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White Sox Claim Ryan Noda, Designate Joshua Palacios For Assignment

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The White Sox announced that they have claimed first baseman Ryan Noda off waivers from the Red Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte. Boston had designated him for assignment a few days ago. Outfielder Joshua Palacios has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Infielder Brooks Baldwin has been recalled to take the active roster spot of Palacios. There was also a swap on the pitching side, with left-hander Tyler Gilbert reinstated from the injured list and righty Owen White optioned as the corresponding move.

Noda, 29, has an extreme profile. He strikes out a lot but also draws plenty of walks and has some pop. He has done that all throughout his minor league career and then showed it at the big league level in 2023 after the A’s grabbed him from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft. He got into 128 games and stepped to the plate 495 times. He struck out in 34.3% of those plate appearances but also walked at a massive 15.6% clip and hit 16 home runs. That all added up to a .229/.364/.406 line and 122 wRC+.

Last year, he got out to a rough start and ended up getting optioned to the minors for most of the year. The A’s put him on waivers at the end of the season, with the Angels putting in a claim. He was designated for assignment about a month ago and got flipped to the Red Sox in a cash deal. Both the Angels and the Red Sox kept him on optional assignment.

His minor league numbers have continued along with Noda’s usual style. Dating back to the start of last year, he has 655 Triple-A plate appearances with 29 homers, a 20.2% walk rate and a 30.4% strikeout rate.

The White Sox came into this year with Andrew Vaughn as their primary first baseman. He struggled badly enough to get optioned to the minors a few weeks back. Earlier today, the Sox flipped him to the Brewers for Aaron Civale and cash. Tim Elko has been getting a lot of the playing time at first lately but is hitting .155/.222/.379. If that continues, perhaps the Sox will make a switch.

Palacios, 29, signed a minor league deal and then was added to the roster in April. He has 145 plate appearances so far this year with a .203/.292/.305 line. That now gives him a career .223/.287/.349 batting line and 75 wRC+.

Since he’s out of options, he can’t be easily sent down to the minors. He’ll now be in DFA limbo, which can last for at most a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox could take five days to try to line up a trade. He cleared waivers back in March and hasn’t done much to improve his stock since then, so the level of interest should be low. If he clears waivers, he will have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

White Sox, Brewers Swap Aaron Civale, Andrew Vaughn

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The White Sox acquired right-hander Aaron Civale and cash considerations from Milwaukee for first baseman Andrew Vaughn. The Brewers optioned Vaughn to Triple-A Nashville, while Civale will step directly into Chicago’s rotation. The Brewers are reportedly sending cash to offset the difference in remaining salary between Civale’s $8MM sum and Vaughn’s $5.85MM figure.

It’s a quick turnaround after Civale requested a trade away from Milwaukee on Thursday. Civale’s trade request came on the heels of the club’s decision earlier this week to bump him from the rotation in order to call up top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski. Civale, a free agent after the 2025 campaign who struggled a bit last year but has pitched to a 3.32 ERA and 3.92 FIP in four starts since returning from the injured list last month, evidently wants to hold onto a rotation job to set himself up for success in free agency this winter as much as possible.

The 30-year-old’s wish was promptly granted, as he’s now headed for the White Sox. The South Siders have no real hope of competing for a playoff spot this year, but with a patchwork rotation that features multiple Rule 5 draftees it’s not hard to see Civale as a potentially substantial upgrade for their starting rotation. While a team headed for their second-consecutive 100-loss campaign acquiring a rental starting pitcher in the middle of the season is a rare occurrence, one can see the logic from Chicago’s perspective given that they’ll have the opportunity to flip Civale to a club with postseason aspirations closer to the trade deadline.

The logic is particularly sound for the White Sox given the player they’re giving up in return. Vaughn was the third-overall pick in the 2019 draft and a longtime top 100 prospect, but his major league career has been a disappointment so far. He entered the 2025 season with a career .253/.310/.415 (102 wRC+) slash line at the major league level and has had just one season where he had hit at a clip substantially better than league average. Things took a more pronounced nosedive this year, as he’s slashed just .189/.218/.314 (44 wRC+) across 48 games for the White Sox in 2025. It’s the lowest on-base percentage of any player with at least 120 plate appearances in the majors this year, and his -1.3 fWAR this season is dead last among all hitters who have stepped up to the plate in the majors this season. The Sox optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte a few weeks ago and he has hit .211/.328/.351 in 15 games for the Knights since then.

