Remaining questions for White Sox heading into Spring Training

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CHICAGO — Are the White Sox finished with their offseason moves?

It’s a reasonable question with 12 days remaining until pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch on Feb. 14. Nothing is really complete until the White Sox take the field on March 28 for their season opener against the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field, and even then, there’s always work to be done for the 2024 crew.

But if this roster is the group going to Glendale, Ariz., along with the non-roster invitees to be announced next week, let’s take a look at a few matters yet to be resolved or completely addressed during Chris Getz’s first run as general manager.

Nobody wants to trade a pitcher with Cease’s talent.

Not with two years of contractual control. Not with the reliability to take the ball every fifth day and the ability to work as a top-of-the-rotation hurler as Cease exhibited during his 2022 American Cy Young runner-up performance.

Then again, there are no untouchables on this roster, as Getz made clear from the outset. In the position the White Sox are in, it makes better sense to bring in a young, more controllable return to build for the future for the Scott Boras-represented Cease, who might not be in Chicago after these two seasons.

Getz’s demand in a trade return is said to be high, as it should be — it’s crucial for this move to bat 1.000 even at such an early stage of his general managerial tenure. The market sounds as if it has gone quiet from what I’ve heard this week, but it can get loud very quickly as the Corbin Burnes deal between Milwaukee and Baltimore showed.

That Cease interest could grow stronger in Spring Training or even as late as the Trade Deadline, when there won’t be free agents involved. Cease can handle the rumors for as long as he’s wearing a White Sox uniform, as he has always been able to zero in on his work.

This particular question has been on repeat for the White Sox since the days of Avisaíl García. Gavin Sheets is in play, at least from the left side offensively, while Oscar Colás still seems destined to start 2024 at Triple-A Charlotte after getting the nod as a rookie in ’23.

Options will exist on the NRI list, but I envision the White Sox adding another outfielder as Getz also has mentioned. Maybe a right-handed-hitting veteran who could provide steady if not spectacular play in the field while serving as an equally steady presence in the clubhouse.

Getz has been very forthcoming about the changes needed and some of his goals for said change, such as improving the overall defense. He hasn’t really hung a long-term description on the plan and hasn’t added anyone as a clear longer-term building block this offseason.

The White Sox have improved depth in their system as they embark on this latest rebuild, and it clearly is a…