was among the likelier players Mike Blowers Jersey to be traded over the offseason. The White Sox stuck firm to an asking price that teams havent been willing to meet, though, and it seems the hard-throwing righty will instead be a top deadline candidate. GM Chris Getz at the start of camp that the Sox anticipate Cease being on the Guaranteed Rate Field mound on Opening Day. That remains the case, a sistant general manager Josh Barfield tells . Barfield said that while opposing teams remain in contact with the Sox about Cease, theres nothing imminent on the trade front. Were preparing him to be the Opening Day starter, Barfield reiterated. Barring a surprising acceleration in trade talks over the next three weeks, Cease will lead a rotation with a fair bit of uncertainty. KBO signee is penciled into a spot. Getz has indicated the Sox prefer free agent pickup as a starter, while trade acquisition has a good chance at a rotation job. Returnees and are battling for spots in camp. While Crochet is stretching out from relief work to this point in his MLB career, Kopech trailed only Cease in starts for the team last year. That makes it seem likely hell be in the season-opening five, but manager Pedro Grifol indicated that isnt a guarantee. Hes getting built up to be one of our starters, Grifol said of Kopech ( ). I know we want to talk about it, but I think in about another week, well talk about it. Right now, everybody is just competing. Kopech indicated that while he prefers to occupy a rotation spot, hes amenable to whatever role the team asks. The right-hander worked in relief in 2021, turning in a 3.50 ERA acro s 69 1/3 innings. He stretched out to the rotation two seasons ago. Kopech found succe s in his first season as a starter, outperforming middling strikeout and walk numbers to manage a 3.54 ERA in 25 appearances. His production fell off last year, as he allowed 5.43 earned runs per nine. No other pitcher with at least 100 innings walked batters more frequently. Kopech handed out free pa ses at an untenable 15.4% clip. That was one of a number of disappointing performances for the Sox as they fell to a 101-lo s season. On the position player side, rookie right fielder had one of the more underwhelming showings. Viewed as one of the better prospects in a thin farm system, the lefty-hitting Cols managed only a .216/.257/.314 slash line over his first 75 games. He was optioned to Triple-A midway through the season. Cols hit .272/.345/.465 over 54 games at the top minor league level. Getz indicated that trade pickup is in the drivers seat for the this spring. Cols has gotten some exhibition work at first base as he looks to expand his utility for a po sible bench role. The Sox have used him exclusively in the outfield during regular season play in the majors and upper minors. Cols got scattered reps at first base early in his profe sional career in Cuba and Japan, so hes not entirely unfamiliar with the position, but he conceded theres an adjustment period as he tries to acclimate to the infield dirt. Right now, its just an adjustment. I cant say I feel completely comfortable, but Im working on feeling comfortable again there, the 25-year-old told reporters via interpreter over the weekend ( ). Ill play wherever they want me to play. What I want is just to play baseball. Cols isnt going to be an everyday option there but could offer cover for over the course of the season if the Sox trust him for regular season work. Julio Rodriguez Jersey