That’s not a player the White Sox could expect to get a substantial prospect return for this summer, and while Vaughn has one year of control remaining after this one he currently has the look of a clear non-tender candidate. That surely made the opportunity to roll the dice on flipping a veteran starting pitcher a very attractive option for Chicago.

With all that being said, it’s not as though the deal doesn’t make sense for the Brewers. Civale no longer fit in an increasingly deep Brewers rotation mix, and his roster spot is likely better used on other arms more suited for bullpen duty than a veteran starter with zero career relief appearances. What’s more, Vaughn’s underlying numbers paint the picture of a player whose actual performance isn’t all that different from his previous seasons as a league average hitter. While he’s walking at a career-low 3.6% clip, he was never an especially patient hitter. His 22.3% strikeout rate is only a tick higher than last year, and his 13.3% barrel rate this season is actually the best of his career and four points better than last season. Vaughn’s ghastly .217 BABIP should improve with time, and with incumbent first baseman Rhys Hoskins likely ticketed for free agency this winter getting Vaughn on board as a much cheaper possible replacement makes sense.

In the shorter term, Vaughn will serve as minor league depth. The Brewers reportedly view him as a full-time first baseman/DH even though he has experience in the outfield.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Milwaukee was trading Civale to the White Sox. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported that Vaughn was headed back to the Brewers. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported the cash exchange.

MLBTR Podcast: White Sox Ownership, Roman Anthony, And The Diamondbacks’ Rotation

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Do the Mariners need a left-hander in the rotation? (40:45)
  • What will the Braves do with the rest of the season and would they trade Chris Sale? (45:30)
  • With the Mets seemingly having too many young infielders, who stays and who goes? (53:35)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

White Sox Designate Bryse Wilson For Assignment

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The White Sox announced that they have selected right-hander Grant Taylor to the roster, a move that was reported yesterday. Fellow righty Bryse Wilson has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Wilson, 27, was signed in December to a one-year deal that guaranteed him $1.05MM. He was a sensible pickup for Chicago since he had experience as both a starter and a reliever. With the Brewers over 2023 and 2024, he tossed 181 1/3 innings with a 3.42 earned run average. The rebuilding Sox came into the year with a fairly young and inexperienced pitching staff and could deploy Wilson as needed, depending on how he and everyone else performed.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t really provided the club with much in either role. He has made five starts and 14 relief appearances so far this year, logging 45 1/3 innings with a 6.95 ERA. That includes a 6.23 ERA as a starter and a 7.61 mark in relief work. His 8.7% walk rate is right around average but his 12.4% strikeout rate is barely half of league par.

That performance has nudged Wilson off the roster and into DFA limbo, which can last for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox can theoretically take five days to explore trade interest. However, given Wilson’s salary and performance this year, there isn’t likely to be strong interest.

If he is passed through waivers unclaimed, he will likely stick with the Sox as non-roster depth. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. However, if they have less than five years of service, they have to forfeit their remaining salary in order to exercise that right.

Wilson came into this year with four years and 36 days of service. By my count, he has added 75 days so far in 2025, putting him at 4.111. That’s still 61 days shy of the five-year mark. Assuming he wants to keep the rest of that $1.05MM flowing, he would choose to report to Charlotte as opposed to electing free agency.

The Sox are 22-44 this year and will clearly be deadline sellers. Any pitcher with limited control who is putting up decent numbers should be available in the coming weeks. That includes guys like Adrian Houser, Dan Altavilla and Steven Wilson. That could further thin out the pitching staff and open further opportunities for Bryse later in the year.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

White Sox To Promote Grant Taylor

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The White Sox are promoting pitching prospect Grant Taylor, reports James Fox of FutureSox. The club will have to make a corresponding move or moves to make space for him on both the active and 40-man rosters.

