3 non-Rangers teams that should try to swipe Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw

2. Chicago White Sox

Dallas Keuchel, the last aging postseason-seasoned lefty they signed, significantly regressed in 2021. Carlos Rodón, their breakout top-of-the-rotation starter, is likely headed for greener pastures.

So … what, the AL-contending Chicago White Sox simply intend to get worse, then?

They’ll have to add ready-made rotation help if they don’t plan on taking a significant step back in 2022. They were already rendered fairly irrelevant in the AL playoff picture this past October, lapped by the Astros and Red Sox. They were supposed to be more than just a classic AL Central one-and-done. With a high-flying offense like this and a diminished rotation, they can’t get complacent.

Rodón at $20-22 million AAV vs. Kershaw at $18-to-20 million AAV is seemingly a no-brainer; you keep your hometown guy and pay the slight increase. However, there’s been next to no traction between Rodón and the Sox, so maybe that ship has simply sailed? Meanwhile, Kershaw’s certainly not building momentum during the lockout. Who knows? Maybe that figure dips to three years and $45 million, and Chicago chooses to bet on history rather than projection (remember, their guy didn’t exactly sprint through the finish line either).

Fanciful thinking here (it’s a “should,” not a “will”), but we can’t figure out how exactly Chicago intends to level up without adding proven pitching.