The Chicago White Sox are heading into the 2015 season with three second basemen competing for the job on Opening Day. Carlos Sanchez, Marcus Semien and Micah Johnson will continue to train this off-season, but will one of them have a new home before the regular season begins?
For starters, Marcus Semien, 24, was with the team for 21 games in 2013 and 64 games in 2014. He's played second base, shortstop and third base, but he's likely to remain in talks for the second base job. He struggled a bit at third base, registering a .903 fielding percentage (50 games) compared .972 at second base (29 games), and the team believes he can be the long-term solution at second. This past September he batted .273 with three home runs and 10 RBIs and struck out only 13 times.
Semien started 2014 with the White Sox due to an injury to Gordon Beckham, but was recalled after the team traded Beckham to the Los Angeles Angels. He has the most experience out of the three candidates, which could prove to be the difference-maker come late March.
Sanchez made his debut with the White Sox in July and could provide good value as a left-handed hitter. The second baseman played only one game in July before being recalled on August 22, after which he remained with the team through the end of the regular season. He spent most of 2014 in Triple-A Charlotte, where he posted a .293 batting average with 60 runs scored, seven home runs, 57 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 110 games. At the major league level, the 22-year-old maintained a .250 average with six runs scored and five RBIs in 100 at-bats. His strong defensive skills and chemistry with shortstop Alexei Ramirez could help his campaign for 2015.
But Johnson is considered the favorite for the position, according to ESPN Chicago's Doug Padilla. Johnson's speed (as well as his left-handed hitting) is what attracts the White Sox the most. Although he only had 22 stolen bases in 102 games with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, Johnson stole 84 bases in 2013 after 131 games with Class A Kannapolis and Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. The 23-year-old didn't spend any time in the MLB in 2014 because his season was cut short due to a left hamstring injury. He batted .294 with 48 runs scored, five home runs and 44 RBIs in the minors as well.
Although Semien has the most experience, his statistics aren't astounding enough to set him apart from the pack, which means these three will be competing throughout the winter and spring for the starting job. It's unlikely all three players make the Opening Day roster, so could Chicago execute a trade to receive value elsewhere?
"Depth at a position also provides a team with trade options to make other areas stronger," wrote Padilla. "Semien, Sanchez or Johnson might not be enough alone to land an impact player in a trade, but they might be able to attract a bullpen piece. Or, they could be packaged with somebody else in order to make a different deal work."
Since teams have gotten a solid idea of what Semien can do at the major league level and the fact that Johnson's hamstring issue affected his 2014 output and will likely affect his 2014 offseason, it looks like Sanchez may wield the highest value in a trade because he showed promise in the field and progress at the plate during his 28-game stint with the White Sox.
But regardless of who Chicago decides to trade, if they even decide to do so, a number of teams are in need of a second baseman, which could help their case on the market. The Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays are a few teams that could be looking for such a player. The Nationals may look for a new face since Asdrubal Cabrera will be a free agent and Danny Espinosa hasn't been a definitive answer for the team; the Yankees have Martin Prado, but they're also questioning Alex Rodriguez's ability to play third base for a majority of the season, which is something they may use Prado to help with; the Miami Marlins don't really have a long-term solution at the position either, and possess a lot of trade value to provide Chicago if they're interested and; the Tampa Bay Rays have not yet made a decision on whether or not they'll pick up second baseman Ben Zobrist's $7.5 million option, and if Nick Franklin doesn't progress in the offseason, they might be interested in one of Chicago's players.
Whatever the case, second basemen are hard to come by and the White Sox could be fielding phone calls over the winter and into the spring.