Taylor, 23, will be getting the call for the first time. The Sox selected him with a second-round pick in 2023, 51st overall, even though he had undergone Tommy John surgery earlier that year. Prior to that surgery, there were some who considered him the top pitcher for LSU, ahead of Paul Skenes. But Skenes obviously took off from there while Taylor has largely been on the shelf.

Taylor did make his professional debut last year, though in somewhat limited fashion. He tossed 19 1/3 innings between the Complex League and Single-A last year, allowing 2.33 earned runs per nine innings. He had a massive 44.4% strikeout rate and 2.8% walk rate in that small sample. Those outings took place in May and June. His last appearance was June 7th but he suffered a lat strain at that time, per James Fegan of Sox Machine. He did get healthy enough in time for some Arizona Fall League action, tossing 7 2/3 innings there, allowing eight earned runs but striking out 15 batters.

Despite the limited workload, he’s been generating some prospect hype. Baseball Prospectus gave him the #90 spot on their top 101 list coming into the year. FanGraphs gave him the #94 spot, hyping up his arsenal from the AFL. The FanGraphs report noted that he flashed “four average or better pitches,” noting that his fastball velocity was in the mid-to-upper 90s. He also throws a curveball, a slider and a changeup, the latter apparently being a new pitch that he didn’t have in college.

This year, it seems the Sox have been focusing on a relief role for Taylor. He started the year with six starts, though none of those went longer than three innings. Since then, he has largely been kept in a single-inning relief role. It’s hard to argue with the numbers on a rate basis. Taylor has logged 26 2/3 Double-A innings this year with a 1.01 ERA, 36.6% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate and 56.9% ground ball rate.

The Sox are apparently excited enough that they are going to skip Taylor over Triple-A and let him face some major league hitters, presumably in the same bullpen role he’s been in recently. It’s unclear if the Sox view that as a permanent move or just a temporary situation while he builds up a foundation of innings to build from.

Taylor hasn’t built up to a huge workload but there clearly lots of potential in the arm. Though he may be a work in progress, the Sox are in a position to experiment. Their 22-44 record is the worst in the American League and ahead of just the Rockies overall.

Though Taylor was on a few top 100 lists coming into the year, the prospect promotion incentive doesn’t apply here. To qualify for PPI, a player must be on two of the three lists between Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and ESPN. Taylor wasn’t on any of those three.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Phillies Claim Ryan Cusick, Designate Kyle Tyler

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The Phillies announced that right-hander Ryan Cusick was claimed off waivers from the White Sox and optioned to the Florida Complex League.  In the corresponding roster move, Philadelphia designated right-hander Kyle Tyler for assignment.

In less than two weeks’ time, Cusick is now joining his fourth different team after a whirlwind series of waiver claims.  The odyssey started when he was designated for assignment by the Athletics on May 27, and he has since gone from the A’s to the Tigers to the White Sox and now to the Phils.  Cusick will now head not to Philadelphia’s Triple-A affiliate but to the FCL for what might be a mechanical tune-up in the wake of a difficult minor league season.

The 25-year-old Cusick was the 24th overall pick of the 2021 draft, selected by the Braves but then quickly flipped to the Athletics that offseason as part of the trade package that brought Matt Olson to Atlanta.  Cusick has struggled to live up to that first-round potential, as his career 5.20 ERA over 238 2/3 minor league innings hasn’t resulted in any Major League playing time.

A starter for most of his career, Cusick appears to have moved into the bullpen on a full-time basis this season, but the results haven’t been there, as he has more walks (14) than strikeouts (11) while posting a 6.32 ERA over 15 2/3 combined innings with the Athletics’ and Tigers’ Triple-A affiliates in 2025.  The Phillies will become the latest team to see if they can solve Cusick’s control problems and turn him into a playable big league reliever.

Tyler can relate to Cusick’s waiver wire travels, as Tyler also changed teams four times on waiver claims within a month’s span in March-April 2022.  His MLB resume consists of a 4.31 ERA over 48 innings with the Angels, Padres, and Marlins, with the bulk (31 2/3 IP) of that work coming with Miami last year.

