MARCH 15: Chicago has given Olt his release, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune tweets.
MARCH 7: Olt has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com tweets. He’ll remain in major league camp with Chicago.
MARCH 6: The White Sox have designated third baseman Mike Olt for assignment, the team has announced (via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, on Twitter). His roster spot was needed for the signing of Austin Jackson, which has been made official.
Olt, 27, was once a top prospect in the Rangers organization, but he’s dealt with vision issues and has not yet been able to translate his robust minor league offensive production to the major league level. Over 400 career MLB plate appearances, Olt has slashed just .168/.250/.330 with a 37% strikeout rate, though he has hit 16 home runs in that span.
Chicago gave the right-handed-hitting Olt a look down the stretch last year, but went on to acquire Todd Frazier to fulfill the team’s needs at the hot corner. Jose Abreu, of course, remains entrenched at first.
The right-handed-hitting Olt obviously was not seen as an essential part of the team’s prospective reserve corps, though he could still be retained if he clears waivers. With Jackson joining the roster, the club has a variety of options to fulfill bench bat/DH duties. Switch-hitter Melky Cabrera ought to receive regular turns at bat, regardless of whether he’s in the field, while Avisail Garcia and recent claimee Jerry Sands also could be deployed against opposing southpaws.
Wow. Almost six months to the day that the Cubs released Mike Olt to make room for Austin Jackson…. Has a player ever been released by two different clubs to make room for the same player?
In the same city at that!
Halos could use a 3B, wonder if Olt fits their budget.
really? they dont need old…yunel escobar is wayyy better at 3B than Olt.
I don’t think so good glove for the Cubs and a power hitter I like him to sub in Colorado
Rox have no room on their bench. Maybe in AAA. Ironic that once upon a time there were stories comparing Arenado and Olt as the next great things at third base. Many thought Olt was better.
Yunel Escobar is the worst defensive 3b in baseball.
Oh, I think our Panda takes that cake, and muffin, etc. I find it hard to believe anyone is worse defensively than Pablo, dude can’t even tie his own shoes anymore.
panda never lost a perfect game.
Phillies should grab him to platoon this year and then take over 1st base next year after Howard leaves.
I was actually just thinking about this. The Phillies don’t really have a solid option to take over for Howard at 1st. With a team that projects to be as bad as the Phillies do this year, there really isn’t much risk to giving Olt a shot.
Halos would be better served with Escobar at 2B and they should have Freese playing 3B, but that’s just stating the obvious.
Kubitza, who came over from the Braves, could very well prove to be a solid option at 3B as well…
He was intriguing as a fringe-prospect for the Braves, before being traded. I’m curious as to how well he would fair at the ML level… Although, it would almost be gaurentee his defense would be better than Yuni’s
Olt is looking at a minor league deal in free agency, there’s no doubt the Angels would be able to sign him if he is willing to go there. A very smart move by him because there’s a good opportunity for at bats.
He won’t hit free agency. There’s no reason for Chicago to release him- they’ll just send him to AAA. If the Angels want him, they’ll need to claim him (he’s making league minimum, so they could afford him), but I’d be surprised if anyone does that at this point
Well, I stand corrected. Apparently he’ll get a MiLB deal somewhere else after all
The Sox are stupid they put a hitter like M.Olt on DFA with that weak bench I pray he goes to the Reds or the Braves this guy 2 years removed from a Stanton type of injury and has come back. –White Sox are dumb -Dumb
Before Frazier they where talking starting 3B
I’m sure you know Sooo much more than the Cubs/White Sox do, since they both DFA’ed him
Apparently the strategy worked.
A hitter like Olt? So, a historically terrible hitter?
Just wow. Olt is a terrible hitter. Are we talking about the same Mike olt?
The sox are stupid but, LaOlt sucks!!!
TE sox are dumber than dumb , but, this is a good decision! LaOlt cannot hit period. It’s embarrassing. Texas, Cubs, and the sox dropped him within a year. What does that say about him?
The Indians should claim Mike Olt. He would give the Tribe 3B/1B depth. The Indians have a spot on the 40-man (Baker T.J. surgery) available. A right-handed hitter w/ power potential is definatly worth a look for the Indians. If the Indians are willing to sign LHP journeymen Gorzelanny, Thatcher, Detwiler to MLCWI ( all 3 look very bad in the first week of ST.), why not give Olt a chance & claim him. Sometimes a player just needs to catch on with the right organization, Olt is a candiate to be a late bloomer.
Even when he was still a top prospect with the Rangers, his ceiling was probably as a .250 hitter with 25 home runs, very modest walks and a crap ton of strikeouts (and my guess is he would be more like a .230 hitter). So if he were to ever hit his ceiling, there’s some value there for sure, but it’s not like he’d be a franchise changing player.
And that’s still a big IF he were to ever reach his potential, I wouldn’t necessarily say his vision problems are behind him, that really hasn’t shown in his batting line yet.
Not saying that it wouldn’t be a decent move for another team to make a claim and roll the dice with him. But I also definitely don’t think the Sox are dumb for designating him.
Completely agree. His potential at this point is Mark Reynolds post 2011.
No way!!!! It only took Hahn and Williams six months to figure out LaOlt was horrible. That’s pretty quick for those two. Now if they’d be quicker in cutting loose that so called manager, they could be good this year.
You’re so right about Ventura. He won’t be managing the white sox by June 1.
May be the last we hear of Mike Olt. I don’t know that you can take a guy that doesn’t have even a decent split and put him on a 40 man roster at this point. Someone said platoon him with Howard? He’s worse than Darin Ruf at this point. He is a complete project for someone. He was pretty average in AAA too, nothing that really says he’ll turn it around anytime soon. I remember when he was would-be centerpiece of trades, but now he’s a flier type of prospect.
Why would any team want mike olt? He CANNOT hit a big league curve ball, period.
Wouldn’t mind the mets taking a look at him for help with David and Duda when needed. Mets can trade tejada for something and then use olt as corner help and Flores as middle help.
B raves may take a chance with Olt. How about a trade of Mike Olt for AAA shortstop Sean Kazmar.
In addition to releasing Mike Olt, the White Sox announced three other cuts today:
Optioned RHP Brandon Brennan and RHP Daniel Webb to Class AAA Charlotte;
Reassigned LHP Jordan Guerrero to minor-league camp;
Mets should pick him up. Let him play in minors and boost his numbers and values in a hitter friendly league and then be available for when wright inevitably goes on dl during the year.
Not a terrible idea honestly
Wow. It only took the sox 8 months or so to figure out LaOlt can’t hit a baseball. That’s why this team will be bad for a while. Their talent evaluators are terrible.
Remember when the package needed to acquire a star player was Profar Olt? And remember the Rangers balking at those trade demands? Yup. Be careful in overvaluing prospects. Sometimes they don’t work out. A lot of the time actually.