By Jordan Long
The Chicago White Sox are coming off a 62-100 record. They are going to look for areas to improve the ball club for 2019. They decided to decline the team option on pitcher James Shields’ contract. He was due to make $16 million next season. By doing this, the White Sox will pay $2 million to buy out his contract, making Shields a free agent.
Shields was acquired by the White Sox on June 5th 2016 from the San Diego Padres. This was in hopes of helping the White Sox starting pitching rotation. That season he was a disappointing 4-12 with a 6.77 ERA. Hitters were able to locate his pitches for base hits or home runs. Shields gave up 31 home runs in a White Sox uniform.
Chicago was hoping they would see a different pitcher in 2017. Shields wasn’t much better with a record of 5-7 and an ERA of 5.23. On the bright side, hitters weren’t smacking the ball over the wall as often, giving up 27 home runs. His problem was walks with 53. This didn’t help the White Sox because it allowed traffic on the base paths.
The White Sox still believed in Shields and kept him on the team this season. He ended with an unoppressive record of 7-16 and an ERA of 4.53. Batters were seeing his pitches and smacking it for base hits or home runs. Shields allowed 34 home runs. He couldn’t locate pitches with 78 walks.
Chicago saw enough and knew Shields wasn’t a long-term solution for them. Declining his option allows him to have a fresh start. Teams may not sign him because of his inability to control his pitching location. They know walks for him are a problem.
Shields might still land on a team because he is a veteran and has played at the Major League level for 12 years. If a team agrees to a contract with him and he starts to struggle as a starting pitcher, the bullpen is where he should go. He has never been a relief pitcher in his career but it would be a way for him to help a team win.
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