James Shields is the White Sox's problem for the foreseeable future

When the dust settles on the 2016 season, there will likely be articles about the best and worst trade deadline acquisitions. These players either rose to the occasion and singlehandedly pushed their new clubs to the playoffs, or they crashed and burned, leaving a trail of failure and tears behind them.

The James Shields trade to the Chicago White Sox may not have taken place at the trade deadline, but it will be planted firmly on the latter part of that list. Things haven’t gone so well for Shields on the South Side. Through 65 innings, he’s posted an awful 7.34 ERA. His strikeout rate has plummeted to the point where his walk rate is nearly identical.

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In every possible way, the Shields trade already looks like a disaster for the White Sox. The positive, or negative depending on your view, is that the team will have a couple years to attempt to fix what currently looks like a colossal mistake.

James Shields has been terrible with his new club. (Getty Images/Rob Foldy)

Shields’ performance will be the focus of Friday’s Yahoo Sports MLB Free Game of the Day. Shields is on the hill as the White Sox take on the Oakland Athletics. First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. ET, and you can stream the game on the Yahoo Sports app, Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index, video home and this very post. Local blackouts apply, per MLB rules.

The main issue with the Shields transaction isn’t so much about the trade. The White Sox didn’t give up significant talent for Shields. It’s more about his contract.

Shields is owed $42 million in total over the next two seasons. He has a club option worth $16 million in 2019, which can be bought out for $2 million. At minimum, the White Sox will have to pay him $44 million over the next three years.

This was known at the time of the trade of course, though there was also a chance Shields would opt out of his contract. That notion seems silly now, but consider the state of the free-agent pitching market for a second.

Rich Hill might be the most enticing name out there right now. He’s 36, has made 14 starts and hasn’t pitched in weeks due to a blister on his finger. The second-best name on the market might be Clay Buchholz. “That can’t possible be true,” you might say, but there’s at least an argument that Buchholz is a top-five option on this market. That’s how bad things are at the moment.

At the time of the deal, there was at least a chance Shields could recover some value in Chicago and take a shot on the open market. It would have been tough to surpass his $44 million, but all it takes is one insane club to make the offer. On top of that, in this fantasy scenario, Shields would have easily been the best pitcher on the market. That could have upped his price, or at least convinced a club to guarantee his contract in 2019 or beyond.

That was probably a long shot no matter what, though. Shields doesn’t have many great comps due to his age. Hisashi Iwakuma hit the market at age-35 last season and was initially given a three-year, $45 million deal by the Los Angeles Dodgers. That deal was later voided due to injury issues. Iwakuma, however, was coming off a much better season than Shields, so it would have been tough for Shields to make the case he deserved that type of money.

Put all of this together, and that means Shields is Chicago’s problem for the foreseeable future. It will be up to the organization, and pitching coach Don Cooper, to get Shields back to a useable state. Cooper is regarded as one of the better pitching coaches in the league, but his track record isn’t perfect. For every Estaban Loaiza and Jose Quintana who have blossomed under his tutelage, there’s a Jeff Samardzija and Francisco Liriano wilting in the darkness.

The results over 13 starts look disastrous for now, though that’s probably not enough to completely write off Shields just yet. That said, given the age and the results, things don’t look good. Shields was added to help push the White Sox to the playoffs. Instead, his contract could be the one thing holding the team back from making that one key acquisition that pushes them over the edge for at least the next two years.

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