Former Indians slugger Edwin Encarnacion back in the AL Central

Edwin Encarnacion is back in the American League Central after signing with the Chicago White Sox on the afternoon of Christmas.

Christmas came and went and the Cleveland Indians did not trade Francisco Lindor. A true holiday miracle!

The Indians were quiet during the holiday. The same cannot be said about the Chicago White Sox. The team made yet another offseason splash by signing Edwin Encarnacion to a one-year deal.

This comes on the heels of the White Sox signing Dallas Keuchel. So apparently the team is trying to go for it after spending an entire decade out of the postseason.

The signing of Encarnacion is notable to Indians fans and not just because the man who received the biggest contract in team history is back in the AL Central. He is going to Chicago to help that team compete with the Indians and the Minnesota Twins for the division crown.

It is safe to assume that both the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals are going to be bad once again in 2020. Those teams, unlike the White Sox, are not “going for it” and are not shy about that fact.

Yet what was assumed to be a two-team race has become a three-team battle now that the White Sox have added Encarnacion, Keuchel, and Yasmani Grandal this offseason.

Of course, lineups always look great on paper. The White Sox still don’t have an elite pitching staff, on paper, and have not finished higher than third place in the division since 2012. There is a lot of bad baseball to move past before crowning the White Sox in 2020.

Yet the team is doing all the right things and Indians fans may be jealous at the money being spent within the division. The Tigers were big spenders for years and it is easy to forget the huge market the White Sox are in.

Encarnacion will always be an interesting name in Cleveland. The team finally spent money on a big-name player. He wasn’t terrible, but moving on from him after two seasons and no World Series title was not the plan.