Let’s begin by stating the obvious: Jon Jay is not Manny Machado. If the White Sox hadn’t tried to sign the 26-year-old All-Star this offseason, maybe Jay wouldn’t even be at Camelback Ranch prepping for the 2019 season as a member of the White Sox.
But now that Machado has signed with the San Diego Padres, leaving the White Sox with the rest of his Miami crew of Jay and Yonder Alonso, what do the White Sox have?
Of course, not Machado. He was the key to all of this. He alone would have helped to jumpstart the rebuild, given White Sox fans even greater hope for the future and ended the narrative that the franchise won’t spend top dollar on premium free agents.