Liam, mid-TJS recovery, leaves for Boston
1985
The White Sox traded Roy Smalley back to his longtime Minnesota Twins for minor league outfielder Ron Scheer and DH Randy Johnson.
An all-time terrible trade had heralded Smalley’s arrival, as the White Sox got the washed-up veteran from the Yankees during the 1984 season at a cost of Doug Drabek, who would go on to 27.0 WAR over a decade in Pittsburgh and Houston. Smalley was briefly a superstar in the late 1970s with Minnesota, but for all purposes was washed up by age 30.
On a trivial “it will never happen again” note, Smalley was drafted FIVE times by four different teams from 1970-74, finally agreeing to sign when the Texas Rangers made him the top overall pick in 1974’s January draft.
2019
In a bonafide shocker, Manny Machado spurned the White Sox to sign a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres — the biggest in U.S. professional sports history at the time.
The White Sox were considered the easy front-runner, and had offered a supposed “best deal.”
“I’m wearing my shades, so you can’t see the shock in my eyes,” White Sox executive VP Ken Williams said after the announcement. “Very surprised. There are a few other words you could put on that, but still in a little bit of disbelief … I honestly believe we had the best offer on the table.”
As much as he was lambasted for falling short of delivering Machado to the White Sox, Williams wasn’t completely wrong in his assessment. The White Sox’s final offer to Machado was said to be eight years and $250 million, with club options (based on plate appearances) that would have pushed the total value to $320 million.
However, the White Sox did not provide a seeming no-brainer: a player opt-out. San Diego did include a player option after five seasons, which was instrumental in delivering Machado. (In recent days, Machado has indicated that yes, in fact, he will exercise his opt-out after the 2023 season.)
More embarrassing was that the White Sox had already acquired Machado compadres Jon Jay (free agency) and Yonder Alonzo (trade with Cleveland), but their “friends and family plan” failed. Worse, the two players ended up endorsing Machado’s decision to sign with San Diego instead of becoming their teammate on the White Sox.
To date, Machado has earned $78 million in San Diego, while putting up 17.6 WAR. At $4.4 million per WAR, Machado has proven a bargain, a fact that’s utterly amazing given the fact that he was signed as the very top of the market, to a record-breaking deal.
2024
It was no surprise, but still a bit sad given the White Sox would be paying him until 2033 anyway: News broke that Liam Hendriks would be signing a two-year, $10 million deal with Boston.
In his final season in Chicago, Hendriks beat cancer and won the Comeback Player of the Year. His 2023 campaign ended early, after torn elbow ligaments (which, apparently, Hendriks had been pitching with/through for some time) necessitated Tommy John surgery.
The fireballer sat out all of 2024, as anticipated, but began Spring Training 2025 competing for the Red Sox closer role.