Jeff Keppinger starts new era with Chicago White Sox – MLB Update
Former Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Jeff Keppinger has started new beginning, now with the Chicago White Sox. He signed a three-year deal with the South Chicago baseball franchise after his former team listed him into non tendered contracts.
He agreed with the White Sox with a reasonable $12 million for next three years. He earned $1.525 million with the Rays in the recent past Major League Baseball season. Though he performed well for the Rays and could have received another deal, but at the
very last moment the Rays changed their attention to sign some pitchers.
On the other hand, as the White Sox’s management saw an opportunity to sign a good Major League third baseman, they went all the way and signed him with a relatively long term deal.
"We're really happy for Kepp, He's true pro. He came in and fit in extremely well in our clubhouse, exhibited great versatility and crushed left-handed pitching. He did a really good job for us in a variety of roles. He's certainly going to be missed. And
it worked out really well for him," Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said.
Keppinger finished the season on high note achieving .325 hitting average along with nine homers, 40 RBIs and .367 OBP. Overall his seven-year career is also quite consistent at .288 hitting average along with 41 home runs, 255 RBIs and .337 OBP.
Looking at his past season’s performance and career performance, the White Sox did not waste any time and grabbed the opportunity to sign Keppinger.
In the meanwhile, the White Sox’s general manager Rick Hahn is busy making some more offseason moves. He wants more players to add fire power in the roster.
“Once they realize we aren’t getting this guy they need to explore other options and they are more willing to spend some payroll on those spots, I think you’ve started to see that free-agent tier below the premium tier starting to find some homes.” Hahn
said.
Experts believe that the next coming months will be more critical for the White Sox’s management, who still needs some pitching power to show consistent results next season.
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