage weapon, it's a huge win in general, especially in exchange for a pitcher who was bottoming out last summer.

Steven Wilson is the newest member of the Sox pen, coming from the Padres in the recently completed Dylan Cease deal. Wilson has pitched exactly 53 innings in each of the last two seasons for the Friars, striking out a hitter per inning. While walks have been an issue for him, if the White Sox can stabilize his control, they may have found a useful low-cost reliever via trade.

A Better Blueprint

None of the arms highlighted above, with the exceptions of Kopech and Garcia, have been highly touted prospects or strongly desired options on the open market. Yet, this is how most teams go about putting together their bullpens today. With the emphasis teams place on maximizing financial resources and finding value with roster spots, this Sox bullpen falls more in line with the thought process throughout the league.

There are no more high-priced, veteran-free agents in this group. It's just a collection of arms that have failed in various roles or been afterthoughts. We don't know how well this group will perform, but I know I'm encouraged by how the unit was assembled.

Yes, there will come a time when the White Sox will, once again, bring in a free-agent reliever on a deal that will make us take pause. But hopefully, they're focused on developing relievers and building a bullpen in more traditional senses instead of overpaying out of necessity and fear.