Grandal expected to be a hit with the kids
SAN DIEGO — White Sox general manager Rick Hahn is elated to have signed catcher Yasmani Grandal for multiple reasons, including his bat and his framing skills. But in acquiring Grandal, Hahn also addressed the need for another veteran presence behind the plate — along with fellow All-Star James McCann — to bring the Sox’ young pitching staff along in Year 4 of their rebuild.
“We know there’s going to be some growth required at the big-league level, and there’s probably going to be some struggles in certain cases along the way,” Hahn said. “So being able to augment them is important. It’s part of the reason we did the Grandal deal.”
Grandal, who was named to the All-MLB second team Tuesday, signed a Sox-record $73 million over four years as a free agent last month. He’s already working on developing relationships with young Sox pitchers.
“I feel like everything, when you do it individually, it’s much better,” said Grandal, who was among the players in attendance for the inaugural MLB team announcement. “I like to be just one-on-one with each guy, talk to them, listen to their concerns and give my thought of how we can change or improve, and then hear what they have to say. A lot of times, it gets down to trust.”
Boras: Sox are on the phone
Agent Scott Boras, whose free-agent clients include Gerrit Cole, Nicholas Castellanos, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel, characterized the Sox as aggressive in the free-agent market. That was already evident by the Grandal signing and a $120 million-plus offer for Zack Wheeler. But discussions with Boras signal a thawing of whatever cold conflict existed with Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
“Certainly, they’ve been on the phone with us a good deal, a lot of discussions, a desire to become more veteran and improve their competitiveness,” Boras said.
A Jermaine Dye sighting
Jermaine Dye, the former Sox right fielder and MVP of the 2005 World Series, took a 20-minute drive from his home to attend his first winter meetings to “see what it’s all about.” Dye, who’s staying busy caring for his high school-aged kids, said he’s open to the idea of getting back in the game.
The Sox’ 11-1 run through the postseason in 2005 often gets overlooked, which is puzzling to Dye.
“It’s got to be one of the best postseasons in history, right?” he said. “From Day 1, we had a lot of unselfish players . . . a bunch of guys that knew their roles, knew what they were capable of doing and went out there and did it and picked each other up. Being unselfish . . . . And our pitching staff — I don’t feel like they got a lot of credit for the postseason.”
Dye also had high praise for then-Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
“If you look back at it, when he went on his rants, there was a reason for that,” Dye said. “If we were struggling as a team, he got the attention off of us, and we were able to just go out there and play and get back on track. It was perfect. He definitely did a great job of managing us, managing the bullpen. And guys wanted to go out there and play for him.”