Tyler started seven of his eight games with the Marlins, and has mostly worked as a starter over the last three seasons in the minors after working in more of a swingman capacity earlier in his career.  All 12 of Tyler’s outings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley came as a starter, though he had only a 4.31 ERA, 15.6% strikeout rate, and 7.6% walk rate.  The Phillies are deeper than most teams when it comes to starting pitching, while Tyler’s numbers don’t jump off the page, another club in need of rotation depth could be motivated to put in a claim.

White Sox Sign Tyler Alexander, Place Jared Shuster On 15-Day IL

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The White Sox announced that left-hander Tyler Alexander has been signed to a Major League contract, worth the MLB minimum salary.  To create roster space, the Sox placed left-hander Jared Shuster on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 5) due to a blister on his throwing hand, and southpaw Fraser Ellard was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.

Alexander’s stint on the open market didn’t last long, as it was just two days ago that the southpaw rejected the Brewers’ outright assignment in favor of free agency.  Milwaukee signed Alexander to a one-year, $1MM contract in February, but designated him for assignment last week after he posted a 6.19 ERA over 36 1/3 innings and 21 appearances for the Brew Crew.  His 4.26 SIERA is more forgiving, as Alexander’s ERA was inflated by a .331 BABIP and an absurdly low 47.2% strand rate (far below the 71.7% league average).  He also had a respectable 7.3% walk rate, but struck out batters at only an 18.3% clip.

A team with fewer pitching options might have kept Alexander around as a swingman or long relief arm, but the Brewers have gone from being drastically thin on rotation options to a borderline surplus of arms now that some of their injured hurlers have returned to action.  While Alexander’s results weren’t much to speak of, his ability to eat some innings and make a few spot starts helped the Brewers navigate that early-season pitching shortage.

Alexander will now take on a depth role with his hometown team, as the left-hander was born in Chicago in 1994 before moving on to play his high school and college ball in Texas.  Alexander joins Brandon Eisert and Cam Booser as the southpaw options in the White Sox bullpen, and he might be in line for the occasional start as the Sox continue to try and solidify their rotation.  Jonathan Cannon went on the 15-day IL earlier this week due to a back strain, and Chicago has cycled through a number of rotation candidates while trying to fill the void left by Martin Perez’s possibly-season-ending flexor strain.

Shuster technically made two “starts” working as an opener in his most recent two appearances before going on the IL.  Shuster has struggled to an 8.04 ERA over 15 2/3 innings and 12 games for the Pale Hose this season, with the caveat that eight of his 14 earned runs allowed came in just two of those appearances.  In some echoes of Alexander’s season, Shuster has a 4.21 SIERA, with a 55.9% strand rate and a .429 BABIP spoiling his bottom-line numbers.

Ellard had a 6.75 ERA in 6 2/3 relief innings for Chicago this season, as his season has been largely spent on the sidelines due to two separate IL stints.  A hamstring strain cost Ellard most of April, and he returned to pitch in only two games before he was placed on the 15-day IL in early May due to a lat strain.  The shift to the 60-day IL means that Ellard can’t return to action until at least July.

White Sox Designate Ryan Cusick For Assignment, Option Korey Lee

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The White Sox announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Kyle Teel, a move that was reported yesterday. In a corresponding active roster move, fellow catcher Korey Lee has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Ryan Cusick has been designated for assignment.

Cusick, 25, was just claimed off waivers two days ago. While it may seem odd to grab a player and then cut him so quickly, it’s possible the Sox are hoping he will clear waivers this time, which is a possibility. Cusick started this season with the A’s but was put on waivers by that club a little over a week ago. He was claimed by the Tigers, the team with the best record in baseball and therefore the last waiver priority. That means the 28 other teams, apart from the A’s and Tigers, passed.

The Tigers then put him back on waivers but the White Sox, with a roster spot just opened by Miguel Castro’s season-ending knee injury, claimed him this time. Now that Cusick is going back on the wire yet again, it’s possible he goes through unclaimed. The Tigers nudged Cusick off by reinstating Parker Meadows from the 60-day IL and they have also since reinstated Sawyer Gipson-Long, tightening up their roster and perhaps giving them less ability to claim Cusick again.

