The White Sox have agreed to a deal with utilityman Josh Harrison, his representatives at MSM Sports Management announced. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links) that it’s a one-year, $5.5MM guarantee. He’ll make $4MM in 2022 and the deal also contains a 2023 club option with a $1.5MM buyout.
An 11-year MLB veteran, Harrison has remained a productive player into his mid-30s. He’s never been an elite offensive player, aside from a .315/.347/.490 showing with the 2014 Pirates that earned him some down-ballot MVP support. Yet he’s typically been a solid hitter throughout his MLB run, including over the past couple seasons. Harrison rebounded from a down two-year stretch between 2018-19 to post decent numbers since the start of the 2020 campaign.
Over the past two seasons, Harrison owns a .279/.343/.402 line across 649 plate appearances. That’s four percentage points better than league average, by measure of wRC+. Harrison doesn’t have huge power — he’s hit 11 home runs with a .123 ISO (slugging minus batting average) — but he brings excellent bat-to-ball skills to the table. He’s only punched out in 13.4% of his plate appearances over the past couple seasons, and he made contact on 82.7% of his swings last year. That’s more than six points higher than the league mark, a continuation of career-long success putting the bat on the ball.
Midway through last season, it seemed as if Harrison might even be playing his way into a multi-year contract. He saw regular action bouncing between second base, third base and left field with the Nationals and was hitting at a well above-average level (.294/.366/.434) in 359 plate appearances through late July. The A’s acquired him alongside Yan Gomes as part of Washington’s deadline teardown, but Harrison stumbled down the stretch. He hit just .254/.296/.341 in his two months in the Bay Area before reaching the open market.
That late-season downturn coupled with Harrison’s age (35 in July) combined to limit him to a one-year guarantee. He should have a decent path to playing time on a postseason contender with the South Siders, though. Chicago is presently slated to open the year with Leury García at second base after re-signing him to a surprising three-year deal in November. Given Harrison’s and García’s respective price points, the latter might remain the nominal “starter” at the keystone, but both players figure to bounce around the diamond.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
