3 offseason moves the White Sox must make after early playoff exit

1. Upgrade the right field position

One of the more head-scratching moves by Rick Renteria this season was his continuing to start struggling outfielder Nomar Mazara despite his poor results. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter slashed .258/.318/.426 with just one home run with an ISO of .066 despite having a hard hit percentage in the top 10 percent of the league.

Mazara had just 6 multi-hit games this season out of the 42 games he played this season, for a guy who doesn’t walk much and doesn’t hit for average the power numbers are what makes Mazara a good player.

What was more frustrating was Mazara’s platoon partner Adam Engel had an excellent season in a limited role wiht a .811 OPS and a 122 wRC+ this season. Engel doesn’t provide much power to the lineup and he also has his issues with walks (3.8 walk rate in 2020) but his ability to hit left and right handed hitters should have been enough for Renteria to stick with Engel full-time in right field.

Mazara made just over $5.5 mil last season and his heading into his 3rd year of arbitration, maybe the White Sox sign him as a bench option but they will need to find another outfielder to pair with Engel or take over the job entirely. Nicholas Castellanos would be a great signing but even something like Joc Pederson would provide more power in right field along with a patient approach at the plate (career walk rate at 12.1 percent).

The White Sox have few holes to fill on their team, but getting more production out of right field should be towards the top of general manager Rick Hahns offseason to-do list.