If he does indeed pass through waivers unclaimed, the Sox would be retaining a former first-round pick. Atlanta grabbed Cusick 24th overall in 2021 and then flipped him to the A’s as part of the Matt Olson deal a few months later. The A’s tried to develop Cusick as a starter without success. He tossed 143 innings over the 2022 and 2023 minor league seasons, missing time due to injury and posting a 5.60 earned run average in that span.

He was moved to a relief role halfway through the 2024 season and showed some flashes of intrigue there. His final 26 innings of the year resulted in a 1.73 ERA. Walking 11.8% of opponents in that span was less than ideal but he recorded strikeouts at a 28.2% clip. That was enough that the A’s thought he could get snapped up in the Rule 5 draft, so they gave him a 40-man spot in November.

He couldn’t carry that strong performance in 2025, or at least hasn’t yet. He had a 6.75 ERA in 14 2/3 Triple-A innings to start the season, giving out 13 walks to just 11 strikeouts. That kicked off his trip through the waiver wire in recent weeks. The next few days will reveal whether he will stick in the White Sox’ system or perhaps get claimed yet again.

Lee’s optional assignment is also notable, as it sheds more light on Chicago’s catching plans. They have had Lee and Edgar Quero as their primary catching duo for most of the season. With Teel’s promotion, it wasn’t clear how they would distribute the playing time.

It was possible to envision a three-catcher setup, as the club doesn’t have an everyday designated hitter. Teel has also been doing some work at first base. With Andrew Vaughn having been recently optioned, it would have been possible for Lee, Quero and Teel to all get regular playing time by sharing the catching duties as well as DHing and maybe Teel playing some first base.

Instead, it seems the Sox will go with a more straightforward two-catcher setup, though it will be a very inexperienced duo. Teel has yet to make his debut while Quero has just 38 games under his belt.

Lee isn’t exactly a veteran but he has been around a bit longer than those two. He’s still only 26 years old but got some brief big league time in 2022 and 2023 before becoming a regular in 2024. All told, he has 175 major league contests on his track record. That’s not a ton, relatively speaking, but it does make him the most experienced of the three catchers and the one most familiar with the Chicago pitching staff.

He also has the least upside of the three. He was a notable prospect, getting selected 32nd overall by the Astros in 2019, but his production has stalled out at the upper levels. He has a .192/.231/.315 batting line and 51 wRC+ in the majors. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has a .281/.331/.395 line and 85 wRC+ at the Triple-A level. Outlets such as Baseball Prospectus and Statcast aren’t thrilled with his work behind the plate either.

Quero and Teel, on the other hand, have each hit well at the Triple-A level recently. Quero’s major league offense hasn’t produced much power yet but he’s drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts, leading to a passable .256/.343/.306 line and 91 wRC+. Rolling with the Quero/Teel duo gives the Sox a fairly inexperienced catching corps in the short term but it seems that doesn’t bother them. They surely aren’t expecting to compete anytime soon, so they will let their best catchers get the big league playing time and gain that experience during the rebuilding process.

That will leave Lee in the minors as a depth option. If he stays down for at least 20 days, he will burn his final option year in 2025. If that comes to pass, that would leave him out of options going into 2026.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

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The White Sox announced Thursday that chairman and majority owner Jerry Reinsdorf and minority owner Justin Ishbia “have reached a long-term investment agreement that establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the White Sox.” Under the terms of the agreement, Ishbia will make “capital infusions” into the White Sox in 2025-26 that will pay down existing debt and “support ongoing team operations.”

There will be no immediate transfer of control — and none until at least 2029. The agreement gives Reinsdorf the option of selling his controlling interest to Ishbia at any point from 2029-33. After the 2034 season, Ishbia will have the option to acquire the controlling interest from Reinsdorf. If and when Ishbia does acquire the controlling stake, other minority owners will have the opportunity to sell to him as well. His brother, Mat Ishbia, the principal owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and his father, Jeff Ishbia, will be “significant” investors under the new agreement, too.

Reinsdorf, who purchased the White Sox in 1981, made the following statement within today’s press release:

“Having the incredible opportunity to own the Chicago White Sox and be part of Major League Baseball for nearly 50 years has been a life-changing experience. I have always expressed my intent to operate the White Sox as long as I am able and remain committed to returning this franchise to the level of on-field success we all expect and desire.”

Operating the club “as long as [he is] able” is a statement of some note. Reinsdorf is 89 as of this writing. He’ll be 90 next February and will be 93 when the initial window of potential transfer opens in 2029. By the time Ishbia has the option of purchasing the majority stake outright and of his own volition, Reinsdorf would be just a few months from his 99th birthday. That’s not intended to delve too far into the macabre, but the question of Reinsdorf’s ability to oversee day-to-day operations of the club as he ages into his mid-90s is difficult to overlook.

There’s also the question of the White Sox’ location. They’ve been on Chicago’s south side more than a century — one of the eight charter MLB teams established back in 1901. Reinsdorf has previously sought to move the Sox to Central Florida in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There have been far more recent rumors and speculation about a potential relocation to Nashville, although Reinsdorf was also looking into a new stadium in Chicago’s South Loop as recently as last year. The Sox’ current lease at Guaranteed Rate Field runs through 2029 — the first year that the current agreement opens the window for Ishbia to become majority owner.

The 47-year-old Ishbia has a reported net worth of more than $5 billion. Earlier this year, he was viewed as the leading candidate to purchase the division-rival Twins from the Pohlad family, but Ishbia abandoned that pursuit when the opportunity to increase his stake in the White Sox arose.

The 180-degree turn reportedly shocked the Twins, who had previously believed there was a path to completing a sale to Ishbia prior to Opening Day. At the time, White Sox officials denied to Jon Greenberg and Dan Hayes of The Athletic that there was a path to control of the White Sox available to Ishbia, but less than four months later, the team has now publicly revealed the specifics of that path.

Reinsdorf has increasingly drawn the ire of White Sox fans amid a yearslong spell of noncompetitive clubs. The White Sox won the 2005 World Series but have reached the postseason only three times since, never advancing beyond the first round of play. Reinsdorf conceded to a rebuild in 2016 when he allowed then-GM Rick Hahn to tear the roster down to the studs and build a new core from the ground up. By 2019, the Sox had the top farm system in baseball and an emerging core built around potential stars like Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito — among others. The plan looked to have worked when the Sox reached the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, but by 2022 the wheels had come off as that core regressed and/or fell to injury.

Viewed anywhere from loyal (to a fault) to insular, Reinsdorf brought Tony La Russa back to manage the club in 2021 — going over Hahn’s head to bring his friend back for another go-around as manager. The Sox won in year one despite some clear hiccups along the way, but reports during that 2022 season of a miserable clubhouse culture emerged.

La Russa was out by season’s end, at which point Hahn hired former Royals coach Pedro Grifol as La Russa’s dugout successor. A losing team and further reports of clubhouse tumult persisted, and by Aug. 2023, Hahn and longtime executive vice president Kenny Williams were dismissed. The pair had ranked among the longest-tenured executives in the entire sport. Rather than conduct an outside search for a new front office, Reinsdorf promoted assistant GM Chris Getz to general manager just days after firing Hahn and Williams.

Getz fired Grifol last year after a historically bad 28-89 start to the season. The 2024 White Sox wound up setting the modern record for futility, losing 121 games. The 2025 Rockies are on pace to make that a short-lived record, but it was nevertheless a dubious distinction that shone a spotlight on the stunningly swift nature of the White Sox’ fall from an MLB-best farm system and team-on-the-rise status to the dregs of Major League Baseball.

Getz hired former big league outfielder Will Venable — who’d been Bruce Bochy’s right-hand man in Texas — as his club’s new skipper this past offseason. The second-year GM has been tasked with the latest rebuild, again rebuilding the farm system through a series of trades and high draft picks. Chicago’s farm system is unequivocally in a better spot than it was just a few years ago, but there’s little hope of a return to competitive play on the near-term horizon — particularly in an increasingly formidable AL Central that sent three teams to the playoffs in 2024 and currently has four teams with winning records.

If and when the time comes for Getz & Co. to reenter the free agent market to supplement a new core, Reinsdorf’s frugality in free agency will again return to the forefront of conversations surrounding the Sox. Despite playing in one of the largest markets in baseball, Reinsdorf tends to run the South Siders more like a small-market operation. They did run out a $193MM Opening Day payroll in 2022 and a $181MM payroll in 2023, as noted at Cot’s Contracts, but those are clear outliers. The Sox have never had a payroll of even $130MM outside those two seasons. Even more incredibly, Andrew Benintendi’s five-year, $75MM contract remains the largest contract in White Sox history. The White Sox and A’s are the only two teams in baseball that have never given out a contract of at least $100MM.

For all these reasons, the news of a light at the end of the tunnel on Reinsdorf’s ownership tenure has been met by fans with a blend of celebratory relief and frustration that there’s not a more immediate transition of power in today’s agreement. Even if we’re at least four years from a bona fide sea change, today’s announcement is still a turning point in White Sox history — one that provides a countdown clock for the turnover long coveted by the fan base.

White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

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The White Sox scratched top catching prospect Kyle Teel from today’s Triple-A lineup and plan to promote him to the majors, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The team has not made the move official, but the social media account for TeelsBaseball — a training facility run by his father Garett — has announced the call-up. Chicago will need to select his contract and make corresponding moves for the active and 40-man rosters.

It’s an exciting day for White Sox fans. Teel was the centerpiece of the Garrett Crochet return. (Chase Meidroth was the first prospect from the group to debut and has played his way to everyday work in the middle infield.) Boston’s first-round pick in 2023, Teel has ranked among the sport’s most talented catching prospects throughout his time in pro ball.

The University of Virginia product was essentially the consensus #4 prospect in the Red Sox’s system. He was behind Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer but was viewed as one of the sport’s 50 or so best minor leaguers in his own right. Teel ranked between 32nd and 52nd on the preseason lists at MLB Pipeline, ESPN and Baseball America. He slotted 42nd on BA’s most recent in-season update, which came out this week.

Baseball America now ranks Teel as the White Sox’s #2 prospect and their top position player talent. The left-handed hitter has a well-rounded profile that gives him a good chance to be a long-term starter behind the plate. He has been particularly good offensively throughout his minor league career. Teel has a .300/.401/.456 batting line in pro ball. He has kept up a similar pace during his first season in the Chicago system.

Teel has played 50 games this year with Triple-A Charlotte. He carries a .295/.394/.492 slash with eight home runs through 213 plate appearances. As he has throughout his career, he’s taking free passes at an excellent 14.1% clip. Teel has struck out a little more than a quarter of the time, but the overall production has been strong. He was on fire throughout the past month, hitting .333/.444/.613 in May after posting a .626 OPS in April.

There isn’t a whole lot left for Teel to prove against minor league pitching. He’ll probably strike out a decent amount in the majors, but his plate discipline should give him a solid on-base floor. The Sox are certainly going to have him in the lineup on most days, though it’ll be interesting to see how they deploy him defensively. Scouting reports suggest he’s a solid defensive catcher.

The Sox already have a touted rookie catcher in Edgar Quero, who began the season playing alongside Teel in Charlotte. He and Korey Lee are splitting the work behind the plate. The switch-hitting Quero isn’t hitting for any power, but he’s batting .250 with a .341 on-base percentage in 37 games. He has hit at every minor league stop and deserves continued playing time. Lee is unlikely to be more than a long-term backup, but the White Sox probably won’t want to carry only two rookie catchers.

Teel said this week that he has begun taking first base drills. He has not played anywhere other than catcher in a minor league game. Teel could mix in at first base, where the Sox have gotten nothing all season. They’ll probably also use both rookie catchers somewhat frequently at designated hitter. That’d push Andrew Benintendi into more of a full-time left field role while cutting the playing time for journeyman outfielder Joshua Palacios.

As a consensus Top 100 talent, Teel meets the eligibility for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. That means he could earn a full service year if he finished in the top two in AL Rookie of the Year balloting. The A’s Jacob Wilson may have already locked up one of those spots, but there’s at least an outside chance for Teel to play well enough to get consideration for the other. The White Sox would not receive a bonus draft choice if that happens because they didn’t promote him early enough to spend 172 days in the majors. If he doesn’t earn the full service year, Teel will remain under club control for at least six seasons beyond this one. He likely wouldn’t reach arbitration eligibility until the 2028-29 offseason.

Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images.

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